What does it take to become a homeschooling mom?
That is the question of the day.
I am sure you have heard that question a million times as I have. Why do you do it? It would be so much easier to put your children in a public or private school. My answer is.. I have homeschooled my children because I had a desire to help them accomplish all that God desired them to accomplish. Along the way I regrouped and was set on a new track, my vision restored and my desire rekindled. You will not have all of the answers at first. Do not give up! Stay on course till the Lord redirects you. This has been one of the best revelations I have held onto all of these years. It has proven to be the right way to raise my kids and live my life. I have seen many families change their course from year to year. It seemed they never stuck to the same curriculum or way of teaching two years in a row. That way may have worked for them, but for me to stay on the course God placed me and my kids was the way for me to  become successful on my journey. I have known so many homeschooling moms and I can say without any hesitation we are all different. We all have different views of what is important and how to accomplish our goals for our children. One thing it takes to become a successful homeschooling mom is to be.... selfless. You will not make it if you are not willing to give a hundred percent to your family. I can not count the many nights I have stayed up with my kids helping them finish a paper or helping them understand why someone acted in a crazy way. You must put you on the back burner. I do not care what the world may tell you. OH take care of you and then others. Is that what our Father told us to do? Is that the example He showed us? NO! We must eat well and exercise that is true, but if our children need us the workout will wait or not happen today. Life will go on. We only have our children with us for a short time, take each moment as a gift and give it your all. Do everything as you are doing it unto God. You will reap the wonderful harvest in the end.

When is enough, ENOUGH?
That is the question for the day. I was looking back on my homeschool journey and realized I often thought I was not doing enough. I always wanted my children to have the best education I could give them. I never wanted anything I did or didn't do to hold them back in life. I really never wanted to them to say " if  I only had a better education I could have..." So I made it my mission to educate at all times. I found homeschooling became a way of life not just a school choice. During my early years of homeschooling I had set hours for school time.As years passed I realized life happens and this changed things drastically.  Some days we started at 8 am and others at 2pm. I also embraced teaching them all throughout the day. School did not end when we completed our curriculum. I would look for doors to open to share insight in other things. Let me give you some examples...  I would teach my children how to cook when it was time for dinner or a treat . I found that when we would pass a historical site or when we would watch a documentary this opened the door for discussion. When someone talked about them or me or did something they thought was wrong, this was a great time to teach about how to forgive and how we should handle these kind of  situations. It was also a great time to discuss how to handle things if we were in that same position as the person who upset them. Life situations are the best time to prepare children for the future. So I guess my answer is... it is never enough. Always look for open doors to teach your children all that you can. They are only with you for a season and then they are gone into the world to accomplish great things. 

As the time for school to start is approaching rather rapidly I like to look back on our previous years. This is a great time to evaluate your style as well as your curriculum choices. I appreciate the different styles of teaching and learning. I realize my style does not fit every child, but I can proudly say it is the style that works for me as well as  my children. Hands on learning is my style but I like to say it is fun while learning. Here is a way to incorporate fun while learning for your homeschool journey. I always looked for extra activities that my children were interested in doing. When my daughter was looking at becoming a lawyer I took her to teen court to volunteer. She enjoyed being with her friends and getting to get to present her case to the judge. She also wanted to become a marine biologist,so we studied marine biology. During that year we took many outings and learned many things about the marine life that surround Florida.
Don't forget to enjoy each moment with your child. Not only is it our job to educate them with reading and writing, but we are also responsible for leading them in the right direction for their future.
Have fun while learning this year. Enjoy all the small moments.

Thought for today:

Is writing an important subject to teach? My answer is YES!!!
I have found out on our homeschool journey that writing is the one subject that gets overlooked by many families. I wondered why ,so I started asking friends why they didn't focus on writing. The answer I kept receiving was they didn't like it and it was hard to teach. I get that it is not an easy subject to teach nor learn. But we must empower our children with the tools to become successful in life. I believe writing is one of the most powerful things you can teach your children. The pen is mightier than the sword.
When a writer pens an article that is written eloquently it goes straight to the heart and has the power to change lives. When my husband and I were involved with missions we were asked many times share the Word of God with others. When you do this you must be lead by the Lord and be able deliver the message with power. Being able to write was so important for us in doing Gods work.
Many students today enter college without knowing how to write a paper correctly. My first daughter found this to be true when she started college. My second daughter is confirming the same thing is still true today. She states how other students in her English comp 1 class are happy to receive a C on their writing assignments. I am proud to say she has written 2 papers now and has received A'a on both of them. She is only 16 so I was unsure if she would be ready for such a great step as college. But she has shown me that she is more than ready for this adventure. I love knowing that I have prepared my children for their next step on their journey.


What are some important things you need to do to become a successful writer???

You must make sure you have a solid foundation in writing.

