S & K

• What are some of the things you do to save money?

Our family too only has one vehicle, our housing is also very inexpensive, every week we get our groceries on a strict budget(thanks to H&W).
I like to use our crock pot most days of the week instead of the oven. Over the last year I have worked hard on moving away from paper products(diapers, feminine products, paper towel, baby wipes) , that is expensive at first but cuts down in the long run. Cleaners are another thing that I am trying to change, some rubbing alcohol, essential oils, and vinegar works great. I flip back and forth on kids clothes, sometimes I want something new and great, other times I want to find a deal at Goodwill, and best of all is when something good quality and new looking is at Goodwill!

• What little luxury do you feel is worth the splurge?

Books, and Innis & Gunn beer

• What would be on your wishlist if money was no object?

A vacation home

• What was your best deal ever? 

Our house, the Kingdom Hall piano, buying a used hot tub, my 'as is' island from Ikea.

My Two Cents - by Laura

What are some of the things you do to save money?

We love second hand clothes. I keep a bin for each kid of clothes to grow into. If I find a great deal on a big size or we get a bag of hand me downs, it goes into the box. And when my kids are done with those clothes, they get passed on to the cousins to enjoy.

H & W Produce may be Edmonton’s best kept secret. My friend Rania did the math and claims that H & W is 30% cheaper than Superstore on produce.

So far, we’ve managed with one vehicle. Taking the bus or juggling our schedules works most of the time.

I rarely buy a book, movie or CD without checking it out at the library first. If I still love it after three weeks, my next stop is Amazon.ca.

What little luxury do you feel is worth the splurge?

We really enjoy eating out with the kids. Vietnamese soup is a staple. Or picking up a Panago large pizza that feeds the four of us for about $15.

What would be on your wishlist if money was no object?

I think I would get spa treatments every week like clockwork.

Thrifty Mamas

I think that most homeschooling families try to be wise with resources. Would you like to share your thrifty thoughts with the rest of us? Here's some questions to get you started. Go ahead! Inspire us to penny pinching heights!

What are some of the things you do to save money?

What little luxury do you feel is worth the splurge?

What would be on your wishlist if money was no object?

What was your best deal ever?

Kozmech Family

• What have you found the most difficult within the home/outside influence or comments?

Well, there was the intervention our family did, that was not fun. Most of the issues with other people’s feelings were gone after the first year. It’s like when two people are dating, everyone feels that it is their business to comment on the match then when they actually tie the knot nobody cares anymore. That’s were we are at…no one cares anymore.

One great thing that has happened at home is that Kevin has completely become absorbed in home schooling; he is a great help.

• A typical day in your life goes something like this.....

Each morning of Mon to Wed start the same with days text, WT, Math and LA. I wanted to make sure that Daxxen had special mommy time so we leave the older kids for an hour with Dad around 10, they read Awake articles, practice piano and then have a break, Dax and I go to salsa babies and intellidance. Monday afternoon we have basement time (our basement is full of great learning things), this may include art, games, books, computer spelling or math. Tuesday afternoon the kids have piano and I go to do my bookkeeping job, Kevin will usually supervise whatever I leave for them to do. Wednesday afternoon there is dance and swimming lessons. Thursday is of course Argyll time and Dax and I go dancing again, then the meeting. Friday morning we have the service group from our house and we go out as a family then in the afternoon we do science. I have left out social studies from our day to day because we love to read books on history and of course travelJ This schedule only applies to the months that we aren’t gallivanting in some other place.

• What has been your biggest surprise/enjoyment in homeschooling?

How right it feels, how easy it has become, how much we all love it and most surprisingly how we would love to have a bunch more ‘students’.

• What do you wish someone had told you when you embarked on this process?

The one thing every home school mom should know is that it’s okay to change. Kids are changing, parents are changing, the world is changing, being adaptable to whatever works is the best tool you can have.

• What general category of schooling does your family fall into?

Ha ha, maybe something like natural-scheduled-chaos-with a hint of life is a vacation attitude. Referring to my last answer, it is subject to change at any time.

• Describe your first year in the trenches?

Connie described it as a—l. Like a first of anything it was a failed test project. The remainder of the years have made up for the damage (I hope).

• What were some main factors to why you decided to homeschool?

My best friend is Rhonda!! How could I let her do something without me? Add in that Keenan was in cogito and crying before report card time even though he got A’s.

• How long have you been homeschooling?

Grades one to five. Kevin did do his university at home so he has more experience.

Tanya in the Trenches

What have you learned about yourself through the process of homeschooling?
That I actually like being around my kids practically 24/7!


What have you found the most difficult within the home/outside influence or comments?
A lot of "pressure to perform". I often feel that there's so much to prove to the skeptics- their marks have to be better than when in public school, they have to be better socially adjusted than "normal", and still be perfectly well mannered too. Also, scheduling can be a challenge, partly due to trying to be overly flexible versus trying to actually be productive. Stuff like, taking time off mid-week for service/ to help others out etc. and then be frowned upon for trying to get caught up on a weekend or evening.


