Lewis River Academy

It is the start of a new school year, sort of, we are finishing up our second month in.  This year is slightly different though.  We are still using K12 which we find to be an amazing curriculum.  This year though we are using our local school district.

Our local school realized there were a lot of homeschool and school at home families in the area so they set out to service us.  They did the ground work and conducted many meetings and serveys to get our input about what would be helpful.  I have to admit that I have not heard of schools doing this too often these days.

The result is Lewis River Academy, here on it referred to as LRA.  LRA is a K-12 school using the K12 curriculum for grades K-8 and APEX for high school.  More importantly this program uses the parents to get a better picture of where the kids are truly at. 

I truly enjoyed our previous program that used K12 curriculum.  I now have more freedoms though and more oppurtunities for my kids to participate in the local community. 

Change is never easy and I was really nervous to change something that was working.  However we made the leap and could not be happier. 

The most important thing I have learned is to trust my instincts with my little ones.  Change is hard but can also be very rewarding.  Wishing everyone a wonderful school year with their little loves.

PCSing with K12

Well, here we are half way into the year and it is time for us to PCS. I cannot believe it has finally got here. We started our school year with many uncertainties. Will we stay in Washington and not change K12 schools? Should we just move to Oregon and possibly not be able to enroll the kids mid year? Will my hubby get home before deployment is over? Will he get home before we move? Will we find a house before we have to be at our next duty station? Can I really buy a house, school 3 kids and move all by myself? Well, I now have some answers to these unknowns. Some were short and easy (not always pleasant) answers and others were more gray areas.


Will we stay in Washington and continue on with WAVA? Or do we try to move to Oregon and enroll our children midway through the year? We had a plan if it was Oregon we would buy the curriculum if we had to. But in the end we chose to stay in Washington. We will be 21 miles from the border. A further commute then we had hoped but a lovely home with lots to do in the area. We also discovered that this means we get to keep our amazing teacher Mrs. Reed. Over the last 3 school years all of my children, and my niece even, have come to love her. They cannot wait to talk with her and share what they are doing. I was ever so pleased to hear that she will still be our teacher even though we will be further away.

Will my hubby get home before deployment is over? Will he come home before we move? I cannot tell you how much this one had me agonizng. I have never moved with out my best friend. Let alone chose our new home with out him or anything of the likes. In the end I am moving next week and he is not here. So yes, I am moving with out him home. Will he be home before deployment ends, probably not, but if you know anything about the military then you know the answer can change tomorrow.

Will we find a house before we have to be at the next duty station? Can I buy home on my own? It turns out the answer to both of these questions is yes. Through lots of prayer by me and for me by my many wonderful friends and family members, God has blessed with me a stress free house buying experience. I just kept praying that His will be done and everything went really smoothly for us. Seriously. From our amazing realtor to finding a great home, for a great price and meets our needs. I feel so truly blessed.

Can I school 3 children while all of this is going on? Well yes I can. I cannot however say that every lesson was from K12. Many came from our frequent travels up and down the highway. Some came from how dirty the house can get when we are all tired, over worked and then take turns getting sick. But in the end they are all learning, happy and thriving. So yes, I can school them in all this craziness. Our choice to use K12 seems to be paying off.

Can I move all by myself? This has been quite a testament to me on how greatly God provides. Everything I have needed just keeps lining up and perfectly timed. I am a planner by nature and I never could have planned things to happen the way that they have.

So we will start out in January behind our goals for school. But our personal goals are right on target. The kids are healthy. I am moving as asked by my wonderful Husband. And school will go on with few changes or challenges. Our first PCS with K12 is definitely a success!!

Why I feel there should be a national standard for Public School.

I am a person of very stong conservative values. However we are also military and growing up my family was quite poor so everytime we moved my education, and my sisters, took quite a hit. So this is how I feel:




We have public school mandated by the Federal Govt. They have passed a law that requires all 50 states to have a free public school system available to their citizens. It is no different then driving in some ways. If all the states did not have almost the same laws we would not be able to safely drive in other states. SO why do we throw our children into a "lion’s den" of allowing some states and some zip codes a better or worse education?