You must know the different steps and practice them ALOT!!

Writing on new subjects each week helps you to become creative.. It also helps you to use the format that you have been taught.

Never be happy with your first draft. Reread it many times and make corrections.

It has become easier for me to help others to write due to the fact I have taught it for many years. I teach writing in my homeschool group. My daughters help me keep in touch with what the professors want in a good paper. I feel this has helped the children in my group to become better writers. I have even had to come up with my own curriculum because I was not impressed with the choices that I found. Some of the choices focused on coping the writing of someone else, others focused just on creativeness. I have even heard some teach that you must restate the assignment in the title. This is so untrue one of the things students are getting dinged on in college is this very thing. You must not use your assignment in your title. I am not sure if things have changed and the curricuilm is old or if some professors require different things. I do know I am so thankfuil my girls have helped me stay up todate with what the colleges are looking for in a good paper.

If there is one subject you are not  going to focus on please do not let it be writing.

Thought for today..... I am so thankful that God has always provided for my children. He provided for them by the way of sending other people to help me in educating them. Every subject I was struggling with He would always bring someone who loved that subject. It always amazed me. I remember when I wanted to help my children learn algebra, well that is not my subject to say the least. He opened the door for my aunt to tutor them once a week. It was such a load off of my shoulders. Don't ever feel like your not doing your job if you need help. You see we can not do everything, but with God's help we can accomplish our goals. He sends the people we need to have in our lives. Some for seasons and some for a lifetime. During your homeschool journey you will encounter many different families. My family have made many lifetime friends thus far on our journey. We try to help anyone who needs help. This is another benefit of belonging to a group. I truly can say it has been a blessing meeting all of the many homeschool families and getting to become a small part of their journey.  Don't feel defeated if you need help in any subject. Instead pray to God and He will lead you to who is supposed to help you. You will find out in the end that you both benefited from knowing each other.
If you have any questions please just write them in the comment below. Have an awesome day.

I want to discuss how I found my teaching style. I was apart of a homeschool group the first year I homeschooled. The group was called blended school because it was at the zoo and was funded by the public school system. It was amazing. The kids all learned so much by hands on activities. I was able to help each week and loved every second of it. I also remember when I was in second grade and the stations were made up of games to help you learn the concepts. I found I learned more that year and loved it more than any other year. Over the years I discovered that children learn while having fun and by doing. I want to be able to assist children in learning and remembering what they learned. I value education and count it an honor to help children whenever I  can. My kids gained a vast understanding of science by completing every science experiment. When we studied Native Americans we actually made a life-size teepee painted it . It was a lot of  fun. When we were learning about Pensacola we went downtown and went through historical downtown and when we learned about Pitcher plants we went to Roy Hyatt environmental center and saw them. I enjoy seeing the kids eyes light up when they see what they are learning. It is so beautiful.

Let me share a little bit about my wonderful son. Samuel is my last child to homeschool. He is my bundle of pure joy. He keeps me busy to say the least. I have homeschooled him from the beginning. He is ahead at least a year for his age. He is eleven years old and in the seventh grade.He always scores high in vocabulary. He has inspired me to make all of my subjects hands on. I have enjoyed teaching all of my kids. It has brought us closer as a family. It has been challenging to say the least. I can say homeschooling my three amazing children has brought so much joy and awesome memories into my life. I believe incorporating as many field trips as I can into our lessons help the children remember the concepts you are teaching them. We have gone and explored archeological digs and have seen marine life up close and personal. Have fun and create wonderful memories along the way.

Update on Abigail she is in Washington DC on an internship to the Florida Embassy. She is dong very well there meeting Congressmen and women. She loves politics and is getting a crash course on politics in DC.

Michaela is getting A's in both her classes she is taking this summer. I'm a proud mother of three amazing children. Remember keep pressing on, one day you will reap all the seeds you are sowing today.

I realize I didn't share anything about Michaela. She will be in the 11th grade this year. She has just begun dual enrollment at our local college this summer. (She is in class right now. )I homeschooled her from the time she was in the second grade until tenth grade. She has learned how to work independently ,which is how they work in college. I can see she is transitioning very well. I have watched and listened to many moms over the years about homeschooling. I realized that if our goal is for them to attend college them we must prepare them for it. Which in turn prepares for them for the work force.I believe that if that is our goal then we much from day one start on the journey. As we all know the more you do something the easier it gets. I desire the children to be able to take
notes without anyone even telling them to. They need to be able to know how to compile
a study guide all by themselves. You see you are very involved while they are in homeschool
but when they cross over to college your not as involved. It is hard to find your style of teaching and your childrens style of learning,but I hope I can help some of you on this journey.

