Homeschooling Toward College

I am a member of a Yahoo Group for homeschoolers. My reason for joining the group was to let homeschoolers in the area know that I am available as a tutor. Tonight I got an e-mail from another member asking my advice. I was homeschooled from First Grade through High School, and it was an incredible experience for me. I thought I would post her request and my response for those homeschooling, for those considering homeschool, and as a tribute to my loving and sacrificial parents. Please note that this letter is concerning homeschool in relation to college, and does not cover many of the other valuable aspects. I may post more at another time with my thoughts on those.

Dear Jennie,
I am seriously praying about homeschooling my 3 children in the fall. My oldest daughter will be in the fourth grade. She attends a public school and is an overall good child...well- behaved (at school) :) and has straight A's. She has expressed concern about being homeschooled because she is fearful she will then not get into a good college. Do you have any advice for her and me?
Thank You in advance,
Betty

Hi Betty!

I am so thrilled to hear that you are praying about homeschooling your children. I am excited whenever I hear that someone is thinking about taking that step. Homeschooling was absolutely wonderful for me. My Mom was an incredible teacher, and I learned so much more from the one-on-one teaching than I could have ever learned in a school system.

When I was 15, my standardized test scores were high, and I sat with my Mom to look at the plan for the next several years of high school. We realized the the NC requirements for a high school graduate were easily attainable for me. We made a schedule together, and I was able to graduate at 16 years old.

I wanted to find a college nearby since I was so young, so I chose Southeastern College (a branch of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC). It was the only school to which I applied, and I was accepted immediately BECAUSE I came from a homeschooling background. I started college just after turning 17 (my birthday is in June), and it was a wonderful experience.

Homeschoolers are well-known to most Christian and secular educators for their exceptional abilities. It is no secret to them that most of the winners of the National Spelling Bee are homeschoolers. We score higher on state standardized tests than do those in public or private schools, and we generally have more confidence and respect for authority as well. When I was looking into colleges I found that most were actually RECRUITING homeschoolers because of their outstanding scholastic abilities (Liberty University is one example of that).

Also, most colleges require SAT scores for entrance, and homeschoolers should certainly take the SAT. If you and your daughter work hard as a team, her scores will be all the proof that any college would need of her readiness, even for those colleges that may not be recruiting homeschoolers.

The only complaint that I have ever heard about homeschoolers is that they are "socially inadequate." In most cases this idea is ridiculous. I have seen some homeschoolers that do not make any attempt to be social or to build people skills, and that results in the obvious: no people skills. But if you make sure that your daughter is involved with church and community, including adults and friends her own age, she will develop the skills needed to gain respect in the world. When she goes in for her college interviews, she will be more confident, respectful, and well-spoken than most of her public school peers.

If you have any further questions or concerns, I would be more than happy to help you! I am a strong advocate of homeschooling, and I am excited for anyone who would do such an incredible service for their children!

Sincerely,
Jennie Harrell

Winner of the "Most Improved" Award!

You may think it strange that we are posting pictures of our bathroom, but it has won a very special award in our "new house!" When we looked at the house the first time, we were sad that the bathroom was in such terrible shape. The shower tiles and grout had black mildew, the walls were paint-over-wallpaper with rip marks and stains, the ceiling was leaking, the bathroom fan was clogged with hanging dust, the toilet was chipped and dirty, the linoleum was dirty and uneven, and the sink/vanity was rotten at the bottom.

About two weeks before the move, Dustin's parents were sweet enough to arrange for a good friend to renovate the bathroom! We were so relieved! They tiled the floor, replaced the vanity, fixed the ceiling and the bathroom fan, re-tiled the shower, and replaced the toilet. What a difference!! This week I have been painting the walls and replacing the fixtures. I have to say that I am QUITE relieved to have a nice clean bathroom now! Many Many Many Thank-You's to Dustin's incredible parents for helping us with this HUGE project!!

BEFORE

AFTER!!!! What a difference!! I still plan to paint the doors white too.
I love the floor!
The walls were so uneven and damaged that we could not just paint over them. I found a really neat texture paint at Lowes, and I created my own method of texturizing (beating the wall with the paintbrush!). It covers everything really nicely. It's a little hard to tell from the pictures, but the color is light blue.

"After Photos" of the Kitchen

Here are some photos of our kitchen. It is definitely still a work in progress. The goal is for it to be rustic; we are using red, yellow, and blue. We are looking for a valance for the windows, and mats for the floor. But here is is for now!

I love the built-in hutch!

"After Photos" of the Foyer

Okay, I'm going back to house pictures! I took a little break over the last few days, but I still have more pictures of the house for those who have asked to see them. Today I will show you the foyer, and tomorrow the kitchen.

I like the windows in the front door.

Looking from the living room through the french door into the foyer.

A Reunion!!

One of the great things about moving to Kernersville is that I am so close to my great friend from high school, Asheigh. I love her, and she is the picture of a true friend! She had a baby a little over two weeks ago, which inspired a visit from another wonderful friend, Meghan. All three of us went to the same church in high school, and we were all bridesmaids in each other's weddings. Meghan also has a little girl now! It was so fun for the three of us to be together again, and it was especially fun to get to know the sweet little girls.

Ashleigh escaped the picture! I am holding her sweet baby, Carleigh, and Meghan is holding her adorable Ella.

New Phone Number!

We finally have internet AND PHONE! We are happy to finally have a local number after all the hassle from the phone company. Please write down our new number:

336-602-2278

Our cell phone will also be changing to a 336 area code in the next few days.

