The SHORT of 'Who is Sprittibee'?
Sprittibee (Heather) has been homeschooling for 6 years and has one crazy husband, 2 crazy kids (ages 9 and 11) and 2 crazy cats. When she isn't making Tex-Mex, learning web design, homeschooling, or rubbing her face on the cat's belly... she loves to blog. You can find here here: Sprittibee, Gathering Manna, and the Homeschool Blog Awards.
Here at Heart of the Matter, Sprittibee shares "Heartstrings for Homeschoolers" : a column that reminds us to stop and smell the proverbial flowers on this journey we call homeschooling. Not every day will be a great one. She admonishes us to learn to focus on the beauty of the moments God has blessed us with - for better or for worse... because our hearts are shaped by the memories we are making.
The LONG of 'Who is Sprittibee'?
Sprittibee is my nickname. My real name is Heather. I became a blogger in my 30’s after happening upon someone else’s blog where I had to register to comment. I figured… “Hey, why not? My husband won’t read my emails… I might as well inflict them on others.” It was a good thing for routers and servers everywhere. I’m certain that people in my email address book got together to throw a party. Now they don’t have to read my junk via email (blog reading is voluntary). I’ve been a blog enthusiast ever since that fateful day in June of 2005. If you have ever visited my blog (Go figure, it’s called… yep: ‘Sprittibee’) – you will have already read a lot of this bio-fluff stuff below. You can skip it. Everyone else is not excused.
Quick Stats:
Marital Status: Happily Married to my King Bee for 15 years.
Kids: 2 Worker Bees (11 and 9 years old)
Homeschooling: 6th Years and counting…
Faith: Christian (Anti-denominational! I don’t believe in division.)
Pets: 2 Cats - ‘Minga the Snott’ and Quaker... and 1 hermit crab I wish I hadn’t bought (shhh! don’t tell the kids!)
From: Born and raised in Texas
Favorite Beverage: Thai Tea, Italian Coffee with Hazelnut Cream and Frothed Milk, Sweet “Reunion” Tea, Cherry Coke, Cream Soda, Sparkling Juices, Water
Bible Verse: “26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'” ~ Acts 17:26-28
Why Homeschooling?
When I sat down to write this, I was thinking I would just slap up something from my “Why I Homeschool” post, my Homeschool Series post, or maybe even my testimony post. Those are great places to find out information about me (if you actually have more time to research after this amazingly long bio). Below are just a few of the dull facts about how a crazy street-punk teenager with an attitude and serious problem with authority came to be a gospel-loving, gourmet-cooking, homeschooling, family-woman with a serious passion for obedience and character.
Quick Stats:
Marital Status: Happily Married to my King Bee for 15 years.
Kids: 2 Worker Bees (11 and 9 years old)
Homeschooling: 6th Years and counting…
Faith: Christian (Anti-denominational! I don’t believe in division.)
Pets: 2 Cats - ‘Minga the Snott’ and Quaker... and 1 hermit crab I wish I hadn’t bought (shhh! don’t tell the kids!)
From: Born and raised in Texas
Favorite Beverage: Thai Tea, Italian Coffee with Hazelnut Cream and Frothed Milk, Sweet “Reunion” Tea, Cherry Coke, Cream Soda, Sparkling Juices, Water
Bible Verse: “26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'” ~ Acts 17:26-28
Why Homeschooling?
When I sat down to write this, I was thinking I would just slap up something from my “Why I Homeschool” post, my Homeschool Series post, or maybe even my testimony post. Those are great places to find out information about me (if you actually have more time to research after this amazingly long bio). Below are just a few of the dull facts about how a crazy street-punk teenager with an attitude and serious problem with authority came to be a gospel-loving, gourmet-cooking, homeschooling, family-woman with a serious passion for obedience and character.
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Somewhere around my early 20’s, my biological clock started ticking. I never wanted any kids previous to this… don’t ask me how it happened. I was selfish and bratty… and an only child (but that’s redundant). So was my husband. We were NOT your average Walton Family types. We liked to party and sleep late on the weekends. We started going to church one morning (with a hangover) and eventually became Christians. Somehow, God managed to change my plans about not having kids. It may have had something to do with that bald baby at my cousin-in-law’s kid’s birthday party. That was a cute baby. But, I digress…We had both of our kids (blue first, then pink) almost exactly two years apart. They changed our entire world (and filled it with poopy diapers and lots of laundry). I had no idea when I was working with the kids on talking, flashcards, the alphabet song and more… that I was already homeschooling. I had never heard of homeschooling. I’ve never been one to really plan far out into the future. I’m not sure I imagined that my kids would ever leave the baby stage back then. Do we moms EVER really want to see the baby days end? I guess that depends on the baby. Another tangent… sorry.
When my kids were barely 4 and 2, I was introduced to a family from St. Louis that homeschooled their children (from junior high through college age). I was beginning to think about school (and had the beginning stages of kindergarten-panic-attack-syndrome). I was also introduced to a student who was working at NASA that had been homeschooled her entire life and had won the National Merit Scholarship. I was astounded by these young people. They were amazingly bright and completely personable. Added plus: they had clothes on. They could hold a conversation with you without text-messaging or having headphones on at the same time. These kids were COOL – in the best sense of the word. These kids were mature. These homeschoolers were exactly how I wanted MY kids to turn out. Homeschool was looking good.
I began researching homeschooling and decided that it was probably going to be my first choice. My husband wasn’t so gung-ho about it. He asked the same questions you get asked from your well-meaning relatives and anti-homeschool friends:
“What about the prom?” (No, I’m not kidding.)
“What about socialization?” (I can hardly type that sentence without erasing it.)
“What about sports?”
