Question....Why do you homeschool? How do you find curriculum? How long are you going to homeschool?

All your questions are answered here:

What are our goals for our children?

1. That they be confident in what they believe
2. To love learning and learn that learning is a life long process
3. Have strong faith in God
4. Be productive citizens
5. To be good mothers, and wives.
6. Have a strong foundation in the basics: reading, writing, and arithmetic
7. To have a respect and understanding of God’s creation
8. To have the skills necessary to take care of themselves
9. To have a heart tender to God’s direction for their lives.
10. To have an understanding of the world’s beliefs so they are better equipped to deal with them
11. To have strong morals and character
12. A well-rounded education including: technology, foreign language, science, history, math, language arts, life skills, music, and art

How do you think learning should happen? Naturally: as we play a game, as we look at nature, driving in the car or sitting reading a book.

Do you want to teach your children together or individually? Both, sometimes they can learn from each other and sometimes the concepts need to come from directional learning.

How much time do you want (or are able) to work directly with your children?

I aim for 2 hrs a day. As they grow our time together will also grow.  We aren't doing much science or art/music this year, but as my oldest will be in 2nd I would love to include some instructional art and music along with science units!

Do you want to include real books and field trips into your school program?

Definitely I think they are essential. Yes, in fact some of our curriculum is from library books and we love to read informational facts on the country, subject or thing we are studying.  Field trips make up half our school time, we enjoy getting a hands-on approach to learning.

Do you use a set schedule or flexible approach to your school day?

It is somewhat flexible but most of the time is in the morning hours, because it works best for her.

Do you prefer a curriculum that is thoroughly laid out, one with just an outline, or do you make your own?  I tried to make my own the 1st yr but them changed to a base curriculum with kid-based interest unit studies thrown in here and there.

How much confidence and experience do you have homeschooling?

I’ve been homeschooling for 3 years.  My confidence has always been there but with more experience and learning what works for your child your confidence is also increased. I am always learning from my children.

Why did your family decide to homeschool?  For our oldest is was a must, she has energy and we knew she would be crushed in a "normal" setting and probably lose a lot of her "spunky" and fun-loving personality.  She is very creative and imaginative, those things are the 1st to be taken away in a public school.  Then we found that she is so bright that boredom would set in when give medial tasks. She thrives in our environment willing to go above and beyond her level in some tasks. Now, we know we made the right choice for our family.

How was your choice received by family and friends? Most ppl saw what we did: a bright child with love for learning and enough spirit for all 20 classmates.  they all agreed that she would excel better in this home environment. Most didn't disagree or try to sway us to get her in school. One friend asked about her socialization, but we knew that she would thrive as far as socially in any environment.

What are your thoughts on academic or personal progress or achievement in your homeschool, including general results of any testing or evaluation, special recognition or experiences?

 I believe in testing during the normal cycles of 3 grouping of grades, but I don't believe that testing gives the whole picture. I think that asking random questions and just seeing how they respond also gives insight.  I was not much for tests in school and find that project/portfolios work wonders in showing what they learned. I believe in recognition for all achievements for both academic and personal achievements.  It builds both confidence and self-esteem.

What do you most enjoy about homeschooling? Learning from the girls, learning with the girls and just having time to see them blossom into ladies!

What do you find most challenging about homeschooling? Balance to keep a schedule that allows for freedom from a daily schedule and spur of the moment trips! Sometimes I feel like we must get the regular work done before such trips and so my organized brain wants to stick with it while my free spirit wants to just go!

What do your children like most, and least, about homeschooling? L loves most of it, she can get easily bored.....so probably loves the creative but hates the bookwork at times, R loves any crafts and animal related tasks but hates bookwork or anything that requires her to have little choice!

What curriculum do you used? We use My Father's World as our base with some Charolette Mason and supplemental curriculum for other subjects (i.e. SOTW for history, Math U See/Math on level for math, etc...)