Welcome to ElCloud Homeschool blog!
My name is April, and I've been married to my best friend, Steve, for 25 years. This blog is where I share about our Christian faith, our family life, our homeschool, and my reviews of curriculum and books.
Steve and I are the parents of nine creative, active, distractible, strong-willed children. Three of our children have flown from our nest into their own nests, and we are now grandparents of three unique little versions of their parents.
I don't use our children's names on my blog, but I do use initials and ages. I know that can be confusing, but much less confusing to ourselves, our family and friends than it would be if I used aliases for our children.
Our children with nests of their own:
A - 24 year old daughter - homeschool graduate, college graduate, married, teaching, 1 child
R - 22 year old daughter - homeschool graduate, college graduate, married with two children
C - 20 year old daughter - homeschool graduate, college graduate
Our children still in our nest:
J - 18 year old son - homeschool 12th grade
M - 15 year old son - homeschool 10th grade
L - 13 year old daughter - homeschool 9th grade
G - 11 year old son - homeschool 5th grade
V - 9 year old daughter - homeschool 3rd grade
B - 6 year old son - homeschool 1st grade
We homeschool using as many living books as we can, since Charlotte Mason's style is what draws us. We use an eclectic mix of curriculum, including Tapestry of Grace, and love when life presents its own opportunities for learning. We adapt all of our curriculum to suit our family's needs; always seeming to fall on the relaxed side of whatever curriculum we use.
That's just a little bit about me and my family. I am a recovering perfectionist, but not perfect by any means. I am often frustrated because things do not go as I had hoped and planned. Frequently, I am the failure point, not the children. But every day is a new day to try again, every week is a new week of homeschool. My husband loves me, "warts and all", and my children are learning that it's okay to make mistakes. Life goes on, and God is good!
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 is our goal for our family and our homeschool. We just keep trying to walk out our faith with our children and in front of them on a daily basis.
April E.
