Conner Overcomes

When Conner was four years old, my friend Staci noticed something one day while babysitting him. She noticed he would reverse letters and had a hard time with his colors. She had a daughter the same age as Conner, who knew these things and Stacy mentioned to me that maybe something was going on? Conner was a boy and boys tend to be developmentally behind girls, so I thought nothing of it.

We had chosen to homeschool our children long before our kids were school age. We liked the idea and thought it would work for our family. Staci's daughter and Conner's cousin were starting school that fall so I decided to start Conner, I had started school at 4 1/2 and thought he was ready. We started with a very simple curriculum and basics. The first day, when quizzing Conner, he kept missing the letters but Elizabeth who was two was picking them up. Halfway through the term, Conner was frustrated because his sister was catching on but he wasn't catching on. We decided to stop and wait until he was closer to six to start Kindergarten based on everything I had read regarding boys and learning.

The following fall, we started Kindergarten again armed with more resources and material.  Everyone was questioning my ability to homeschool and our family's choice. Conner was still writing in complete mirror image by that spring and struggle to pick up reading. He would also jumble sayings and phrases, struggled to get his words out in order, he also failed vision testing at the pediatrician and eye doctor. We had a feeling, that something was going on with him. After testing by a neuropyscholgist , we learned Conner had a language processing disorder, along with dyslexia. Basically, he had trouble processing what he was being told and putting it down on paper and knowing what to do with it?

Our hearts broke as parents, how would he overcome this and what would happen to him someday? would he be able to make it through school and go to college someday? When you learn there is something wrong, you grieve the ''what could have been'' after a while, I set out to educate myself how to best teach him. Basically, we formed our own IEP based on Conner's learning style.

I learned that Conner really was good at memorizing things and picked up by listening to things set to music. His AWANA leader Traci helped me get a CD for his verses to listen to. The first year he had failed to finish his book, the second year along with the help of this CD, he finished his book and extra credit. Another friend directed me to a Language Arts program especially for kids with learning issues.

We had tried several reading programs, We finally found the funny enough, Hooked on Phonics along with an Orton Gillingham based approached worked for him. I hid the fact his sister had learned to read from listening to the hours I spent teaching him. When he was eight years old, he proudly called his Poppa Brown to read to him. Conner could finally read.

Eventually that same year, he figured out that he was behind. He found out his sister was on his same level at six that he was at eight and that he had a learning issue. We cried a lot of tears that year, I encouraged him to find ways that worked best for him and taught him in ways that suited his tactile learning style along with using as much set to music that I could.

Fast forward to 2014, Conner has long ago learned to compensate with his learning style. I have likened our homeschool adventure as being on a fast moving train that you cannot jump off. He path clearly set out to graduate has been long laid out by his rate of learning and what needs to happen. We offered them the chance to go to public school when we moved to TN and both kids chose homeschooling. Conner especially because he knows what needs to be done  and happen to graduate based on our long ago formed IEP.

This year, he wanted to join a local academy. As parents, we had put him in other classes before but this was out of the homeschool community. It entailed a lot of reading, memorizing and writing. Memorizing is his strong suit but writing is still something he struggled with in the past. Testing is something that has been tough in the past as well.

He has blown us away with his hard work, diligence and study habits. We have not had to help him, to push him or prod him during the academy. He has found his niche, excelled beyond our wildest dreams. He came home last night, one week left in the academy to say he got all of his tests back. He scored FIVE 100% scores including his mid-term with the lowest score of 85% on one test. To say we're thrilled, overjoyed and proud is an understatement. His future looks very bright and he has even formed a game plan for post high school, all on his own.

I wrote this for the other mom's out there, the mom's who are in the trenches still struggle to find answers and plans. For mom's still searching for answers, grieving that loss of ''normal'' and wondering, ''what will happen to my child?'' hang in there, fight, don't give up, listen to your gut and don't let anyone bring you down. There is hope and your child can overcome.

Guest Blog: Another Ski Season Begins

      One of my new found Twitter friends and fellow homeschool mom Teri shares about ski season in their house. Teri is a wonderful woman that I had the pleasure of meeting at the Mixtape Festival this summer. I am so grateful to know her and call her friend.

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I never dreamed I’d live in a house where skis criss-crossed the floor, boots lay in piles and wet winter gear was draped over every available piece of furniture.  However that’s exactly what has happened.

     Ski season is beginning for us and my three children are slope junkies. As Homeschoolers, we have the opportunity to form or join ski clubs. These clubs meet at our local slopes, in our case Perfect North Slopes, once a week for a full day of skiing and snowboarding.

