Thinking of Homeschooling?

atheist homeschool

It doesn't happen very often in the things that I read, so when it does it's worth a mention. The Washington Post actually posted a pro-homeschool article!

Thinking of Homeschooling? Me Too.

My dear friend Edith-ann shared a link with me and I was incredibly surprised to see a positive post about homeschooling, not that homeschooling doesn't deserve it. It's just that most media focuses on the negative, as media tends to to. It's refreshing as he#* to have an honest news source report some honest homeschool stats. More than postive, actually. The author of the article, Allison Barrett Carter writes With the help of the Internet, home schooling has become normalized. In fact, with all my clicking and reading, I find myself excited about it.

That's how I still feel about homeschooling: excited. 

As the parent of two teens who are successful in their lives, I love the way the homeschool lifestyle has helped them to create their own sense of identity. It's a benefit of homeschooling that makes me swoon. Self Identity.

Elizabeth and Dr. Robollo 

As it happens, Elizabeth has been dually-enrolled at the community college and has just gained enough credits to graduate from homeschooling. Last night was the party. It was such a wonderful celebration of Elizabeth's accomplishments. But more than that.

One of her college professors was here at the party telling me about what a remarkable individual Elizabeth is, strong in herself, capable, unique. This professor told me that she can tell homeschooled students because of their maturity, passion, and dedication to their projects.

And that's a nice thing to hear.

Homechooling Parents: Do You Know What I Loved About School?

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I went to public school K-12. I'm not even sure if people had ever heard about homeschooling back in those days. Actually, I do know that people homeschooled. It was a thing that people did when their kids couldn't make it in school because of behavioral issues or developmental issues. That was all I knew of homeschooling back back back in the darkness of the stone age.

All I knew as a kid was public school, and I loved it.

• I loved the art classes. Trying out different types of art projects from clay to fiber to ink and more. I doubt the art teachers back in the day got much acknowledgement, but now I appreciate them.

• I also loved Pizza Fridays in the cafeteria. Why, I have no idea. The pizza was terrible and I generally went home for lunch every single day...for pizza.

• I nearly always liked my teachers. I had the kind of teachers who truly seemed to care about each of us personally. There were a few exceptions, but for the most part I had very caring teachers all through school. 

• I liked feeling smart in my classes. I was always in the advanced classes and I knew it. I knew when I was the best or the smartest or the fastest reader... It was a real self-esteem boost.

• I liked holding a nickle in my hand to buy a new pencil in the second grade. It was a fat, red pencil with thick, soft graphite and no eraser. I loved those pencils.

• I liked it in the sixth grade when my advanced class finished the grade school curriculum and our sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Stork, designed a very creative year's worth of activities for us.

• I liked that little pencil tray inside of the desk that held pencils, erasers, and mini pencil sharpeners.

See, although I loved school back in the day I really didn't have anything to compare it to. If I had known about homeschooling as it exists today I think I would have made the perfect candidate to be homeschooled. What would it have been like if someone had noticed how little I was getting from school, how completely disconnected I was? What would it have been like if someone (but who?) would have taken me in hand, would have recognized my ability to learn independently, and would have taken an interest in me and who would have empowered my studies. What would it have been like if I could have had some of that child-led learning stuff and freedom to follow my own interests? I had so many interests!

I had no friends in school, truly. I truly didn't. I had little connection to the materials we covered in class. I seldom felt actually seen. In fact, I remember some specific moments when I actually thought I was invisible. I felt like flotsam. There were about half a dozen bullies in my class, K-12. I remember thinking our class material was pointless and, even worse, I don't remember ever understanding why we were learning what we were learning; I guess I had little context. I never seemed to understand what was going on. I never ever understood the socialization of kids around me. 

I hope schooling is better for kids these days, though I think that the problems have just changed. Public school...it's just not for everybody.

Is School Superior to Homeschool?

