I have one son who turned 3 in January. I’m brand new (in most senses) to the homeschooling world. I recently (Nov) was able to become a stay at home mom, so we have been just settling in to our new routine. I can’t imagine sending him to preschool next year, when I just quit my job to be with him 
So I’ve been doing some research, and your website came up several times, and I had to check it out. Excited to learn more.
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Hi! My name is Ashley. I am a first year homeschooler to a third and fifth grader. I would consider my approach traditional/eclectic. I went to school for early childhood education, so I tend to use my knowledge of teaching in the home. The reason for my homeschooling journey started out to catch my two stepchildren up. Before they came to live with their Dad and I…they were in an environment where their education needs were not being addressed. They attended public school at first but I knew that it wasn’t enough for them. As a new mother to these kids and having a strong sense of what God expects from me, I knew in my heart homeschooling was the route to take. I love that we are able to incorporate our Mormon faith in to our studiess as well. Being able to prepare children through education and the scriptures is what I believe my Heavenly Father wants from us. I have witnessed my children grow in many different ways. It definitely has been very rewarding so far. 
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HI!
My name is Amanda and I’ve been homeschooling for 2 months! I’ve researched and thought about it for the last 3 years though. I spent over a year looking at curriculum for my 2 ADHD boys ages 7 and 11 (2nd & 6th grade) and settled on an eclectic mix. We use COAH Road Trip for Geography and the boys absolutely love it! I use some workbooks, some free curriculums and our local homeschool group for all of their learning! Its been the best decision for us and them! Erica’s blog helped me immensely, watching her Do it every day was so inspiring! Thank you Erica! So glad for your new forum!
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My son is also delayed in reading/language. I have tried All About Reading and found that was a good pace for him. I also really like Growing with Grammar, Winning with Writing, and Soaring with Spelling. They are 1 page of work daily and less intense. They are pretty cheap too-around $20 for the whole set. It is set like Math U See. You do a single concept for a whole week and then build on that for the next week.
I use to stress that he was “behind,” but he is starting to read small books on his own. Let him grow at his own pace and provide books that interest him. Try a whisper phone (also called phonics phone) while he reads outloud. You can make one out of PVC pipe for really cheap. That helped both my kids with their speech. It makes their own voices really loud and easier to hear.
I found my son has made major progress in reading because he reads to his little brother. We have a library program that is “Read to a Dog” once a week. I found having a reading partner that was not judgmental and happy to have him read was super helpful.
Hi! My name is Wanda and I’ve been homeschooling just a few months. We have three beautiful children, two boys ages 4 & 2 and a baby girl 5 months. So far I’m interested in eclectic/traditional approach but still trying to figure things out. I decided to homeschool because I had my 4 yr in prenursery/preschool and the teacher said that he was advance for his age and already knew what was being taught but because of his age and birthday in January he would have to continue in the same level. That didn’t sit well with me as I want him to continue his love of learning. I’m very nervous but know that this is best and it’s what was put in my path so I will run with it.
I came across COAH and have absolutely loved it but trying to figure out when would be a good time to introduce other subjects i.e. history, geography, ect.
I’m looking forward to learning a lot from you ladies…thank you Erica!
Hi. I’m Amanda and we have 5 children. I’ve been homeschooling for 3 years now & I absolutely love it!! =) I’m pretty eclectic in my teaching style & have learned so much from Erica along the way! Thank you for that Erica!! I started homeschooling because the Lord layed it on my heart several years ago but with a special needs child I didn’t think it would be possible…boy was I wrong!! After a very horrible experience in special ed, I prayed that God would shut every door but homeschooling if that’s what he wanted us to do & He did!! Haven’t looked back since!! I’m excited for this new homeschool community!! =)
Hi, I’m Destiny. I have five children, three of which are school aged. This is my first year homeschooling all my children. Last year we pulled out our then 9 year old half way through the year after praying about how we could help her with some behavior issues she was experiencing. I enjoyed it enough that we decided to bring the other two home as well. I would say that I lean toward the classical method, but in practicality, I’m probably more traditional in my teaching style.
You should look at Discover the Scriptures for a church curriculum. They have them for multiple grade levels and the Book of Mormon one is wonderful. The church history one is very in depth and they have done all the research for you. They range about $20 for each subject. Their website has sample pages too. Just a thought.
Hi! I am Cierra, and we just started homeschooling a couple of weeks ago. We are excited!! We have 4 kids, and I have no clue what my style is, I guess we will figure that out as we go. We decided to homeschool to be more involved in our child’s education, and hope that we can provide a tailored approach to meet each of our kids needs. So far we love it, and wonder why we waited so long to start!
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Hi! I’m so excited about this community! I have 3 children, 2 boys and 1 girl ages 6, 3, and 7 months. I’ve been homeschooling for about 3 years - taking a much more relaxed approach with my younger kiddos than I did with my oldest! We like the Well Trained Mind philosophy but I would also say I’m eclectic about putting my curriculum together as a whole. We homeschool to give our kids a faith based education and to have the freedom to be a family without the constraints of a traditional school schedule.
Hi! I have 4 children with 1 more due in August. I have 1 daughter (5th grade) and 3 sons (4th grade, Kindergarten, and 21 mos). We have homeschool ed for 7 years (minus the 2nd semester of my daughter’s K year when we were still figuring thing out)
We used Sonlight (and loved it!), but changed to an eclectic mix after joining a co-op last year (found some new great curriculums: IEW, Apologia, Mystery of History, and more).
