The Williams' Academy

I began homeschooling unexpectedly in 2010 in an attempt to challenge my bright second grade son. In September 2015 we began our fifth year as a homeschooling family and my original reason is only one of many reasons that we continue. 

Every year, every day, looks a bit different as our family grows and changes, as I add other children into the schooling mix, and as my philosophy of education evolves. We participate in our local Classical Conversations co-op (What is Classical Conversations?) and the more I learn about Classical Education (What is Classical Education?), the more I am convinced that we will be heading down that path exclusively in the future. But I've learned to not look too far ahead and take it year by year, day by day. 

I've realized how truly simple it is to teach the elementary age - we're not fancy around here! We do loads of memory work through Classical Conversations and also memorize a lot of poetry. I'm amazed at the capacity for memorization that even my youngest children have. We read large quantities of quality children's literature. We read during the day, at bedtime, and listen to audiobooks every time we get in the car, helping us to get through at least 30 books per year. We do math, phonics, and handwriting, both printing and cursive,(interesting article about the importance of handwriting), copy work, and dictation. At this point, we do not do history or science outside of our CC memory work and the weekly science experiments at CC (aside from reading informative non-fiction books), but I am planning to do a large Astronomy unit at the end of the year after our co-op has finished and we have a bit more time. 

My only regret in homeschooling Elisabeth is that she doesn't have the opportunity to plan outfits and wear them out everyday as she would if she were going to school. It is one of her life's greatest pleasures and she is amazingly skilled at it. Here she is, fully dressed for school-at-home, as she is most days.

The boys hard at work

Britton has moved on to Middle School, and that I am not quite as confident in teaching at home. Thankfully, he is doing Challenge A through Classical Conversations, which is a comprehensive 7th grade program, including math, literature, writing, science, geography, logic, and Latin. I have been amazed by this program. It is rigorous and challenging, while offering the camaraderie of a once per week community-day that my social, extroverted son thrives on. His school days at home are very full as he works to complete assignments for the next community day. I am so thankful we are a part of it.

And the Littles.... basically I'm just trying to keep them busy and out of trouble. It mostly involves a lot of costumes (and play dough).

Phew! They wear me out, and let's just say we get much of our schooling done during nap time.

See Homer there, right under Keeping a 
Family Cow and next to Family Fun magazine?

One of the unexpected blessings of homeschooling has been reclaiming my own education. I have had a renewed spark lighted in me to read classics. (Though Caleb doubts that I will ever actually read Homer's Illiad and Odyssey that has been sitting on my nightstand for a "while". I plan to prove him wrong someday.) I have a new desire to understand history and the consequences that ideas have, and even to marvel at the way God has ordered the universe through mathematics. For the first time in my life, I realize how very little I actually do know, but thankfully it is never too late to learn.  Last year, I, (having always said I don't have a "good" memory, and I really don't) became a Memory Master with Britton by memorizing copious amounts of information, including 168 points on the historical timeline and John 1:1-7 in English and Latin (that nearly kicked my butt).

Our days are rarely "blog-worthy" or what I envision when I imagine my homeschooling ideals (though there are those rare blessed moments), but we do love having our education, and indeed our entire lives, "home centered", being home together and learning together.

Our first day of Classical Conversations 2015-2016