I am a homeschool grad and am now homeschooling my own kids. Something I never used and definitely not planning to use for my kids is a nature journal! I actual hadn't even heard of one until getting into homeschool social media last year. It's an extra and not vital to a good homeschool experience... especially for the non-artistically inclined like me. :)
Yes to this! We found for the first year that we need an extra curricular this year, for the first time. We've had a few water scares over the summer and want our kids to learn to swim by next summer. We made space in our homeschooling budget and Christmas budget to do 2 rounds of lessons over the fall/winter. I look at some homeschooling families running left and right 3+ times a day for co-op, park dates, lessons, and I'm exhausted for them! But we are blessed that our neighborhood is filled with kids and our kiddos get to be social daily just by playing outside!
Learning how to swim is an important safety skill! But can be hard to do without any regular pool access...that's when lessons can really come in handy!
You don't need separate curriculums for every subject, for every one of your kids. Group subjects take so much work off my plate. You don't need to use curriculums with a 'high school' label to give your high school aged kid credit. You don't need to BUY curriculum or books. There are tons of great options that are free online or to print out yourself. You don't need a ton of supplies. Pens, pencils, and notebook paper are our essentials.
It's so helpful for each family to distinguish between essentials vs. 'wants'. Nothing inherently wrong with 'wants' and extras...but seasons can come when you need to scale back to truly what's needed and what's essential...knowing what those essentials are for your family is so helpful!
😊❤❤❤❤LOVE this video! THANK YOU for making this. I feel so much better knowing I'm not weird for not wanting to have anything to do with a co-op. I agree with what you discussed and more. I am introverted as well. I learned the hard way that there is no perfect curriculum and could have had my own store. It has taken me a while to get rid of most. I still have to rid myself of a box of used curriculum I'm never going to utilize. I too dont do any extracurriculars. I'm not a sports mom nor my husband a sports feind and very thankful for. I like being home and not being busy on the go. Thanks for making my year! 😂❤
Aww, love that! Glad to be an encouragement. My husband is an athlete, he teaches PE and coaches track and field...it's possible we may end up with a bit of sports in our lives at some point...but it's not something we'll really go searching out and making a huge deal out of... and since my husband already coaches as part of his job...he kind of just wants to come home and have an open schedule once the workday is done. :)
Binding system was on my dont-need list too. I use regular pocket folders and binder rings. My list would be -desks -a homeschool room -a specialized homeschool planner -beautiful wall charts -online/out school classes for upper level math and science -separate curricula for every possible ELA sub-topic
I've never much been one for hanging things on walls, either. I think that's largely due to being a permanent renter here overseas. Our walls are quite plain indeed. ha! Coming from a big family, we also have mostly avoided using online classes--the great thing about a high school textbook is that seven kids can take their turns using it as they come to that level. With online classes, you typically have to pay again for each student.
I was also homeschooled like Rachel and I'm going into my 10th year of homeschooling my own children. We never had heard of a homeschool Co-op until I was in high school and then really didn't feel like we needed it. I agree that a co-op is not necessary unless it's honestly helpful to that family. Rachel, I love your idea on how to bind pages! I think I will be trying that very soon. As far as the school supplies, I do replenish ours at the beginning of the school year so I can take advantage of back-to-school sales here in the U.S. I may store those supplies in a tub until we need them, but with a large family, our supplies typically get used up and we usually do need them at the beginning of the year.
Yes, co-ops used to play a much smaller role in homeschool (probably largely because we were fewer and farther between back then). I have been a big fan of the staple/tape binding technique because it holds up well over time and rough handling.
