About Najla (aka Aphrodite, aka Hana)

byAphroditeB

202 followers

Updated 11 years ago

(This is actually my 'About Me' on my website. My niche is homeschooling and the use of media and technology as a tool. I figured sharing my 'About Me' here could serve two purposes. (1) I'd appreciate any feedback you can give. Too long? Too personal? Too abstract? (2) It's a good way for me to share more about myself with this great community. Thanks for reading)

Hi and welcome! My name is Najla, and I am the woman behind the madness here...

There was a time in my life when homeschooling was the only thing I needed to worry about. My husband went to work every day and "won the bread", and I stayed home with our growing family. My friends, who were busy earning their degrees and starting their careers, called me Suzie Homemaker and Mother Goose, and I couldn't have been more proud. I lived a safe and blissful existence, and before I knew it I was a mother of five beautiful children. My children and I did so many fun things together. Math and science classes were held in the kitchen while we baked. We attended every art exhibit and musical concert in our community. We spent so much time at the local library, that my children might as well have called the librarians "auntie". We took early morning walks, nature walks, star gazing walks, and 'just for the heck of it' walks. We spent a year in the Virgin Islands "exploring". Those years were my second childhood. Those were the years when the only voices that mattered were the voices of my little philosophers....That was then...

In 2010, after 12 years of marriage, my husband and I turned our world upside down. We got divorced and he became my ex-husband. It was an amicable and rather peaceful process; however, I was suddenly faced with what was, for me, a gut wreching decision. I was going to need to earn an income. Could I continue to homeschool, or should I be realistic and throw in the towel? I seriously doubted my ability to help my children meet the "benchmark standards" established by the Department of Education. Should I just send them to public school?

I decided I was going to find a way to support my family and continue to homeschool. I decided to continue homeschooling because I have a simple-something in my back pocket. That simple-something is confidence. The truth is, I do not have a deep well of knowledge, and I am not some kind of superwoman who can do things the average woman cannot do. But I do have the ability to teach myself new things. I am resourceful, flexible, and creative. These are the skills I learned when I was homeschooled. They are the same skills that help us to adjust when reality changes. More importantly, they are the skills that help us to change reality. I came to realize that in our family's new challenges were the big picture lessons of our homeschool education- the real life lessons. I had an opportunity to do more than homeschool. I had an opportunity to lifeschool.

Our lifeschool is a hybrid of traditional homeschool methods, and the use of media and technology as a supportive tool. We've made a lot of changes since the good ol' days. The nostalgia of the past is gone, but there is something electric and exciting about our lives today. As a team we innovate, evaluate, adjust and readjust. Our schedules are shifting and unconventional. We can be completely engaged in everything that this fast moving, technological world has to offer, and then just like that, we unplug for a summer, winter, or spring session.

I want to share some of our "plugged in" activities, with a focus on how we use media and technology to save time, add content to our curricula, manage records and schdules, and so much more. I am not promoting a particular type of education or lifestyle. You are homeschooling, or thinking about it, because you believe you know what's best for your children. I also believe you know what's best for your children. What I am promoting is access to quality education for everyone, and the freedom of parents to chose to homeschool even if they work. I encourage the willingness to try new things, and the flexibility to change things around as often as you need to. Take what works, and throw out what doesn't. And then tell us about it. "It takes a villge..." so I am really hopeful that you share, or ask for help. If there is something I can do to make this site more user friendly or something you would like to see added please let me know. Thanks so much! ~Najla