www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5pSegLpgL8

Until relatively recently, I would have never considered home schooling.  I always thought it was for freaks and geeks (although, in that sense, it would have been perfect for us – I’ll let you decide which one of us is the freak and which one is the geek.  OK, I’ll give you a hint:  Marissa likes doing taxes, and there’s a strong Electric Slide tradition on my side of the family.  Maybe that doesn’t help).  And I mean freaks and geeks in the nicest possible way.  Not all home schoolers are freaks and geeks.  Some are just freaks, and some are just geeks.

It took me getting to know some other home schooling families to even be open to the idea of it.  But what really sealed the deal for me was  the book Educating for Human Greatness, which Marissa’s mom recommended.  The educational focus today is so narrow and the curriculum so standardized that it meets the needs of very few children.

The book is really more focused on reforming public education, and there are obviously lost of students who are not well served by our schools.  And yet even in my own experience, having gone to good public schools and done pretty well, public education failed me in several ways (again, I’m sure you can elaborate on all the ways it failed me . . .).

Home schooling is not the right decision for everyone, but we think it’s the right one for us, at least for now.  We’re going to reevaluate every year, and do whatever we think will be the best choice for our kids.

The choice to home school has been a long journey in itself.  I don’t think that everyone should home school.  But I put the decision on the same level as Who should I marry?  Should I go on a mission?  Should we take this job? etc. It is such a personal, spiritual, emotional decision, and I have received multiple witnesses from Heavenly Father that THIS is exactly what our family is to do.  And in that witness from God, I have no fear.

We are excited to home school!  I find no greater joy as a mother then seeing each of my children fulfill their nature and become the person Heavenly Father created them to be through their own desire to learn.  Even at their young ages, I see different desires in them to explore various topics and experience things that I never knew were even options!  I almost don’t even want to call it “home schooling” but rather what we’re doing is creating an environment that allows our children to be, learn, and love who they are and what they can become.  I love this quote:

“The longer we home school our children we have noticed our home school becoming more like a home than a school. In fact it has come to the point that there is now no school left in it at all. It is just a home.” (Tibbets, The Headgate)

Leo has already fallen in love with reading.  She could read 24-7 if we let her.  Now our job as parents is to put the right books in her hands and broaden her mind with the correct knowledge.  From what she reads, we can expand upon: How does that relate to the gospel?  What is the lesson that you can put into your life?  From that book, what do you want to learn more about?  She also wants to take guitar lessons, learn how to start campfires, and go skydiving.

You should see Fischer’s magnificent creations!  I love that the main thing he wants to do is play with paper, twine, tape, and markers to create aliens, books, Halloween decorations, and octopi.  It brings me have the greatest joy to see him so happy in his own element.  Fischer has told us he wants to learn to read.  Each child will learn at their own pace, in their own desire with us parents guiding them and providing opportunities for their curiosity to be satisfied.

Rocky loves books too.  He “reads” Go Dog Go to all of us by looking at the pictures and remembering what was read to him and telling his own story.  He also loves to jump, run, yell, wrestle, yield sticks, and let people know EXACTLY what he’s thinking and what he wants.  I look forward to watching Rocky’s talents come about in the environment we prepare for him.

Dodge is an observer.  He is a quiet baby who loves to have the whole family together.  Dodge likes his freedom to roam and explore, especially to make for the stairs that the kids and I have had to jimmy a “gate” in front of compiled from the shoe-bench and double stroller.  He still somehow manages to make his way through the gauntlet and onto the stairs.  I see unlimited potential in Dodge and all my children.

As long as Denton and I follow the Spirit and allow it to guide us in rearing our children, there is nothing that can hold them back.  Of course we’re going to be learning all the types of subjects:  reading, spelling, math, Social Studies, art, music, PLAY, science, English, etc.  And most importantly, everything will be based upon the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Also, there will be worksheets, assignments, and projects involved.  But in bringing the Spirit, our knowledge, and our childrens’ desires to learn into an environment with the greatest potential to succeed, there are no set rules and requirements.  Only progression.

And after all this, if you still need to know what my curriculum is, well I call it “Furna Eclectic.”

My new all-time favorite thing in Geneva is the Ludotheque, Toy Library.  Why can’t the States have these?   The kids and I hit one today, it’s right by a tram stop so very easy to get to.  Basically it’s an indoor play area with a ton of games, puzzles, bikes, cars, trucks, baby toys, scooters, etc that you can check out for free!  And considering that I’m alone w/these kids for 10 hours a day w/barely anyone speaking English to me, this will save my life these next 6 weeks.

Today we went and on our way in met Stormy, a Dallas, TX girl who married a Suisse and has been here for 10 years.   She has twin boys, Roman and Phoenix.  So I knew we would get along great considering my kids’ names.  She helped me by translating all the information – it was so nice cuz not very many people even WANT to speak English if they know it.  We checked out a huge train track for Rocky, Blokus for Leo, and a crane set for Fischer.  Fischer wanted to bring home a bike, and Leo skates but all I had was the stroller so couldn’t haul all that back on the tram.  I told them we could come back with the car next time and get whatever they wanted.

