- The Benson Family
"Hello everyone! I am a mother of 5 children, including three sons in college, ages 19 (twins) and 22, and two daughters ages 11 and 9. My daughters were adopted from mainland China as infants. I have homeschooled all of my children, including high school with my sons. My primary reason for homeschooling my children way back in 1990 was that I wanted to have a more creative, one-on-one learning adventure with my family. I myself was a product of public elementary school, private high school and several good universities for college and graduate school( Masters and CAGS in Counseling Psychology and a JD in Law). I had many good experiences in my own education; however, I never liked being corralled in a group behind closed institutional doors all day. So I began exploring Waldorf education in my sons' early years since it seemed to satisfy that quest for a creative educational adventure.
"In those days, there was no online support from Donna Simmons. However, I attracted some good experiences. Rahima Baldwin did a number of homeschooling weekend conferences in the Midwest. They were held at Waldorf schools and I loved seeing all the art work of the children on the walls and talking to experienced Waldorf professionals and crafts people. Later Rahima hired me to give break-out seminars at the conference on topics such as Reverence in the Home and Circle Time with Multi-Aged children. I also took a painting class at a Waldorf school in Louisville and joined the Steiner Library in New York so that I could take out as many Waldorf books as I could read! I then met Barbara Dewey a trained Waldorf teacher who was devoted to helping parents homeschool using Waldorf methods. Her organization, Waldorf Without Walls, was a real help to me and she stayed at my home and put on a fine workshop for myself and several interested families. She remains a dear friend of mine and I have helped her put on Midwest conferences after Rahima stopped giving them in the Midwest. I was a keynote speaker at Barbara's last conference.
"My sons and daughters were all involved with a loving preschool/kindy program called Children's Garden that was held once a week for homeschoolers and run by a former Waldorf Kindergarten teacher who also was a distance teacher for Oak Meadow. I met Donna Simmons two years ago when one of the preschool parents sponsored Donna to come for a workshop. Since then I have been an enthusiastic supporter of her work, have helped moderate her 4th-8th grade sub-forum, and have used (and reviewed on another site called The Choosy Homeschooler) some of her fine curriculum resources. I feel honored to help her now with consulting work. I have worked many years on my own personal development. I have been a meditation teacher for over 30 years and I am a certified chi-lel qigong teacher, a wonderful Chinese exercise and healing practice. Even though adoption issues can be unique, I would also be happy to help other parents work through concerns they may encounter raising adopted children. My Chinese daughters are happy Americans yet they maintain a good link with their Chinese heritage through Saturday Chinese School with other Chinese children and through reunions with their adoption group and seasonal cultural celebrations.
"Aside from my involvement with Waldorf education, I have been involved for many years in a local parent support organization called LEARN. I have taught cooperative classes with Waldorf inspiration for children in LEARN for many years. These classes included History, English, AP American Government, and SAT English Prep classes. I have also taught Botany and Geology in the co-op format. I have privately tutored one high school student in English to prepare him for the SAT. My sons in their high school years have taken a wide variety of classes at public and private schools and an Oak Meadow course in Art History. All three received their high school diplomas from a distance learning school called Clonlara which gave me a great deal of flexibility in helping them reach their academic goals throughout high school. One of my sons even attended public school full time to get a varsity letter in tennis (and then came home again to homeschool).
"On a personal level, I have been happily married for 35 years and my husband Craig is an attorney and entrepreneur. I love gardening and have a home in the country outside of Bloomington, Indiana with 18 acres of land and a summer house on an island in Maine that has been in my family for generations. Both houses have gardens that I lovingly maintain and I am also the designer/gardener of a memorial garden on the island. We enjoy kayaking as a family and boating generally. I like to play tennis in the summer with my own family and with my older siblings when I am in Maine. I meditate, practice qigong and work out regularly from my home using a Bow Flex machine and a body ball and some aerobic dance routines. My husband is a great handyman and we enjoy taking on various challenging home improvement projects together like removing our front lawn in Maine and turning it into a cottage garden complete with walkways and a stone patio! I enjoy Unity Church and get-togethers with friends and qi-gong retreats with other practitioners. I have taught all my children some of the qi-gong practices and I do one practice with my daughters as part of circle about once a week. I teach a meditation class every other week from my home and lead individual and group qi-gong practices. I am a simple but efficient cook, tending more towards fresh fish and vegetables. I follow some of the principles for healthy living and eating outlined on the PH Miracle Living website.
"I look forward to meeting and assisting some of you on your homeschooling journey!"