July 2016

Upcoming Events:

DHSA has no formal events planned for July, but if you are interested in setting up or joining a park day or field trip, hop on over to our Facebook page to connect with like-minded folks! https://www.facebook.com/groups/deserethomeschool/ 

Looking for an air conditioned field trip this week? Every first Thursday of each month (so the 7th, for this month!) admission is free to the Boise Art Museum (dontaions are appreciated!) and is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Longing to travel the world and experience other cultures, languages, and foods? Do you want to show your kids the world beyond your backyard, but are limited by resources or life stage? It’s okay, Jamie Martin at www.simplehomeschool.net has your back. She started an online summer book club called READ THE WORLD, based on her new book called Give Your Child the World:Raising Globally Minded Kids One Book at a Time! For the price of a kindle book (or hard copy from Amazon) and a trip to the library each week, you can utilize eight different chapters of book lists, arranged by region of the world---the book recommendations are geared for ages 4-12, but teens and adults can enjoy them, too! There are free printables, maps, and inspiration for expanding your “experience” in any given region, with recipes and games! There are prizes for participating, too!

The book club is super low key and can be done on your own or as part of the online summer book club. (We are on week 2 and loving it!)  Not convinced? Take a look at Melissa Wolfe’s blog post about it: http://www.mentorofleaders.com/exploring-the-world/

Notes from the Field:

Sometimes we just need to hear from other home educators, for support, inspiration, or simply to be reminded that we are not alone in our journey! This month’s message comes from Macy Huberty of Our Little Huberty Homestead. She is DHSA’s 2016/2017 Secretary, and home educating mama of 5 (soon to be 6!)

Happiest of summers ladies! I hope you’re staying cool and enjoying the benefits of our amazing area – might be fresh produce, canning fun, or maybe hiking and the great outdoors. I admit I had forgotten how much I appreciated Idaho for so many reasons until recent travels took me on a journey through my former self in a place my family first began in a big city!
While away in Seattle, I pondered what could I write this month to share with DHSA newsletter that might be relevant and lovely. God must have been listening to my inquiry because our trip brought it front and center for me daily! My young family is expecting our 6^th little soul this fall and I’m fairly certain that few in Seattle had seen a family our size having a really great time together. During our outings to museums, science centers and zoos people would stop us and comment on how many children we had. Some lovely people even stood in wonder in restaurants with comments like “you guys really have a system down and make this look easy!” and my husband and I would laugh (then the moment bedtime hit, we’d crash like exhausted war torn heroes).

What a fun, chaotic, exciting trip it was but in my memories I continue to see the faces of those who boggled at our family. In light of that, I want to share with you my personal happiness that homeschooling examples can have on the world around us! Sometimes the world has a really different view of what we “should” be doing as mothers but I can’t tell you enough how important being YOU is so important. One of my favorite aspects of homeschooling is the ability and time afforded to my family to just be us. We can, if we choose, cut the schedules and re-focus on what is the greatest need in our dynamic is. It’s OK to set aside parts of the world for a time to have your personal to-do list only include truly getting in sync with your family. As I thought to the many shocked faces I saw in the city, I was reminded that great examples of happy families are needed everywhere. What does happiness look like to you?

If you’re the family who collects rocks on every hiking trip you take – rock on (ha!). If you are the mom who digs art and can’t wait to craft the world into a brighter and happy place – do it! Or maybe you’re the calm mom, who prefers the quiet moments and can always be counted on to have a peaceful nature – we need you too!
So, what kind of family do we have? I don’t know! We’re wild, loud, fun seekers who really dig service in the community and can be counted on to be about the most unpredictable people in Idaho. We’re happiest with a fort full of books or board games and I can’t tell you exactly the last time we had a routine because that’s just not us! But, it works really well for us and we’re pretty darn happy!

So, friends, please invest in your family’s happiness because happiness is infectious. The world needs more happy families. We need to see you being the best you. What better way to exemplify some of the benefits of homeschooling and the Holy Ghost guiding you than happiness?