About Mills Excellence Academy

I am a 40 year old, mostly stay at home mom to 4 kiddos.

My oldest, Kaitlyn, is 19 years old and is in her second year at Kirkwood Community College and working part-time as a cashier at Marion Hy-Vee.  Next year, she will transfer to Iowa State University where she will be studying to be a history teacher.  She was not homeschooled, but attended kindergarten-12th grade in the Linn Mar School System, which was actually the best public school education I could have wished for.  I was a single mom when she was small, so I THOUGHT I couldn't homeschool her, but more about that later.

My next oldest, Daniel, will turn 7 tomorrow (Halloween).  This is his second year being homeschooled, and we are associated with the Marion Homeschool Assistance Program.  We are relaxed, eclectic homeschoolers, and the curriculum we are currently using is Math U See Alpha, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and a spelling "curriculum" I found online...FREE!  Daniel's interests include Thomas the Train and trains in general mostly.  Daniel is loud and is on track to be a leader of some sort, or maybe a lawyer.  LOL! 

Next comes Ben who is 3 years old.  I am doing some pre-school work with him, mostly using a workbook I found at Target.  He loves storytime at the library (especially Miss Alicia at Hiawatha Public Library) and Play and Learn.  Ben's interests include Thomas the Train and Spiderman.  He's my little man that just doesn't quit moving.

Last is 1 year old Emmajane.  She has already shown a love of music, especially that of the Bluegrass genre.  LOL!  Emmajane is happiest when she is crawling around in the basement, pushing a plastic boat along the floor, or listening to Daddy play his music.

A little more about our family...Jonathan and I have been married for 10 years.  He works just shy of full-time at Linn Star Mail Delivery as a driver delivering the bulk mail for the post office.  His hours can be pretty erratic, but he is usually home during the middle of the day to help me shuttle kids here and shuttle kids there.  I am a Registered Nurse and employed by Rescare Home Care and Home Instead Senior Care.  I am only working 1 hour a week as an RN and unfortunately, Home Instead hasn't got any clients for me currently, so I'm not working at all with them right now.  I've gone back to college and am currently taking 13 credit hours at Kirkwood Community College.  I'm not sure how I am swinging this schedule and sometimes think I must be crazy!  The classes I am in this semester are ASL 1, Marriage and Family, American Government, and Music Appreciation.  What have I learned so far?  That I don't appreciate music...LOL!  Actually, I like learning ASL, and today, while studying for an assessment, Daniel sat beside me and learned a few signs himself.

Anyway, welcome to Mills Excellence Academy.  I'll plan to post regularly (HAHAHAHA) about the adventures of homeschooling and family life in general for the Mills family.