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Not long ago I was feeling overwhelmed and upset with some gaps that I had started to notice in one of my children's education. I was noticing that John was absolutely lost anytime another part of the globe was mentioned...geography!

One day John and I were looking at a St. Louis map and I realized that our metropolitan area was a total blur to him. And that wasn't surprising to me; he's not the most alert and aware teenager on the planet, what with his head bent over his phone whenever we are in the car. 

So I was worried, but then I remembered how completely lost I used to be while driving in the metro area when I was his age. And I relaxed a bit.

And I remembered how, at his age, I had no idea where the Middle East was and no idea what was there. And I relaxed even more.

And I remembered how anyplace in South America or Southeast Asia had been a complete mystery to me at his age...and dozens of other places too. And I relaxed even more.

And I saw some school kids who were John's age and I asked them if they knew where a few countries were and, guess what? They didn't know and hadn't even heard of the countries. And I relaxed even more.

It's easy, as a homeschooling parent, to see the gaps and to freak out about them. To see gigantic holes in the plan. To detect a giant deficiency in your well-meaning lessons. It's easy to feel depressed and defeated and to go the total distance and fear that you are messing up your kids forever. Because you are certain that everything matters, that everything weighs a ton. It's easy, sometimes, as a homeschooling parent to think that school kids are getting superior stuff in their contained buildings.

But I want to remind you of something true: School is not perfect.

Teachers are overwhelmed and under resourced. Districts are tragically underfunded. Classrooms are packed. School parents are mired in district rules and school requirements. Students have to follow absurd rules and have to jump through trivial hoops. Kids are bored. Studies feel meaningless to them. And of course there are wonderful things about schools too.

I'm certain that millions of parents wish they could embrace the freedom, the earnestness, and the significant profile of the homeschool lifestyle. I'm sure that millions of kids who are in school would love to homeschool.

And John will be fine. He'll find his way around town one day...just like I did.

 ......................................................................................... 

Apparently it is Ask an Atheist Week.

Please feel free to ask me anything!

In the meantime, please check out this blogpost

from a friend, Lori,

on her blog called On a Perfectly Lazy Day,

her answer to that common question that atheists get:

Why is being an Atheist

such a large part of your identity?

My Son is FINALLY Writing

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Homeschooling Parents, I'm here to offer more anecdotal evidence to the well-known unschooling mantra Trust Children. We hear it all of the time from our unschooling friends and from John Holt and I myself have even written posts offering reminders to trust our children.

While various websites and adherents define unschooling in different ways, it is generally considered an approach to homeschooling that advocates child-led learning, learning initiated by the interests of the child. Our family has not been an unschooling family, but I do embrace this basic approach of using personalized and meaningful content in our eclectic lessons.

Again and again in the lives of my children I have reminded myself to trust them, to trust the process of homeschooling. Especially as regards those areas of specific challenge for the kids. Elizabeth has struggled with math and John has struggled with language. With time, when learning these skills became necessary, they have both learned what they needed to know. Elizabeth has learned and is learning math because she now wants to and needs it for her own reasons and purposes. And John?

JD and John
Wrestling Fans
xxx

John now has an interesting and totally unforeseeable reason to write. A reason for writing that I couldn't have predicted in a zillion years. John and JD have started getting into wrestling, as in wrestling, the kind of wrestling that is entertainment-based, story-lined, choreographed and scripted, but not fake at all. 

That kind of wrestling.

JD has been writing for an online wrestling forum for about  year and he's gotten John involved. Each week John writes a couple of promotions, promos, for the wrestling character that he has created for the forum. His character is called Maero, sounds like marrow, and is a total freak of a character.

The absolutely amazing thing about John's writing is this. Although he has found writing to be a total chore for over fifteen years, although picking up a pencil used to give him nerves and anxiety...now he is motivated, driven, and shockingly excellent at it! 

No kidding! His writing is at a level that I though we would never reach a few months ago.

I Can't Believe It!