@@babeandbean With being overseas, mine is simply a local Asian brand that we bought online. Mine can staple 100 sheets at once and that's been good for us for kids' workbooks, mostly I would just look at what the sheet capacity is and what size staples it can take (i.e. mine can do 100 sheets, but if I'm making booklets with only 50 sheets I have to load a different size of staples)
You are so sweet and I love your videos. So lovely that you share, as across the world it can be meaningful to another mother with similar views. The only difference for me is the extra curricular activities. It does exhaust my family financially and mentally, mostly me there, but in our circumstances I press forwards for it while wishing I could not do it. I grew up without these things but went to school in the day and had a few friends. We in a new country past few years and my children can be lonely searching for friends I can't give them as the community and values around us differ so much they haven't found meaningful relationships despite me taking them to so many places to meet people. So now I think they at least get to be alongside others at activities while learning a beautiful skill or gaining a fitness or having fun. I have 3 at very different ages so even though I encourage their inter-sibling relationships to be strong, they need others too.
It can definitely be harder with age-gaps between siblings for them to share interests and skill levels. There can definitely be seasons when it's worth the extra money and time to invest in extra-curricular activities...and there can be seasons where it's more worthwhile to say no for now.
I loved what you said about planning. We are about to start our 3rd year of homeschool and I rarely plan more than a day at a time. I am a single mom, working outside the home, so that kind of organization just doesn't work for us. Also, our state does not require a portfolio or a certain amount of school days, so I don't feel pressured to complete a certain amount of assignments. We do school 4 days a week and just get it done.
We should never underestimate the power of "just getting it done." :) I also don't come from a state with high reporting requirements and that's one of the reasons I don't worry about pre-scheduling in a certain amount of school days (plus the fact that I know we're very consistent about our school routine).
Yes! Especially the new school supplies. While it is so much fun to “shop” for all the new paint, crayons, etc. I have gone a different direction this year and have only purchased one thing (A paper organizer). We have so many supplies that are still perfectly good for using. I am finding that simply moving our pre-loved things around or putting them in a different spot makes it “new” and exciting for the littles! Loved this video! ❤
Totally agree about co-ops! In the elementary years I have found they are absolutely not necessary especially if mom is an introvert. However, I have found my middle schooler needed a co-op and so we started her in the CC challenge program and that has been a perfect fit for our family and very extroverted oldest child. She gets co-op once a week and I don’t have to go. Ooooo! I love my ProClick binding machine! I have used one for years b/c my kids like their books to lay flat. I also use one to make my teacher binder so I can keep my head straight with four students. Oh man. You’re killing me Rachel!!! Hahahaha. I just bought and refilled school supplies this weekend. We love new school supplies every July. 😂 I’m right there with you about planning. I do not plan ahead because it never worked the way I planned and just frustrated me! We use a lot of open and go curriculum and just do the next lesson. I do have big goals plan for each year. Yes about perfect curriculum. The perfect curriculum is the one that works for you and your child! And I agree about extracurriculars! We don’t do them because that isn’t the lifestyle we want for our kids. This video was so fun!!!
haha, that's awesome that you don't have to go to co-op and spend the whole day there with her! As a fellow introvert...I appreciate that. I got school supplies on last year's trip to the US because Crayola is about 5x the cost here (due to the cost of all imported goods) and because I prefer pencils with erasers (which are not the sort sold here...)...and then I stash the supplies safely away to dole out only when needed. ha!
We've moved a lot and been on the mission field so we definitely haven't really done extracurriculars or co ops. I agree with everything on your list. I'd add you don't need a designated homeschool room.
I definitely think our overseas life has contributed to our lack of co-ops or extracurriculars...but the trade off has been worthwhile for our family. :)
Thank you so much for posting this!!! We tried a co-op and just the thought now I could break into hives. Last year was or first year homecoming and was made to feel like we NEEDED to. And yes to the rest.
We're 9 years in and have never had a coop. I love being the mentor for the kids, it's why I homeschool. We save a lot of money by pulling resources together ourselves and we use that savings for museum memberships and one extracurricular that the kids all take together.
Thank you for this video. It was a wonderful reminder at a time where I was debating what the right thing to do in regards to a co-op was (our previous one dissolved). I completely agree on the supplies and the scheduling. I will schedule out activities for the units in the curriculum, but nothing is assigned a date. Everything on our homeschool is also on a loose, living plan.
