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Author: admin
Homeschool Consulting
Are you new to homeschooling or ready to start but a little nervous or overwhelmed? Do you need some help in learning about and choosing a curriculum that best fits your family?
I’m Nikki, and I remember how overwhelmed I felt right before we started homeschooling.
I only knew a few families at the time who homeschooled, and I remember meeting with one friend and asking somewhere close to 152 questions (ok, a bit of an exaggeration but probably felt like that to her). It was before the days of amazing instagram accounts of curriculum and ideas for every subject. We were about to move to Hawaii, and I knew the Lord had put homeschooling on my heart. I was so very excited and also felt a bit nervous.
Initially, my husband and I weren’t on the same page with homeschool. We weren’t even in the same chapter of the education book, if you know what I mean. I felt that God had given me the desire before our kids were school-aged, but that desire wasn’t realized until our kids were in a public school in 2nd grade and Kindergarten. The thing that gave me a bit of (perhaps false) confidence at the time was that I had a teaching degree. Ironically, I never enjoyed teaching and didn’t like the mainstream educational environment in general, which made my life as a teacher not the most fulfilling, but that dissatisfaction made sense later. I seemed to “buck the system” a bit and wondered why it couldn’t be a different way. I loved being with my kids and remember sharing with my husband, “If I CAN do it and WANT to be with our kids, why wouldn’t I homeschool?” That statement began the shift in his heart toward believing in homeschool. I was so thankful for his full support to move forward. I say all of that to say this…
If you have the desire to homeschool, then you CAN homeschool!
I remember walking around our neighborhood in Tennessee just praying and sharing my heart with the Lord in having a desire to move to an island for some reason. Amazingly, maybe around 8 months later, we moved to Hawaii for a season in 2011 and began our homeschool journey when our kids were 8 and 5. It felt overwhelming, but more than that, it felt RIGHT for us! I was so excited to start our “school” that we arrived on Maui on a Friday, and we started homeschooling 3 days later on a Monday!
Although we aren’t in the homeschooling season anymore as a family, I am still very involved in the homeschool world through researching and reviewing curricula, teaching and writing Christian lessons, and writing articles and activities for a creation science ministry. I homeschooled our two kids for nine and a half years and have continued to teach other homeschooled kids in Tennessee since ours moved out of the homeschool season. I passionately believe in homeschool and the power of a loving home to shape and teach children.
If any one of the following statements resonates with you, I would love to help!
- You are a Christian parent and have a child in k-8 and aren’t sure how and where to start homeschooling.
- You feel stuck to the typical mainstream school style or system, but you want to have freedom from it.
- You don’t know what style of homeschool you want to pursue.
- You’d like help with selecting a curriculum or piecing together your own curriculum.
- You’d like to have a variety of useful accounts and websites to follow.
- You’d like direction on meeting state requirements
If you’d like to chat about getting started in your homeschool journey, let’s have a conversation to learn if I might be able to help you! Shoot me an email and let’s connect!
Graduation Gift Idea with Poem
It’s that time of year when you’re giving gifts to the high school graduates. Why not give them something useful, meaningful, AND sweet?! Print out this poem, and find some colored twine (maybe their high school colors, college colors, or just favorite colors).
Print the poem download below (same poem 3 times).
Fill a mason jar with chocolate Hershey kisses and hugs.
Buy some simple, plain notecards with envelopes. Get some stamps and go ahead and put the postage on there. This is a big one, as most “kids” that age don’t want to mess with buying stamps.
Wrap the twine around the notes and jar, and punch a hole in the poem (printed on cardstock for durability) and tie it to the jar as well. Easy peasy!
The Path to the Known but not Seen
Wow, what a crazy time it is in our world! I’m so thankful that my hope and faith are in my Lord and Savior! I’m trying to say, “Get away!” to the fear and control that pop up! I love this picture because I know the ocean is just over those dunes, but I can’t see it. Maybe it can be a reminder to you too. Just knowing God is in control and working and moving in beautiful ways, that we may not see yet, can give us peace and hope. Don’t you just love walking a path to the ocean and smelling the salty air and hearing the waves before you can even see it all? I sure do!
