Hang Out with This Homeschool Mom of 8 ║ School Week 4 │ ACE Curriculum

This week we participate in a coloring contest, attend the Moorcroft High School homecoming football game and get a special package all the way from Canada!
We have 6 school age children and 2 little ones. We've used ACE (School of Tomorrow) curriculum since our 9th grade son started preschool.
www.andreamills.tv
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[@Naamy19X9]

You are such mum goals! Grew up with a schizophrenic mother so I never really knew what a mother should act like/instill in her kids and I am learning so much from you. Please keep sharing your life. Thanks and God bless.

[@ashleysalsbury9701]

i love how excited and proud solomon gets when he accomplishs his work! it's to precious 😄

[@infiniteemerald7236]

I think it's so cute how Sophia joins in Solomon's class time hehe. She's going to be great once she starts!

[@Trendywendy10]

Solomon is so cute! it was amazing seeing Claudia standing up so adorable she was delighted with herself!

[@Ltlt225]

It's really interesting to see how this homeschool and like family centric has actually made the boys super paternal and like caring for their younger siblings.

[@PotawatomiProud]

Thank you Andrea and Tom for sharing your family with us, your children are so wonderful. You are both wonderful parents/teachers.❤️👍🏽👍🏽

[@harjotk9870]

"Baby just farted" hahaha oh my gosh 😂

[@aranzamonserratito]

Solomon hates the stupid antelope hahaha that was so funny !!

[@lynnmartin8718]

Go Claudia she's so pleased she made everyone happy so proud of herself too -good job👍😀

[@dianesmith9806]

It was nice of Sophia to pick up markers for you !

[@dragonflyneb]

Homeschooling was so much fun for me because you could share the joy in your child of all their first things like cutting on a line. I home schooled when it was almost illegal. haha Keep up the great work it is all worth it!

[@AjahDTradeProdigy]

I have to do the same thing you did with your little girl, she called her coloring book a Pace 😂. My 3 yr old says she does Paces but they are her coloring books lol

[@hunterrapp852]

Thanks! And I love how you use color-coding on all the clothes racks.

[@TheRozzyRozz]

I love your videos about your family, especially hearing bible scriptures in the background. I heard 1 Peter 2:9...one of my faves because I'm peculiar...lol.

[@baileysmith7182]

I've watched all your videos. You inspire me. I want to be a mother more than anything in life, and your channel has played a major role in how I want to parent my children. Also, I've been looking into the Amazon Echo to put the audio Bible on. I love the Bible website, it is one of the only sites that has a free NRSV Bible and it's dramatized! I am taking an Intro to the Old Testament class at college and that is the only version we can use. My favorite videos of yours are the weekly school vlogs,t though. I would love to see the year through to the end! Can't wait for next week!

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

Bailey, I really appreciate hearing this! When I was thinking about starting my channel you are just the sort of person I was hoping to reach. Your comment is such a blessing!

[@ecmomma]

I love the zip line! We are so making one this summer!

[@little_yarn_squidlet]

I really love your video's, thank you for sharing. The dress miss Sofia wears is so pretty! ^^

[@2plus2by2]

Love that you sewed a likeness of the drawing, what a great idea. The yellow ovals inside the Kinder eggs are often referred to as dead Minions. I think we get more play fun out of them than the little toys.

[@Flying_Toast]

That marching band in the beginning had such good sound for how small they were! The middle school band I march in has at LEAST 100 people!! And dont get me started with hwow much it would be if we added the highschool band too..... Good job for them!!!

[@tiffanygreen9470]

I love your girls and boys group. so cute!!!

[@-jayce.3356]

Could you do a get to know the kids where they tell us what they like and things like that? favorite food, subject in school, etc?

[@dianesmith9806]

Loved the chocolate faces !!!

[@ecmomma]

I am from Canada too and she sent you all the Canadian goodies! Kinder Eggs are hard to get past customs- your lucky they made it! It's a big fine if they get caught- so silly. Enjoy the treats!

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

That is so silly! I'm glad they made it because the kids loved them!

[@chloellax9885]

awesome love your vids

[@antoniasmith2958]

we use some A.C.E. I especially love it for handwriting and math until 3rd grade 😊after 3rd I like Saxon☺

[@lanarose3783]

I love your channel! All your children are so well behaved and have such big hearts ! I think that you learn so much more when you teach your children at home . Instead of being just a number in a classroom they get that one on one attention . Jesus truly blessed you with a heart of gold to to teach the little ones how to love him and others . I think it's so wonderful you will have these videos to share with your children's , children one day . Have a happy weekend ! 💜

[@onelittlemiracle241]

💝Beautiful memories. 💝

[@CookieCrumbFun]

I'm really enjoying these weekly school videos. i love watching you teach Solomon. you are so patient with him & make things fun.

