About

After a year of public school kindergarten, we made the leap to homeschool, an idea that had been floating around in my head ever since Firefly (now 7) was a baby.

Our first year was hard. I had a preschooler, a toddler and a 6 year old who threw some challenges my way. It took some time to figure out his learning style, gain confidence in myself in this new role and for our family to settle into our now comfortable rhythm.

Now well into our second year, we’ve found our groove.  We love homeschooling and here’s why:

We do lots of hands on stuff. My kids don’t like to sit and do worksheets for hours on end. They ever-so-patiently taught me that this was not the way they wish to learn.  And I finally got it.

We read at length every day. We go on lots of field trips. We do messy science experiments and crafts. We build stuff. We do formal math lessons and sometimes we practice our handwriting. And we play. A lot. They’re little kids, they need to play. It’s good for their brains and they learn stuff that way.

We sleep long past the carpools that trudge down our suburban Virginia street towards the local elementary school.  We love not being tied to the school’s schedule, too.

I’m not so much their teacher as I am learning right beside them. I learn about them and with them, every single day. And I feel so fortunate.

My husband signed on to homeschooling reluctant, but supportive. I think he’s now a devoted follower. He shares in the kids’ delightful reports of what they did each and every day. He’s really good at explaining stuff when I get stuck.  And he feeds us. He cooks really well and really often. And we all feel so fortunate.

Meet The Creek Kids

Firefly, age 7.  Interested in all things animal or insect.  Prefers to be outside, especially if he is in water, up a tree and/or collecting critters. Obsessed with Legos, light sabers and Harry Potter.

The Queen Bee.  She’s five.  Her mission in life is to pick all the flowers on the planet, one dandelion and daisy at a time.  She once refused to go to a Princess birthday party, based on the fact that she is not a Princess, but a QUEEN. She’s spunky like that.

Love Bug, age 3.  He climbs, he gets into stuff.  A lot of stuff.  All the time.  But he’s cute so we haven’t sold him to the Amish.  Not yet, anyway.

Why do we “learn beside a creek”?

I grew up playing in creeks with my sister, my grandparents and my friends. It is one of my most precious childhood memories, standing in the clear water, climbing over rocks, stopping to watch little fish or to pick up a perfect flat stone.

So I taught my kids to stand in creeks too. They love it. They learn a lot there about nature, about critters, about how to help each other not to fall on the big rocks.  They are almost always their most peaceful selves when they are exploring in a creek.