    Some moms ski, some don’t. We fellowship and play cards or board games. Many work on lessons or grade papers from the classes we teach in our local co-op. There are scrapbookers, stampers, knitters, cross stitchers, and a fair number of laptops scattered throughout the lodge loft. Most of all there are friends, tables full of them.

    Dozens of people camp out in the upper level of the lodge. The owners are business savvy. Getting these kids hooked on the sport at an early age and at a cost the parents can afford, virtually guarantees them customers for years to come.

     The cost of feeding everyone for an entire day of skiing would be prohibitive to say the least; therefore we are permitted to bring our own food.  Did I mention the owners are business savvy?  This translates to slowcookers at every electrical outlet (we regularly blow the fuses), coolers and snack bags. Various soups, stews and barbeques simmer, filling the place with delicious aromas. 

One week during the season we make hot sandwiches on a griddle, courtesy of my own BFF Laura. We also have waffle day which features homemade waffles and fresh fruit. Everyone feeds any chilled and hungry skier as they wander around while taking a break from the powder.

It is a very relaxed atmosphere, one that I now look forward to each year. I never dreamed I’d live in a house where skis criss-crossed the floor, boots lay in piles and wet winter gear was draped over every available piece of furniture, but now, I can’t imagine it any other way.  

Riding Buddies

When I was about 11 years old, I made a friend named Tony. I had recently recieved a Schwinn 10-speed for Christmas and he loved to ride bikes also. I remember hopping on my bike, riding from my house to his house and going off on a adventure.

We would ride all over our city without helmets, hair blowing in the wind and seeing the sights. We would ride miles and miles together. I loved the freedom my bike gave me to see the world around me. I loved that Schwinn, I wish I still owned it. What a great bike that was and what adventures I had on it.

As a parent, I can't imagine letting Elizabeth go wander around our town on a bike. I think back, that was the days before cell phones and I was often gone for hours. The world was a different place back then and life was a lot simpler. I really would never let my kids ride off alone so we ride together.

We often get up early to get the schoolwork done before lunch., After lunch, we hop on the bikes and go on adventures together. We love riding in the sun with the wind blowing, often our view is the mountains on the top of the page. I love being able to share that experience with them while making memories together.

Being a short mom, my kids are about my height right now. It's nice that our abilities and statures are about the same. We keep up with each other very easily. Elizabeth isn't a fan of pro-cycling like Conner and I are. Even she loves her bike named "Clare" and riding the vast expanse.

I often get asked the question, "Do you ever want a break from the kids?" and that answer is sometimes I do need a break. Every mom needs a break sometimes. I do love spending every minute I can with them and enjoying our time together. Someday, not so very far off, they will be busy with their own lives and grown. I would rather spend every minute I can with them before that time. Someday, I will have plenty of time to myself and will miss these days.

So for now, we are riding buddies exploring together. What a precious gift to share with each other.

Why is it?

That people feel the need to judge homeschoolers? I am not the kind of homeschooler who worries about what other people are doing with their kids. I never tell anyone how they should educate their children or ask them why they do what they do for education.

I know that this goes both ways and their are some homeschoolers out there that feel this is the only way to school. As a parent who has worked, I understand that not everyone can homeschool. Nor does everyone want to homeschool. What you chose to do with your child is fine by me. It's not my place to judge.

So don't judge me for my choice to homeschool. We have reasons why homeschooling is better for our family and it works. It's the way God has called us to educate our children and is good for us. We have always prayed for God to show us the way with our kids education.

Personally, I don't think there is one right way and I think it is a matter of preference. I know that homeschooling isn't a common choice and there are many misconceptions. Again, ask me and I will share with you. I find that educating yourself on something before making a judgement is really a key to helping yourself not look ignorant.

The same goes for us homeschoolers, we can't judge other families who don't homeschool. I know one friend has felt judged by homeschoolers for not homeschooling. That's not fair to those who don't homeschool and it makes homeschoolers look bad.

All I am saying is don't judge someone else for choices they make with their children's education!

Just Jules News

I'm finally out of my memory lane blogging mode and moving back into present day blogging mode. I have lots to catch up on. I had a fun birthday month and enjoyed the trip down memory lane but reality calls.

School is intense this year. One 8th grader and 6th grader means a lot of work. It's going great and we continue to love homeschooling. It works well for our family. One nice feature is we can take a family vacation during the school year.