We began homeschooling for a variety of reasons: 1. I love my kids and want to be with them. I would miss them so much if they were gone most days.
2. I love that our family is experiencing life together on a daily basis.
3. I enjoy teaching my children and love that my children receive a more tailored education.
4. I have more time to disciple my children.
5. They can be educated and be kids at the same time. They aren’t locked up in the school all day.
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My name is Cecilia, and have 3 children. I use traditional methods to teach, and do it at home. ceciliapimien2@hotmail.com
Hi! My name is Sharon and my husband and I have three daughters (17, 12, 10). We have been homeschooling for eight years and while it has been challenging at times, I wouldn’t trade it for the world!
Hi, I’m Leslie. We have 3 boys (5, 3, 9 months), and we plan to start homeschooling next year with first grade and preschool. While I would prefer probably a classical approach, my boys are super active, need lots of movement, so I’m going to try an eclectic approach with lots of hands-on activities. We’ve chosen to homeschool for many reasons - to be the greatest influencers in their lives (especially during these early years), to maintain their brotherly bonds, to have flexibility in scheduling, to work at their pace, to have time for non-traditional subjects (Spanish, Puerto Rican history, computer programming, engineering, life skills, etc.).
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- How long have you been homeschooling?
Just this year, unless you account my attempts to teach my children Spanish over the summer.
- How many children do you have?
Three, only one of which is homeschooled (ie, unless you count summer Spanish)
- What teaching style do you like best? Charlotte Mason, Traditional, Eclectic, etc.
I’m pretty sure I’m eclectic. I don’t know, is teaching almost everything through “play school” with stuffed animals a teaching style? (It’s definately my child’s learning style…he learns better while pretending to be a toy dinosaur. Seriously. If your child is imaginative and has a fear of learning, this is a great method).
I also kinda lean towards Charlotte Mason from what I’ve read. I don’t get narration…but I get real books and learning through real situations and exposure to nature.
- Why did you start homeschooling.
Because my child needed it. Up until my 3rd entered school I was happy with the public schools, and I was looking forwards to getting a job outside the home once my youngest was in school. But he hated it…it was crushing his desire to learn (and it wasn’t the teacher…he liked his teacher). But I did learn that they were discouraging KG teachers from too much play based learning, and had a more academic focus than when my kids were in KG (or maybe not…but my older kids were ahead going in, and my middle child liked structure, so they may have just done better with that). My youngest cried almost every day before school and usually afterwards too for a whole year, and I shouldn’t have waited as long as I did to pull him out. I had to convince myself that I could do it though.
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My name is Rachel…I’ve been homeschooling our three kids since August of 2014. So far we are eclectic with a spin of we don’t know what we’re doing or where we are headed. We chose to HomeSchool after looking into it for years. It is not something we ever thought we’d be doing, but have already seen so many positive changes in our family and children. Looking forward to positive changes academically…I know they will come when we can figure out what works for everyone!
Hello! My name is Beckie! I’ve been following this blog for a while now, and use quite a bit of it to help guide me through my own journey of being a homeschooling mom.
This is my first year homeschooling my 7 year-old son. The reasons why I began to homeschool is long (and if you’re really interested, you can find the whole reason here), but the short version is that I was a public school teacher for 6 years, and due to the direction that education was going and some other issues, I decided if I was going to work that hard to educate children, it should be my own son.
I have one son who is 7. He’s a big handful but I’m loving spending the time with him. I wouldn’t say that I have a “style.” Mostly it’s just been flying by the seat of my pants. But I guess it would be project based with some traditional thrown in.
That’s pretty much me in a nutshell. I’m really looking forward to sharing ideas!
Beckie
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Hi all! My name is Karen and I have 4 children: son #1- 8 3/4 yo (he reminds me of this each day!), son #2- 7 yo, daughter#1- 4 yo, and daughter #2- 14 months. We have been homeschooling since son #1 started Kindergarten and have never looked back. I knew that I would homeschool even before I gave birth 
Having been an elementary teacher before becoming a SAHM, it was in my blood and I just knew that it was what the Lord was calling me to do.
I would say my style is mostly traditional, somewhat classical also, with a splash of eclectic!
**Forgot to add that son #2 WAS in public school for Kindergarten last year since he has developmental delays, CAPD and ADD. After being convinced by all the early intervention people (that had been seeing him since he was 18 mos.) that public school would be the best option for him, I begrudgingly enrolled him. But one year was enough for this mommy. He has progressed by leaps and bounds since bringing him home this past September. BEST decision I ever made! I am regretting that I didn’t have more confidence in myself and listened to my heart last year. In some ways I feel like we lost a year!
My name is Sarah and this is my second official year of homeschooling. We have 4 amazing boys ages 7, 5, 3, and 5 months. I use a little bit of an eclectic style of teaching. I love homeschooling because I love being the one that gets to see the light bulb go on much like watching them taking their first steps. I also love tailoring it to fit my boys’ needs and their individual learning styles.
Hi Felicia! My kiddos are the same ages as yours and I am discerning whether or not to start homeschooling in the Fall. My daughter would then be a 2nd grader as well. 