Hi all! I’m Donna. I have 3 children. We officially started homeschooling on Feb 1st this year after pulling our 2 oldest (k4 and K) out of private school. We’ve always planned to hs, but we put them in school this year because our youngest has had many medical issues and I needed time to care for her and to take a sanity break for myself. However, they are home now and it’s great! I also spent 4 years teaching public school which was certainly a factor in deciding to homeschool.
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Hi I’m Jami and I have been homeschooling for 3 years! I have 2 amazing boys 6 & 4, they keep me on my toes. I lend more towards traditional homeschooling which seems to be working great for us at the moment. We decided to start homeschooling for many different reasons, we wanted what was best for our boys, it just felt right. We knew moving often was in our future so the flexibility was important along being able to travel to see family. We also wanted Christian based, we wanted to be there for those ah-ha moments to name a few. I was blessed with meeting several homeschool families when my boys were toddlers that showed me the ropes and answered a million questions. One of them shared COAH blog with me 3 years ago and have been following ever since. I am learning something new everyday with homeschooling and can’t wait to see what the future holds. Thanks for all your hard work and dedication Erica!
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Hi I’m Amy from Missouri. I have 4 children (13, 11, 7, 4) and we have been HS for 3 years now. We use MFW as a spine, but like a mix of traditional also. Your blog was a huge help for me getting started and I have enjoyed adding many of your printables as well. Thanks!
I’m just getting started with homeschooling preschool. I have a 4 year old boy, 2.5 yr old boy and 10 month old girl.
Hello my name is Tracie. This will be my first year homeschooling. We have 6 wonderful children however I will only be homeschooling 3 of them and 1 of them is almost 2 so he learning by default I guess you could say. It seems as though I am leaning more towards traditional styles of learning because it is what I am more familiar with.
We decided to homeschool for our 9 year old because he has been passed through the public school system and even after requests to retain him, he is still just moved on and continues to struggle. Enough is enough and we have decided to take control of his learning.
I enjoy reading the posts and have learned a great deal.
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My name is Kathy Hutto. I have been homeschooling for 8 years. I have two children. Since I used to teach school, I find that I like a more traditional style of homeschooling. I started homeschooling because I felt that the Lord was leading our family in this direction. It is such a huge blessing to be able to homeschool.
Hi! I’m Sarah and I am a Wife to an amazing man and we have 2 daughter’s who are 4 and almost 3. We are homeschooling for the long haul! We are actually roadschoolers, as my husband is a truck driver and we live on the road with him full-time. We tend to follow an eclectic approach to our schooling and it works very well with our girl’s.
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I have 4 children and have been homeschooling 11 years. We are eclectic. Over the years, I have used pretty much everything! We started to homeschool because we were foreign missionaries. We love how it allows us to guide our children and because our kids don’t seem to be “grade level” in anything!
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Take a minute to reply to this post and tell us a little bit about yourself! Here are some questions to get you started:
How long have you been homeschooling?
How many children do you have?
What teaching style do you like best? Charlotte Mason, Traditional, Eclectic, etc.
Why did you start homeschooling?
Hi! I’m Michelle and I blog at Delightful Learning. I have 6 children and I have been homeschooling for 10 years. I have graduated one from homeschool and am currently homeschooling my three youngest ages 4, 8 and 10.
I am primarily Charlotte Mason and literature based/unit study based, with a little classical thrown in there. I go back and forth from wanting the routine of a boxed curriculum to wanting the excitement of unit studies - until I’m overwhelmed, and then want routine again!
I started homeschooling because my very bright but young 5 year old was academically but not emotionally ready for K. I fell in love with the idea of homeschooling from reading a Sonlight catalog and I did home preschool while waiting for the chance (ETC primers and ABC activities). When I let my intentions be known that I was planning to homeschool him for K, my oldest asked to be homeschooled as well - “No fair!” he said. “I want to be homeschooled too!” I was only going to try it for one year until my youngest was ready, but I ended up homeschooling all three of my older boys for 9 years. Oh the joy in my heart when I tucked my oldest in bed one night and he thanked me for homeschooling him. And my youngest - when he came running to me when I left him at school for enrichment classes (we had intended to integrate our first year), but he ran to me in tears, hugged me, then slugged me and said, “Don’t you ever take me here again.” :'-) That was the end of integrating.
Homeschooling is my heart, but I did put my two teen boys in a small local public school this year. Teen boys are tough! If you have boys, make sure they have a hobby going into high school! Boys need to be out and working with their hands. That’s why it worked for my oldest. I am welcoming the break and think of every class they take as one less class I have to teach, and trying to keep the lines of communication open, but I would love to homeschool my youngest three all the way through.
Looking forward to reading and catching up!
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My name is Jenny and I am a wife and mother to three crazy kids! I homeschool for so many reasons! First, I think that God calls me to it. Second, I really enjoy spending all day with my kids. Third, to give my children an awesome and tailored education! I would have to say that my style is eclectic. Ironically, before I started homeschooling I purchased Erica’s e-book and wrote out our school mission statement. What I had written convinced me that home schooling was the way to go for us and I don’t regret that decision at all! About a year later I found Erica’s web site and was excited to see that it was the very same Erica from the e-book! 