Yes! I enjoy reading my curriculums and coming up with ideas...but I feel like at least for me, filling out specific days and weeks ahead of time would be a waste of time and lead to frustration. Since we are currently doing country-themed units, I'll write out a list of my ideas at before we start a new unit...and then just weave those ideas in as they make sense and fit out schedule, gradually checking them off.
Thank you for this. This coming school year has been our most expensive. Mainly because I switched out sonlight last minute. Yes, that means I bought 2 HBL this year 😬 However, with 4 kids, expense will be our new reality. I think our big “we don’t buy” is nature study and elective courses. I’ve found that just being outside and engaging with my kids and their questions is enough for nature, and any electives before high school in my perspective can just be interest led in an almost unschooled way.
My parents sure had some expensive, multi-HBL years back in the days with a big house full of kids...but now that kid #7 is using all the high school HBLs that kids 1-6 already used...the initial investment paid off pretty well. ;P Definitely, for unique interests, there's no reason to formalize them or schoolify them in the early years. For Spanish, which some would consider 'elective'....I need to rely on resources to help me because it's just so easy to fall back into my strength of my native language.
We love our co op but my older kids wanted a community!!! My kids have friends who go to school!!! We don’t use a binding machine!!! I don’t like spiral binding!!! My kids haven’t said either way tho!!! I buy supplies when they are on sale or when we get low!!! I keep new supplies on hand!!! I plan as we go or plan by checklists!!! We love surfing but only as me and my husband surf and surfed before kids!!! We want our kids to be active!!!
Oh I miss apartment living and ALL the kids running around after school! I do plan our my year week by week, since a large part of the curriculum is books I pulled together for our minority language, and I feel a lot more comfortable when there is a plan. (Then I can turn my brain off for the rest of the year!) However, I do know enough to hold the plan lightly, so "week 12" of the plan can happen on week 11 or week 14 or whenever of the school year. We adjust and make do. About extracurriculars, our family concern is that we are a family who would rather curl up with a book or movie any day. How did your family make sure physical activities were happening?
I did not grow up in a "physical sports" family...at all. We're a bunch of nerds (my dad did teach us all to play baseball, and would gather up our friends for little games, because he loves baseball, but that's about it for athletic activities). Books and crafts and family movies for life! I don't think everybody needs as much experience with sports and physical activities as people seem to think they do...but we also liked adventures and usually when Dad was home on Saturday mornings we'd go hiking, etc. My husband, on the other hand, is a lifelong athlete...so playing sports-type activities (at their current ages, throwing the frisbee around at the park, playing mini-soccer, or very casual badminton without a net) is happening way more often with my own little crew....but still just casually. I wouldn't be surprised if at some point my husband wants to put them in some kind of sports team but it's not something we're really looking for and actively planning on. We'll just see how life goes and what interests they naturally have. Going on walks or hikes is, I think, a great way to get outdoors without having to be all sporty or competitive. :)
I agree with most of this, but extra-curriculars are important for us. A part of that is because my oldest is an extrovert, but I'm an introvert and really don't want to have to deal with other parents 😬😅. But it's also an experience thing. I want my kids to be able to experience different things to discover what they like. We aren't the fill-the-entire-week-with-activities types though. We try to keep it to a couple days a week tops. One thing that I find unnecessary that people seem to love is a laminator.
Extracurriculars can play a very fun role! I performed in theater productions and acting competitions throughout high school and loved the experience...but that was working with that requirement that I had to be able to get myself to all the practices--especially coming from a big family, I can very much understand why, for reasons of realistic budgets and time, extracurriculars weren't an essential for our family.
@@SevenInAll Yes, they can be quite pricey. But we only have 2 kids atm, and the youngest isn't even yet, so it's not too bad right now. That's actually one reason I'm taking advantage of them now: in the future, I might not be able to afford piano lessons for every child, but hopefully my oldest will have learned enough to help her younger siblings by that point.