I read his promos each week, often several of them a week, and I have watched his writing skills improve so much over the past three months or so. Now that he's motivated, his learning curve has been straight up! His spelling, syntax, grammar, punctuation, style...all have developed into some truly excellent writing. And because he is proud of his burgeoning skills, his he delighted to send each of his promos to me for reading.

Color me surprised.

If I had begged him to write it wouldn't have happened. 

It had to happen when it meant something to him.

Trust your children.

 Do you have a similar story? 

You might also love this article from Schooling the World blog
called A Thousand Rivers.
I sure did.

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Other Posts You Might Enjoy:

Trust

Prospective Homeschool Parents: Part 1 of 5
Licorice

Dear Me: Being the Mom

Strategies and Stuff for Successful Homeschooling Parents

HOMESCHOOL: S.A.Q.: Seldom Asked Questions. Redux

S.A.Q.

I have seen dozens of FAQ pages for homeschooling here on the WWW. 

 But none of the FAQ sites appeal to me, 

so I decided, HEY, I like my Seldom Asked Questions Better!
Welcome to this page for newbie homeschoolers. 

Most of your seldom asked questions will be here.

If you don't see the answer to your question here,

please feel free to contact the management.

1. Do you feel luckier than other moms because you get to spend so much time with your children?

Sometimes, I really do! We have so much flexibility with our schedule and we truly enjoy one another. I do feel fortunate that I can offer lessons to the kids when they are feeling their best during the day and stay with those lessons until we need a break.

As the mom, I feel so thrilled to get to watch them using their imaginations!

2. Did you decide to homeschool for the socialization?

Actually, we didn't start homeschooling for this reason. But, at times, I admit, I'm thrilled we do homeschool whenever I hear about socialization problems in the public schools. So I'm not going to kid you, today, it is as major reason why we homeschool.

As for why we DID begin homeschoooling, it wasn't for any sort of rejection of the school system. Instead, we simply embrace the homeschool lifestyle.

3. Aren’t you happy to not have to worry about pleasing the state requirements or your local school district?!

I seriously am! I don't see how the state has made things any better for public school kids lately. Don't get me wrong, I know some great public or private school kids. And I'm happy to see them thriving despite the limitations offered by their school.

On the positive side of the question, I am happy that I don't have to expect the teacher, school, or school district to try to meet the needs of my children while, simultaneously, trying to meet the needs of so many other students.

4. It’s so obvious why a family would choose a homeschooling lifestyle. Why do you think more families don’t do it?

I think most families don't understand how wonderful the lifestyle can be. Most of us have been trained or brain-washed to think that a child needs school in order to be truly educated. But I know that most families who do not homeschool do public school (or other educational institution) for their own reasons. I wouldn't try to stereotype anyone.
I'm sure most parents are very thoughtful about the education they offer to their children.

5. You homeschool. Does that mean your family fits the societal stereotypes, pigeon-holes, or labels?

Of course not. And neither does any other homeschool family that I know. Every family, homeschool or not, is unique.

6. Your family must be bustling with activity from all of the community opportunities available to them! How do you ever find down time?

Yes we are! It can be exhausting and exhilarating at the same time!  Naturally we have a good calendar and we communicate daily about our upcoming events.

7. It must be a thrill to watch your children learning about things you are unfamiliar with...simply because they have an interest!

It is! I love knowing that we are learning current events and up-to-the-moment data. Dinner conversations can be so interesting when the kids share their interests with us! Especially when they've had the freedom to follow their own interests for extended periods of time. You just never know what they will come up with.

8. Since your child is actually living in the world at large on a daily basis, you must enjoy their ability to move comfortably through the different people with whom they come in contact!

People we meet often comment on how friendly and interesting my kids are. It's nice being the "Face of Homeschool" to people we meet. We have the opportunity to meet people from every economic/social strata available and to befriend them.

