A Big Ole Praise to Jesus

I sought the Lord....and He heard...and He. answered....thats why I trust Him.

I remember a distinct call to home educate. After having taught in public education for 9 years, I was suddenly on "the other side" of the table as I advocated for my son who was the age to start kindergarten. The meeting was not going as planned....and thats when I heard....

I gave him to you to teach.....not them.

When, Zach was 10 years old, we found out he has an irreversible brain condition that keeps him from learning typically. Everything is hard for him.....and over time, I realized a typical academic path was not going to work. We shifted gears and I focused on experiences and life skills. Field Trips, me reading to him, getting him in social skills classes.....thats what worked.

At 16, I heard about the Hugs Training Academy that helps older teens and adults with intellectual disability train for a job. This is right up his alley. We enrolled and at the end of the program, they found him a job. He's been working the job for a little over a year now....and last week....they offered him a FULL TIME JOB!!!!!

HE IS FAITHFUL. TRUST HIM. LEAN INTO HIM. Don't worry about tomorrow, mama.....He's got you and He has your kids....no matter what age they are.......

And as Dora would say.....We did it! We did it! We did it....HOORAY!

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31Kelley Terrill, Ana Gracia Parrish and 29 others

Home Education- High School Version

 It's been a hot minute since I updated the blog. Wow.  All 3 of my kids are in HIGH SCHOOL now! 

Ava is a freshman, Levi is a sophomore, and Zach is a Junior.  You know when they were all in diapers and the sweet well intended "older woman" would say, Honey, the days are long, but the years are short. 

Well, I'm that older woman now....saying, "The days are long, but the years are short. It seems just yesterday they were in those diapers. 

One of the biggest changes in our family is that I went back to work, outside the home, full time just about a year ago now. I was not expecting this change, nor was I looking to go back to work. An opportunity knocked, and ultimately after a ton of prayer, I accepted a full-time job at First Dallas as the Preschool and Children's Curriculum Coordinator. I enjoy  hashtagging post on Social Media as #dreamjob because it really is a dream job for me. I am getting to now take so many of the things I loved doing when the Triple Smiles were younger to a whole bunch of kids....and making sure they are learning Biblical Truth at the same time.   Here are some recent photos of me, one enjoying a life size sensory bin and another calming a 2-year-old as I whispered the story of Noah's Ark in his ear. 

So what does it look like to continue to Home Educate.....HIGH SCHOOL and work full time.  First of all, we are hardly EVER at home!  Home Education is more about finding the unique gifts and talents of each child and then hunting down the BEST opportunities for them individually. 

I'll start with Zachariah.  He is a Junior this year. He is enrolled this semester at Hugs Training Academy. We are so thankful to the Lord for always providing for Zach and helping us meet his needs in a way that he feels loved, valued, and understood.  Hugs is an AMAZING work preparation program. He has teachers who love and adore him. After completing this course, he will be able to be employed at a community job and given a job coach to help him with needs or issues that may come up the workforce.  Zach also attends THEO (Texas Home Educators Outsource) once a week on Fridays.  He works with 1:1 Tutor once a week as well at the Hope Center.  His FAVORITE part of the week, though, is going downtown to First Dallas with me for our Tuesday Homeschool day. He loves his friends, and he LOVES Mrs Reida'

Levi is a Sophmore this year. He is taking most of his classes at Theo and Dr. Reid's Thinking Reeds. Both are Home Education Outsource classes near our house. He still absolutely loves all thing Media related at church.  Our church trains these kids and gives them certifications based on training hours and service. He will get high school credit for everything he does at church as well as what he completes at Theo and Thinking Reeds. The biggest change in Levi's life is he landed a job this past year. He is working about 20 hours per week at Fire House subs. He LOVES it.  I have been amazed at how many real life skills have been aquired though the job and how they have helped him academically as well. 

Now to my "baby" My BABY is in high school too!!!!!! We celebrated her first day in High School at our favorite place. Starbucks!  Starbucks is conveniently located within walking distance of Theo:)  She takes most of her classes at Theo, but we meet her Math Teacher at the Hope Center. I caught these great pictures of them interacting recently. I am so thankful for Life Giving teachers that all my kids have in their different areas of interest and strength.  Ava enjoys being on the yearbook staff and also on the Worship Team at church. She is also starting a new job TODAY! 

Last but not least......Gordon has been taking all 3 kids to the Dallas Makerspace to work on STEM projects. They are all  3 learning 3-D printing, Lazer Cutting, WoodWorking, Automobile Repair, Pottery making and many other things. 

I promise not to wait so long for the next post, as I'm going to try to start blogging more about how we keep Home Educating....through High School. 

Thanks for reading! 

Noelle:) 

Fall 2020 with the TripleSmiles

Proverbs 16:9

A Man's heart deviseth his plans, but the Lord directs his steps.

2020 has proven to be quite the unknown. Whew..... I have had so many of my friends both near and far reach out recently and ask me questions about home education.

I have suggested to many to start by taking a short Homeschool Style Quiz to see what type of homeschooler you most identify with for your family.  You might also consider buying this very funny book.