My kids love having friends, but don’t like the co ops around us in Texas they are all academic and they don’t want more school. Instead they are finding their friends in our church and our neighborhood.
My dad's job had him do several big moves during my childhood and teen years...and then my husband and I decided to move overseas (in part) to be closer to my parents about 9 years ago, and he is now a teacher in an international school. I don't have a good reason as to why my channel is called Seven in All, but we're just rolling with the name because RUclips won't let me change it. When this channel started, it was looooong ago, and myself and all of my siblings made videos together. There were seven of us at the time, hence we picked "seven in all"....the name doesn't really match the current videos I make, but my siblings still show up in videos from time to time.
You don't need expensive curriculum. Or a curriculum for everything people asking what curriculum recommendation for art, music. That is mind boggling to me. Not putting anyone down but it's definitely not needed.
For every family, being able to distinguish between NEEDS and WANTS can be very helpful...because seasons will come when you need to pare down to just what's truly essential. Of course, it's also very nice when we can have some of those non-essential 'wants' in our homeschools. Art and music are not strengths for me, I didn't grow up with much of those (my parents prioritized math and science and I'm very confident in those areas)...so I do appreciate that the curriculum I use include art and music information. :)
I am a homeschool grad and am now homeschooling my own kids. Something I never used and definitely not planning to use for my kids is a nature journal! I actual hadn't even heard of one until getting into homeschool social media last year. It's an extra and not vital to a good homeschool experience... especially for the non-artistically inclined like me. :)
Amen!
Why can’t we just be outside?! Why does it have to be a nature journal experience? I feel seen. :)
I suspect it's because those journals are so very instagrammable. ;P
THIS!
I love and agree with everything that you said!!!
Be blessed 🙏
Yes to this! We found for the first year that we need an extra curricular this year, for the first time. We've had a few water scares over the summer and want our kids to learn to swim by next summer. We made space in our homeschooling budget and Christmas budget to do 2 rounds of lessons over the fall/winter. I look at some homeschooling families running left and right 3+ times a day for co-op, park dates, lessons, and I'm exhausted for them! But we are blessed that our neighborhood is filled with kids and our kiddos get to be social daily just by playing outside!
Learning how to swim is an important safety skill! But can be hard to do without any regular pool access...that's when lessons can really come in handy!
You don't need separate curriculums for every subject, for every one of your kids. Group subjects take so much work off my plate. You don't need to use curriculums with a 'high school' label to give your high school aged kid credit. You don't need to BUY curriculum or books. There are tons of great options that are free online or to print out yourself. You don't need a ton of supplies. Pens, pencils, and notebook paper are our essentials.
It's so helpful for each family to distinguish between essentials vs. 'wants'. Nothing inherently wrong with 'wants' and extras...but seasons can come when you need to scale back to truly what's needed and what's essential...knowing what those essentials are for your family is so helpful!
😊❤❤❤❤LOVE this video! THANK YOU for making this. I feel so much better knowing I'm not weird for not wanting to have anything to do with a co-op. I agree with what you discussed and more. I am introverted as well.
I learned the hard way that there is no perfect curriculum and could have had my own store. It has taken me a while to get rid of most. I still have to rid myself of a box of used curriculum I'm never going to utilize.
I too dont do any extracurriculars. I'm not a sports mom nor my husband a sports feind and very thankful for. I like being home and not being busy on the go.
Thanks for making my year! 😂❤
Aww, love that! Glad to be an encouragement. My husband is an athlete, he teaches PE and coaches track and field...it's possible we may end up with a bit of sports in our lives at some point...but it's not something we'll really go searching out and making a huge deal out of... and since my husband already coaches as part of his job...he kind of just wants to come home and have an open schedule once the workday is done. :)
Binding system was on my dont-need list too. I use regular pocket folders and binder rings.