We are taking our first family vacation in years! The last time we went on a major vacation was to Hawaii in 2004. We are long overdue and really excited to get out of California! We are headed to Georgia in 16 days. Very excited to go see friends and visit. We are studying US history this year and looking forward to seeing some Civil War sites and other historical monuments.

I'm thinking long term changes on the blog. Thinking of making some major changes such as a move to Wordpress. Not sure right at the moment. Lots to think about with that. I need to really think about redesign and what I want out of it.

 I have a list of people to call and things to do a mile long. I am trying to keep the blog up and blog faithfully.

Lots going on in the world of Jules! Happy to be busy and have lots of fun things going on!

Homeschooling, a labor of love

Here we go again, our school is back in session. This is our 9th year of homeschooling overall, I started when Conner was four years old and Elizabeth was two. Things have changed greatly since those days, in so many ways its easier and in some ways harder.

Nine years ago, I had no clue what I was getting into. Thankfully some very nice women came alongside of me and helped me learn the ropes. I remember Janice taking me to her homeschool meetings with her, Kim and Sandi helping me with paperwork and reports. Thank goodness we have such a great homeschooling community in our area.

Our first few years were difficult. Conner has dual learning issues that made teaching the basics difficult. It took him four years to learn to read because of that. Elizabeth was the opposite, she learned so fast and actually picked up many things before her brother would. I am thankful to have had the opportunity to help Conner at his pace and help him overcome so many obstacles. Nothing brought greater joy than the day he called his Poppa and read to him over the phone.

I learned that during the school year, somethings can wait. It's not about the clean house and running errands, its about taking the time to learn. I have learned so much from homeschooling. I struggled in math throughout my years as a student even in college. I have learned so much from our math curriculum and have overcame my issues with math also.

The early years are fun. Fun activities, field trips and learning times. Now we are in the years where its serious learning. Many subjects to be covered, tests to be taken and grades to be recorded. I sit back and think, next year Conner will be a high school student and I have four years left with him. Elizabeth is in her last year of elementary school and time with her is growing short.

I am thankful for the opportunity to homeschool and glad that I have stuck it out. Homeschooling is a learning journey for the parent( or teacher) as much as it is the child. It's been fun this year, my good friend  Stacy is a homeschooling nanny. Another friend from church is just starting out her journey also.  I must say, its nice being on this side of things.

Last year was a rough year, we have some gaps to fill in from the time I was gone. My mom did a great job of keeping the school work up but there are some things only I could teach. So we have some extra work to do. Now I lean heavily on my friends Traci and Alison who are in the trenches with me. We can share curriculum and book reviews, ask each other questions and give advice. It's nice to have them be one or two steps ahead of me.

Here's to a good school year for our homeschool and everyone else with kids in school.

Mouse tails

I will pick up where I left off.....


The next night we came home from bowling to find the big guy in a trap under the stove. We took him outside and sent him away, far away. I did a bunch of reading about field mice and how to properly protect your home against them permanently. So I wen out yesterday and bought steel wool because apparently mice don't like steel wool and won't chew through it. So I stuffed that in edges of the house that looked suspicious and behind the stove where they were coming from. We have not seen a mouse since Friday night and not heard one either. So I am thinking we have this situation under control and it was a couple of isolated incidents. We figured out they must be coming from our neighbor's house and they crawled up the gas pipe into the top part of the stove. So we are in works to get a new stove that does not have a open hole for them to get through but they can fit through spaces smaller than a quarter.


Good news, Elizabeth has slept two nights with out problem and we worked on getting her room organized yesterday. She really likes to play with bags, boxes and purses. She must always have five or six stuffed animals with her at all times and likes to leave groupings of toys all over the place. She doesn't like to clean up and we have been battling over that lately, so I decided to help her. We cleaned out all of the papers and crippity crap yesterday to move around her room and see if that will help her. She was happy because we were able to make a reading lounge for her in one corner of her room. We have decided to get rid of the school desks because the kids never sit in them anyway. They both use our old couches and lap desks to do their work and I am going to buy a table and chairs to fit up there.

field trip

We went on two field trips today with some other homeschool families. We took a tour of Carrows and they feed the kids a free breakfast and let them make their own pancakes and drinks. Then we drove out to Bravo farms a artisan cheese factory in Traver. They showed the kids how Cheddaring is a process not just a name, How some bacteria is good and how some cheese really smells bad. They showed us all the cheese aging and molding, the storeroom, the milk tanks and all of the stuff that goes into a cheese factory. Then they gave everybody cheese and ice cream at the end of the tour. My Dad loves this cheese and I bought him some Cabernet cheese. Overall a really nice break and fun for the kids to see some friends their own ages.

