Chewsa Mom of the Month/Jan

Monica Sibbing


1) How many children? Ages and grades you teach?
Jacob (8) third grade
Tabitha (6) first grade
Madeline (5) kindergarten
Caden (2) tot school

2) How long have you been homeschooling?
Four years officially, but I did home daycare and had an extensive preschool curriculum

3) What curriculims have you tried and which are your fav? Have you tried something everyone prasies and hate it?
We started using K12 while we were in DC because it was completely free. I used it for two years- long enough to figure out what was and wasn't working for us. Since then I've used an odd-ball collection of things with a recent mid-year change to Zaner-Bloser for writing, vocabulary, and handwriting. I use First Language Lessons and History of the World from Peace Hill Press, Real Science 4 Kids, Math-U-See, and I absolutely love All About Spelling which is really phonics, spelling, and reading all in one. I also use several on-line sights to supplement like Starfall, National Geographic Young Explorer/Expeditions/Pioneer/Little Kids, and Scholastic Printables. I also subscribe to Weekly Reader and use the kids' Sunday School papers during the week for Bible study. We take Wednesday's off to catch up, rest, or do the fun stuff.
One program I started with was An Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading which was highly recommended worked great with Jake because he'd already had a great program with K12. It was a different story with Tabi so we looked for something new and found All About Spelling.

4) What is your biggest lesson you have learned as a Homeschooling mom?
Something I heard once about how you can take a horse to water... I've found it is vitally important to listen to their cues and follow their interests while still teaching them the core of what they need to know. Curriculum isn't the end-all be-all of how and what they learn. A good friend of mine told me that you just cross out the silly stuff, and the silly stuff is defined as anything you think is unnecessary (Thanks Andrea!).

5) What keeps you motivated and going as a homeschool mom?
I will only hold these precious little hands in my own for a few more short years before they begin to put into practice all they have learned at home. At times I may feel like I need a moment or two to catch my breath, but I would never trade a moment of this special time with them.