My list would be
-desks
-a homeschool room
-a specialized homeschool planner
-beautiful wall charts
-online/out school classes for upper level math and science
-separate curricula for every possible ELA sub-topic
I've never much been one for hanging things on walls, either. I think that's largely due to being a permanent renter here overseas. Our walls are quite plain indeed. ha! Coming from a big family, we also have mostly avoided using online classes--the great thing about a high school textbook is that seven kids can take their turns using it as they come to that level. With online classes, you typically have to pay again for each student.
I was also homeschooled like Rachel and I'm going into my 10th year of homeschooling my own children. We never had heard of a homeschool Co-op until I was in high school and then really didn't feel like we needed it. I agree that a co-op is not necessary unless it's honestly helpful to that family.
Rachel, I love your idea on how to bind pages! I think I will be trying that very soon.
As far as the school supplies, I do replenish ours at the beginning of the school year so I can take advantage of back-to-school sales here in the U.S. I may store those supplies in a tub until we need them, but with a large family, our supplies typically get used up and we usually do need them at the beginning of the year.
Yes, co-ops used to play a much smaller role in homeschool (probably largely because we were fewer and farther between back then). I have been a big fan of the staple/tape binding technique because it holds up well over time and rough handling.
@@SevenInAll Do you have a stapler you recommend?
@@babeandbean With being overseas, mine is simply a local Asian brand that we bought online. Mine can staple 100 sheets at once and that's been good for us for kids' workbooks, mostly I would just look at what the sheet capacity is and what size staples it can take (i.e. mine can do 100 sheets, but if I'm making booklets with only 50 sheets I have to load a different size of staples)
You are so sweet and I love your videos. So lovely that you share, as across the world it can be meaningful to another mother with similar views. The only difference for me is the extra curricular activities. It does exhaust my family financially and mentally, mostly me there, but in our circumstances I press forwards for it while wishing I could not do it. I grew up without these things but went to school in the day and had a few friends. We in a new country past few years and my children can be lonely searching for friends I can't give them as the community and values around us differ so much they haven't found meaningful relationships despite me taking them to so many places to meet people. So now I think they at least get to be alongside others at activities while learning a beautiful skill or gaining a fitness or having fun. I have 3 at very different ages so even though I encourage their inter-sibling relationships to be strong, they need others too.
It can definitely be harder with age-gaps between siblings for them to share interests and skill levels. There can definitely be seasons when it's worth the extra money and time to invest in extra-curricular activities...and there can be seasons where it's more worthwhile to say no for now.
I loved what you said about planning. We are about to start our 3rd year of homeschool and I rarely plan more than a day at a time.
I am a single mom, working outside the home, so that kind of organization just doesn't work for us. Also, our state does not require a portfolio or a certain amount of school days, so I don't feel pressured to complete a certain amount of assignments. We do school 4 days a week and just get it done.
We should never underestimate the power of "just getting it done." :) I also don't come from a state with high reporting requirements and that's one of the reasons I don't worry about pre-scheduling in a certain amount of school days (plus the fact that I know we're very consistent about our school routine).
Yes! Especially the new school supplies. While it is so much fun to “shop” for all the new paint, crayons, etc. I have gone a different direction this year and have only purchased one thing (A paper organizer). We have so many supplies that are still perfectly good for using. I am finding that simply moving our pre-loved things around or putting them in a different spot makes it “new” and exciting for the littles!
Loved this video! ❤
Yes, sometimes all it takes is just some re-organization to refresh and remind you of what supplies you have on hand!
Totally agree about co-ops! In the elementary years I have found they are absolutely not necessary especially if mom is an introvert. However, I have found my middle schooler needed a co-op and so we started her in the CC challenge program and that has been a perfect fit for our family and very extroverted oldest child. She gets co-op once a week and I don’t have to go.
Ooooo! I love my ProClick binding machine! I have used one for years b/c my kids like their books to lay flat. I also use one to make my teacher binder so I can keep my head straight with four students.