Home is where the school is

I really never pictured myself a homeschooling and actually never had heard of homeschooling before moving to Central CA. I grew up in an area where everyone I knew went to school public or private. So when we moved here and met the A family we thought they were strange since they were homeschooling their 11yr old and 12 yr old. At first felt sorry for them until I started to see all the benefits and became very interested. The first book I read was Charlotte Mason considered one founder of home education in England. I was fascinated by using "living books" and nature walks. Marty was very impressed with what this family was doing and asked me to consider homeschooling our children. Conner was two at the time and some ways off from school so I had a few years to learn and gather information.


Conner was a very bright, extremely oral, active, intelligent four yr old normal in every way. I left him to be babysat by a friend one day on coming home I was asked by the mom "does he know his colors"? and I said "Yes, I have been teaching them to him since he was 2" she said "because I kept showing him which cup was his. Then telling him it was this color and he could not ever find it" We started quizzing him on his colors and found out he was color blind and did not know them at all. I was shocked but a lot of men are color blind ( I think Marty is but he will not admit to that). Since he was four I decided he needed to write his name and precede to start teaching him. He wrote it backwards which at that age is common and thought there was nothing to worry about. We started school that August and the first day I started teaching letter sounds and letter's. He could not get them and I should have really been alarmed when Elizabeth age two was repeating them after the first week and Conner could not tell me. We decided to stop school until age six which is the legal age a child in CA needs to begin school. We focused on science, history, reading aloud whole books, nature and memorizing verses, poems and rhymes.

After four yrs Conner finally began to read and write. He had been tested for learning disabilities and diagnosed as a dyslexic with a processing disorder. In a nutshell he knows the information and has a very high I.Q. but cannot process written words in a way you and I would. At age ten he is reading at a third grade level in the fourth grade which is good and has a very high comprehension rate when he does read. He excels in science, memorization, math, history and handwriting. By keeping him home I have been able to give him time, patience and one on one teaching. I think we have saved him much heartache and self esteem problems.

Elizabeth really has been the biggest benefactor from homeschooling. Because I taught the same thing's to Conner for four yrs straight she already knew them when she hit school age. She is in second grade working on a 3-4 grade level in most subjects. She can read almost anything and I would assess her reading level at 8th or 9th grade level. She is very driven and self directed. She does struggle in handwriting but most of you who know me IRL know I have terrible handwriting. She enjoys crafting and making things out of paper.I am really excited at the possibilities this opens for her. One that I think will happen is college at a young age. I am talking in her teen years and this was one thing that drew us to homeschooling in the first place.


We have legal representation if we are ever approached by social services or the school district. You can read more about that hereHSLDA . I use an eclectic approach to school and there are so many ways and places to get information. One favorite supplier isRainbow resource. We use Math U see for math which is a concrete approach to abstract concepts, AVKO spelling and handwriting for dyslexics, Bob Jones history, Answers in Genesis science, Pathway readers for reading, Comprehensive Curriculum books for grade level concepts in english, reading, spelling and math. I am part of a homeschool email loop in my county. We take sign language with a group of other home schooled children from our area. The group has once a month play day, skate day and park day gatherings for the kids to socialize and maintain friendships. We also belong with a group of families that make up a ISP or a private school as we are called by the state. They help us maintain our paperwork and documents for the state.

The biggest argument we ever hear from people is that our kids should be socialized. I am sorry school is to learn and I am not going to send my child there to make friends. My kids are extremely well adjusted, socially fine in all areas and both have many friends. .Since my husband doesn't work a 9-5 job this enables us to have the family time whenever. We also benefited from being able to travel with our school when we had death's in the family and my mom needed care. We now will benefit when Marty has his transplant and the kids can come with us.

Bottom line, this works for our family.I am not one to tell people they are wrong for sending their kids to school.I know many people who I think should never homeschool. I am not going to look down on anyone for their choices in education and I like to be given the same courtesy. We get a lot of flack over this from a lot of people and are constantly having to defend our stance. I think public, private and homeschool all have drawbacks and flaws in the way they work. It just comes down to what works for you and how long it works for you. We might not always home educate our children it is just what is best for this stage in life. I have no regrets now and am very happy with the way things are going for us.

Quick facts about our school:

We school M-F
School hours are 9-1
We don't take breaks
PE is conducted after school
School is 180 days a year
We have a schoolroom in our home
SAT testing is optional until age 12

here is what the kids say:


Untitled from Just Jules on Vimeo.