A typical day in your life goes something like this.....
We get up around 8:30-ish. Everyone is responsible for feeding themselves, getting ready for the day. I work in our home office a bit/ do housework etc., and school starts at a leisurely 9:30 or so. L.A. and Math are always priority each day, and are usually done by noon. Monday is a full school day. Tuesdays are piano lessons, library, and meeting night. Thursdays are spent rounding up my sisters, and hanging out while the boys do their classes at Argyll. Friday is catch up (AKA Science) day. I've been working on Wed. afternoons being my midweek service time. Mix in meeting prep. times, meetings, family service, social stuff, housework, and my home office work, I'm pretty booked up! We also try to walk downtown (Calmar) regularly, and workout in the basement for exercise.


What has been your biggest surprise/enjoyment in homeschooling?
I was surprised at how many tools and options are available. I love seeing my kids learn, and to teach them, and seeing them gain more self-worth. LOVE the freedom to have a great morning every day (not so early), and to flex with life's events. Also that we are more free to travel and take work with us.... I could go on for a while!


What do you wish someone had told you when you embarked on this process?
I had lots of help that way, but also struggled the first year with always questioning whether or not I was doing "enough" or educating the right way. I finally came up with a weekly checklist chart for each boy to check off with stickers so they could see what needed to be done, and this has worked wonders with our chronic "We're ALWAYS behind" complaint of most of last year.


What general category of schooling does your family fall into?
Pretty much school at home. Cam recognizes the readers, and science program that he did when he was in public school (Levi is 2 years behind him). They didn't respect the schooling concept until I actually set up a School Room, charts, cubbies, globe, bins, and all!!


Describe your first year in the trenches?
Exciting, scary, frustrating.... biggest challenge is figure out what motivates and what doesn't. (Went through a lot of bribery treats last year!!) The most surreal moment for me was when everyone was marching off to public school in September, and we went off to camp in a BC orchard for a couple weeks!


What were some main factors to why you decided to homeschool?
Because I CAN. I spent a year debating the pros and cons, thinking about how things would be better/worse as each situation in public school came up. I've also watched the highs and the lows of others for years now. I realized how very short childhood is, and how great it would be to improve their quality of life, if only just by them not having to drag out into the cold early every winter morning, sick or not, etc... And I was having trouble coming up with non-peanut butter sandwiches for lunches. The bonus of being able to travel quite freely.... could go on and on!


How long have you been homeschooling?
Just started our 2nd year.

Laura's Life

Tell Us About Your Homeschooling Life and Experiences

What have you learned about yourself through the process of homeschooling? To be humble! To find that there is joy in just being with my kids, going through life’s routines.
What have you found the most difficult within the home/outside influence or comments? I find most people extremely supportive of homeschooling. I’m happy to be surrounded by so many people who have experience at this.
A typical day in your life goes something like this..... The following is more or less “typical” for us.
November 4, 2009
Gymnastics this morning with friends. Both kids really enjoy the class and are responding well to their instructors.
We read a bunch of paperback library books back to back. Ryan will do a Click N Read phonics lesson before he's allowed to watch Treehouse this afternoon.
They watched Bill Nye on Germs. Ryan chose a science book all about sharks, so we read a few pages and saved the rest for later.
Ryan is building complicated Tinkertoy structures complete with rigged catapults.

I take both kids with me to get groceries and do errands. They love to help with cooking and cleanup. This is more complicated of course, but it’s important for them to find satisfaction in routine chores and tasks.

What has been your biggest surprise/enjoyment in homeschooling? The surprise was how easy it was to include a younger sibling in school activities. Kiana loves sitting with us and working on her own little projects. And she catches on to things that I’m teaching Ryan, and he loves teaching her from his vantage point as “big brother”.
What do you wish someone had told you when you embarked on this process? I wish I’d either gone totally traditional or else signed up for a curriculum where all you need to do is the assigned pages for any given day. I’m sort of in between and I have no past experience to gauge our progress.
What general category of schooling does your family fall into? We are aiming to meet provincial standards, but our school time is rather informal. We might be reading books in front of the fire, making things out of math cubes, perhaps doing some workbook pages – whatever works for this day.
Describe your first year in the trenches? This is our first year trying to meet provincial standards and I would say I’m a little uncertain about “where we are”, as we haven’t had a formal meeting with a facilitator yet. I am working on the balance between “doing enough school” and letting Ryan just be himself and play like the five year old he still is.
What were some main factors to why you decided to homeschool? I saw the difference in quality of life between my two homeschooled siblings and us three older kids who went to school. Not that there was perfect peace and happiness at all times, but there were so many REAL LIFE experiences they enjoyed because they weren’t tied to a school bus schedule and the confines of a classroom.
How long have you been homeschooling? Officially since September 1 of this year, but unofficially since my kids were born.