{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"Nordkaroliner f\u00fcr h\u00e4usliche Bildung","provider_url":"https:\/\/nche.com\/de","author_name":"Ivey Deitz","author_url":"https:\/\/nche.com\/de\/author\/iveydeitz\/","title":"Reflections of a Retired Homeschool Mama - North Carolinians for Home Education","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"3KH0rVw9bt\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nche.com\/de\/reflections-of-a-retired-homeschool-mama\/\">Reflexionen einer pensionierten Homeschool-Mama<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/nche.com\/de\/reflections-of-a-retired-homeschool-mama\/embed\/#?secret=3KH0rVw9bt\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8222;Reflections of a Retired Homeschool Mama&#8220; &#8211; North Carolinians for Home Education\" data-secret=\"3KH0rVw9bt\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/nche.com\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/nche.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Reflections-Image-1000.jpg","thumbnail_width":1000,"thumbnail_height":350,"description":"[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.22&#8243;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;3.25&#8243; column_structure=&#8221;2_3,1_3&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_3&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;3.25&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;3.27.4&#8243;] Fall 2017 \/ by Ivey Deitz As many of you are planning out a new school year, excited, anticipating what lies ahead, I am reflecting on my years of homeschooling. It has been a full year since I closed our homeschool (at the time of writing this article.) We graduated our last son at the NCHE graduation in May of 2016. A prouder mama no one could find. Both of my sons have gone to college, are doing well at it, working, and growing into their new lives as the men of God I had hoped they would become. We homeschooled for just fourteen short years! When starting our homeschool experience, I never knew how fast time would fly. It seems like yesterday that I was reading the Rainbow Resource catalog from cover to cover. (Anyone that has seen an actual hard copy of their catalog would be impressed.) Finding just the right curriculum and making sure you do not mess up your child\u2019s education is a huge weight on most homeschool parents\u2019 shoulders, just as it was mine. I loved reading the catalogs when they came in the mail. I still get them, and I am slowly getting to the point where I can toss them out, and remove myself from the mailing lists. I have shelves of books on homeschooling that I just cannot get myself to part with. You never know when you might meet someone who needs one of them, or, one day, I hope a new daughter-in-law will need them for my grandchildren. There are many things, as I am reflecting, that come to mind. Things I wish I had done, or not done. What would I share with a new homeschooler? Let me start at the beginning, the first and most important lesson I can share. 1. Put the Bible, Bible, Bible, Bible, Bible, Bible first. Yes, we used the Bible in our homeschool. We used Bible-based curriculum when we started. We studied history from Creation onward. However, it wasn\u2019t until I read those words in an article that they came to life for me. We needed to base all our studies and life on this book, not just get the curriculum that was based on it. We needed to start our day out reading the actual Word of God. Looking back, I can see how the Bible could be used entirely as someone\u2019s curriculum. \u201cAll Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work\u201d (2 Timothy 3:16, 17). All subjects, reading, writing, history, even basic or supplemental math, can be learned from God\u2019s Word (search the internet for ideas for using the Bible for teaching!) That is how they taught in the homes so very long ago. Why have we been dependent on someone else to gather up the lessons based on the Bible instead of using it directly to teach? I will admit that we did not do our entire curriculum from the Bible. I just said I could see, looking back, that I could have done that very thing. We did, however, start each day reading the Word. We read through the entire book several times. We did not even skip those difficult books, like Numbers or Leviticus. We read; we discussed; we learned; we used the information, the wisdom, for our lives, and the rest of the day fell into place as we started this habit. I encourage you to start your day out this way. Children can learn anything that adults can learn. Their spirits are just as big as ours. Do not talk down to them when reading the Bible or make them read a Bible story book. Give the Word to them in small bites of meat, then repeat it again and again in different ways. 2. Take time off before you start. If you are just beginning to homeschool, I recommend that you do not start until you have done your research. I wish, when we began, that I had taken six months or even a year off to read all those books that I have on my shelf now. I read just one when I began, and it was written by a highly structured homeschool mom. It still makes me hyperventilate when I read it. It was so intense. I never could do all the things she said in her book. It was intimidating. It was not until the next year or so that I found other homeschool books that fit the style I wanted in our home. We were a relaxed homeschool, but we did not start out that way. I opened our little school with the pledge and prayer and did all the subjects just like that first book said to do. By the end of the first year, we had stepped back. We re-evaluated where we wanted to take our boys in their education. We needed some structure, but not as much as we had begun with. That is when the real research began for me. I read everything I could get my hands on, including that Rainbow Resource catalog! We discovered unit studies! I read many books over that first summer break. It was so relieving to find the other philosophies. Do not be in such a rush to start back this school year. Take some extra time to research for yourself. Pray and see what God wants for your child\u2019s education. 3. Keep up with the activities. When we started our journey, we met at the park every week with other homeschool families. It was the best couple of years! We were all new at homeschooling, and we could let the kids play while we discussed all the issues that arise when you are teaching your own children. When the kids grew, we stopped the group because life got busy [&hellip;]"}