Sprittibee is my nickname. My real name is Heather. I became a blogger in my 30’s after happening upon someone else’s blog where I had to register to comment. I figured… “Hey, why not? My husband won’t read my emails… I might as well inflict them on others.” It was a good thing for routers and servers everywhere. I'm certain that people in my email address book got together to throw a party.I’ve been a blog enthusiast ever since that fateful day in June of 2005 (which makes me a blogging dinosaur - since that was around the time that dirt was invented in computer years).
Quick Stats:
Marital Status: Happily Married to my King Bee for almost 18 years.
Kids: 3.5 Worker Bees (13, 11, 1 and due in February 2011)
Homeschooling: This is our 8th or 9th Year… I'm losing track (and brain cells).
Faith: Christian (Anti-denominational! I don’t believe in division.)
Pets: 2 Cats - ‘Minga the Snott’ and Quaker,
From: Born and raised in Texas
Favorite Beverage: Water, 1/2 and 1/2 Sweet/Unsweet “Reunion” Tea, Thai Tea, Italian Coffee with Hazelnut Cream and Frothed Milk, Cream Soda, Coke Classic with cane sugar
Bible Verse: “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” ~ Colossians 3:4
Why Homeschooling?
Below, I have tried to summarize how a crazy street-punk teenager with an attitude and serious problem with authority came to be a gospel-loving, gourmet-cooking, homeschooling, family-woman with a serious passion for obedience and character. There are other places on this blog where you can find much more detail about “Why I Homeschool”. You can even read the details about every year we have homeschooled (including what curriculums we have used, what field trips we have taken, the books we have read, the computer programs we like, and the topics the kids most enjoyed) if you check out my Homeschool Series post. There are lots of photos included as well... and we like to do arts and crafts, so be sure to check out our many posts about things we have created.
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Somewhere around my early 20’s, my biological clock started ticking. I never wanted any kids previous to this… don’t ask me how it happened. I was selfish and bratty… and an only child (but that’s redundant). So was my husband. We were NOT your average Walton Family types. We liked to party and sleep late on the weekends. We started going to church one morning (with a hangover) and eventually became Christians. Somehow, God managed to change my plans about not having kids. It may have had something to do with that bald baby at my cousin-in-law’s kid’s birthday party. That was a cute baby. But, I digress…
We had both of our kids (blue first, then pink) almost exactly two years apart. They changed our entire world (and filled it with poopy diapers and lots of laundry). I had no idea when I was working with the kids on talking, flashcards, the alphabet song and more… that I was already homeschooling. I had never heard of homeschooling. I’ve never been one to really plan far out into the future. I’m not sure I imagined that my kids would ever leave the baby stage back then. Do we moms EVER really want to see the baby days end? I guess that depends on the baby. Another tangent… sorry.When my kids were barely 4 and 2, I was introduced to a family from St. Louis that homeschooled their children (from junior high through college age). I was beginning to think about school (and had the beginning stages of kindergarten-panic-attack-syndrome). I was also introduced to a student who was working at NASA that had been homeschooled her entire life and had won the National Merit Scholarship. I was astounded by these young people. They were amazingly bright and completely personable. Added plus: they had clothes on. They could hold a conversation with you without text-messaging or having headphones on at the same time. These kids were COOL – in the best sense of the word. These kids were mature. They were exactly how I wanted MY kids to turn out. Homeschool was looking good.
I began researching homeschooling and decided that it was probably going to be my first choice. My husband wasn’t so gung-ho about it. He asked the same questions you get asked from your well-meaning relatives and anti-homeschool friends:
“What about the prom?” (No, I’m not kidding.)
“What about socialization?” (I can hardly type that sentence without erasing it.)
“What about sports?”
Despite reservations, he gave me a year to “prove” that I could do it. Whatever that meant? I prayed for his heart to be won over to homeschooling, and although God didn't answer me right away, eventually - through my obedience and God's power - my man jumped on board.
I began homeschooling when the kids were preschool age. Kaden was four-and-a-half and Morgan was two-and-a-half. We had a great first year at home and loved every minute of it. We tried private school the year after that due to a job that was offered to me by a friend who worked at the Christian School near us. My husband really missed my paycheck. I’ll have to admit… it was nice to have extra money for all the fast food we needed (after I was getting home at 6:30 or later). It also came in handy to have extra money for lunches out, for overpriced school uniforms, and for the maid that came once every other week or so (because I had no time to clean the house). I worked as the registrar for the school (privy to all the student records). After trying private schooling out for a year and a half, we decided to go back to homeschooling. Our family was drifting apart – all of us too busy for each other (it was like going through the motions of family life without any of the feeling behind it). I have a picture of my son from this time (below); puffy-eyed, before dawn in his starchy white shirt. He was staring blankly out the car window and looked so miserable. It reminds me of all the emotions I felt when my kids were in private school. I don’t mean to say that private schools are bad. We just didn’t enjoy our experience. It took the joy out of our family life.
My son had to repeat Kindergarten the year he was at the Christian School (even though he tested out of it when they were admitting him). He was too young to hang out with the first graders. He was bored and distracted. It wasn’t a complete loss, though. My kids did learn to tie their shoes and roll their eyes there. They also learned a lot about the doctor’s office (due to frequent trips from all the illnesses that got passed around). They learned about school bullies and mystery meat as well. I even learned a few things. I learned that private schools were a lot like public schools. The difference between the two is that you pay for public school through taxes, and you pay for private school ON TOP of taxes. A LOT on top.
We made the choice to bring the kids home again and have not regretted it. We miss the extra income, sure… but being with the kids is such a blessing… and we have found that we can live with less and enjoy life even more. The kids are such a delight. They are thriving and learning. They grow closer each year to the servant-hearted leaders that I pray they finally become. My main goal is to raise them to be honest, moral, upright people who have a heart for others and a purpose in Christ. The standardized tests they take prove to me each year that my children are SMART… but the time I spend with them each day – seeing them interact with other kids and adults – THAT is what proves to me that homeschool really works. Their character and our family bonds are the proof positive that the sacrifice we make to homeschool is worth every penny.
I love homeschooling. Of course, that makes me love homeschool bloggers, too.
Response to my little hive here at Blogger:
“Some things are better not blogged about…”
–King Bee, Kevin
“I love your blog, Mommy.”
–Worker Bee #2, Morgan
“You're not going to blog that are you?”
–Anonymous Friend
“What's a blog?”
–Chickie
“I don't read blogs... but you can email me any time.”
–Anonymous Relative
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