9. Being present with your child daily, and, therefore, being aware of those moments when your child is “getting” a concept or struggling with it, you must, therefore, be the first one to know if your child is learning or not in the homeschool environment. Is this true?

Of course it's true  And all without a single "test". In fact, the very moment my child(ren) need help, they can ask. Or I simply notice.  You know, just the way you notice when they need help opening a can or closing a zipper. I can see us making such progress!

10.  With all of the many reputable universities enthusiastically accepting the independent-learning homeschooled students, you must look forward to seeing your child pursue their education into adulthood!

We have seen our friends go on to colleges all over the country, and they thrive! I haven't spoken to any university reps yet, but I know that, when I do, they will be pretty impressed with my kids.  Academically, socially, hobbies and activities, passion for learning, all of these things join together to make most homeschooled kids highly desirable to admissions offices of colleges.

11. 

Should We Homeschool?

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When my daughter was in kindergarten I was so excited to be a room mother, to be a part of the PTA, to spend time helping the teacher, and to help contribute to the school community in other ways. It was a thing that I looked forward to from the very moment I became a parent, even before that. From the very start I wanted to do my part in participating in the local elementary school as a family.

I imagined myself bringing cupcakes, planning Valentine's Day parties, pouring the juice. I would have been that go-to parent whenever a teacher needed a hand during field trips or on photocopy day. I could envision my kids at their desks waving proudly as I peeked in from outside of their classroom door.

Elizabeth loved kindergarten. She loved her work, loved learning, and she truly loved her excellent kindergarten teacher. Mrs. Wilson was such a great kindie teacher. She was extra sweet, super pretty (as all kindie teachers should be), and most importantly, she excelled at her job. She had double master's degrees in education. She was brilliant and dedicated and she loved her class and I was super impressed with her.

Elizabeth was in school and I did volunteer in her classroom every week on Thursday afternoons. I loved being in the classroom and I felt like I was learning so much about schooling and learning and teaching and about what it meant to be knowledgeable. Elizabeth did wave at me proudly across the room.

At the same time, my best friend was homeschooling her children. Lara had two kids at that time who were my own kids' ages; we were one big happy group of best friends. I watched her too and learned everything I could about homeschooling. I admired how I saw her family moving through the world and I longed for the natural lifestyle that homeschooling seemed to offer.

I watched Elizabeth feeling proud of herself in the classroom, pleasing Mrs. Wilson, participating in daily routines each afternoon, and being a part of those kids and their lives each day. And still, for four months I read and researched homeschool, public school, learning styles, teaching theory...everything I could get my hands on.

One afternoon I was in the classroom with Mrs. Wilson alone while the kids were in the library. I was working on some paper sorting or packet binding or some other activity when I decided to talk to her about homeschooling. We spent about an hour talking about the homeschool vs. public school lifestyle, methods, advantages and disadvantages of each. She had so much to say about how bright and motivated Elizabeth was and how optimistic she was about the prospect of homeschool for Elizabeth. She even said that she was planning on homeschooling her own children one day.

The decision to homeschool was not an easy one to make. School was really working for Elizabeth. Making the decision to homeschool was absolutely not about rejecting school as much as it was about embracing the lifestyle of homeschool. I have had many days where I doubted the entire enterprise and many more days where I have been confident that we were doing the right thing. But I never stop thinking about it; even now I continue to revisit the decision, now for John. 

John and I recently sat down and discussed his educational goals for this year and next. At this time next year he will be starting attending the local community college as a dually-enrolled homeschooler. And he's happy.

When I think of those earliest days when my husband and I were debating and researching and struggling on how to proceed educationally for our kids, I still remember the gnawing, desperate desire to make the right decision.

I'm still convinced.

One Nation, Indivisible

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My house is filled with homeschooled teens today and I have been enjoying their amazing minds and conversations. At this moment in the other room is a fascinating conversation on American history and the Pledge of Allegiance. My son has to concede that he barely knows the words of the Pledge...he has no interest in it.

