Introduction: The Butikofer Family

I've known for some time that I would homeschool my family (3 kids- 6yob, 4yob, 3 yog).  It took Jessie a while to be supportive of this decision.  We put our oldest in a half day pre-k, but pulled him out the next year.  School was changing him, and not in  a positive way.

I didn't know what direction I was to go in.  I knew was what I didn't want-- School at Home.  I knew that I wanted to teach from real books--not textbooks.  Shiloah lent me her copy of A Thomas Jefferson Education some time last year.  I finished it in no time.  I knew this was type of education I wanted my children to get-- it's the education I wanted.  I loved the emphasis on me getting a good education and learning from the classics.  

Maxwell hasn't been too keen on learning anything from me.  I remember starting out homeschooling last year, and every day it was a fight to get him to DO anything.  Yesterday I received Math-U-See's Primer set in the mail.  I wanted to get a feel for what the kids would learn, so I popped in the DVD and watched it with the kids.  After we stopped, Maxwell pulled down the white board and wrote out his numbers 0-9 and mimicked  what he saw on the DVD.  He absolutely hates to write, so I was shocked to say the least.  He and Blake spent about 45 minutes playing Math.  This morning I took out the student books and thought I'd see if there was interest.  Both boys took the bait and stayed busy for about 30 minutes.  We cleaned up, and did some other activities.  Later this afternoon, Maxwell pulls out the student book AGAIN!  I couldn't believe it.  He told me just two days ago that he didn't want to learn math or reading because it's too hard, and here he is voluntarily working.  My heart was full of joy-- almost to tears.  I have seen-- especially in that child-- the importance of waiting until the child is ready to learn.  I'm not quite sure if it's Inspire, Not Require of You, Not Them.  Perhaps a little of both.