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12 Comments

  1. Cathy lee says:

    Love following your blog. I am also a Seattle girl who moved to Hawaii last year and am homeschooling my 4 kids. 3 boys and a girl. My oldest is 11. Thanks for sharing your journey!

  2. As a Homeschool Graduate I always love seeing your posts on it.

    I know we super enjoyed the freedom it gave us time wise. If mom wasn’t feeling good and wanted to sleep in, we all got a late start. Vacations when everyone else is in school (the camp grounds are nearly empty after labor day, 3 weeks in Germany), unannounced field trips all because it was a nice day. Plus the time freedom to expand our horizons, volunteer work at nursing homes, libraries and the hospital. The ability to finish an assignment in 20 minutes and not have to sit there the remainder or the time (i’m an ansty person) and the ability to spend 3 hours on a subject (me and math do not get along).

    But I think my favorite part has been watching my mom and mines relationship over the years. There is the normal mom stuff, but she has also been my teacher, and then when she went back to college she was my classmate, and at one point I was actually tutoring her.

    1. LOVE all of that Sandy! Thank you for commenting. Such good stuff and so awesome to hear it from one who has gone through it, and not only survived but has such positive things to say! 🙂 Yay! Aloha friend!

  3. Monica… where have all the i’s gone?! 😂 I’m most interested in and intrigued by the close sibling relationships. It’s so inspiring. I want that for my three children more than I can articulate. I’d love to read a post on how you foster those relationships and how you handle sibling bickering or quarreling. You are definitely doing something right!

    1. Sara– Thank you so much. Honestly, the constant time together is my best answer for the close relationships. Maybe some people assume that their kids would fight constantly if they were together all of the time, but I don’t think that is the case. Instead, I think that (most of the time,) they learn to be best friends because they are together so much. I’m sure there are exceptions, but I have done very little other than make them share a room and share life. 🙂
      PS SO sorry about an issue with the “i’s” You are the second to mention that though I cannot see a thing on my side. Will be asking my tech-person to check into it! 🙂
      ALoha-

      1. Lower case I’s are also disappearing.

  4. Thanks for writing this! My kids are young and we are just two years into homeschooling, but it has been such a challenging and pleasant surprise. I have been most thankful this year for the time my three boys get to spend together on a daily basis thanks to homeschooling. There is no way they could still be spending this much time together building their relationships (as difficult as that may be at times) if they were in school six hours a day. I personally believe education is a personal and family specific choice, but I am so thankful for school choice!!

  5. Hi Monica 🙂 I’m so glad to see a home school post, I’m a home schooler too, so it’s nice to see how you’re doing as well. Your boys seem really well-rounded and it sounds like you have great experiences happening for your family. I graduated a son last year (he just moved out on his own at 19!) and have a 16 year old son that hopes to graduate in the next year or so, (early). I’ve had many of the same mom-guilt/questions that I’m sure most mom’s do. I used to spend so much time worrying that I was doing the wrong thing! The funny thing is, I’m almost certain most public schoolers are not worrying that maybe they should be home schooling instead! 😉 I have had to let go of a lot of worry. I always knew my kids were smart and learning above grade level (we use/d a lot of Abeka as well, along with other curriculums), but there’s nothing like seeing that SAT score to somehow validate that you knew what you were doing after all :). I wish we didn’t need to worry about tests, and I believe the colleges really love home schoolers, so we have little to worry about. My oldest drove himself to college for classes during his Jr and Sr years and got 4.0’s in all of them, so academically, I have really never had much to fear. My biggest stuggle looking back has always been balance, how to relax and have fun while still getting the work done. Bravo on the job you’re doing! You will not regret it.

    1. Apryl– Thank you so much for the comment. That is super encouraging!! Love hearing from anyone who has graduated homeschoolers. Sounds like you did great.
      Yes the balance is so hard. Even now (as I type) my 12 year old is leaving to train with his surf coach (again) and I’m calculating whether or not he’ll finish his school year when we need to! haha. 🙂 It’s a work in progress. Much Aloha and thank you!

  6. Of course as an educator I believe in public education, but I believe most strongly in individual families creating a home life that is the right fit for them. Sounds like the Swansons have done just that! I think I would have loved home schooling my boys-especially more peaceful mornings and the aha moments. Thanks for giving us a peak into the homeschooling day.

    1. Having problems w/ the “I” key on my phone…

  7. Hi Monica!

    The home schooling sounds like a very special learning environment. My 3 kids attend the public school system and it works for us but since my husband and I are Engineers and we LOVE science math and reading, we both spend a lot of time learning with our kids and sharing our love of learning. So I can relate to some of the special moments that you shared.

    I try to expose my kids to the commercial/ industrial community by taking them on field trips when I can. I want them to continue to ask questions, see how things work and get a sense of what jobs exist in the world. Some exAmples….touring a bee farm, taking them to the agricultural fair, touring an ice cream factory, touring a hospital, visiting our work offices for the day…. Etc.

    I was wondering…..do you do that too? How do you provide your kids with experiences outside the home learning envirnment? I would love to hear your ideas on this.

    Cheers, and keep up the great blog. I really enjoy hearing your thoughts on parenting!

    Laurie from Canada