Not Another Homeschool Blog

This is a recap of why we began homeschooling written for my National Examiner website. Probably more odd than a homeschooling mom writing about education in general is the fact that I have nothing against public education. In fact, I believe that some children thrive quite well in public schools, and many even excell. Still I have opted to homeschool my children. I have my reasons. If you go back to my First year lost files, you will find a similar recap. Read more Notes From a Homeschooling Mom Visit Me at the Families.com Homeschool Blog Visit My Education Column at Examiner.com

If you have been reading my lost files from the first 2 years of my homeschooling journey, You should know that the series is complete. I didn't add the last few chapters as they are horribly outdated. I need to work on them and will go back and re edit the entire series into an e-book for new homeschoolers. Anyway the series is below. Enjoy! The Lost Files Prologue What a Difference A Year Makes Part 1 Chapter 1: What a Difference A Year Makes Part 2 Chapter 2: Background Influences Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 1 Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 2 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 1 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 2 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 1 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 2 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 1 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 2 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 1 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 2 Chapter 8: Choosing Curriculum Part 1 Chapter 8: Choosing Curriculum Part 2 Chapter ...

The Lost Files Prologue What a Difference A Year Makes Part 1 Chapter 1: What a Difference A Year Makes Part 2 Chapter 2: Background Influences Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 1 Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 2 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 1 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 2 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 1 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 2 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 1 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 2 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 1 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 2 Chapter 8: Choosing Curriculum Part 1 Chapter 8: Choosing Curriculum Part 2 Chapter 9: A Typical Homeschooling Day? Part 1 Chapter 9 : A Typical Homeschooling Day? Part 2 Chapter 10 : Homeschool Burn-out Chapter 11 : At Their Own Pace Chapter 12 : A tailored Education Chapter 13 :How To Homeschool If, you have decided to homeschool, or at least are giving it a great deal of consideration. There are many things to deliberate. First, you ...

The Lost Files Prologue What a Difference A Year Makes Part 1 Chapter 1: What a Difference A Year Makes Part 2 Chapter 2: Background Influences Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 1 Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 2 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 1 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 2 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 1 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 2 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 1 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 2 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 1 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 2 Chapter 8: Choosing Curriculum Part 1 Chapter 8: Choosing Curriculum Part 2 Chapter 9: A Typical Homeschooling Day? Part 1 Chapter 9 : A Typical Homeschooling Day? Part 2 Chapter 10 : Homeschool Burn-out Chapter 11 : At Their Own Pace Chapter 12 : A tailored Education In giving your child a customized, individualized education, one must realize that allowing the child to progress at his or her own pace is only half of the process. Equal...

The Lost Files Prologue What a Difference A Year Makes Part 1 Chapter 1: What a Difference A Year Makes Part 2 Chapter 2: Background Influences Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 1 Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 2 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 1 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 2 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 1 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 2 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 1 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 2 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 1 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 2 Chapter 8: Choosing Curriculum Part 1 Chapter 8: Choosing Curriculum Part 2 Chapter 9: A Typical Homeschooling Day? Part 1 Chapter 9 : A Typical Homeschooling Day? Part 2 Chapter 10 : Homeschool Burn-out Chapter 11 : At Their Own Pace Probably the single most important benefit of homeschooling is the fact that you can give your child a customized, individualized education. By definition alone, homeschooling is an individualized educatio...

The Lost Files Prologue What a Difference A Year Makes Part 1 Chapter 1: What a Difference A Year Makes Part 2 Chapter 2: Background Influences Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 1 Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 2 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 1 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 2 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 1 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 2 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 1 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 2 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 1 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 2 Chapter 8: Choosing Curriculum Part 1 Chapter 8: Choosing Curriculum Part 2 Chapter 9: A Typical Homeschooling Day? Part 1 Chapter 9 : A Typical Homeschooling Day? Part 2 Chapter 10 : Homeschool Burn-out When I began reading and studying about homeschooling, I noticed that every book I read mentioned the possibility of burn out or stress. .What weak-minded individuals., I thought. .How can your own children burn you...