[@erunanne]

Did you give the kids a chance to choose which craft they want to learn or automatically divided the by gender? I remember when I was a child, my mom taught me to knit, crochet and sew and I liked and still like all that but I was also obsessed with making models of pretty much everything. So to me, there's no boys' and girls' crafts, just cool stuff :)

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

Our little "clubs" aren't about the activities, it's about having "girl time" and "guy time". I asked Eden what some of the things were she'd like to do, so we made the owl. I'm not sure how Tom and the boys decided to work on a rocket. We make crafts at other times together, too. (The boys can sew and we love making stuff we see on the My Froggy Stuff channel. Eden has been involved in other rocket projects, too.) But again, these times aren't about the craft, they're about the special girly time with mom and manly time with dad since we do so much all together as a family.

[@erunanne]

Thanks, I was just curious. How cool it must be to have so many brothers and sisters you can have clubs :)

[@maymay6057]

Do you have club time in which the girls spend time with dad and the boys with mom?

[@Mmolesy]

😱😱 All those goodies in a bowl right in front of them and they left it alone and did their schoolwork instead??!! My children would of obliterated them in seconds. How'd you get them to do that??!! Lol

[@LeatSabbah]

Shalom Andrea. Thanks for all your beautiful videos. I love the idea of the Isha Fellowship - Isha is the Hebrew word for Woman, and in Hebrew we put the stress on the last syllable. God bless you and lots of love from Israel :)

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

Yes, that's why I chose that name. It's fun to have someone who knows what it means! Blessings to you, too!

[@LeatSabbah]

+Andrea Mills Thanks. I love how the kids have goals and rewards, what kind of system would you recommend for us adults who want to set and keep track of goals and accomplishments? Do you think organization is important? Bless you.

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

I sometimes make sticker charts for myself or the family as a whole and put things on it like "visit Grandma Jane" or "clean out the attic". I only like to use it for a few months before making a new one so I don't feel overwhelmed or feel like I'm "behind" if I don't get things done. I think we all need focus to keep us moving forward, but I don't think we need to be overly ambitious or over-organized.

[@hunterrapp852]

If you could change any in your house, what would you change? And do you feel that you are a little overprotective with your kids?

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

We have lots of plans still for our house so I couldn't really narrow it down to one thing I'd like to change. There are lots of things we plan to change! As for your second question, I'm just living my life with my husband and children and this is what it looks like.

[@Diana-uh]

I was wondering if your sons play in any sport teams? If not would you allow them?

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

They don't play sports simply because none of them has been interested. We're not really sports kind of people though we do enjoy setting up the badminton net or getting a good game of dodge ball going.

[@glenhoffman7551]

what does the food tv show talk about and why do you watch it everyday

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

We watch it on Mondays when our home school friends come over for "Mom School." We choose different series to watch together. Before this series, we did one on herbal medicine. We've also done one on the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling. I started this group to get to know some other homeschoolers better and because I was going to watch these series anyway, so I might as well make it available for others to learn, too!

[@frankieo7800]

What part of the United States are you from? Cause there is absolutely no way we could go outside without a jacket during homecoming lol

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

We're in Wyoming. It just depends on the year. It's been very warm still this year. It was in the 70s yesterday. Some years we're trick-or-treating in snow boots and snow pants!

[@claireguzman7935]

How do they do kindergarten ace curriculum in an ace school? It seems like you would need a teacher with them all day.

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

It takes Solomon and I about 1 to 1 1/2 hours each day to do his school work together. In a school setting, they have a separate class for pre-readers (Kindergarten and the first part of 1st Grade) because it's all directed by a teacher (or supervisor, as they're called in ACE.) I don't do everything at home that is in the manuals because they're designed to fill a whole morning and I don't want to spend that much time on it! Plus, it just goes fast with one child as opposed to a group. In a school, once students can read they start working independently. At that point, all grades can work together in one room and, depending on the number of children, one or more staff help them as needed.

[@judyg9889]

Yes, when I taught elementary we used a lot of ABeka and it's the same: there is a LOT of "busy work" (extra coloring etc. that they can do alone) included to give classroom teachers time to work with other students. It's not at all necessary for homeschoolers to include all that.

