Christine Field - Homeschooling 101

This book is lovingly dedicated to homeschooling parents
who have taken a step of faith to train and disciple their children.

God bless you in your efforts!

Christine and Mark would like to hear from you!

If you have comments or ideas to share, we'd love to hear from you. Please tell us about your homeschooling success stories and challenges. We may use your contribution in upcoming publications. Write us at FieldFamily@HomeFieldAdvantage.org or visit us on the Web at www.HomeFieldAdvantage.org.

Do you need a speaker? Christine and Mark are available, together as well as individually, to speak on a variety of parenting topics. We can do a seminar, retreat, or conference with presentations custom tailored to your needs. For a full list of current topics as well as our speaking schedule, visit is at www.HomeFieldAdvantage.org where you'll always find hope and help for the harried home.

We wish to express our gratitude to everyone at B&H who helped turn this dream into a reality. To David Webb, who believed in the project; to Zan Tyler, who shared and nurtured our enthusiasm; and to Kim Overcash, whose attention to design and detail brought the project to fruition. God bless you all!

We also owe a special thanks to Paul and Gena Swarez at The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. What a joy it is to dream dreams with such a special brother and sister in Christ. We thank God for you.

WE BEGAN HOMESCHOOLING more than a decade ago, flying by the seat of our pants. Yes, we winged it. After talking it over with a few friends and drooling over their stash of product catalogs, we made some quick decisions and just dived in. Of course, it's only preschool, we told ourselves. It's hard to go wrong when you're reading books aloud, working with Play-Doh, and taking nature walks.

Yet we've always wished we'd had a mentor in those early days of homeschooling. We fantasized about taking a continuing education class in How to Homeschool. We knew very little about what the job of homeschooling parents entailed. Why did we really want to homeschool in the first place? What should we expect of ourselves and the children? What was our goal? Did we have one? To whom, if anyone, were we accountable? These were fundamental questions we should have asked ourselves.

There were many things we didn't know about homeschooling; in fact, there were many things we didn't know about children! It would have been valuable to know how children learn and that each child can differ in that respect. And we would have saved ourselves much trial and error if we had known what was developmentally appropriate for each age. We thought there was but one way to teach, and we had no idea how to find material suited to our child or our family. And what a blessing it would have been to know how to organize, memorialize, and simply keep track of all of the above.

Instead, our self-education in home education was haphazard. One week we would read a book about teaching reading. Then we would get distracted by the published research on learning styles. For a season we went nutty over teaching history with living books. Our children's heads were spinning as we rode each wave of interest and chased each rabbit that crossed our path, only to grow weary of the pursuit by the next season. We longed to make our lives and our teaching express the ideals and values we had come to cherish as a family. We only rarely succeeded for any length of time, flitting from one curriculum to another and trying to heed the counsel of countless experts who each promised us the keys to effective homeschooling.

The Big Picture

Because we were not educated in the basics, we often bungled the essentials. We made choices based only on the recommendation of a friend or the slickness of a sales brochure. How much more effective we would have been right from the beginning if we had spent a season in preparationa time immersed in Homeschooling 101.

Whether you are new to homeschooling or you are a weary, battle-scarred veteran, this is what we hope to provide in this booka basic education in what it means to be effective homeschoolers with a family life that works. We want to give you a glimpse of the big picture.

We cannot claim to have all the answers. What we can share is our research, which is extensive, and our experiences, both excellent and awful. We promise to be transparent about the journey and to do our best to be the mentors that many seek. We have found much joy along this path and hope to help you avoid some of the pitfalls along the way. By God's grace, you will experience fewer hazards, failed expectations, and discouragements than we did.

What do you need to know to homeschool? First of all, you don't need a degree in education. Education majors learn how to function in the public school systemyou don't need that. You do need to know your vision, your goals, yourself, your children, and your family dynamic. Once you put together the pieces of your unique design, your path will unfold and you can step out in faith.

Have confidence! Let's get going with this work of equipping you and your family for the journey.

CHAPTER ONE

OUR OWN TASK OF MEMORIALIZING why we do the things we do preceeded the celebration of our twentieth wedding anniversary. Happy coincidence, or a God-inspired opportunity to contemplate our blessings? We believe it was the latter.

We began the discussion with the question: Where would we be if we hadn't chosen homeschooling? The consideration was both sobering as well as an occasion for rejoicing.

If we hadn't chosen homeschooling, we don't think our marriage would be as strong as it is, with the range and depth of experiences we have had. Without the calling to homeschool, we would not have the shared commitment to the ultimate home improvement projecthomeschooling. While other couples may only get to share decorating projects and vacation decisions, we struggle together through everything from salvation to phonics to algebra. The house we are building is on a solid rock, and we pray that a dedication to the Lord will last far into future generations.

If we hadn't chosen homeschooling, we probably wouldn't have as many children. Christine practiced law until our first child was two years old and our second child was six months old. The siren call of an engaging career was strong and might have won out. If not for the happy arrival of two children seventeen months apart in age and the opportunity for a dream job in a distant city for Mark, we might not have abandoned our status as dual-income parents. Christine's time at home was supposed to be short lived. The plan was to be home for a few years, then reenter the courtroom arena. However, God had another planto adopt two more children, bringing the total to four. The move from a prestigious comfort zone to home was the values clarifying experience that we both needed. What was really important in lifefamily or career? The Lord allowed us to see the answer that we pray has brought him the most glory as it has brought us unspeakable joy.