The Lost Files Prologue What a Difference A Year Makes Part 1 Chapter 1: What a Difference A Year Makes Part 2 Chapter 2: Background Influences Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 1 Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 2 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 1 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 2 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 1 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 2 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 1 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 2 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 1 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 2 Chapter 8: Choosing Curriculum Part 1 Chapter 8: Choosing Curriculum Part 2 Chapter 9: A Typical Homeschooling Day? Part 1 Chapter 9 : A Typical Homeschooling Day? Part 2 As you can see, (from part one of this post) homeschooling does not necessarily mean that we spend the whole day stuck in the house with our nose in the books. It also does not mean the children automatically become perfect angels. We do a great deal of learning outsi...

The Lost Files Prologue What a Difference A Year Makes Part 1 Chapter 1: What a Difference A Year Makes Part 2 Chapter 2: Background Influences Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 1 Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 2 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 1 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 2 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 1 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 2 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 1 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 2 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 1 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 2 Chapter 8: Choosing Curriculum Part 1 Chapter 8: Choosing Curriculum Part 2 Chapter 9: A Typical Homeschooling Day? Part 1 When people question me about homeschooling, the thing they ask most is "What is it like?" They want to know if having my children at home makes them better behaved, if we ever have bad days, how many hours a day we homeschool, and if we are able to stick to our schedules. Though there is no such thing as...

The Lost Files Prologue What a Difference A Year Makes Part 1 Chapter 1: What a Difference A Year Makes Part 2 Chapter 2: Background Influences Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 1 Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 2 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 1 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 2 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 1 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 2 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 1 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 2 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 1 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 2 Chapter 8: Choosing Curriculum Part 1 Math U See combines the concepts of two of the best traditional programs available, Saxon math and Morteson Manipulatives. Math U See uses a multi-sensory approach to math with manipulatives and systematic review. The reason I like this program is because my youngest child is definitely a visual learner and from the demonstrations I have witnessed, these manipulatives makes the math c...

The Lost Files Prologue What a Difference A Year Makes Part 1 Chapter 1: What a Difference A Year Makes Part 2 Chapter 2: Background Influences Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 1 Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 2 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 1 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 2 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 1 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 2 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 1 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 2 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 1 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 2 Chapter 8: Choosing Curriculum Part 1 In writing about choosing a homeschooling curriculum, I did not do it to promote any programs I might be using, but to show the amount of thought, work, and flexibility involved in choosing one. A whole year into the process, I am still not settled completely on the curriculum we will be using in the long run for homeschooling. Though I am comfortable with what I am using right now, I ...

The Lost Files Prologue What a Difference A Year Makes Part 1 Chapter 1: What a Difference A Year Makes Part 2 Chapter 2: Background Influences Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 1 Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 2 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 1 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 2 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 1 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 2 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 1 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 2 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 1 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 2 My son’s teacher was not exactly elated either when I told her that we would not be returning to school the next year. Her response was that he was doing "well enough". "Why mess with a good thing?. What she did not understand is how miserable and bored he was. He was just not the type to act out. He is the type to get depressed. He could easily slip through the cracks and we could end up losing him in any manner of ways...

The Lost Files Prologue What a Difference A Year Makes Part 1 Chapter 1: What a Difference A Year Makes Part 2 Chapter 2: Background Influences Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 1 Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 2 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 1 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 2 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 1 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 2 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 1 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 2 Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 1 Perhaps I should not have informed the teachers I planned to pull my children out of school so early in the game. I believe it did more harm than good considering the steps one teacher took to keep my child in the system. This caused a lot of frustration on both my part and the teacher’s. I was at a conference with my daughter’s teacher when she really got under my skin. She hinted strongly that my daughter needed to be tested for ADHD and medicated. She talked a...

The Lost Files Prologue What a Difference A Year Makes Part 1 Chapter 1: What a Difference A Year Makes Part 2 Chapter 2: Background Influences Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 1 Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 2 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 1 Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 2 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 1 Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 2 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 1 Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 2 After evaluating myself, I then tested my daughter and she scored right sided on several assessments as well. (These tests consisted of me checking off her traits from a list, and then adding the score.) Then I found a site with a visual test had her take, and though she had previously tested right brained, I could see a struggle where she wanted to answer in a left brained way though the right brained answer was her first inclination. I had the same struggle when I attempted the test. I assume this strugg...