Other kids are saying that, while they love their country, they see no reason to recite a pledge of any kind. Another teen is saying that the words under God need to be removed from the current Pledge of Allegiance. In response to the question of how familiar the Pledge of Allegiance is to the citizens one teen said Things change in this country every day; we could get used to the words changing in the Pledge. One teen has gone on to disagree saying that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance feels great and they love being a part of a large group saying it all together. 

The conversation went on to discuss various religion traditions from other countries as well as how the dominant religion in this country, Christianity, seems to remove rights from the people, rather than add to them.

What I'm marveling at is how informed these kids are, how well-spoken, how passionate they are about how freedom strengthens a country... I'm proud of these kids; they are so neat! 
A perfectly average and extraordinary day.

Maybe it's the homeschooling. Maybe it's just that the next generation coming up has amazing hearts and minds...I'm hopeful.

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Other Blog Posts You Might Enjoy:

Why Do We Learn?
SOOOOO Glad We Homeschool

I Wish More Homeschoolers were Secular

A Shot in the Arm: A Reader Comments

Timed  Tests and Homeschooling

My Second Grade Teacher and Homeschooling

Timed Tests and Homeschooling

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When I was a kid I was always in the advanced classes. By the fourth grade we were sorted into ability levels and I was always in with the smart kids. That was all well and good for most of my subjects. But Math...now that wasn't good. If you were a smart kid in those days you were in with the upper echelon kids, with regards to grades, GPAs, in all subjects.

One problem for me was that I was excellent in all classes except for one: MATH. To this very day I can't do math.

In some ways I can take some of my math fear back to times tests. I recall a timed test in the second grade, Mrs. Allison's class, the class when I realized that I didn't get math. This was the moment when I knew that I might have done better on the quiz if I had not felt the pressure of the timed test. On the other hand, when it came to super-fast speed reading, I was top of the class. I would imagine that kids who didn't enjoy reading were turned off on reading forever with those speed reading activities.

Back to math, later on we did the timed multiplication tests in Mrs. Cataneo's class. While I began to ace the times tables, I hated the tests. And later still, the pressure of the math quiz on Fridays in my seventh grade math class still bothers me. I wonder if my own math ability might have changed had someone tried to pique my interest in math rather than to attempt to force performance upon me.

Timed tests. I hate them. 

When John was younger I could see that he was very adept in math, in whatever those skills are that make a person excellent in math. I tried giving him times multiplication tests. At one point he simply put his pencil down and said I won't take timed tests, Mom.

How did he know?
How did John know that the timed aspect of the work was optional and was counterproductive? When given unlimited time to complete his work he could finish that work in minutes and finish it well. But add a timing device and his performance went all to hell. Without the stopwatch, John enjoys the math and logic challenges and even does analogy workbooks just for fun.

Timed tests, in my experience, don't display a child's ability level, but, rather, they display a child's ability to handle stress. From my reading lately, I see that school administrators are struggling to make improvements in the performance of their students, but I strenuously question some of their efforts. How can creating math anxiety help improve performance in math students?

I haven't really followed schooling and education trends; I'm not even specifically certain what is meant by the Common Core Standards that are so in the news these days. But one thing that I am certain of is that performance anxiety can never compete with help in appreciating the beauty of a well-turned math problem.



Addendum:
My friend just posted this article by her dad:

President Obama Finally Opts in 

for Personalized Teaching over Standardized Testing

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You Might Also Enjoy:

Maybe Homeschool is to Blame

OY!!! The NEA Has So Respect for Me

Teaching Things That I Don't Know

Stop Worrying and Love the Textbook

You are Your Best Gizmo

My College-Aged Homeschooled Daughter Gives Advice to Homeschooling Parents

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This evening my daughter and I have been talking about how she's doing in college, at work, and in general in her life. She is just so happy, productive, and feeling positive that I thought other homeschooling parents might enjoy hearing how she is doing.  Here is a short conversation that she and I had together for this blog post: 

Do you read my blog?