After the Lidotheque, we hit the playground right outside.  There are tons of playgrounds here and they have the most amazing toys I’ve ever seen.  We went to another one yesterday that had a HUGE basket-pendulum type swing that Rocky and I fit into so I made the kids push me for a while.  It was very relaxing, until I thought I was going to puke.  Anyways, then we found another playground near by with even better toys!  There was a preschool out playing and one of the teachers spoke English.  She told me how kids start school here at age 4, in France it’s age 3.  That’s too early.  She was really nice though but told me if I moved here, I needed to take French lessons.  She also taught me that bathroom is “le toilette” – very important when I have 4 kids and have to ask all over Geneva for bathrooms.

I’m lovin’ it here.

I had a hard time finding peanut butter at first – they have Nutella everywhere which is YUMMY but we need PB.  So I bought this generic brand, the jar is mini and cost 3.50 CHF.  At WalMart this would go for about half that.   The chocolate is a good price and they have half a row of it in the store, and it’s ALL good stuff, hard to choose.

Other costs:

-10 Euros to do two loads of laundry, wash and dry.  1 Eu = $1.25

-100 Eu to fill up the car, but it’s diesel and more fuel efficient so we fill up about every three weeks

-A bag of Ikea meatballs is 18.90 Eu – about half that in the U.S.  I went to Ikea the other day and spent 3 Eu on a toy for Dodge, I couldn’t bring myself to by anything else (except lunch of course) cuz i knew I could get it way cheaper in the U.S.  The awesome thing about the Ikea in Geneva is that the kids can go in the play place for an HOUR and they have H&M in Ikea.

-We got a membership to The Library in English, SO worth it cuz Leo and I are both hurting for books, and not in French.  It did cost 100 CHF, but I’m glad we did it.  They have story time at the Library – it’s in an old church so you walk down to the basement via some winding, rickety stairs – feels like I’m in a Dan Brown novel.

-Diet Coke!!!  Two liter, about $2.50 Eu = $3.25

-Chocolate = priceless

-I survived taking the kids to Carrefour, ie. Euro Walmart.  Except I didn’t get to buy my produce.  I didn’t know that you had to weigh and tag it yourself in the produce section.  So when I got to the checkout, the lady told me all about it in French, which means I didn’t know what she was talking about until she set my produce to the side.

-Our toilet is in it’s own little room – underneath the stairs.  We have a shower upstairs and a shower downstairs, and a toilet in a closet.  Really throws the kids off when they have to use the bathroom at night.

-Some little girl tried speaking in French to Leo today.  Leo just kept nodding her head at her.  Later Leo told me, “In conversations where  you don’t know what they’re saying, it’s best to just nod your head and say yes.”  Smart girl.

-The foreign girls love Rocky!   If he serves his mission here, he’ll probably bring home a wife:

-They DO have a version of Wal-Mart:  Carrefour which in French means “Crossroads” – I’m going tomorrow and taking all four kids.  Once again, playing into an American stereotype.  My hair doesn’t help with that either.  It’s one of those stores where you have to “pay” to get a cart out and, once again, the parking lot is like a race track and the parking spaces are mini.  If we survive, I’ll post pics later.

-I love the cheese already.  Denton’s made cheese fondue, homemade mac and cheese, and chocolate fondue, yum!  The kids aren’t quite use to it, they have no idea how lucky they are.

-We live in France right across the border from Switzerland.  So in my wallet I have Francs, Euros, and American Dollars.  I like our dollar bills – the Francs have some CRAZY pics on them of weird art and salty people, makes me not want to touch them.

-Rocky:  ”Are we in Switz-uh-wand yet?  When are we going to Fwance?”

-Don’t be fooled, I’m so glad to be here, but even more happy that I’m American.

Then we headed onto a bus – there is NO air conditioning in Switzerland and the busses were stuffy, there’s also no deodorant.  We rode the bus to the base of  Mount Saleve, part of the Swiss Alps.  Then we hiked about another half mile (the kids were troopers) and rode a rail car to the top.  I’m scared of heights and about wet my pants while the kids hung on the doors with their noses to the windows.  Had some ice cream at the top and hung out looking over Geneva – it is beautiful!  Lake Geneva is amazing, I wish you could see it.  Rode the rail car down, then took the bus, the tram, the car, then home.  And with jet lag, we all fell asleep by 7pm that night.  Still can’t believe we’re here.

There were many very nice people who helped me along the way to carry our luggage, keep my kids from running into the street, help us thru security, and give me an extra seat on the airplane so I could bring Dodge’s car seat on.

But really, going thru international check-in at the D.C. airport was H-E-double hockey sticks.  That and running thru the airport and not being able to find my gate, pushing a crying 20-lb baby in a 20-lb stroller, and carrying Rocky over my shoulder.  But the stewardess could see the trauma written all over my face and had mercy on me.  After waiting for an hour on the tarmac for bad weather to pass, I didn’t sleep a wink on the flight, but the kids did and that’s all that mattered.  And it was SO nice to see Denton’s face after going thru customs, almost falling down the escalator with the stroller, and threatening Rocky’s life every time he ran away from me.  I have a new-found appreciation for single mothers, I hope I never have that life again.