We live in the land of the free, home of the brave, the land of oppurtunity and the "Great American Dream". That all who live here are equal and have the right to the same things, so long as they work for it. So why do we not we give our children what is equal and fair?



Growing up everytime I changed schools wether it was the same county, across the river or an hours drive I got stuck repeating material that I had just finished. No one listened to me and as a result I threw may hands in the air in 6th grade and said I am done. I am not going to keep doing the same work over and over again. As a reult I barely passed 8th grade. However I was smart enough to learn I better make High School count. For the same reasons, my sister never learned Fractions, Geography and other subjects, to this day she struggles with geography and fractions.



We have moved in the military between California (home of record and first station), Illinois and Washington. The curriculums we have seen our daughter go through in the last two states were totally different. I cannot believe that I am going to have to say her Kindergarten year would have been better in North Chicago. But there is where the buck stops. Because my friend had her son at the same school in grades 1st through most of 3rd and the education declined quite a bit.



When we got to Washington school went ok but then in first grade the school district decided that all the schools would learn by spiral math, not mastery. Guess what my friend, with the 3rd grade son, got relocated to Va and she already told me how her son that did fine in math before could not get ahold of this spiral program because he was just dropped in where ever the class was at. There is no definitive way of telling you what the class has done, because they will go back over it, eventually. I can go on and on and on about why we as a nation need to have a national standard of education and core curriculum.



Being a homeschool family, national education would not have that much of an effect. But it might be nice to have centralized birthday start dates for the greater masses so when military (and others) relocate their fall babies that were everyone elses age do not suddenly become the oldest by a lot or the youngest by a lot. That does make a difference for children and how they group together in public school. Where they are at emotionally compared to their peers. So that when a family moves for what ever reason you can talk with the new school and be able to know exactly where they are (and for that matter actually know where they should be), to have school years start and end the same so that these incredible differences do not shorten or lengthen the school year on people who move. Can you imagine knowing you are getting out of school the first week of June and then be forced to move in April or May and that new school does not get out until week 3 of June. I can see that being a hard on a lot of people, the kids and their families. They were ready for school to end. That is hard on kids of all ages.



So long story wrap up while I do not agree in larger govt, I feel when they make something required of the nation it is their resposibility to see it through and support it. I feel that our school system actually would be a lot better if it would have been run by the Feds for the basics. Our children in the ghettos would be getting the same basic classes and subjects as their public school peers that happend to have the right zip code.

I get it now...

Wow, we are well into our second year of homeschooling. I can say that I have learned a lot. First I have learned that I can homeschool my children. There is no magic button that made other people more able to do it. They just chose to do it and so it was done. I do that everyday in other areas of my life already, now we do it with school too.








There are a lot of cirriculums out there and you should look into everything that interests you. But do not doubt yourself. If something is not working change it. If you chose to go a certain route, then hold onto your beliefs and give your children what you wanted them to have from it.







Homeschooling is all about the kids. Find out when they learn best and use that time of day to your advantage. When they are in their learning zone they will do more work then when they are not, and you will both have fun.







Include the family. My favorite lessons are the ones we can all do together. Those tend to be science, art, history or a field trip. Getting to see each one learn and what they take from the lesson is very special. It also let’s me see what kind of things they focus in on so I can help them learn better down the road. Another plus is that they also compete to see who gave the most correct answers when we go back over the lessons in review.







Children are ready for a lot more then we give the credit for. Studying ancient history is something I never would have thought of doing if we were not using the cirriculum we are using. But my all my kids get it. They can all answer questions from the same story at their own age levels.







Homeschooling is not easy. You have to be determined and flexible at the same time. If it is not your child’s first type of schooling you also have to battler their preconceived notions of what school should be. If you give it your best you will see a lot of rewards from it as you go.

Wii for PE: Fit/Fit+ vs. Active

We have been fortunate enough to invest into a Wii. I would not ordinarily say that a video game is an investment but I would have to say that this one is. This game actually involves keeping you moving. In my book that is great and it tells you to go take a break outside, even better. But onto what I am writing about.




The Active and Fit products for the Wii are both great. I am not advertising for either product I am simply putting out my own thoughts and ideas. So here they are.