Oh man. You’re killing me Rachel!!! Hahahaha. I just bought and refilled school supplies this weekend. We love new school supplies every July. 😂
I’m right there with you about planning. I do not plan ahead because it never worked the way I planned and just frustrated me! We use a lot of open and go curriculum and just do the next lesson. I do have big goals plan for each year.
Yes about perfect curriculum. The perfect curriculum is the one that works for you and your child!
And I agree about extracurriculars! We don’t do them because that isn’t the lifestyle we want for our kids.
This video was so fun!!!
haha, that's awesome that you don't have to go to co-op and spend the whole day there with her! As a fellow introvert...I appreciate that. I got school supplies on last year's trip to the US because Crayola is about 5x the cost here (due to the cost of all imported goods) and because I prefer pencils with erasers (which are not the sort sold here...)...and then I stash the supplies safely away to dole out only when needed. ha!
We've moved a lot and been on the mission field so we definitely haven't really done extracurriculars or co ops. I agree with everything on your list. I'd add you don't need a designated homeschool room.
I definitely think our overseas life has contributed to our lack of co-ops or extracurriculars...but the trade off has been worthwhile for our family. :)
Thank you so much for posting this!!! We tried a co-op and just the thought now I could break into hives. Last year was or first year homecoming and was made to feel like we NEEDED to. And yes to the rest.
So glad that you figured out that co-op wasn't a need, nor a good fit for your family right now!
We're 9 years in and have never had a coop. I love being the mentor for the kids, it's why I homeschool. We save a lot of money by pulling resources together ourselves and we use that savings for museum memberships and one extracurricular that the kids all take together.
That's awesome! I think it's really nice when siblings can participate in an extracurricular together!
Yes! Agree! 100%
Thanks for watching!
Thank you for this video. It was a wonderful reminder at a time where I was debating what the right thing to do in regards to a co-op was (our previous one dissolved).
I completely agree on the supplies and the scheduling. I will schedule out activities for the units in the curriculum, but nothing is assigned a date. Everything on our homeschool is also on a loose, living plan.
Yes! I enjoy reading my curriculums and coming up with ideas...but I feel like at least for me, filling out specific days and weeks ahead of time would be a waste of time and lead to frustration. Since we are currently doing country-themed units, I'll write out a list of my ideas at before we start a new unit...and then just weave those ideas in as they make sense and fit out schedule, gradually checking them off.
Agree mostly but I love creating our own curriculum from scratch.
That's awesome if you enjoy it!
Very, very good advice! Thank you for being so candid about this topic. Loved it! ❤
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the info about binding!
Glad it's helpful!
Love this, thanks for the encouragement
You are so welcome!
Thank you! I agreed with all of your points.
Thanks for watching! :)
I always appreciate your honesty.
Thanks for watching, Ashlea!
Thank you for this. This coming school year has been our most expensive. Mainly because I switched out sonlight last minute. Yes, that means I bought 2 HBL this year 😬 However, with 4 kids, expense will be our new reality.
I think our big “we don’t buy” is nature study and elective courses. I’ve found that just being outside and engaging with my kids and their questions is enough for nature, and any electives before high school in my perspective can just be interest led in an almost unschooled way.
My parents sure had some expensive, multi-HBL years back in the days with a big house full of kids...but now that kid #7 is using all the high school HBLs that kids 1-6 already used...the initial investment paid off pretty well. ;P Definitely, for unique interests, there's no reason to formalize them or schoolify them in the early years. For Spanish, which some would consider 'elective'....I need to rely on resources to help me because it's just so easy to fall back into my strength of my native language.
We love our co op but my older kids wanted a community!!! My kids have friends who go to school!!! We don’t use a binding machine!!! I don’t like spiral binding!!! My kids haven’t said either way tho!!! I buy supplies when they are on sale or when we get low!!! I keep new supplies on hand!!! I plan as we go or plan by checklists!!! We love surfing but only as me and my husband surf and surfed before kids!!! We want our kids to be active!!!