My name is Joanne Megginson. I am the mother of 

three wonderful children, Abigail 19, Michaela 16

 and Samuel 11. I am also the wife to Richard 

Megginson of 24 1/2 years. I have home 

schooled my three children for 9 years. I run a small

 home school group for the last 8 years. I love

 homeschooling and feel blessed to be able to do so 

all these years.

Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I grew up  in Florida to a single 

mom with 2 siblings who I love dearly. I was always 

involved with helping children one way or the other such

 as daycare work, childrens church, Sunday school or just 

babysitting. I have always loved helping children I feel it is my calling in life

 to be able to assist children.

 God is the most important thing in my life. I married

 my husband in 1991 and we lived in Texas for 1 year 

before moving to Colorado where I worked at a 

childcare. Loving every minute of the journey God had

 us on, we explored the nature with much zeal and

 eagerness. We finally realized we needed to move back to 

Texas 6 months later. We moved back to the 

Grand State of Texas. We lived in Texas for 6  years. 

I worked at a childcare where I was able to teach 

 children which I really loved. My husband and I were involved with 

our local church helping wherever we could, bus ministry,

 childrens church, Sunday school and preaching whenever 

the door opened. Our journey was leading us to

 becoming missionaries to India. We had just become 

parents a year before our big adventure. Abigail

 was one year old when we embarked on this once 

 in a lifetime mission. We were eager to obey God 

and do whatever He would have us to

 do. We lived in India for 2 years teaching 

and preaching whenever we could. I was even 

able to teach American English to a group of 

young girls. It was such an unbelievable opportunity. 

My husband taught church planters the gospel. Those

 two years have forever changed the way I look at life. 

I see life as a way to build strong relationships ,helping

 others at any cost and always ready to encourage

 each other. These are the values the Indian people have 

and that I hold so dear. 

 After returning home from India we lived in Texas for 

 4 years until we finally moved back to my home, Florida.  

I did not home school my children at first. I had them in the public 

school system, I was a very involved mother who helped out in

 every way I possible could. I finally realized that public school .

could not offer my children the education that I desired them to

 have, so I finished that year and then my journey began. The first 

question you ask yourself is what curriculum do I use? I bet a lot 

of you asked that question . Well at first I listened to those around

me like so many of us do. I had my children enrolled in 2 groups

 that meet once a week. I also was teaching them another curriculum. 

It was a crazy year to say the least. Over stretched for sure. 

The second year I prayed because I felt my kids had holes in their education. 

The Lord lead me to some moms whose children had graduated 

and then went on to college. Oh! That's who you ask those who have 

already been through this and excelled. Discovered another English 

book that was better than the one I was using. With Gods guidance

 we were on the right path to find our style. In the second year

 of home schooling we were apart of one group. We loved the people 

there so much, but felt God leading us away from that. Which was

 so scary uncharted waters always freak me out . Upon leaving that 

group God sent a couple of moms who wanted to meet together. 

We meet at a church and then a building for the remaining of that year. 

But then I decided maybe a group was not for me. I found out what we liked 

and did not like over the summer. I was finally on a roll, so I thought.

I had all my books and ready to go then moms starting calling me to see 

what I was going to do with my kids. I told them and they wanted to join in,

well needless to say they came and thus became JEAP (Joanne's Excellence 

in Academics Program). Originally our name was Explorers of Truth

 home school group. Through out the years I can tell you we have grown

 to become a highly academic group. I felt the Lord tell me to prepare 

these children to become leaders for His kingdom. My style is learning 

concepts by hands on approach. I feel learning while having fun is the 

way to learn concepts and never forget them. I do believe in testing 

children and thus preparing them for college. That is where my style 

differs from others. I have kids taking notes and preparing research

 papers in the 4th grade. I expect the children to rise up in knowledge 

and they never disappoint me. With parents standing with the children

 guiding them there is no limit to how much the children can learn..

My daughter Abigail graduated from college before she even received

 her high school diploma. She received awards in college for being 

the best student in the English department and straight A’s for both years.

 She was also the editor for her college newspaper when she was just a

 senior in high school.(She was accepted to University of Florida

 and UWF Honor's program She received multiple scholarships. She

 decided to attend UWF and is doing extremely well there where 

she is SGA Senator, Editor of the Honors paper and she has started 

a chapter for HER campus. She is dual majoring in journalism, and 

political science and minoring in Spanish.) Her professors would ask 

her where did you go to school and she would tell them about our

 home school group. They told her to come tell me

 “thank you and keep up the good work”. She was prepared to for 

college and all that it had to offer. My aunt taught in college many 

years as a Math Professor, she told me so many of the children come 

unprepared for college. No note taking skills, no social skills 

and no communication skills. All of these things have

 lead me to my style of teaching. I am excited to start this blog to share

 my style and help anyone I possibly can. Please keep up the good work 

y'all are doing and remember you will reap what you sow. I will post

 more later. Stay focused and determined.