LOL, yes, Mom, I do read your blog from time to time. I will get on and read multiple posts in a row, but I don't really read it regularly.
Now I feel like a terrible daughter!  LOL

What do you think of my blog and of how I write about you?

I think your blog is very informative for parents who need it and an interesting read because of our lifestyle. We have unique experiences and we're a unique family with our reasons for homeschooling, our atheism, living out of the country, and other things. 

As for the way you write about me, I trust you. I'm fine with it because I know it's not too personal or anything, you share it with me before posting it, and I feel safe with your readers.

What are you doing these days?  

Still homeschooling?

LOL, no I've gotten away from that. I'm a part-time college student (she has three classes) and I'm loving it. I don't really homeschool anymore. I'm working alot of hours, doing homework, and keeping busy with theater and friends and things like that. I'm also taking private Korean lessons from a student at another college so I drive up to Washington University once or twice a week for those. I was just in a show at school that ended last week, so I'm getting used to having some free time again! I made a great friend during that show: the main character was played by a professor at school and she and I really became close; I love her; she's so amazing! I'm also working with you, Mom, with the photobooths and I love that. I'm doing some writing on my novel too, don't forget that.

And sadly, my best friend moved out to the west coast so, even though I have some friends, my best friend is gone!

Do you feel different from other students at school because you homeschooled?

At first I felt like it was obvious to everyone around me that I homeschooled, like it was seeping out of me Homeschooler here, Homeschooler here, can't function in a regular school environment!!!  I was afraid that I had Homeschooler tattooed onto my forehead! lol, but I know that that was my insecurities and anxieties about starting something new getting in the way. 
Between when I first started last spring and now, six semesters later, I know that I really do fit in perfectly and I know that having been homeschooled didn't impact me negatively at all. I feel like having been homeschooled makes me quite unique. No one really knows that I homeschooled unless I tell them and when I do, they are interested in what that was like for me. Most people are envious and wish that they had homeschooled too.

In fact, often when an instructor knows that I was homeschooled they tell me to tell Mom that she did a great job with me...as if!

How did being homeschooled prepare you for college?

It did in that we did our lessons, math and essays and things, that prepared me for what to expect in my classes. You taught me about note taking, reading and researching, and creating outlines of lectures. We read some great literature. We worked in groups with our co op. We did lots of writing, essays, papers, poetry. I knew what would be expected of me by teachers. And, in fact, I'm quite good in my classes. Right now I'm in a writing class where we do peer reviews and my fellow students frequently enjoy my writing and are impressed with my ability to write well.

Also, my first semester in college I didn't take college-level classes but college-prep classes and those courses also helped me to prepare for college-level work and, more importantly, showed me that I was fully capable of doing this work.

Do you have advice for new homeschooling parents?

I would say to relax a little! Don't feel like you need to push lessons or information on kids. They need to be active and free and to follow their own interests. Don't get upset if they want to play instead of wanting to learn. Kids in schools are trapped in a 2x2 desk! You have an advantage in that you don't have to spend four or five weeks on a subject if you don't need to put in that kind of time; as soon as your child gets it you can move forward. Or if your child needs more time you can give them that too. There is no wasted time at all and alot less stress.

If your child gets does feel overloaded or stressed out or they need a break go read a book, put on a costume and play, do some art work. Use that advantage of not having learning time be between the hours of 9 and 3.
OH, and play alot!

Anything else?

Try not to get frustrated in your child doesn't get something right away. We've learned that children learn at different rates. If they don't get something now, put it away and bring it back in a month or two.
My brother and I are very close, we're both very close to Mom and Dad too, so that is another homeschool advantage! But mostly enjoy your time together; it will be worth it!

What would you ask her, if you could?
Check back for answers.

ADDENDUM, 10/12/2015

Question from reader Amy to Elizabeth: What would be the one - or three- things you wished you would have learned (or done) to help prepare you for college that were missed?

