Hello from Chicagoland! We, the John Hayden family, homeschool in the western suburbs and have been been blessed to have always homeschooled.

Our children Lindsey (16), Jeff (14), and Tanner (6) will be homeschooling the 10^th grade and 1^st grade this fall. We bumped our son Jeff up one grade level since he is only 15 months younger than his sister, which made it easier for Mom and more fun for the teens. After this sophomore year full time at home, we plan for our teens to begin part time classes at the local junior college as well as studying at home. 

We began homeschooling with ABeka phonics and reading. As time went on, we began adding a few miscellaneous books. The Christian Liberty Press books The Stories of the Pilgrims and The Story of the Wright Brothers and Their Sister were my first experiments in teaching beyond textbooks. How refreshing and interesting they were!

Then, after four years of homeschooling, I began to think back to my own elementary years of public education. What lasting memories and learning could I recall? Aside from the skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic, I realized that most of my other memories of school had one thing in common: hands-on experiences! I began approaching our lessons and curriculum on the premise that hands-on activites and self-education produce retention.

At this time, I was also introduced to the Charolotte Mason method of education. A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola was a literal feast for my soul. Now we began using LLATL and Greenleaf Press history. Beyond Five in a Row was a delightful experience in learning as well. Considering God's Creation made science become a hands-on experience and provided our first "notebook" project. We began a homemade verson of The Book of Centuries. What a treasure it is! The incredible artwork and written narration of my two oldest will be enjoyed for years to come. We created a poster-format timeline, complete with handdrawn people and places. Literary picnics, historic scenes made from Legos or toy people, an at-home Greek Fest, playing bird bingo, and salt-flour dough maps are just a few of the fun new methods we began using to make learning come alive. 

Now as our older children are in high school, we've gone back to a more textbook/work text format, but even so I look for ways to make things more visual and memorable as we go. A graphic organizer helped the kids put down in words and pictures what they learned in a survival skills course, which we then culminated last winter with a trip to a nearby forest preserve.

Our littlest scholar, Tanner, is learning ABeka phonics, reading, and math, but we are having a lot of fun and enriched learning with many other sources. Five in a Row (a literature/unit study curriculum), nature magazines, science experiments, and lots of great learning books round out his education. I recently learned about making lapbooks (a colored file folder turned into a scrapbook of pictures, booklets, maps, etc.), and we have made several of those to go along with our Five in a Row books. I've learned that my busy boy learns best when I allow him to move around for part of our lessons.

Our family has benefited from homeschooling these 11 years. We know each other so much better, and our children are best friends because of their quantity and quality time together. We have time to memorize chapters of scripture together (what a joy that has been!) and opportunity to work on character issues all throughout the day. Our children have more time to pursue their interests of music, drama, writing, and ministry. Both of our teens enjoy playing guitar and singing in our church, helping in Awanas and preschool Sunday school, and they have headed up drama teams, youth group newsletters, and worship teams as well. This has been a huge blessing, as we see them becoming interested in ministry for their life's work.

As we all begin a new year of school this fall, I encourage you to look for a verse that the Lord puts on your heart.  Memorize it.  God's Word give us courage as we do the hardest job we'll ever love.