Active Review:



This game is a great cardio and light strength training game. It involves an extended circuit training of multiple excersizes. You can set this up for as young as age 5 and do not need to have a balance board for it however, it is compatible. You earn trophies for burning calories, playing each game, playing a certain number of days, reaching the goals you set and so on. It can tell which excersizes you are good at or stong in and help you build up in your weaker areas. Cons: In my opinion this game is really best for 10 and up crowd at least. For most chiildren the leg band is much too long for their legs and will not hold in place. This makes it dificult to fully use the program if you are younger. However my children still said it was a lot of fun.





Fit/Fit+ Review:





This game is a great family game and excellent to get kids active. The game provides lots of oppurtunity for friendly competition and believe me, my family works to get that coveted spot of #1. The kids can easily keep up with the game and since there are no leg bands required this allows for easy play time. The + also allows you to set up for multiple players which means less time trying to change Mii charaters so that everyone can play. Cons: I did not like that the + has all the games unlocked. In the original Fit you had to work to unlock new games and work outs. I also find that as adult trying to get a consistent work out and tone my muscles this game does not have a high intensity level. However I still enjoy playing the games with my family.





Overall, either product is a great purchase. I have found that it is nice to have something that will burn off some of my children’s energy when we are stuck indoors due to rain or snow. Only you can decide if this is something will help with your families goals.



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Why do we home school?

Why do we home school? That is a question that I have asked myself and have been asked by others. In the beginning it was about wanting something better. I wanted an education for my children that could not be interupted or changed because of our relocating for the military.

I used to think I could [...]

Why do we home school?Previous EntryI get it now…

Wow, we are well into our second year of homeschooling. I can say that I have learned a lot. First I have learned that I can homeschool my children. There is no magic button that made other people more able to do it. They just chose to do it and so it was done. I [...]

Why We Homeschool

Why do we home school? That is a question that I have asked myself and have been asked by others. In the beginning it was about wanting something better. I wanted an education for my children that could not be interupted or changed because of our relocating for the military.




I used to think I could just supplement what they were missing. In other words I was sending my kids to school so that they could come home and do more school. Does not make sense to me either. So after a slightly frustrating year of first grade for my oldest child I had a lot to think about. We ended the year with me thinking second grade will be better. I am going to sit down and lay out for the teacher what I expect as feed back and what I expect of my child everyday. That will do it.



That thought lasted until the middle of July. I was sitting online and thinking about all the people I knew who home schooled. Many for religious reasons, a couple for learning disabilities and another friend because they knew their child was ready, even if the state said they were too young. So I sat at my computer and began my research.





I did not find the answers I wanted at first. I mostly found good cirriculums that I would not be comfortable just buying. I am a very get my hands dirty and let me see all the details kind of person. I have to know exactly what I am getting into. As I was losing hope and was just going to keep hoping that second grade would be better I found it.



A program called K-12. Well it has all the grades at least. I clicked on the link and was blown away. It was already after 11pm and here I was watching testimonies of families, even military families. And getting to check out example lessons for every grade and every subject. I was even learning new things and having fun doing it. Best of all this school was online, required hand written and hand done projects and because of where I live everything was free. They would send it all to me and supply me with a teacher, field trips, online classes, and almost all the school supplies, FREE!!. I had to hear more.



I kept looking into it and had my daughter try out the sample lessons. She liked them and learned from them. So I began e-mailing my deployed husband. He liked them too and agreed that we should give it a try. So we did. And this is how it all began, because I knew we needed something better.



What I did not expect was that we were going to get so much more then what we looking for. We got more time with our kids. More time to go on really cool field trips and explore our new state. The ability to go on vacation when the Navy finally let us have leave (in September no less), my youngest children enjoying doing the same experiments and projects as big sister.



The first year was not easy. And I have conisdered if they are missing out or if I am crazy; and I might be a little bit. But overall we really enjoy not having to run on a regular schedule. We are a Navy family and for us there is no 9am to 5pm life. So now there is no longer a 9 am to 3 pm school routine. We school when are ready and explore when are ready. And then, we pack up and move when the Navy is ready.





Till next time…