I conducted this interview quite awhile back, but recently their baby, “Mighty Joe”, has been diagnosed with enterovirus. PLEASE keep him in your prayers and read updates on his condition on his mommy’s blog Preschoolers and Peace.

There are far fewer homeschooling dad blogs out there than mom blogs. What first drew you to blogging? Is it what you expected?

Yes, I have also noticed that the mom vs. dad blogging ratio is skewed. Here’s the funny thing…blogging for me was just a means to an end. theMangoTimes began as a monthly email newsletter for friends and family members that I wrote to chronicle our family adventures. I eventually took theMangoTimes online, but the design and coding just took too much of my time. Homeschoolblogger.com made it very easy for me to continue recording our family antics, so I would say that specifically HSB is what drew me to blogging. So, like I said, I wasn’t looking to start a blog as much as I was looking to continue theMangoTimes. It also helped focus my writing a bit more on who we are as a family, record our family identity and share what makes us unique (homeschooling, theology, etc…). Answering your second question, in a sense, blogging is not what I expected, because it has changed the look and feel of theMangoTimes, but at the same time I love it, because it has allowed me to try new things and write on new topics.

How do you feel about the successfulness of your blog? Were you surprised to have such a big readership?

I have always said that I write theMangoTimes for two people, one of them being my wife, Kendra. So, my definition of success with my blog is not based on any awards or recognition. I am successful when I write something that makes Kendra laugh out loud (double points if she spills or snorts what she’s drinking at the time). That being said, I am also no longer surprised by my readership. Several years ago, I went to a wedding where I didn’t know anyone but the bride and groom. At one point I was introduced to a complete stranger who responded with, “Oh, I know you…you are the Mango guy who writes theMangoTimes!” So, from the very beginning, I understood the concept of the WORLD wide web. However, I am shocked to find people reading and linking to theMT. I’m still shocked I won the like to think that what I write is witty, but if you don’t know me, I’m still surprised that anyone would actually want to read my blog.

If I am correct you have 8 children, right? Can you tell us a little about them and your family’s homeschooling style.

Yes…you are correct. On Cinco de Mayo, we welcomed our eighth child. If you’ve ever read my wife’s blog, you will notice that she is an organization nazi, so we have been accused of organizational family planning. Our first three children are boys (my uncles and brother all had daughters, so personally, I think I was worried about continuing the family name). Next, we had three girls in a row and suddenly our homeschool became co-ed (had to modify all the bathrooms and put in a girl’s locker room…etc…). Then in the last year, we have added another two little boys. See what I mean? We are completelyo organized. Neither of us came from a large family (actually both of our families just give us nervous smiles when we announce another pregnancy), but we have always trusted God to give us the children that he wants through birth or adoption.

Our oldest is in high school and we have privately homeschooled since the very beginning (no charter/co-op school). We use the classical model for education, so in any given year we have kids being educated at some point of the trivium. We teach history on a four year cycle and each kid has a handpicked curriculum.

Your wife is also a former HSBA winner. Did you are your wife start blogging first? Do you have a lot of dicussions about blogging? My husband does not blog (yet), but we have often finished an adventure or a discussion only to declare it “blog worthy”… can you relate?

Yes, my wife and I swept the HSBA mom and dad awards this year…it was a big day in the Fletcher house with speeches and receptions and so forth. Officially, my wife started blogging first and at the time she actually had a purpose (since it developed out of multiple repeat questions she received from speaking at homeschool conferences). In order to resurrect theMangoTimes, she encouraged me to move it to a blog format. We do tend to talk a lot about blogging and we each have our favorite writers, so when I link to someone off of my blog, I truly mean they are a “favorite.”

We also discuss when something is “blog worthy.” I will often comment on something that my wife is doing with our homeschool and follow it up with, “You should write about that…” In my case, I have a few recurring topics that my readers will send in ideas about. Also, we regularly say to one another, “Ah…another fine moment for theMangoTimes.”

