Our Family Brochure!

So I was surfing through some of my favorite blogs and came across this post on one of my favorite blogs Smooth Stones Academy. After reading it I found out that it all started at Trivium Academy which of course is one of the most informative homeschool blogs out there! But on top of that I found links to dozens of these brochures and decided even though I am years behind the curve I wanted a brochure!

So here is My Family in Brochure format!

Our Family: Dh (32), Denita (33), Chelsea (15), Christopher (14), Tristan (11), Phoenix (7) and Gryphen (6). My husband is in the USAF and also works part time as a movie extra and in a local pub . Being a military family we don't really have a "home". We used to call Florida home but in 2004 my mother passed away and the majority of my family dispersed around the US so now home is simply where The Air Force Sends Us.

Chelsea: Chelsea is a somewhat typical teenage girl. She loves clothes, friends, dance dance revolution and Mario cart Wii, watching movies and just "hanging out". She was homeschooled from 1st-7th grade using an eclectic classically CM education. We used everything from Beautiful Feet to Learning Language Arts through Literature and even did two years of Switched on School House with an intense Classical Reading List to round it out. Chelsea now attends a local (British) Prep school where she is a star student and an amazing stand up and moral type of teenager.

Christopher: Chris is all boy. He loves sports, sports and um...sports. He plays Rugby for his school team and also loves US Football, wrestling and well SPORTS. He was homeschooled from Kindergarten to sixth grade and is now a fantastic student at a local (British) Prep school but hates going and wouldn't except that he wants to play SPORTS! Chris is also very involved in our community. He volunteers at our base chapel, helps run our volunteer based movie theater, is an entrepreneur seeking out opportunities to mow lawns, pick up dog messes, walk dogs and babysit. He is at the Chapel every time they open the door! Even when it means walking in the rain or snow to get there! Loves Youth group, reading, and did I mention SPORTS.

Tristan: Tristan is 11 and suffers from SEVERE ODD and ADHD. He is really into video games, Lego's and computers. He loves to make "scrapbooks or notebooks" of his favorite things. Tristan is really into politics and likes to surf political blogs and write or discuss his thoughts on the issues a hand. He is not usually much of a reader but he recently found the Left Behind Kids and is flying through them and is always excited to share them with us. Tristan was homeschooled in K-3rd grade and then in exasperation we put him into our local Florida school and then 1.5 years in our local British school. He is now homeschooling again and we are just trying to get through the adjustments and figuring out how to deal with his anger issues.

Phoenix: Phoenix is a flash of movement in everything he does! The child couldn't sit still if offered every cool toy in a toy store to do it! Phoenix is ADHD and so highly dis tractable he will often forget his own projects and interests. Phoenix loves Hot Wheels Cars, not off brands or matchbox but HOT WHEELS! He is really into Lego's, Wii games (his favorite is Wii fit), and to write stories. Phoenix has been a rather sick child with intestinal issues, food sensitivities, and is the only child in my house to have broken anything. He broke his collar bone when he was two playing ring around the rosie with a group of cousins, and fractured his arm when he was four by wrestling with his younger brother. Phoenix is also the talker of our family. He has 1000000000 questions about everything and has to put in his words no matter what the conversation. His favorite show is Fosters home for imaginary friends, his favorite color is orange and he is not cuddly at all but loves to be right next to someone all the time.

Gryphen: In many ways Gryphen is the typical baby of the family. Although he has recently turned six he still has the heart of a toddler. He is cuddly, sensitive, friendly and funny. His favorite show is My Friends Tigger and Pooh, he loves the color red, likes Lego's, video games and drawing. He sings all the time. He has a stubborn streak that break a donkey!


Our homeschool: We didn't start homeschooling from our heart. It started with a need. My daughter was in first grade and was having all sorts of problems so after a few weeks of fighting with her school we decided it was time to try homeschooling. That first year we used workbooks and the library, computer games and coop classes and even though it was hard work I found that I liked having her home with me. I liked homeschooling. So we started a journey. I read "Homeschooling the Whole Hearted Child" and several Charlotte Mason books, The Trivium and the Well Trained Mind and we found our groove. Admittedly our groove changed many times over the years but when I allowed my children to go into the local schools here in Britain they were all miles ahead of their peers academically and socially.

Things are different now than when I was homeschooling the older children. I am dealing with two boys with ADHD and one of those also have ODD. Also we are living in a very remote village in England with no local group (although I am working on creating one) and it is very hard to get the homeschool supplies you need. Even writing paper and notebooks can be a challenge as the paper and notebooks here are a different size than at home so if you want uniformity you have to depend on the mail and BX both which can take quite a bit of time! So in someways it is like we are starting all over again!
Curriculum: This year we are going to try something new and buy a curriculum that is mostly laid out for us, both cores from Winters Promise "Children around the world" and "Adventures of Sea and Sky". Also their Science The world around us. Yes that is two full curriculum's but with boys as highly dis tractable as mine I decided that alternating two days of one core and two days of another would work really well for them. We will take at least two years to finish these cores. In addition we are using the complete reading list of Ambleside Online. Queens Language Arts, Math Mammoth, Mind Benders and Thinking Toolbox, and Rosetta Stone foreign language.


Schedule: We school four days a week with Fridays free for field trips, nature study and Art classes. Our goal is to homeschool from 9-12 but so far we haven't been able to get started or finished like we would like.

Outside activities: As we have just started homeschooling again we are still more "deschooling" than anything else. We will be taking art classes from my friend Rene along with another homeschool family. The only other activity we have at our disposal is Awanas and due to the time it isn't very likely we will be getting involved with it at this time. In the next few months we are moving and hopefully will have more outside opportunities at our new home.

My Interests: My main interest outside of my family is Computers. I love to play on them, with them around them. I "work" as a tech on the base helping people to set up new computers, fix issues and mostly teaching people how to make their computers and all the information safe from viruses, spyware, malware etc.
I also love to read when I get the chance, like movies, and LOVE Boot Fairs and Charity Shops. I love antiques but only the strangest items attract my attention.
I like scrapbooking but almost never find time anymore.

Interesting Factoids:
1. I originally wanted 12 children
2. I am afraid of Bathrooms...No seriously I hate bathrooms..even my own sometimes but really can't handle other peoples or worse yet public bathrooms.
3. I am ADD and can't keep my thoughts straight to save my life.

Regarding Homeschool:
I hope that i have learned my lesson and that I will not put these boys back into school. I would love to one day say that these boys graduated from our home! My eldest two were supposed to be homeschool graduates and it makes me very sad to see them head off to school each day and know I have wasted years of time with them and only get mere hours each day to know them.