[@judyg9889]

Love your videos. My homeschoolers are grown and on their own, but I still love to watch families. :) Are the sentences Judah (did I get his name right?) is doing from ACE? Putting the prepositional phrases in parentheses first reminds me of Simply Grammar [oops, correction: Easy Grammar]; I was an English major and a credentialed teacher, but that awesome tip was new to me.

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

Hi Judy! Yes, the sentences were from Judah's English PACE (ACE). He had been confused when he did a couple of pages and I decided it would be best to start with fresh paper that wouldn't have a bunch of eraser marks, so I write the sentences out on new paper. Setting off the prepositional phrases first is how I learned to diagram (I went to an ACE school); I just assumed that's how it was always done so I learned something new today, too! :)

[@judyg9889]

I grew up in the 60's when public school was beginning to be "dumbed down". The one Jr. High English teacher who was beginning to teach us diagramming took maternity leave & her replacement gave us "Catcher in the Rye" to read instead. Although I was an English major and an elementary school teacher, that's the last I saw of diagramming until I started homeschooling. I actually like this marking method better than traditional diagramming which breaks up the sentence awkwardly. (Oh, and what we used was actually Easy Grammar, not Simply Grammar; it's been quite a while...LOL!)

[@lanermss7891]

Do your children switch roles and the girls learn how to make rockets or something and the guys learn to sew?

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

Our little "clubs" aren't really about the activity, they're about having some "guy time" and "girl time". We do so much as a family that we like having some special times when men can be manly and girls can be girly. (We started doing this a couple of years ago when we quit doing Cub Scouts.) The boys sew and the kids have done other rocket projects with Tom, but again, the activity itself isn't the point.

[@lanermss7891]

I think that is awesome that you have separate bonding times with your children. Love the channel! Thank you for clarifying and responding

[@vvenluv]

How do you name your kids? Are there meaning behind their names?

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

Their names are all from the Bible. Sophia's name probably has the most personal meaning to us, the rest of them we just liked. I'm planning to do a video one of these days about how we named each one of them.

[@WyattRyeSway]

Andrea Mills ......Yeah, I am Jewish and Asher, Solomon and Judah are popular in my culture because they are from the Tanach. You don't see a lot of non-Jewish people these days named Asher or Solomon. I like your kids names.

[@alexisc2601]

I am in band and I marched at the high school right net to my school and I played with every one else from my school also anther one on the same day of there home coming day I just made a connection when I saw this videos

[@WyattRyeSway]

Just out of curiosity, do your girls always wear dresses or skirts?

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

No, they wear them a lot, but probably about 1/3 of the time they were jeans.

[@drummerlovesbookworm9738]

LOL! Is it rude if your parade made me laugh? You all should come to Seattle and I'll take you to the SeaFair Twilight Parade and stuff. (Actually, it was very sweet.) I wonder if I'd like small-town life.......xoj

[@drummerlovesbookworm9738]

I saw 'Sweetest Day' on your calendar. I've always wondered what the heck that is?? How do we celebrate it?

[@drummerlovesbookworm9738]

Can homeschoolers play on the local sports teams there?

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

Yes, they can. Some of our homeschool friends are on the cross country team. Another one is on the football team. We're not "sporty" kind of people so it's never been something we've pursued. (Honestly, I'm kind of glad the kids aren't interested so far. My brother was in wrestling, football and basketball when we were in high school and I didn't really enjoy having to go to all those games!) Tom played badminton in high school so sometimes he likes to put up the net and play with the kids.

[@drummerlovesbookworm9738]

Andrea Mills It is a LOT of everybody else going to practices and games. Also...not cheap!

[@jennylyons2307]

is this the first year homeschooling

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

No, we've homeschooled all of our kids from the start. None of them have ever been to school. This IS the first year we've done vlogs like this.

[@Naamy19X9]

3:46 brutal haha

[@Naamy19X9]

23:50 Sophia shows a lot of restraint for a toddler...quietly following instructions.

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

I really laughed when I looked to see what was brutal. Have to face the realities of life! :)

[@lovesskittles9]

if one of the boys wanted to learn how to sew would you teach them like you are the girls?

[@lovesskittles9]

also really been waiting to know what the sound is

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

We have a sewing book with patterns that specifically appeal to boys. Judah sewed a bag that hangs on his bicycle. It even has a zipper, which is pretty impressive! Thomas was making a dragon stuffed animal, but he got bored of the project. Judah has made several pillows. Asher and Justus haven't been as interested.