Honestly, nothing academic. If you aren't college-level when you get to college, there are prep classes you can take to get you up to speed. Academics can be fixed there; that's what college is there for. There were dozens of adults in my below-college-level math class.

I wish I would have known how expensive it is. Because even community college is SUPER expensive and I feel like a burden to my parents. Even if deep down I know I'm not a burden at all, I still feel it. Now that I'm working toward independence I know the financial commitment that they have made to me, though they would never say that. I feel like, early on, as soon as conversations about college start happening, parents might start talking about the expense of college. That way kids who might want to help with the cost of it might want to think about how to prepare themselves to help with that financial burden.

For a long time I've had this thought, I felt like I knew what kids out there would be like...like the snotty kids in movies, and I thought that was how kids are. But in college you realize that some people are, in face, still stuck in high school but most of them are not. Most of them are really nice people who want to befriend you and make you a part of their friend circle. It helps to actively pursue friendships rather than wait for them to come to you.

You think homework in homeschool is bad now? Homework in college will kick your butt. You have to stick with it, put your head down, and do it right away because there is no time to put it off. Not going to lie, for some classes you can get away without getting the homework done, but most of them require that you do it. I enjoy getting good grades and that requires that the work gets done on time.  

Thanks for asking!  ~Liz

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Other posts you might enjoy:

Take this Job and LOVE it!

Maybe Homeschool is to Blame

A Very Damaging List Against Homeschool

Take this Job and LOVE it!

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On New Years Day of this year our family was attending a party at a friend's house when we met a lovely woman who introduced us to one of our best opportunities of the year. We were introduced to a woman who is now a dear friend, Melissa, a woman who owns a small business: photo booths for rent! Her business is called Fun Photo and she is the bad assest business owner I've ever known!

It took awhile for us to get our ducks in a row, but this year has been fantastic because both John and Elizabeth have been able to work with me as part of a parent/teen team on the job. When we do a gig, I take one of the kids and we operate the photo booth as a team. It has been a phenomenal opportunity for both of them to learn some really useful work skills, including how to work on a team, how to work with people, how to take instruction, business ethic, problem solving on your feet, working with difficult clients, and many more skills that I can't articulate right now.

We have worked at parties, weddings, public events, middle and high schools, colleges, holiday events, bar and bat mitzvahs, private parties of many kinds, and at business events. We've worked in many different places in a two state area and, another cool benefit, as homeschoolers we've been able to work during the week during daylight hours. The photo booth is usually an activity that people love...our clients are always smiling!

I have learned how amazing my kids are!
I am super impressed with them and so very proud. Although both of the kids now have other jobs as well, we still find time to work a gig or two for my friend Melissa. I'm so very thrilled that we have had this opportunity to work together as a mother/teen team because I have had the chance to do something that few parents ever get to see; I get to see my kids act as professionals in the work place. It is a pretty cool thing.

This weekend Elizabeth and I worked two gigs; it was both exhausting and thrilling! The first night we happened to be right in the middle of Cardinal Baseball Play Off Fever because our gig was smack dab in the middle of the hottest club in town that actually overlooks the stadium, right there on the first night of the playoffs! The massive baseball crowd was overwhelmingly red and white as we maneuvered our equipment from the car to the club where we were to work...maneuvering through a massive, moving crowd. Outside of the nearby window of our gig was the actual game! Inside there was a party going on and we were a part of it...it's a great gig if you can get it!

To massively switch gears, tonight we had our photo booth at a 45th class reunion from a local high school for a few hours. The crowd was truly so lovely! Elizabeth and I both enjoyed the people and the work.

Elizabeth and I got home well before midnight with cash in our pockets, happy smiles on our faces, and with the delightful experience of a job well done...together!

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Other blog posts you might enjoy:

Heart Outside of my Body
24 Hours of my Daughter's Life
Growing Pains