Lessons

Guess what? The kids aren't the only ones learning when you are a homeschooling family. I've learned more about my kids, more about teaching, more about time management, patience, flexibility, and even learned more about learning. I feel like I've grown so much since the beginning of this school year.

And I feel like it's test time, because we have reached that point in the school year where things usually start to crumble. I'm burnt out, the kids are burnt out, the lessons are boring, every one is arguing. But I feel like we are passing the test this year, because we seem to be pulling through. The enthusiasm isn't completely gone, as proven earlier today when I ran into the bathroom waving an apple, a cork, a quarter, and a candle over my head and yelling, "Let's be scientists!" And my kids followed enthusiastically. 

So what have I learned?

1. We aren't morning people. 

I feel like this really shouldn't have taken me two years to figure out, but I had it set in my mind that in order to have a productive homeschooling day, we must get up and get started right away. This year, we switched our schedule, and we don't start lessons until after lunch. It has made a world of difference in our attitudes and productivity. 

Even though my kids rise early in the morning, they are not ready to learn early in the morning. They get the morning to run and play and goof off, and after lunch, I have more settled and focused students to work with than I had in the morning. Not saying they are actually settled and focused, but they are closer to being settled and focused. I can work with that. 

On the flip side, my kids get a better mommy-teacher. Since I also work full time from home, I have to have time to, well, work. When we did school in the morning, I started off with an already tense attitude because we had to get through everything before lunch, or I wouldn't have time to get my work done. Now, I get up and do my work in the morning, often completely finishing before lunch or with just a few things left to do. So in the afternoon, my kids actually get my full attention, and I am more patient and eager to learn with them and do more than just "get through" the lesson plan. 

2. My kids have different learning styles. 

Joy is a little tape recorder. I can read a story or a short lesson or even a chapter from Little House on the Prairie, and she can recall and regurgitate most of it. Not verbatim, but at least the general idea. And she loves to be read to. 

I can read the same story to William (while he fidgets and squirms and looks around the room), then ask him about something that happened in the story, and receive a blank stare. Thankfully, he is now a fluent reader himself, and if I assign him the history book for reading instead of a read aloud, the discussions we have afterward are more productive and rewarding. We work on auditory comprehension in small chunks separately, just to build a vital skill that he will need in life. 

And all my kids have a wonderful love for exploring and discovering and learning that I'm trying so hard not to squash. I've only pieced together a few pieces of the puzzle so far, but it's at least enough for me to appreciate that I will see better learning from my kids when I take the time and the effort to approach things the way they do. It's very trial and error, and still a work in progress, and I've barely gotten started with Elijah or Grace!

3. Curriculum matters. 

I've really always realized that the curriculum choice is important, but I've only this year figured out what type of curriculum works for us. We made a drastic switch this year from Abeka to My Father's World: Abeka being a very traditional worksheet heavy curriculum and My Father's World based on the Charlotte Mason style of learning with more books and exploration and hands on stuff based around unit studies. Overall, MFW is just a better fit both for my kids' learning style and for the way it fits in with our overall lifestyle. 

I still appreciate Abeka's strengths. After attempting Singapore math the beginning of this year, we made the decision to continue with Abeka math for William, and I will start Joy in Abeka math for first grade. Abeka also has a phenomenal pre K, I don't think Joy would have done so well with the MFW kindergarten without the Abeka pre-K foundation. I plan to have Elijah do the Abeka pre-K curriculum next year. 

Overall, MFW gives us enough structure that I don't have to spend hours planning lessons with enough flexibility to have fun and choose our focus. 

4. It's ok to lose the calendar.

I knew from the beginning of the school year that we would need some flexibility, so I picked a 4 day school week (Wednesday being our off day most weeks, but it's flexible) with a plan to school almost year round. Then I sat down with a calendar and counted units and weeks and planned out breaks all the way through to the end of the year. 

Then I lost the calendar. Seriously, I have no idea where that thing is. But that's not only ok, it's actually very good! We take breaks when we need them, and we keep going when we can. We can all enjoy and learn more when we are not stressed about sticking to a calendar. 

I got curious a couple of days ago and sat down to figure out where we were. I discovered William is on track to finish mid-May, but Joy and Elijah will be working into July. No idea how that happened, but I find I'm not too concerned about it. They are actively learning, and that's the goal, not finishing a curriculum. 

5. My kids are capable of so much more.   

There is always the temptation, especially since I spend so much time working one on one with my kids, to do too much for them. It's easy to take over the scissors so that all the cuts are straight and perfect. But if I hold back and give them a little freedom, they not only can do it, but they also love to do it, and they do a great job! And even more importantly, they are practicing and mastering skills if I just give them the chance. 

Elijah especially has amazed me this year with what he is capable of. Mostly because he'll jump in and get it done while my back is turned before I can turn around and give him the help I think he needs. Tracing, coloring, cutting, and all kinds of things!

William astounds me with his insights when I give him opportunity to read and think about things by himself.  He picks up on details that I would typically gloss over as unimportant, but they capture his imagination.  He is also learning to manage his own time and education.  Every morning, he has a list of independent work that I expect him to have done before lunch.  Sometimes that means he goes racing to his desk when he sees me heading into the kitchen before lunch, but I think the value of work before play is starting to work its way into his mind when he sits down and completes his work after breakfast.

