Hello, I'm new here!

**HeatherKl** · 02-22-2004, 02:46 AM

I thought I would introduce myself!

My name is Heather and this is the first year I have homeschooled my 2 boys. Tyler is in 4th grade and Brett is in 1st grade. My dad is an elementary principal and he has gotten us a lot of books. However, I think that is my problem! LOL We have been doing things more like school and everyone is frustrated.

We have been taking more time off since our Christmas break trying to figure out what we can do to make things work. I know things will work out!

I just love having my boys home!!!

Anyway, I look forward to getting to know you all!

**SewCrafty** · 02-22-2004, 07:10 AM

Hi Heather,

to the village and thank you for the great intro!

We have quite a few ladies here that homeschool and have for years, so I am sure you will get lots of ideas. Go ahead and start asking questions or posting anything you like in the forums.

I am Dee, married to my sweetheart for 17 years and sahm to my 10 furbabies.

**simplemom** · 02-22-2004, 07:46 AM

Welcome Heather!

I'm very happy to meet you. Diana is right, there are many homeschooling moms here and I am sure they will be able to help you out.

My name is Lucie, I am a sahm. I have 4 boys. I live in Quebec and also speak french. I'm looking forward in getting to know you!

**homesteadmamma** · 02-22-2004, 08:44 AM

Hello Heather, welcome to the village. I'm a hs mom of almost 9 years so if there is any way I can help you, ask away.

We are very laid back in our homeschooling. We take every Friday off - its a fun day for the kids. We use Alpha Omega curriculum (only because I have 3 special needs kids and they need a bit of structure), but we make the most use out of our public library, field trips and education games & videos.

When I first started hs, I had a room even for hs. It was so much like the public school and my kids became frustrated and so did I. I gave up the room and now the kids are allowed to do their work where they feel the most comfortable.

For our history, science & bible, we do it at the kitchen table because all 3 kids work together, but the other courses, they do it wherever.

We also will take days off of math/language arts if we find a subject were really interested in, such as the Artic we studied recently.

I found that even though we need a bit of structure, giving up total control of how schooling went helped up tremendously.

The best way to hs IMO is to find out the interests of your kids and go from there. Lets say they are interested in planes. Then study planes - how they were made and when the first plane was made (history), write a report on planes (language arts), build a model airplane (math & art), etc. etc. They learn so much more that way than if we just go by the old school books.

Again, if you have any question, just ask. There are a number of us here who have hs for a number of years.

HTH

**Darlene** · 02-22-2004, 08:51 AM

Hi Heather! Go ahead & make yourself at home, OK?

**Heather** · 02-22-2004, 08:55 AM

Hi Heather!

Nice to see you here!

I'm a sahm with 3 children, I homeschool DS#2. Glad to hear you are enjoying homeschooling and having your boys home with you.

**couponchic** · 02-22-2004, 10:16 AM

Hello and Welcome aboard!

**QuilterMom** · 02-22-2004, 10:20 AM

Hi Heather! I am a homeschooling mom as well.

homesteadmamma made a good suggestion - unit studies might be a great way for you to approach your lessons and get away from doing things like school.

**mrscornbread** · 02-22-2004, 10:32 AM

Hi Heather, I am a working mom and I do not home school, but I will be a teacher in the public school system in a couple of months. I so admire parents that take the time and initiave to do this. There will be lots of help for you here in the village and I am glad you are here! Welcome!

**guest2** · 02-22-2004, 05:19 PM

Hi Heather,
Welcome to the Village!!! I'm Debbie and I have homeschooled my 3 sons for 6 years now. CJ made some very good suggestions about Unit Studies and being more relaxed. I found my kids responded really well to Unit Studies when they were younger and still do. We do use Saxon for math and I love it! We've used it all along and my boys score very well on the standardized tests. All my kids are of high school age (started homeschooling them in 4th and 5th grades) and I have to say that my only regret has been not starting to homeschool sooner.

Feel free to call on me with any questions you may have. I'm also a former Special Education teacher K-Adult and the leader of our local homeschool support group here in my community. I'm sure between all the homeschooling ladies here and the moms, public school teachers and aides, we can help you find an awswer to almost anything!

**doodlebug** · 02-22-2004, 09:17 PM

Hi Heather. Welcome!

Another homeschooling mom here. We've been homeschooling our dd for 4 years now. She is in 9th grade and we use the Abeka curriculum.

**Guest1** · 02-22-2004, 09:37 PM

Hi Heather! I'm Debbie, wife of a USARMY guy, mom to 4 usually tolerable kiddos ~ we're stationed at Fort Bliss & we're also a homeschooling family! This is our 12th year at this homeschool thing & I'm beginning to think it just might work!!

I have a SR ~ 17yodd, a JR ~ 15yods, a 5th grader ~ 10yodd, & a 1st grader ~ 7yodd...

Katie (17yodd) graduates (and I haven't even announced this to her Village Aunties yet!!) on May 15th!!

I'm so excited for her, but wow - talk about bittersweet! She's buying things for her hope chest and talking about things she'll need to take with her to college...

...wasn't I just filling out her birth announcements yesterday?!?!

Anyway - the other ladies are (as usual!) full of wonderful ideas!! The only suggestion that I can really encourage you to take is to simply relax!! If this is your first year out of public school, why not just kick back, take schooling kind of easy & reconnect with your babies...... I've also found throughout the years, that the more rigid and ultra-structured I tried to get us to be, the faster we ALL burnt out! (Nothing worse than a crispie mom!) If the PS system is so wonderful, why do we all want our kiddos home with us so badly?! When we get them home, why do we duplicate what we just liberated them from?! Get to know them again....you have always been their first & best teacher!!

If you have any questions, concerns, or curiousities, feel free to post them or PM them to one of us! If there's one thing that the Village has in abundance, it's wonderful people willing to help!!

Welcome to the Village & to Homeschooling!!

**HeatherKl** · 02-22-2004, 11:22 PM

Thank you ladies for the warm welcome!

I also wanted to say thank you very much for all the homeschooling advice. I need all I can get!

homesteadmamma - I thought that was funny when you mentioned setting up a homeschool room at the start because I too set one up a "school room" and have found we work better at the kitchen table or somewhere else in the house.