Sharon--I am a single mother who lives with family in Texas, USA. I was mostly homeschooled myself, with the exception of a few years spent in a private Christian school, and two years in a public high school. I went on to get a liberal arts degree at a state university.
I am currently "unschooling" my two sons, ages 6 and 3, but I am plan to introduce more structure and formal learning as my children get older. On my mind at the moment: finding a good math curriculum for my oldest, and beginning a phonics program with my youngest.
Sarah
I am a mother of five living in the UK. We have only home educated for 18 months. We took our third child, now aged 10, out of school and are home educating him and the younger two children, aged 4 years and 21 months. We have two older children who we left in school due to the proximity of external exams. In additon to home schooling, we care for my husband's mother who lives with us and I am currently, working my notice from my part-time job.
Home education has been a steep learning curve and I have much more to learn. God has been gracious and I have learnt the reality of the verse "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness."
Henrietta
I have twelve children aged from six to nineteen, none of whom have ever been to school. We started home education many years ago, we've used many different resources and tried a few different approaches along the way.
My husband went to public (which is private for US readers) school; and despite the cost to his parents, was poorly educated. I went to goverment schools, and from an academic view, much of my education was excellent.
Our home is busy, sometimes chaotic, but much of what we do is very organised. That is probably more related to family size than to home education. My husband Julian (and oldest son) leave for work before 6am each day, and Julian is rarely home before 7.30pm; so the majority of the work involved in home education falls to me.
I'd echo Sarah's quote - "my strength is made perfect in weakness"
I have a few favourite quotes: "you can't homeschool if you are never home" being one of them; and "it doesn't have to be fun, it just has to be done" being another. Oh, and "a home schooling mom and her money are soon parted".
I hope this blog will be of interest or help to anyone who is considering home educating; and that we can give an insight into the realities - the joys and disappointments, the ups and the downs.
