I’m so glad you’ve joined me at This Reading Mama!
My name is Becky Spence. I am currently a homeschooling mama to four kiddos and the creator of This Reading Mama and Alive and Growing at Home.
I come from a family of teachers and absolutely love teaching, especially struggling learners.
I have a wonderfully supportive husband. We’ve been married for over 24 years. We have four kids who keep us on our toes and knees. {Picture above isn’t recent.}
- 18 years old {“ALuv” early on the blog}. He is very driven to do what he puts his mind to. It’s cool to see how God has blossomed him into such a fine young man of God.
- 15 years old {“NJoy” early on the blog}. He has always been a very happy child. He’s full of energy and loves people.
- 13 years old {“MBug”}. She loves anything music and art and is SUPER talented. If I only had her talents in my pinky…
- 12 years old {“NSis”}. She is a fun kid to hang around. She has a dry sense of humor, and keeps me laughing.
Professionally…
Before having children, I was a classroom teacher, both in the private and public school setting. I got my M.Ed. in Elementary Reading and then had my first son.
After having kids, I began tutoring K-5 struggling readers out of my home until I had my last kiddo.
Even though I said I would never, ever, ever in a million years EVER. NEVER. homeschool {Do you get the point?}, God called me to homeschool in 2009. Even though I didn’t want to, I knew that homeschooling was what my oldest son needed.
Homeschooling was a bit lonelier than I expected it would be at first. So in 2011, I started blogging as a way to share ideas with other parents, teachers, and tutors. I never dreamed He would take my passion and multiply it ten fold.
Because of my passion for struggling learners, I became certified in Dyslexia and Language-Based Learning Differences in 2019. It confirmed so much of what I already believed and had experienced teaching struggling learners, including my own, for years. It also deepened my passion for helping struggling learners in any way that I could in my little corner of the internet.
Personally…
I grew up in a Christian home, surrounded by full-time ministers who not only taught me what the Bible says, but taught me what it looks like to follow what the Bible says. You can find what I believe here.
If I’m not planning, creating, homeschooling, or blogging, I enjoy:
- taking a walk down our country road to see the various animals like dogs, horses, donkeys, cows, chickens, and even llamas! I am not the biggest animal lover myself, even though I agreed to let my oldest have a bearded dragon.
- homesteading. I have been working on building up our garden. We also have some backyard chickens as well as raise meat chickens. {If you homestead, you may enjoy my other blog, Alive and Growing at Home.}
- playing card games. Nertz is my all-time favorite, and I’m happy that my kids are old enough to play it with me.
- serving at church. I love teaching the next generation about truth and God’s Word.
- decorating the house and dreaming up big projects for my husband. He loves it when I do that…
- hosting family and friends in our home. We actually started a “house church” in June of 2020, and it’s been such a blessing!
- avoiding cameras. I honestly hate pictures of me. The one above was after the girls “fixed” my hair one night before bed.
Let’s Connect!
The best way to connect with me is to SUBSCRIBE to my newsletter! You can do that below. {You’ll have access to exclusive deals and freebies when you do!}
Contact me…
You can email me at: becky {at} thisreadingmama {dot} com
I try my hardest to get back to emails within 48 hours*, but my inbox stays very full. It’s possible your email may have been buried deep. If you do not hear from me within a few days, please feel free to email me again.
*Please note: Weekends are my protected family time, so I typically don’t check email on the weekends.
Again, I’m so glad you’re here. Grab a coffee, pull up a chair, and feel free to explore my blog!
~Becky