I was very interested to see the links on your blog to Family Integrated Churches… a subject very near and dear to my heart. Can you tell us more about the concept?

That would have to be a completely separate interview and if readers really want more discussion, they can read it on my blog (links available if you would like?). However, in a nutshell, aside from my job as a dentist, I am an ordained elder in a presbyterian church (www.centralvalleypresbyterian.org). We helped to create this church five years ago, but have maintained a vision for family-integrated worship for the past ten years. It’s actually a very simple concept: we keep the family together for worship and discipleship. That means that our church does not utilize children’s church. We worship together as families. Sermons are given to the entire family. Sunday school is taught to the entire family (so we do not segregate our teaching time by age/ability). The primary benefit is that everyone in the family goes home with the same teaching. The challenge is to actually pull this philosophy off. Visitors are challenged when they realize there is no place to dump their kids. Parents are challenged when they are expected to break the contents of the teaching down to their littlest children. I am challenged as a pastor to actually teach my dad (aged 77), my wife (late 30’s) and my daughter (age 4) the same topic and hope that I reach each of them.

Conceptually, it is actually a philosophy that I think appeals to homeschooling families, since they’ve already adopted a “unique” way to educate and this is just a “unique ” way to worship. I’ve heard the criticism and I have actually answered some of it. Personally, I’ve seen this work and I’ve also seen it fail. If the church leadership is behind the idea, I believe it’s the best format for church ministry.

I enjoyed reading the section of your blog that explained the title The Mango Times… very clever! I am, however, curious to know more about your tag line, “Quietly Making Noise”. Could you tell us what inspired it and what it means to you?

Ha! This is where I lose any serious homeschoolers (note to self: readership in theMangoTimes is about to decline!) Many of my references from my blog come from my hidden love for Jimmy Buffett music and all things tropical or island like. “Quietly Making Noise” is a song written and performed by Jimmy Buffett. I chose this as my tagline from the very beginning, because it sums up what I am doing with my blog. I am trying to make a little noise and I am trying to ruffle a few feathers. Too many Christians and homeschoolers have it all figured out and they are all noisy about it when they tell you how/why you should do things like them. For me, it’s not what people believe, but how they go about telling you what they believe that turns me away.

That is where I come in. Like everyone else, I want to make a little “noise.” I actually think the noise I make is pretty good, I just want to make it quietly without drawing a whole bunch of attention to myself. If and when I get a strong reaction from someone (for example, when I say that Family Integrated worship is the best format for church ministry!), I love to remind my very noisy critics that they are arguing with theMangoTimes…home of the spinning blender, comfy hammock, and summer tan!

Who does the photography for your blog? It is very good. I really enjoyed the new baby pictures (especially the black and whites… beautiful!)

Thanks for noticing. Unless I give specific citation or credit to another photographer, all the photography found on my blog is mine. It’s one of my loves and I’ve even published a book of my favorites (http://www.themangotimes.com/?p=397). I love making pictures of my family to chronicle who we are and what we have done over the years.

How involved are you in the actual homeschooling process… academically speaking?

Several ways. First, I allow for my wife to spend time and resources to prepare for the school year. Initially, it was just something she asked for, now it is something I like to think we require. I come into the picture by understanding that she needs concentrated time to plan the year. So, not only am I giving her the weekend (kid free) to get it all done, but I serve as a sounding board to her regarding which books will be included in the reading list, which curriculum we will use for math, science, history, etc…for each of the kids.

Second, I’ve always been the math teacher. I readily admit that due to her organization, Kendra is much more faithful to teaching, following up and evaluating the progress of our kids than I am, but I have been the math teacher and I am faithful to monitor and evaluate that one subject.

Third, as my children enter high-school, I begin to take them to work with me each day. So, I am directly supervising their school work at my office. I’ve created a school room onsite and they are personally responsible to me for the work accomplished each day. I realize not every dad can do this, but it has been really nice for our family and it keeps me engaged daily.