Feeding Giants

Hello there! Welcome to our blog! This is where we will document our homeschooling adventures, talk about our soon-to-be-released business venture (Feeding Giants!), and share some tips and tricks we’ve learned about teaching, managing/feeding a large family, and whatever else we feel like putting out onto the interwebs.

We will take care of the obvious questions first:

Who are we?

We are an uber-tall family of makers/creators/learners living in rural WY…but soon moving to very not-rural CA. Our noisy bunch consists of a dad and a mom (me!) that are both former teachers,  6 kids age 4-16, an old dog, and an annoying cat.  We belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We like to build stuff, cook stuff, play sports, read books, DIY whatever we can, garden, and volunteer in our church and community. We like Harry Potter, Star Wars, BYU sports, and Lego. All 6 kids are currently doing some form of online/home school, which keeps them AND mom very busy.

Why are we homeschooling? 

I know it would make for a much more interesting story if I told you that we are homeschooling because of extreme religious convictions, or because we got mad at the local public school, or because we wanted our kids to be completely sheltered or something…but alas…its much more boring than that. We pulled our kids out of our local public school last year to give them the chance to both accelerate past their grade-level and to get specific help for trouble areas in ways that were not available to them there. Originally, we only planned to do it for one year as a “transition” to bridge the gap between limited class offerings here in WY and the class expectations at our future schools in CA. However, now that we are beginning year 2…still waiting to move…we have really seen the value of a completely individualized education to better discover, understand, and nurture each of our kids’ potential.  In addition, it has been a really amazing bonding experience for our family, and a GREAT way for me to use my teaching background!

But what about socialization? Aren’t we afraid the kids are going to turn out weird?

Nah, we were already weird!  Homeschooling changes nothing! However, to those who still buy into the “homeschoolers don’t get enough socialization” thing, I would offer you this: there are PLENTY of weird kids at public school…as well as socially awkward, socially inappropriate, and completely deviant people…so…I’m not sure that argument is all that valid these days.

Are we going to homeschool forever? Is this our “thing” now?

Likely not. We are not committed to “homeschooling” in and of itself. We are committed to being purposeful about our kids’ education and growth, and working to make sure they are getting the best situation for their needs each year. I would anticipate that at least some of the kids will be homeschooling for quite some time, but we are not opposed to other avenues (including public school, community college, etc.) if that is what best meets different kids’ needs in the future.

What is the Uncommon Room?

The Uncommon Room is our newly revamped schoolroom! Of course it is a nod to Hogwarts  “common rooms”…but we call ours “uncommon” because we know we are doing things differently than most. This is our discovery room, our learning room, our creating room – the place our kids can nurture their potential and unique gifts and interests in our own, uncommon, way (And a shout-out to our 9-year-old daughter who came up with the name!).

Why are we blogging about all this?

Two reasons: 1.) To document and share what we’re doing on our homeschool adventure (and any other adventures!), and 2.) To help other parents discover, develop, and nurture their kids’ potential…to FEED their GIANTS…those GIANT spirits with GIANT potential!

Watch for future education-oriented posts about:  navigating the Special Education system in schools, helping kids learn at home, advocating for gifted students, developing extension activities, identifying talents and problems, helping children figure out how they learn best (both academically, and by the Spirit), and lots more! On the home front, we plan to share the escapades of our brood, as well as practical ideas for feeding a crowd, saving money, teaching kids skills like building, cooking, and growing food, and the best ideas we have learned from others in books, media, and the internet. There is SO MUCH GOOD STUFF out there to learn and share!

And guess what? There isn’t just going to be a blog…there will also be a YouTube channel and the upcoming launch of Feeding Giants (don’t worry, we WILL tell you what that is all about eventually!). The next few months are going to be very exciting around here, and we can’t wait to have you along for the ride!