Summer 2017

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SUMMER 2017 HOMESCHOOL IOWA 5
At the beginning of each school year, I sit back and analyze
where we’ve been, where I want us to go and think about
what I need to do to get us to that goal. The 2016-2017
school year started with our family in the middle of relocating
to Iowa, leaving our homeschool support group in Kansas City,
leaving friends, leaving some family (and getting closer to other
family) and moving our homeschool space from a 1200-square-
foot open floor plan basement with maps on the walls, book-
shelves full of resources, and whiteboards for everyone to the
living space of a 32-foot-long 5th wheel. We made it through the
school year, but it was tough! Because we had to be back and
forth between Kansas City and Muscatine several times, we were
not able to wrap up the school year until mid-July. But it was a
good year full of learning. Change is hard. It makes us uncom-
fortable and makes us aware of how much we need to depend
on God. However, the changes our family went through in the
past year have also brought us new friends, new opportunities,
and the unmistakable hand of God directing our steps.
One of the new opportunities that God brought into my life
is the privilege of assisting with the Homeschool Iowa maga-
zine. I began my career as a 19-year-old college student at the
reception desk of a twice weekly newspaper in Topeka, Kansas.
In that role, I had the opportunity to sell advertising and then to
design the ads I was selling. In designing ads, I found my profes-
sional calling ~ graphic design and marketing. The newspaper
was a fabulous place to work. We were a small company, and I
had the opportunity to work in a variety of roles until I found my
niche - and became the managing editor at the age of 22. When I
married a couple of years later andmoved to Kansas City, I took a
job in the pre-press department of a printing company. That job
helped to refine my design skills and gave me the opportunity
to work with some great marketing professionals. In 2007, my
daughter was born, and I became a freelance graphic designer
and marketing specialist, also doing virtual assistant work for a
few of my clients, helping with customer service and public rela-
tions. But the most important thing that happened in 2007 is
that I found the calling of my heart ~ being a mother.
Our homeschool journey started in 2012 when my daughter
began kindergarten. My son started 2 years later. I’m thankful
that we are able to be a homeschooling family. It was through
needing resources for the past school year that I found the
Homeschool Iowa - NICHE community. I was putting together
our state history curriculum and needed ideas for field trips, so
I started looking online, found the NICHE website, found the
Facebook communities, and asked a question on the Home-
school Iowa discussion group. That single question has led to a
few online friendships, meeting a couple of other local home-
school moms for a field trip, and this opportunity to serve you
by putting together a magazine full of articles to challenge you,
encourage you, and inform you. I have been very impressed by
the organization and resources of the Homeschool Iowa com-
munity. Our new NICHE regional representatives are going to
be an incredible resource for families around the state. I’m ex-
cited to be a part of this organization, happy to be a new Iowan
,and am looking forward to what the 2017-2018 school year will
bring us (for me, it includes a new basement school room! So
excited about that!)
If you have ideas for the magazine, please reach out to me. I
want the Homeschool Iowa magazine to be a blessing to you. I
hope we can bring a smile to your day, provide resources that
are useful, and allow God to use us to encourage you on your
homeschool journey. I can be reached at editor@homeschoo-
.
~ Jenn Warren
Jenn married an awesome, hard-working guy named David
in 1999. They spent the next 8 years camping, fishing, hunting,
taking other people’s kids out on outdoor adventures, and train-
ing black labs for AKC hunt tests. In 2007 Chantae was born and
she changed everything. In 2009 Brandt completed their family.
The Warrens (including a couple of black labs) reside in Muscatine,
Iowa, and enjoy the outdoor recreational opportunities that living
on the river in Iowa bring.
New Beginnings