We are the Knowles family! My husband Thad and I live in the Orlando area with nine of our ten children. I have published the Hope Chest Home School News e-magazine since February 1998. On the rest of this page, I would like to share with you about our children and our home school journey.
OUR CHILDREN
Mary (June 1987) graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of Central Florida, where she scored a perfect score on her portfolio review. One week later, she married Ryan Tindall in May 2008 in a messianic (Christian) Jewish ceremony. She spent the summer of 2008 with a prestigious Dow Jones editing internship at the Wall Street Journal, then worked as a copy editor for the Orlando Sentinel. She now works as a writer for Wycliffe Bible Translators and is expecting their first baby this summer. You can see Mary's Wedding Pictures on my blog.
Julia (April 1989) graduated from our church's home school covering, The Regent Academy, in 2007. She works full-time as a receptionist and bookkeeper for a restaurant equipment company, and returned in April 2009 from a 3 month mission trip to Bolivia to serve a small mission there. You can read the blog she kept at www.JuliaKnowles.blogspot.com.
Rachel (February 1991) graduated from The Regent Academy in June 2009, dual enrolling at Valencia Community College in her senior year. She is now at Valencia full-time in pre-nursing courses. She works on the building crew at our church and loves playing piano and singing. She has a great laugh and enjoys reading. 
Joanna (December 1992) is a junior in highschool. She enjoys photography (www.joannasportfolio.blogspot.com), reading, being with friends, and learning swing dancing. Joanna traveled to the Dominican Republic on a mission trip in summer 2009, and is also involved with Mission to Japan's spring break retreats in Daytona Beach.
Lydia (October 1994) is our really wacky child. She sings incessantly with Rachel, makes up crazy skits with her friend Emily, and likes to cook. She's an entrepreneur at heart, and is longing for a pet rabbit. She loves playing soccer, even when she trips all over the place.
Andrew (May 1997) loves figuring things out, riding around the neighborhood on his bike, spelling long words, and writing short mystery stories.
Micah (July 1999) loves building with Legos, painting, science, and soccer. His favorite color is purple. He likes reading, and hates rice. He has quite a sense of humor, and his dance moves are groovy.
Naomi (February 2001) is a social butterfly. She chatters non-stop, loves nail polish, shoes, and the color pink ... but you can often find her outside running around and riding her bike as well.
Benjamin (February 2003) amazes us with his intelligent conversation. He surprised us all by learning to read at age four with very minimal help. He is a cuddly little chap and he has a super funny laugh! He and Melody are good friends.
Melody (August 2005) loves music. She runs around the house singing songs she makes up herself or ones that she listens to with her sisters. She has quite the sense of humor and keeps everyone laughing. She's a little firecracker. Now she's learning to read a little, too!
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Yeah, we're totally crazy...
Many people comment on the extraordinary size of our family. Yes, we know we're weird, and it's definitely different chasing a preschooler around while I'm in my late forties, with three young adult children, too. I thought you might be amused by a little poem I wrote when I found out, in late 2004, that we were expecting a new baby.
OUR HOME SCHOOL JOURNEY
We started home schooling unofficially in the very early 1990s, when Mary was three or four years old. We have made myriad transitions through the years, starting out with unit studies and lots of hands on manipulatives, adding in more formal curriculum and classes as the years rolled by. Our children have all learned to read well between the ages of four and seven. I love the Charlotte Mason approach, but we use an eclectic mix of just about every style of education. Now, with three graduates, several school age children and one preschooler, we're about halfway through our journey of home education! The "right choice" for us these past four years has been a once a week all day academic co-op which offers math, English, social studies and science for all ages through high school. I love teaching middle school English there. However, as soon as this 2009-2010 school year is over, we are returning to the Charlotte Mason / unit study approach which we used in our earlier years. I am excited about this!
The home schooling lifestyle sure presents challenges, and we've made many mistakes along the way (maybe you can learn from some of them!) but I wouldn't trade it for anything!
If you haven't already signed up to receive my free Hope Chest Home School News e-magazine, click here for more information: Hope Chest Home School News E-Magazine
I write much more frequently on my blogs, Virginia's Life Such As It Is and Come Weary Moms. I also have three home school blogs, Start Well for preschool and elementary, Continue Well for middle school, and Finish Well for high school.
How did my spiritual life start? Find out at My Story of Liberty in 1976!
The journey isn't over! What have I learned in the past years?
Find out at:
Truth and Grace in the Stories of Our Lives
With Beauty and Justice for All
Over Utah In January: Thoughts on Wonder and Family