Being the oldest child means you also get to be the “guinea pig” while mom and dad practice being parents. We are so lucky to get Jake as our eldest. He has been resilient to our rookie parenting mistakes and been an amazing example to his younger siblings.

Jake is a great leader and has a gift of making you feel like you are the most important person on the planet when you are in his presence.

As a dyslexic with ADHD, Jake has had to use and develop his gift of grit and persistence combined with his athletic and artistic abilities as well his interpersonal skills to reach his educational goals.

During his senior year in high school, he found great success taking dual enrollment classes where he could gain evidence to show colleges his academic and leadership ability outside of test scores.

Jake resides in Provo with his beautiful bride and is currently in his junior year at Brigham Young University where he is studying accounting.

When asked what he like most about his homeschool experience:

“I liked how it helped me know how to learn and to love learning.”

Josh has always been a calm and steady presence in our home. I have always appreciated easy going personality, his reliability to goodness and duty, and his willingness to share his gifts with others.

Traditional academic learning has always come very easy for Josh and from about middle school on, I very much took a step back as teacher and let him teach himself all he wanted to learn. My role in his education was more of a guidance counselor than anything else, making sure he was on the right path to his goals and that he had what he needed along the way.

Not liking busywork of any kind, we found that the best approach was to get him the textbooks he wanted and let him go at it. Most often that included an AP test that he would take at the end of the school year to get college credit for the work he did.

Josh also resides in Provo while he is pursuing a degree in Computer Science and continuing his love of music and music composition.

What Josh had to say about homeschooling:

“I liked the extra time it gave me to pursue other skills and subjects that interested me. “

Joey has always been confident, driven, independent, and the life of the party. Simply put- everybody loves Joey.

I started realizing early on in his life that he might take a path that many consider to be unconventional. He has always had a mind for business and little tolerance for school work.

That said, I have always been a firm believer in keeping as many doors open for my kids until they need to close. That gave us opportunities to be creative on how to keep the “college” door open with the typical standardized tests and typically expected course credits in major subjects while still allowing him plenty of time to pursue what he loves- entrepreneurship. Joey’s high school was often filled with online courses and workshops that helped him learn these skills.

Joey’s thoughts on homeschooling:

“Ever since I can remember it has been my dream to become a wildly successful entrepreneur. Homeschooling gave me the opportunity to pursue that dream by giving me the time and creative freedom necessary to build my own businesses while in high school and focus a big portion of my high school years studying business, money, and investing.”

Anna is our oldest girl and my mini-me . She is sweet and caring and motherly to everyone - even her mother. :) She has a bigger heart than anyone I know and I love that she has developed such a confidence in herself already.

As a freshmen, Anna is learning how to advocate for herself and her needs in designing her education. I appreciate that she knows that she works and learns well in a classroom for some subjects and we have worked together to find online classes to fill those needs.

What Anna likes most about her homeschool experience:

“I like that I have a more flexible schedule to work on what I want and to do it how I learn best.

Eli, our fourth son is driven and motivated to keep up with his older siblings. Sometimes it is difficult to find your way with so many older siblings without feeling you have to do all that they did. It has taken some time and some course corrections, but we have finally found a groove for him that feels very authentic and in aline with his talents, goals, and interests.

Having always been interested in the military and all things that fly, I wouldn’t be surprised if that is the path he continues to take but only time will tell.

What Eli likes most about his homeschool experience:

“I get to learn what I love and have a special relationship with my family all while getting a good education.”

Bringing up the rear, is our youngest, Lydia. Lydia is a fireball of energy and loves soaking up all the information this amazing world has to offer.

I love that she is brave and determined to do her best at everything she attempts. She is always up for a challenge.

Still so young, Lydia spends her time learning all the different things she can.

Her thoughts about homeschooling:

“I like how I get to stay home with my family and I don’t have to get up too early.”