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Hi all! This is our first year homeschooling and we love it! Our oldest is in second and we have our 3 and 4 yr olds doing pre-k together, mainly because our 3 yr old will bother the older kids if she’s not included 
We use Easy Peasy as our curriculum and we love it. We started homeschooling for a number of reasons: military family, wanting more input in our children’s education, wanting a more God focused education (just to name a few). Looking forward to interacting with everyone!
Hi everyone!
“How long have you been homeschooling?”
I have been homeschooling for, let me see, 14 years. I am still learning and hope to improve my homeschool. I take it one year at a time.
“How many children do you have?”
I have 8 children, ranging from 3 years to 16 years. My 16 year old will be completing high school (scary and exciting on all different levels) and will be taking a gap year to pursue internships and work experience before entering a university. My 3 year old hopes to join the ranks alongside his 5 year old brother in preschool/kindergarten.
“What teaching style do you like best? Charlotte Mason, Traditional, Eclectic, etc.”
At first, I was traditional in my teaching methods. Then, the classical method inspired me. I also read about the Charlotte Mason method and really liked what I learned. I have used unit studies, lapbooks, notebooking, dictation, copywork, online courses, and love them all. I don’t use all these techniques every year, but I mostly rely on Notebooking, dictation, and copywork, with some online courses for my high schoolers, and consider myself more “classical mason eclectic” style.
“Why did you start homeschooling?”
I started with a preschool curriculum with my eldest child and then registered my child into a Catholic christian home study program for kindergarten. At first, I wanted to be the person my child was most influenced by. I wanted to see the lightbulb turn on when she began to read or see the smiles of succeding in adding and subtracting numbers. Over the years with more blessings of children, our “why” became bigger than my desire to witness our children’s growth and learning. Our reason grew to instill a Christian worldview into our children, which remains a big “why” in our homeschooling today.
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Hi! I’m Emily. This is my first year to homeschool. I have four kids; ages 16,15,11,and 8. We are doing traditional schooling because it works best with my personality and the personalities of my kids. I wish I had begun homeschooling years ago, but I was very intimidated by the idea. Due to my husband’s job, it looked like we were going to be moving to a new city in the middle of the coming school year. I wasn’t at all familiar with the school system where we would have been going and I really didn’t want to switch the kids to a new school in the middle of the year. I really felt that God just laid homeschooling in my lap during that time. As it happened, we didn’t move, but we love homeschooling and look forward to continuing this course. I love Confessions of a Homeschooler and have gone to it as a resource many times.
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Hi, My name is Merry :-). Some answers…
- I’ve been homeschooling for 13 years! My oldest is graduating this spring.
- I have 2 children, a Senior (ds), and a Sophomore (dd)
- I’d say my style is literature-based eclectic with hints of Charlotte Mason in the early years. I’ve used lots of Sonlight but like to go “off-roading” and set our own pace, switch things out. Read-alouds are still a hallmark of our homeschool today, even with high schoolers.
- My husband told me about homeschooling before I had kids. I thought it was a crazy idea! Then I had my first child, and, well…I didn’t want to send that cute little baby away from me for hours each day, and started researching homeschooling! It’s a great way to pass on our faith, share our values, work on character, build a solid academic foundation, and enjoy our family relationships.
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My name is Cindy I have been homeschooling for 3 years. I prefer the Taditional and eclectic style of teaching. I am homeschooling my grandaughter whom faces many challenges with Bipolar and ADHD.
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Hi MissSully!
Thats awesome! I will be praying that God will guide you to the best decision for your family!
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My name is Jeanette. I am helping my daughter with her three year old son and we are just beginning to start homeschooling. We have been researching and speaking with other homeschooling parents. We are currently trying to decide on curriculum. We are homeschooling because we are not happy with the direction that public schools seem to be heading. Added to that fact we want to include a strong Christian base to his schooling. Looking forward to seeing other home school families thoughts and opinions!
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Hi my name is Rachael and we will start homeschooling next year! I have 3 kids. Two boys 6 and 3 and one girl 1. We want to homeschool because my oldest has a learning disability and we think the one on one will help him catch up where he needs to be. Next year I will be doing 1st grade and preschool(maybe). We might send our preschooler to school just so he can get some structure and know that he has to follow rules and stand in line sometimes! I think that’s about it!
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Hi I’m Casey! I am a mom of 3 wonderful and talented children. I started homeschooling my middle child (Rylin age 6) about a month ago. We came into this mid-year and it’s been a challenge so far. The reason i decided to homeschool is to open up opportunities for her that she wouldn’t normally have in a school environment. We feel like the kids are in school all day and then they come home and do homework for 2+ hours. It’s not the life that we want for them. It’s also extremely important for us to have God be in the midst of there everyday environment. We are still trying to decide if I can handle having my 10 year old join us this next school year. Thanks for having me here!!
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I’m Amanda and have been homeschooling for 5 years , I have 2 children a 7 and 8 year old. I use a traditional curriculum which is what works best for our 8 year old. Our 7 year old is homeschooled along with attending a school for special needs as he is developmentally delayed, and he receives all of his related services through our school district.
My husband and I started homeschooling our 8 year old after 2 years of abuse in the public school system and seeing her being mentally effected. Also we can teach her the love of Jesus and have her learn at her speed not the school systems speed. We homeschooled her in pre-k, and looking back regret whole heartedly that we ever had her enter the public school system. We are blessed to be able to both work with her each day.
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