Instagram Home Learning Resources
In this time of home learning, social distancing, and staying at home, there are a lot of people who may be looking for teaching resources for their kids. I like to promote creation-friendly resources, so most of the ones I share are neutral or pro-creation/ non-evolution based. Sometimes there will be resources that aren’t creation-friendly, which can be a great way to look at the differences and learn both sides to better be able to share the side of creation science. Check out my Instagram account and hop over to the highlight stories section for some resources that I hope can be helpful.
Tide Pool Exploring
One of my favorite things at the beach is a tide pool. It’s like a whole little world in that little isolated pool of saltwater! It’s often easy to spot little fish, sea stars, sea cucumbers, anemones, and urchins. Just remember to find spots to step on that aren’t covered in algae (very slippery), and don’t take the creatures from their home. It is really cool to gently pick up a sea cucumber or urchin, though, and feel for yourself if it is prickly or slimy, soft or rough. Tide pools provide a great way to learn more about God’s creation, and I plan to continue exploring as many as I can!
Let’s Go A-Snorkeling!
Snorkeling is such a fun way to see the underwater world. I love to swim steadily and hear my breathing relax and look around to see what I can see. I think just like above the water, below it are so many wonderful creatures and so much beauty we may miss if we don’t really look for it. Snorkeling in the Bahamas was beautiful with the super clear water and sea turtles and colorful fish. When I came upon 2 southern stingrays, I was caught off guard a bit because they’re great at blending into the sand. They will bury themselves to stay hidden then flap their wing-like fins to stir up any prey they may have found hiding in the sand. It’s good to do the “stingray shuffle” when you’re walking around in the water just in case there’s a stingray hanging out on the sandy bottom. This will scare it away, since it would really rather swim away from you than sting you.
Manatee Love
I remember reading Ranger Rick magazines (not creation-based) as a kid and learning about this super cute, harmless, giant marine mammal and I was in love. Swooning over the photos of these adorable animals, I knew I had to learn more about manatees. Between beach trips with my family and learning through sources like Ranger Rick, a passion for ocean life grew inside my heart. I’m so thankful for books, videos, and websites (hopefully, like this one) to share knowledge and promote understanding of God’s creation, but nothing beats getting out in it and delighting in His creation first-hand. I hope to forever enjoy and seek to protect His creation and to teach our kids to do the same. Here’s a manatee encounter in one of my favorite spots in Florida, Anna Maria Island, with 2 manatees that were pretty close to me in the water.
Just remember – manatees are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act of 1978. It is illegal to feed, harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, annoy or molest manatees.
“Foster an Appreciation of Nature” – A Different Shade of Green by Gordon Wilson
In Gordon Wilson’s book, A Different Shade of Green, he talks about getting your kids, family, and friends excited about creation by immersing yourself into learning and sharing that love with them (as long as it’s not a source of tension or competition for your time). He says, “If you’re a biology teacher, spread enthusiasm to your students, not just information.” He encourages you to let your kids get dirty and caught up in the wonder as they experience creation. In his book he also reminds us that, “The more you study nature, the more you appreciate its beauty, complexity, and diversity. Appreciation in turn causes you to value it. And what you value, you naturally desire to conserve.” This is pretty much the same as one of my favorite quotes from Baba Dioum, which says, “In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand and we will understand only what we are taught.” I’ve really enjoyed Wilson’s book, A Different Shade of Green.
God is so creative
In Emily P. Freeman’s book, A Million Little Ways, she reminds us that we’re created in God’s image, and therefore we are creators too! Well, this little blue button jelly (which is actually NOT a jellyfish) is a great example of God’s art and design. The blue button (or porpita porpita) has a mouth on the underside of the main circular floating part. The other part is a hydroid colony (all the little tentacles) and can only possibly cause a tiny bit of irritation but won’t hurt ya. Just be gentle as you touch it and admire its beauty, since it feels very delicate. He is the ultimate Creator!
