My ten-year old convinced me to process grapes into juice, even though I wasn’t going to do it this year. Our neighbor’s fence has tons of grapevines and they let us have all the grapes we want. Truly my life is o’erflowing with beautiful things, as we sing in Primary.

Here is the link to the show http://web.gbtv.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=19926551&topic_id=24584158&tcid=vpp_copy_19926551&v=3

Tips for watching: Glenn doesn’t get into the homeschooling part until about 26 minutes into the show, where he mentions George Washington. He talks a lot about him, then there’s a commercial, then he gets to the discussion of homeschooling with the audience of homeschoolers. So if you want to cut to the chase about homeschooling, skip to the 30 minute mark. 

I think it’s right before the 30 minute point that he shares that Washington always wanted a great education, but he never had the chance to get a formal one. The common belief back then was that in order to belong to proper society you had to have a formal education. George, the father of our country, gave us the great example that you can be somebody by getting a great education on your own and being self-taught. Then Glenn tells us that if there was one thing he wishes everyone would do, it would be to homeschool. Only he said if in more round-about way, by saying he wishes everyone would stop relying on experts/the government for their children’s education and their education.

What an endorsement! I don’t agree with everything he says and he’s too loud and crass at times, but I have to admit that he has power. Glenn also brought on his wife Tania and they said they are in their second year of homeschooling, but it sounds like he asked her to do it six years ago.

When Glenn is talking about George, a profile of a pretty blond woman is shown on the screen. That’s my good friend Amy, who I met through my sister-in-law. Amy has a special place in my heart. Her son wrote a paper on Lincoln for his Thomas Jefferson Youth Certification class that changed my views on Lincoln. Amy also watched my little two-year-old guy at the interviews for the Andau prize at Youth for Freedom, so I could watch my son compete.

I had to wait until about the 45 minute mark to see my girlfriends, all veteran homeschoolers, make any comments. All three of these ladies hold dear places in my hearts. Lori Anne grew up in my hometown ward, she is about 4 years older than I am. She was a cheerleader with long blond hair and all the boys had a crush on her. So whenever I see her I think of my hometown and growing up years. Sarah is my neighbor up the street and around the corner from me, (one of only two other people in my stake who homeschools). She decided to host the homeschoolers’ intermediate/advanced speech and debate class at her home this year and I am singing her praises because that means my daughter can walk (no driving for me!). Then there’s Teena, mother of 10, who shared carpooling duty with me for several years to ballroom dance classes.

First Lori Anne, mother of 9, said that although homeschooling can open you up to feeling inadequate, you quickly learn that homeschooling isn’t something you start at 9 AM and end at 3 PM, it’s a way of life, a culture. She also said that the best thing to do when you start homeschooling is to read aloud from the classics a LOT. Amen! Then Sarah, at about 48 minutes,  said that the most important thing to know when you homeschool is that you are the expert on your family and that there’s great power in knowing “all my chicks are safely gathered in.” Teena, at around 51 minutes, shares that the best thing to do when you pull your kids out of public school is to let them detoxify for a year and just read aloud to them. I was sad that Amy never got to make a comment. She’s the pretty blond sitting on the front row, in front of Lori Anne, Sarah, and Teena. (She is from southern utah. She and her husband and her son did a presentation with me about the Hero Generation and WWII at the TJED forum. You can get it here http://www.tjedmarketplace.com/forums/slc/2011/youth-forum-ages-14-15/wanted-heroes-dead-alive)

I enjoyed the show but… Mr. Beck, do another show on homeschoolers, pretty please, and next time, have the full two hours be on homeschooling, not just 20 minutes. The rest of the show featured Richard Paul Evans, with his new book and more stuff, I don’t even know, since I didn’t watch any more of it. I wanted to hear more from the homeschoolers and not a commercial from an author. But I will have to check out his new book, it sounds like it might be useful.

There was one lady on the show, I don’t even know who she is, who shared that she prays every day to invite the Spirit into her homeschooling. That’s something that I have forgotten to do and I appreciated the reminder. She said that she loves knowing that she is creating a haven in her home for her family.

To conclude, ladies, you did a great job! Thanks for representing us well! May more women feel inspired to know that they can homeschool as well, so they can gather their chicks safely in during these perilous times. And as one of the dads on the show said, you don’t have to wear a denim dress or have tiger-claw bangs to homeschool. These four girlfriends of mine are moms who follow the Thomas Jefferson Education philosophy, which helps you to homeschool different ages and stages in your home, without going crazy, and teaches you not to be a slave to any curriculum.  See http://tjed.org, http://home-school-coach.com, and http://leadershipeducationfamilybuilder.com to get started.

And by the way, just who is Sarah Connor? Mr. Beck referred to her a few times and showed a video clip with a character of that name.

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