Definitely love buying supplies when there's a good sale! :)
Oh I miss apartment living and ALL the kids running around after school!
I do plan our my year week by week, since a large part of the curriculum is books I pulled together for our minority language, and I feel a lot more comfortable when there is a plan. (Then I can turn my brain off for the rest of the year!) However, I do know enough to hold the plan lightly, so "week 12" of the plan can happen on week 11 or week 14 or whenever of the school year. We adjust and make do.
About extracurriculars, our family concern is that we are a family who would rather curl up with a book or movie any day. How did your family make sure physical activities were happening?
I did not grow up in a "physical sports" family...at all. We're a bunch of nerds (my dad did teach us all to play baseball, and would gather up our friends for little games, because he loves baseball, but that's about it for athletic activities). Books and crafts and family movies for life! I don't think everybody needs as much experience with sports and physical activities as people seem to think they do...but we also liked adventures and usually when Dad was home on Saturday mornings we'd go hiking, etc. My husband, on the other hand, is a lifelong athlete...so playing sports-type activities (at their current ages, throwing the frisbee around at the park, playing mini-soccer, or very casual badminton without a net) is happening way more often with my own little crew....but still just casually. I wouldn't be surprised if at some point my husband wants to put them in some kind of sports team but it's not something we're really looking for and actively planning on. We'll just see how life goes and what interests they naturally have. Going on walks or hikes is, I think, a great way to get outdoors without having to be all sporty or competitive. :)
I agree with most of this, but extra-curriculars are important for us. A part of that is because my oldest is an extrovert, but I'm an introvert and really don't want to have to deal with other parents 😬😅. But it's also an experience thing. I want my kids to be able to experience different things to discover what they like. We aren't the fill-the-entire-week-with-activities types though. We try to keep it to a couple days a week tops. One thing that I find unnecessary that people seem to love is a laminator.
Extracurriculars can play a very fun role! I performed in theater productions and acting competitions throughout high school and loved the experience...but that was working with that requirement that I had to be able to get myself to all the practices--especially coming from a big family, I can very much understand why, for reasons of realistic budgets and time, extracurriculars weren't an essential for our family.
@@SevenInAll Yes, they can be quite pricey. But we only have 2 kids atm, and the youngest isn't even yet, so it's not too bad right now. That's actually one reason I'm taking advantage of them now: in the future, I might not be able to afford piano lessons for every child, but hopefully my oldest will have learned enough to help her younger siblings by that point.
My kids love having friends, but don’t like the co ops around us in Texas they are all academic and they don’t want more school. Instead they are finding their friends in our church and our neighborhood.
That's awesome! Yes, church and neighborhood are good sources of playmates and friendships for us!
Can I ask why you have traveled as a kid, and travel now? Also, why is your show called 7 in all?
My dad's job had him do several big moves during my childhood and teen years...and then my husband and I decided to move overseas (in part) to be closer to my parents about 9 years ago, and he is now a teacher in an international school. I don't have a good reason as to why my channel is called Seven in All, but we're just rolling with the name because RUclips won't let me change it. When this channel started, it was looooong ago, and myself and all of my siblings made videos together. There were seven of us at the time, hence we picked "seven in all"....the name doesn't really match the current videos I make, but my siblings still show up in videos from time to time.
@@SevenInAll Oh that makes sense! Love it. Thank you for answering
You don't need expensive curriculum. Or a curriculum for everything people asking what curriculum recommendation for art, music. That is mind boggling to me. Not putting anyone down but it's definitely not needed.
For every family, being able to distinguish between NEEDS and WANTS can be very helpful...because seasons will come when you need to pare down to just what's truly essential. Of course, it's also very nice when we can have some of those non-essential 'wants' in our homeschools. Art and music are not strengths for me, I didn't grow up with much of those (my parents prioritized math and science and I'm very confident in those areas)...so I do appreciate that the curriculum I use include art and music information. :)