for my family-homeschooling information

Sarah using up our old playdough!

One part of starting homeschooling is letting our families know what we are doing. I've talked to most in the past about homeschool at some point so now that we've decided to take the plunge, there might be some questions. Ask away! Asking shows you love us and care!

C B was the first person I met who homeschooled her two boys. We met at Overlake probably in the late 80s in a Bible study. We are somewhat opposite...she is very calm and quiet(!) I admit I was very impressed with her boys. They were humble and respectful and attentive. This was my first experience with that very weird thing called Homeschooling.

Through the years, I've had many friends and acquaintances who homeschool. Most of them are quite normal! The Gs homeschool their four children and I have had the opportunity to watch them grow up in homeschool. Their third child, Garrett was born while we attended OCC together and now he's 8. These children are fun to be around and are respectful. Rosalind is gifted (she was writing her own languages at an elementary school age) and has flourished in homeschool.

In May of 2009 I experienced the awards ceremony for Awana. I was overcome with pride in my friends children who had exemplary participation and were receiving awards for years of Scripture memorization and it started me evaluating my own priorities. (Since my children had just started Awana in January, they were not recognized at the ceremony, or I would have been bursting with pride over them)!! Since January 2009, the Ps have become our wonderful friends. We love that they homeschool their four children and are constantly amazed at their family unity. They are a huge inspiration for us. We attend church and Awana together so we see each other usually twice a week. Johanna is 16 and is eager to have her own family and homeschool her children someday.

There are several misconceptions about homeschooling. Most fall under socialization and academics. I had these questions, too, when I came across homeschoolers. I plan to provide information that has been helpful for us in deciding to homeschool.

One thing that has been important for me is to define WHY I want to homeschool. In the same way that every woman's birthing experience is different, it seems there are as many reasons for homeschooling as their are homeschoolers! So I need to define why I'm going to "go to all this trouble" of homeschooling.

You might not think homeschooling is for YOU, but it is for ME and my reasons have become more clear over the past year.

More soon, I hope to update this post in the near future.