[@drummerlovesbookworm9738]

The Waldorf school kids had to sew and KNIT! I remember my son not loving trying to knit socks. He did like some sewing, though, because my Dad would sew manly things like BBQ covers and truck seat covers and outdoor chair cushions. If Grandpa did it, it was cool. LOL!

[@amandawatson5944]

What's homecoming?

[@pineapple1784]

Amanda Hurcombe A 'celebration' at high schools that is basically like a dance near the beginning of the school year.

[@crazyhat15]

It's a school dance for the highschoolers,it's to show the last football game that the kids will play on the home Field usually😄

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

I see you've mostly been answered already, but I'll add that traditionally it's the time when a school welcomes back its alumni and has special events (sort of like a school reunion), such as a dance. There's coronation of a king and queen from among the school athletes.

[@baileysmith7182]

Also during homecoming week, there are spirit days. In most of my schools there was crazy hair day, character day, and color day. We have also had decades day, tourist day, pajama day, and backwards day. It's really a lot of fun if you get into it.

[@amandawatson5944]

We don't have anything like that in the UK

[@Saffy1005]

Why did you choose to do ACE Curriculum and not just a normal non-Christian curriculum?

[@tourettehero]

BasicallyMitochondria I believe she has a video on this...

[@hant679]

BasicallyMitochondria She is a Christian so why would she want a non-Christian one?

[@tourettehero]

+Hannah Turnage lots of christians use secular curriculum. it seems the actual question is, why christian over other options.

[@thefairydream]

hello there, your videos are like a gate to an unkown world for me. it's really interesting to see a different approach to life. therefore I do have a couple of questions and eventually video requests. What of at some point your children grow up and decide for themselves that they don't believe in God? I was brought up Christian, very tolerant and open but as I grew older I realised for myself how God and religion are cultural phenomena and all made up by humans seeking something greater than the world (not saying believing in God is wrong, it's just my world view) and could you maybe also do a review on that ace curriculum? I tried doing some research but moat reviews I could find were pretty bad. Some said that the ACE paces only focus on short term memory and only need the student to repeat and list knowledge provided a couple pages previously. Maybe that's different though... also: how does homeschooling work in America? it's prohibited were I'm from (it's illegal to not sent your kids to school till they are 16) how do they graduate? can they go to college?

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

Homeschoolers get a high school diploma produced by their parents which is as valid as a diploma given by any other school. It's illegal for colleges to not accept a home school diploma. As I understand it, homeschoolers do extremely well in college and many schools actively recruit them. I don't know why ACE got a bad reputation. Having graduated from an ACE school myself, I outperformed all of my public school friends on standardized tests and when we went off to college I was always at the top of my classes. (I earned a full scholarship to continue my education, but I found college to be an expensive waste of time for me and I chose not to go back. I prefer to continue my education on my own terms.) I've done a video talking about ACE curriculum if you're interested in watching it. I don't intend to do any more reviews on it; I'd rather focus on practical videos for homeschooling with it. I have no control over what other people believe, including my children. They will believe what they believe. I do disagree with you about God and religion being a cultural phenomena. I'm aware that's one of the ideas floating around nowadays, but I find the irony of it a bit funny. I've spent time reading Darwin, Dawkins, Hichens, etc. and we watch debates on the topic as a family. I can tell you, the world does not operate according to the principles of evolution no matter how much time you give it. It's fine with me if people want to believe that everything came into existence from nothing all by itself, that non-living things turn into living things all by themselves and that the family cat is capable of giving birth to a half cat, half something else. But that's not what I see or would ever expect to see happen. Since that's not how it works, I accept the fact that something outside of the realm of created things made all that we see. I do hope you at least take pause for a moment and realize that being an atheist takes far greater faith than being a Christian and I personally don't have enough faith to discount everything I see around me and believe in what isn't there. That's not to say that I necessarily like "religion" because I think most of what passes for religion/Christianity is a lot of foolishness whose ultimate source comes from the same place as the idea of atheism. There have always been, and still are, people in the world who find it very personally profitable to try to control what other people think so they can take the "spoils" for themselves.

[@junbh2]

In Canada homeschoolers can take placement exams or present a portfolio when they apply to university.

