I voted 250-500, but that includes purchasing about $300 of Classical Conversations foundations materials that we will use for 6 years per child. That's pretty cheap if you think of it that way! (We are not joining a community) So on our strictly first grade math, grammar, SOTW, and some fun science extras it was less than 250.00. I did find both math and grammar on eBay for nearly half off new! The science I bought at convention for a discount. Extra curriculars are free, since I own the business. And non dance/theatre activities I try to trade. We will be paying for co-op, but that is around 75 for the year I think.

I thought I would never homeschool....then we had our first child and the school district we were in was not acceptable to me. I knew if we stayed where we were I would Homeschool. Then we moved to a new state and bought a house in a "good" district. DE missed the cutoff for kindergarten by 3 weeks last year; he was reading at a second grade level, adding his head and grasped the concept of multiplication. He did not need to be in preschool learning letters and numbers! I did not want him to be labeled a problem child because he got bored and started looking for something else to do. So my reasons were: 1. PS could not provide the level of academic work my child needed at his age. 2. Private Christian schools were the same. No one would put him in kindergarten, even though that was going to be a little slow for him as well. 3. I own a dance studio, if I had sent him to school, he would come home as I went to work. 4. With crazy performance schedules, HSing just works better for us. 5. He can do all the extracurricular he wants and not be exhausted! Dance, piano, theatre, and gymnastics. 6. We can focus his education around our religious beliefs. (Not our initial reason for our choice, but it has become an important part of our lives and we are happier for it.) Like others have said, I believe God lead me to homeschooling in a gentle way over the first 5 years of of my son's life. But when someone asks, I did not avoid public schools because the are evil. I live in the heart of the Bible Belt....public schools here are not as scarry as other places. I know many wonderful Christians teaching in the district we live in, the schools have great reps and I know many amazing Christian children doing well in this district. HE is just best for is for many reasons.

We are members of HSLDA and happy to be so. We are in a state very friendly to HSing but know people who are not. I am glad to have the piece of mind that someone is watching the legislation. Maybe for that law it seems like a little overkill, but I don't like how many new laws are being passed to regulate every aspect of our lives. At least HSLDA is trying to stop some of the extraneous laws.

I have an undergraduate degree (honors) in business with a minor in theatre, a master's in theatre and training with a professional dance company as an apprentice. I use it all daily. I own a performing arts academy. For that I use all three degrees. The honors work for my degree is really helping with my homeschooling. Between that and work for my MA, I gained great research skills and improved my grammar skills. I still need review, but I am confident in my ability to learn it again and pass on solid knowledge to my kids. Could I do what I do without a degree? Yes, but I know what I do is better because I continued my education. I have a broader knowledge base in my field. I do have to look things up, but I have all of my books and I know what book to look in. I do believe there are some fields where you don't need a full college education. But I think something post high school is beneficial (trade school, apprenticeship, or a few classes in advanced computer and typing skills). I am currently looking for some online course for my self as continuing education. You are never done learning and college is one way to keep on that path. I don't think it is worth the debt if you don't plan to work in the field to pay it back.

I am using EduTrack. I love the printed reports. I will get 2 notebooks, one for me and one for ds. I can print our pages a week or two at a time and add them to the book. I use my Google calendar. It automatically links to the calendar on my Android phone. I live it! I can add something on the go or sit at the computer. I get reminder emails and alarms on my phone!

I used it with the Bob Books. My son could write the alphabet at 18 months. I tried teaching him to read at 3, but failed. A friend gave me 100EL and we started it. I skipped all of the back and forth questions and the writing. We focused on the letter sounds. He was never confused by the letters. We stopped after the last new sound and moved onto spelling and phones rules as weekly lessons with kindergarten last year. His reading ability is now at the 5-6th grade level and his comprehension is at a 3rd grade level. We loved it!

I learned to use it in elementary and middle school. At some point in high school, they changed several punctuation rules on me! My punctuation has been a mess ever since. I generally use the "Oxford" comma, although I had never heard it referred to that way.

I'm glad you found it! I had a problem with FedEx last week. I was sitting at home, waiting for the package, in full view of the front door. I received an email notification that the package delivery could not be made because I had moved! The truck never passed my house! I immediately called; and within an hour, I had my package. The driver was apparently lazy and decided he did not want to deliver my package that day. He would not even look at me when he dropped the package off! No apology either.

We live in Moore. We just finished our first year homeschooling our 5, almost 6 year old. I just joined today:)