Despite reservations, he gave me a year to “prove” that I could do it. Whatever that meant? I prayed for his heart to be won over to homeschooling, and although God didn’t answer me right away, eventually - through my obedience and God’s power - my man jumped on board.
I began homeschooling when the kids were preschool age. Kaden was four-and-a-half and Morgan was two-and-a-half. We had a great first year at home and loved every minute of it. We tried private school the year after that due to a job that was offered to me by a friend who worked at the Christian School near us. My husband really missed my paycheck. I’ll have to admit… it was nice to have extra money for all the fast food we needed (after I was getting home at 6:30 or later). It also came in handy to have extra money for lunches out, for overpriced school uniforms, and for the maid that came once every other week or so (because I had no time to clean the house). I worked as the registrar for the school (privy to all the student records). After trying private schooling out for a year and a half, we decided to go back to homeschooling. Our family was drifting apart – all of us too busy for each other (it was like going through the motions of family life without any of the feeling behind it). I have a picture of my son from this time (below); puffy-eyed, before dawn in his starchy white shirt. He was staring blankly out the car window and looked so miserable. It reminds me of all the emotions I felt when my kids were in private school. I don’t mean to say that private schools are bad. We just didn’t enjoy our experience. It took the joy out of our family life.
My son had to repeat Kindergarten the year he was at the Christian School (even though he tested out of it when they were admitting him). He was too young to hang out with the first graders. He was bored and distracted. It wasn’t a complete loss, though. My kids did learn to tie their shoes and roll their eyes there. They also learned a lot about the doctor’s office (due to frequent trips from all the illnesses that got passed around). They learned about school bullies and mystery meat as well. I even learned a few things. I learned that private schools were a lot like public schools. The difference between the two is that you pay for public school through taxes, and you pay for private school ON TOP of taxes. A LOT on top.
We made the choice to bring the kids home again and have not regretted it. We miss the extra income, sure… but being with the kids is such a blessing… and we have found that we can live with less and enjoy life even more. The kids are such a delight. They are thriving and learning. They grow closer each year to the servant-hearted leaders that I pray they finally become. My main goal is to raise them to be honest, moral, upright people who have a heart for others and a purpose in Christ.
The standardized tests they take prove to me each year that my children are SMART… but the time I spend with them each day – seeing them interact with other kids and adults – THAT is what proves to me that homeschool really works. Their character and our family bonds are the proof positive that the sacrifice we make to homeschool is worth every penny.
I love homeschooling. Hopefully God will keep us on the steady path and allow us to do it all the way through high-school (and maybe beyond!). Homeschooling is a wonderful lifestyle... the best thing that has happened to our family since Jesus and the birth of both of our children.
I love homeschooling. Hopefully God will keep us on the steady path and allow us to do it all the way through high-school (and maybe beyond!). Homeschooling is a wonderful lifestyle... the best thing that has happened to our family since Jesus and the birth of both of our children.
Our home school journey began with a desire to teach our children God's word and the necessary academics to prepare them for life. At the time we had four school age children and a toddler. I prayed, set up a schoolroom, chose a curriculum, and planned a schedule. We were well prepared to go forth on our journey. The classroom was equipped with bookshelves, a child size desk for each student, a miniature desk for the toddler, a teacher's desk, textbooks, pencils, papers, notebooks, and complete with an American flag. Each child had a separate Bible, history, science, math, spelling, and English workbook. School rules were enforced the children were not allowed to talk to each other or me unless they raised their hand. We were "doing school."
The children were learning academics but somewhere along the line, probably when I wasn't seeing things in proportion, I replaced Bible time with math, spelling, or history. A quick evaluation of our school time showed a very limited amount of Bible study. Our curriculum was Christian and we read an occasional Bible verse but we were not spending time in God's Word. I wasn't even starting the day praying anymore. We had changed to a better road but somewhere we changed destinations.
I purposed to accomplish the "one needful thing" daily by committing to reading the Bible before any academic schoolwork. True wisdom is only available by spending a significant amount of your home school time studying and teaching God's Word. I set aside strivings and anxieties and purposed to teach my children who Christ is. We began to spend time sitting at His feet and feast at the table of His mercy, forgiveness, and peace. We began to learn the unseen things of God. We began to learn true wisdom. We stopped “doing school” and focused on seeking God.
My wonderful husband and I have been married for seven years. He is in the Air Force and we will soon be moving to Japan, where there appears to be a fabulous homeschool community. We have been homeschooling our daughter Madison, age four, for only about five months, but I have already found so much peace in that decision. Now that I look back, I feel like I have been preparing to be a homeschool mom since I started college. I have a background in education. I have a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and a Master's in Educational Technology. I have taught kindergarten, first grade, and fifth grade. I worked as a curriculum development intern for PBS and as a reference librarian. I am so excited about the possibilities of incorporating this background into my own private school.
It is truly amazing how homeschooling can change your life. I thought I would go crazy cooped up in the house with my daughter 24 hours a day, and now I realize how crazy I was to be sending her to daycare and preschool to be raised by someone else. I couldn't wait for her to start kindergarten so that I could get back to work without feeling guilty, and now I can't wait for her to start kindergarten because I am so looking forward to being the one who shares that adventure with her.
Celeste first felt the pull of homeschooling when volunteering in Vacation Bible School and teaching Deuteronomy 6:6-9: "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." God kept these verses in the back of Celeste's mind until she became reaquainted with some high-school friends who were homeschooling. One loaned her The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer & Jessie Wise, which Celeste devoured. She then went on to check out every book on homeschooling her library had to offer, to talk with her husband about homeshooling, to attend a local homeschool organization's meeting, and she was hooked!