[@junbh2]

+Andrea Mills Believing in evolution doesn't require you to jump to the conclusion that God didn't create everything - it's just a matter of the how. Personally I find it impossible not to accept evolution much as I accept geology or the solar system or any other part of creation, because I have just seen and read of so much relentless and overwhelming physical evidence in its favour - from DNA studies to fossils to botany you could spend your whole life studying them and not run out of new pieces of evidence that point to it as simple fact. FWIW, cats do often give birth to kittens with tiny mutations (a new colour, a different digestive enzyme). I wouldn't go by Dawkins or Hitchins, personally. They have an agenda and seem more concerned with arguing a personal philosophy than with simply presenting information. Frankly I find both of them hard to stomach. That said, though we disagree I love how respectfully you express it and I love that you and your kids read and discuss things you may not agree with. We would all be better off if more of us did that.

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

Adaption is obvious, evolution is not. One thing simply doesn't turn into a different kind of a thing. Science isn't neutral and I would suppose you haven't waded into the depths of the agenda behind it because most people haven't. Do not trust what you are told in books or on tv. (Not that you can't read, watch and learn, but realize you are told what you are told for a reason and it's not to educate you.) Trust your own senses and your own experiences and you'll have a far more accurate knowledge of how the world works.

[@thefairydream]

Andrea Mills I didn't think this would turn into such a heated discussion, anyways thanks a lot for your long and elaborate reply. I'm really glad your kids do get the chance to pursue whatever path they want in their life and their education is approved! by now I did watch your video and thought it quite helpful even though I really would have liked to get an insight of their older students materials but they seem to guide their paces really well... I might someday buy some just to see for myself since it's an interesting and foreign concept to me. how is an ACE school then? does everybody just sit in silence and does their paces until there is a break? or are students allowed to do them together? I don't understand how lessons designed for homeschooling work out for group teaching except for letting students work individually. I also think you had a really good point. there were scientists who had this new creature born idea but today none really believes it and it is NOT approved by biologists etc. anyways I didn't mention evolution at all in my post so I don't think it's right to just assume I'm an atheist and believe in an absurd version of evolution which is outdated and already renewed... I actually only ever hear of this weird monkey once gave birth to a human thing whenever someone finds out I'm not Christian or say I don't belive in God... Furthermore I'm Agnostic and there is a difference in it. I'm aware that proof of an existence of any god like creature is merely not possible at this point (or proof that it does not exist) and therefore it is not relevant for me as an individual, therefore I don't believe but I also don't not belive if that makes sense. The Religions as well as the churches I got in contact with didn't work our for me. I mean out of all the endless possibilities for such a creature to exist why should Christianity be the one? I'd just rather focus on other things and try and be the best person I can for myself and for other people who need my abilities. I don't mean to offend or harass you in any way... I just don't like it when people assume things instead of asking. Non believers atheist and agnostics all have their unique reason why they think that way and it would be nice to also listen to our side instead of assuming things... I didn't assume you would force your kids to believe or anything and therfore just asked how that works in your family. can you please clarify one more point: what would be the purpose of science not being neutral? I mean i get that as people are biased all of our conclusions are as well. but that doesn't exclude anyone...I don't get what you are trying to say? and aren't we all looking at the world with our own eyes and judging the things individually? what would be the right conclusion in your opinion? it just all sounded very vague... anyways hope you have a great week.

[@catmaemaecat]

do you ever have plans of teaching your boys to sew or to have your girls learn to build things with their dad? in fact your youngest boy seemed interested in sewing but you wouldn't let him help. i'm not trying to tell you how to raise your kids but women especially when they're young girls should be encouraged to learn more about science technology engineering and science not just boys. i'm a girl and my dad worked in construction and some of my fondest memories were him teaching me how to build stuff and also him painting my nails. basically my point is maybe it's not a good idea to limit kids learning activities purely based upon their gender

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

Our boys know how to sew and the girls help dad all the time. Our little clubs aren't about the particular project, they're about the girls having girl time with mom and the boys having boy time with dad.

[@catmaemaecat]

Andrea Mills that's good, and sorry i really wasn't trying to tell you how to raise your kids at all, i just really can't stand that girls are limited, face discrimination and prejudice just because they are girls, but i'm really glad to know that your girls are in good hands and not with someone who forces gender roles onto their kids :^)

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

When families lived and worked together, everyone pitched in to do what needed done. When fathers were taken out of the home to go to factories, it made a sharp distinction between men's work and women's work. I think we'd all be happier going back to family-centered work!

[@catmaemaecat]

Andrea Mills yeah i agree, and i also totally understand wanted/needed girl time, i love hanging out with just my mom and grandma and sisters, it's so fun and important to hav

[@chloellax9885]

first byw💐

[@maggierivera134]

any new youtubers wanna support one another?