I personally most identify with the Charlotte Mason method.  A few yeas back, I stumbled into the Brave Writer Lifestyle, which is a modern day Charlotte Mason based approached to learning.  Brave Writer is a magical journey that takes children through reading and writing in a way that awakes their wonder and creates a delight driven approach to learning. Brave Writer prioritizes the content a child writes first and grows their mechanics over time using someone else's writing. They teach that writing proficiency is not needed until 18 year of age! So you have a huge span of time to grow their writing skills and create a learning/language rich home life. This is me meeting THE JULIE BOGART at my first Brave Writer Retreat.

Here is my plan for Fall 2020 for all 3 Triplesmiles:)

We are going to start the year with a family class from Brave Writer called Groovy Grammar
(We are starting August 3rd) WHY? Well because we usually take off most of December and I try to wrap up by end of April each year!

Musical Mondays-  I am going to use the Movie Guides to introduce my kids to at least a musical a month. We have been involved in children's theater for many year, but now that they are getting older, I can show them some of my favorite musicals that have more mature content. 

Tuesday Poetry Teatime is a favorite in my house! We will continue to do this weekly!


Arrow Book Club- We will be using Brave Writer's Arrow Book Club suggestions this year. Every month we will read a new book together. Each Arrow guide comes complete with Discussion questions and a fun Party School Suggestions for the end of the month.

Uncle Sam and You is our history spine. We completed the first part of this curriculum last spring and plan to do Part 2 this fall. It is super awesome that this study is aligning with our election year!




Ava (7th grade) Zach (8th grade) will be going through Answers in Genesis Science curriculum.


Levi will continue at Thinking Reeds in a Physical Science class. 


Both Ava and Levi will be taking 7th and 8th grade Math at Theo. Theo is an a la carte home education outsource ministry. Levi will also be taking a Money Management class and a Greek and

Latin Roots class. 

All 3 children will continue to get their Bible Curriculum through the Awana program.

And as always....I will follow their individual interest as they present themselves. This is what makes Home Education the most magical. Being able to craft their curriculum, book choices, and time to what they are personally interested to study!

Currently.....

Levi continues to be very active in the Media Ministry at First Baptist Dallas where he gets exemplary training in all things media related.  He is also enjoying the book You Have a Brain by Dr. Ben Carson. Pictured in Levi getting his book signed recently at our church.  

Ava continues to excel at creating.....well anything. She has cooked, created flower arrangements, made vinyl project for her friends all summer long. She is currently also interested in learning sign language. 

Zach had been in a specialized program through our local school district the past few year, but he is coming home again until things calm down in the school systems. He is adding carriage driving at Manegait and possibly an audible drivers ed class to his fall calendar! He continues to be very interested in all things football and NFL related!


And the question I get a lot.....What time do you start homeschooling each day? Heres the answer:

Math-- Curriculums we love!

I posted here about my thoughts on lower elementary Math. After building back the confidence level of my children the curriculum we have had the most success with is Teaching Textbooks. 

Each lesson is clearly taught and practice problems are assigned. It is a self graded curriculum. I can easily see areas the children need additional help and we can revisit those. This is a very slow paced program.  I personally have had my children go through 2 lessons per day, but only make them do one set of practice problems. 

When they advance to a new level, I have them start by "Quizzing Out" of the beginning of each new level. They begin by taking the quizzes and they stop taking the quizzes if they score below a 90 on  the Quiz. 

Another supplementary Math curriculum that we love is 

Life of Fred

Life of Fred is a Narrative about 2 characters named Fred and Kingie. It starts with basic addition and goes all the way up through Calculus, I think.  Some people do use this as full curriculum, but I use it for my kids to read about how Math is used int he real world through the life of Fred and Kingie! They love it. 

And I think it goes without saying....that lots of Math can be practiced....in the kitchen! 

My Math Journey

Math was always difficult for me as a child. I don’t remember my mom having me “tutored” though until Jr. High and High School level Math. I vividly remember staying after school daily beginning in the 8th grade. My 8th grade Math teacher, to this day, is still one of my favorite people on the planet. I have only positive memories of her constantly telling me “you can do this!” As I moved into high school, I remember meeting a Math tutor at my church every Wednesday night prior to Wednesday night activities. In college, I dated my Math teacher’s son…..so I passed. {not fully joking here}

This experience however made me a good elementary Math teacher! I understand kids who struggle. When I taught in public school, I was chosen to attend the Marilyn Burns Math School to teach kids Math through experiences. This was a life changing experience for me and I realized why I struggled so much as a child. I loved teaching Math in my elementary classrooms. I loved watching the kids faces light up when they would finally understand a concept through experiencing it verses a bunch of problems on a page. 

Fast forward a few years into homeschooling……I picked a workbook full of problems without experiences? SAY WHAT? I knew better, but the time monster got the better of me in the beginning. {I had to check it off my list!}  I vividly remember the day, one of my children started crying and said “I can’t do this!” I stopped in my tracks remembering immediately the words of my 8th grade Math teacher to me. I remember closing the book and THROWING IT AWAY! I did not want this child to go down “my Math road” thinking they could not do Math. That very day, I dug back out my  Marilyn Burns Math files and just started playing games with this one child.  I don’t remember how long I took this approach with this child, but long enough to build back the confidence level it would take to make them successful at another Math curriculum. 

For this reason, I love Math literature to teach Math skills, especially in the lower elementary years! Looking back, you don’t even need a Math curriculum in the younger years.  If you need a little bit of guidance on what Math skills are recommended a different ages, that is easily accessible online. Grab the list of skills and find Math literature and hop on over to https://mathgeekmama.com/ for some awesome lessons and games per topic.