"After Photos" of the Office Area

This is our office area. If you come in the back door you will enter this room to get to the kitchen. I really like the location of the room. It is right next to the kitchen, and it is nice to be able to get some work done as I make dinner, etc. I also like all the light coming from the windows. I am still planning to put some valances above the windows, so I'll take more pictures when I do that! Normally our laptop is on the desk.

"After Photos" of the Dining Room

I am adding pictures of one room each day for those who have asked to see our "new" house. This is the dining room. It is one of my favorite rooms because it is so bright and airy! We have never had a real dining room, so it has been fun to set the table and have a romantic dinner in a special room!

"After Photos" of the Bedroom

For those who did not read our last post, I am putting up pictures of one room each day. We have a lot of family and friends who may not be able to make the drive to Kernersville to be company in our home, so we are doing this for them!

Here are some pictures of our bedroom in the "new" house. We are still trying to decide what should go on the wall behind the bed.
I love all the light from the windows!
One of my favorite parts of our bedroom (in each house we've had) is the "dried flower garden." They are some of the flowers that Dustin has given to me over the years that have been dried and displayed. I love them!

"After Photos" of The Living Room

Okay! We are all moved in, organized, and (for the most part) decorated! It has been so fun for me, and I am so grateful to my Mom for making the trip here twice to help me decorate. She has GREAT taste, and I love having her help me out. I am going to post pictures of one room each day for those of you interested in seeing what our new house is looking like. Enjoy the living room today!
I love the french door leading to the foyer and front door!
The walls look more pink in these pictures than they really look in person.

Settling in...

Well, we got everything packed, cleaned, moved, and unloaded last weekend. A huge "thank you" to Dustin's Dad for the use of his truck! This week Dustin has started working, and I have been working on unpacking and organizing!! It has been really fun! I love decorating, putting up curtains, and especially organizing. I have pictures and details of the move and the house, but unfortunately we are still waiting for our phone and internet to be set up (Rachel, I know you understand what that is like!!). There has been alot of confusion on the part of our new phone company, but we are hoping that they will have it all resolved by Monday. Right now I'm at Panera Bread using free Wi-Fi, so I'll have to post more when I have more time...
We hope all of you are doing well!!

TOMORROW!!

We are so excited that the day is finally drawing near!! Tomorrow is moving day. We will still have our cell phone number, so if you need to contact us that will be the best way. I probably will not be able to blog until at least Wednesday. That will be the day that we get phone service at our new place. We hope that all of you have a wonderful weekend!

What God has Done...

The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. -Psalm 19:1
Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights! -Psalm 148:1
Then God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens." -Genesis 1:20
Dustin and I were outside one afternoon last week, and we had to get our camera to capture some of the beauties of God's creation. What a mighty God we serve!

Brothers

I have an eight-year-old brother (and three sisters, and yes, we are all from the same parents!). TJ and my Dad are a little out-numbered, so they were pretty happy when Dustin joined the family! My Mom recently told me a sweet story about TJ.

Dustin sometimes calls TJ on the phone, talks in a high-pitched voice, and says that his name is "Popcorn Shrimp" (I wish I knew where Dustin gets some of this stuff). For the longest time all of us wondered if TJ knew that it was Dustin, or if he thought there was really a strange person named "Popcorn Shrimp" in existence. On TJ's birthday this past year Dustin called and left a message for him as "Popcorn Shrimp." Mom told me later that TJ had friends over when the messaged was played and they all laughed and laughed! When his friends asked him who in the world was "Popcorn Shrimp," TJ laughed and said, "Oh that's my brother, he's so funny!"

I thought it was precious that TJ sees Dustin as his brother. You can see from the pictures that they have a blast together!
These pictures were taken at my parents' house over the weekend. We had a great time spending time together and being silly!
Too fun!
These guys are crazy.

Before and After

Alot has been happening in our house the past few weeks. I thought I would share a few snapshots with you! The goal is to get everything packed and moved into the living room so that all the other rooms can be cleaned before the move-out date. Then when we get everything loaded on the truck, we will just have to vacuum/mop the floor and go!

Before

After

Jobs...

A big item on our "To Do List" for our upcoming move is to find a job for me (Jennie). As you know, Dustin will have a job upon arrival! One of the main reasons that we are able to move to Winston-Salem is because Dustin will get to work with his Dad in the family business. However, I am not totally sure of what I will be doing. We have decided that I will not work full-time again so that I can do a better job of "wifing." I want to have more time to take care of the house, cook healthfully, and take care of errands so that Dustin will not always have to help me do that kind of stuff after a full week of work. This is something that the two of us have wanted for me for quite some time, so I am very excited!

I know that when we move I would like to use my four-year English degree, so I am looking in the direction of tutoring students in the area. I have just been hired by a tutoring agency called Academics Plus, Inc. I will be going to two schools and tutoring students after school. This will only be four days a week, and only two hours each day, but the pay is double what a typical job would pay. At least I will have a start when we arrive in Kernersville, and I will also be able to build a reputation for myself.

I am also posting ads in bookstores and online, and I have already had two people write me and ask about tutoring for their children! My goal is to have students come to my home for tutoring in English, Grammar, and/or Creative Writing. And eventually I hope to do some group workshops once I build my business a little. I am thrilled at the possibilities, and the interest that I have already seen! It will be great to teach a subject that I love, help children, make my own schedule, and have more time at home.

If anyone has advice on how I can build this idea, please let me know! I would appreciate your prayers as we start this new phase of life!