Now I'm working on giving them more independence to help with the housework. Oh what a glorious day that will be! 

One day at a time, by God's grace, we keep going! Learning and growing as a family. ❤️

How I Work From Home

I've been getting a ton of questions via text, email, Facebook, etc lately about what I do.  I get it: who wouldn't want the ease and flexibility of working from home?  Especially moms who want to be home with children!  So I thought a blog post might answer questions for any one else who might be curious.

I am a home health medical coder and auditor.  I have an HCS-D certification (home health ICD-9 coding) and a COS-C certification (OASIS-C, which is Medicare documentation for home health).  I work full time from home, with full benefits, on my own schedule, and I make almost 3x what I made in my office job before.  I have a monthly quota I have to meet, and anything over that is paid in a bonus check every 3 months.  I have been extremely blessed by this job.

It was a long path to get to this point.  In college, I took a part time job as a medical records file clerk at a home health agency (my mom worked for the same company, but in the hospice branch).  After college, I continued at the same company but was promoted to CRC: doing data entry and tracking doctor's orders and such.  Anytime I was caught up on work, I would help our quality assurance person with chart audits, and so began to learn some of the ins and outs of the home health world.  After about a year, the lady who does our coding was planning an extended medical leave, and they decided to train me to take over the coding.  I took it on enthusiastically.  I learned on the job, studied at home, took an online anatomy and physiology class, and attended a 3 day home health coding seminar.  I ended up passing the HCS-D certification exam and became the permanent coder in the office.  After another year, I took it on my own initiative to study, attend a seminar, and take and pass the COS-C exam.  I did not formally use that certification in my job description, but it helped me with coding and additional responsibilities in the office.

The year before we left California, we needed more income.  I took a second job as a remote coder/auditor.  With my experience and certifications, they were eager to hire me, and I was able to start immediately. It was a contract position, pay per chart, and I worked either early in the morning or late in the evening.  When we moved to Texas, I kept the contract job and started requesting more charts.  Last November, I was offered the full time position.  Since Omar was still job hunting in Texas, I took the the full time position.  Right after, Omar got a job offer, too, but I kept my full time job.  I'm glad I did, because we were all miserable with Omar working outside the home again.  We are grateful that when his contract ended, he was able to come home to homeschool the kids, and we can live comfortably on my income now.

How do I juggle working from home?  I have to be honest and say that when Omar was working outside the home, I could not do it.  I tried so many different things, but there was always something falling behind, and I was hugely stressed out.  With Omar home shouldering most of the responsibilities with the kids and house, it works out great.

I get up and spend the early morning with the kids, fixing breakfast and such.  I try to get a couple of hours of work done in the morning.  I break for lunch with my family, and I put Elijah down for his nap (sometimes I sneak in a little nap with him), and I get the bulk of my work done in the afternoon.  I break again for dinner and bedtimes.  Some days, I get all my work done in the day.  Most days, I have just a few charts to finish up after the kids are in bed.  Some days we do a big family outing, and then I stay up late to finish my work.  I enjoy being able to take frequent breaks in the day to spend with my family and take care of my kids.  It is also easy to rearrange my schedule for shopping trips, doctors appointments, or anything else we need or want to do as a family.  We don't have much of a schedule or routine right now.  Omar is doing a little schoolwork to keep the kids going over the summer, but he is focusing on a few home improvement projects right now, so some days I watch the kids more while he is working on the house, and some days he watches them more while I am working.  Once we get school going in the fall, we will have more of a routine I'm sure.

Having two parents at home works so well for our family.  We just like to be together.  If we need a few things from the grocery store, it is not uncommon for all 5 of us to jump in the car and go together.  The kids are thriving in their schoolwork with Omar as their primary teacher; he is just better at that than I am!  And I love that I can still be so involved.  My desk is set up in the main living area, so I feel like I don't miss a thing! Sometimes Elijah comes and sits in my lap for a little bit while I work.  Joy likes to bring the toy laptop over and set up shop next to me so she can do her work. I will take a short maternity leave when Baby Grace arrives, but I am so thrilled that I will never have to put her in daycare, and I won't have to pump 3-4 times a day.  I plan to babywear a lot the first few months.

Our current situation seems almost too good to be true, but when people ask me how they can do what I do, I have to say it wasn't easy for me; my certifications are very specialized and best learned on the job in an office. Don't be discouraged, though; I can offer a few suggestions. Medical coding and medical transcription are two great fields for work from home opportunities.  The general advice I have seen on forums is that medical coding pays better, but usually requires some office experience before you will be able to get a work from home job (similar to the path I took; you have to work your way into it).  Medical transcription doesn't pay as much, but you can usually start working from home right away.  Both career paths have tons of online opportunities for classes and certifications.

I feel so blessed to be able to do what I do and be home with my family. I enjoy my work, and I work for a great company.  There were times over the past 6 years that I struggled with my office job: I didn't enjoy it, I missed my kids, and we didn't have enough money.  Now I can praise God for those years and the way they prepared me for all that I can do now. Blessed, blessed, blessed!  I've been using that word so much lately, because every time I pause and think about where we are now compared to where we were a year ago, all I can do is praise God for his abundant blessings!