So-o-o many new faces. Perhaps it is time for a new intro thread.

[KidsHappen]

Some good info would be:

 

Your name, rough age (20s, 30, 40s, etc.), how many children and their ages and grades, maybe their curriculum, how long you have been homeschooling, how or why you decided to do that, how you came across the board, maybe where your are from or general location where you live, and anything else we may find interesting.

 

Welcome aboard!

 

Oh and this thread is not just for newbies but so that they can get to know the old timers as well.

 

I am KidsHappen happily married for almost 19 years now. I would be in the 40 something category although I have been told I look younger and I know I feel older. I have a BA which pretty much qualifies me to homeschool my highschoolers in TN although I now use an umbrella school. I used to be a working professional and then the only working parent for while, while my hubby was the stay at homer. My hubby is ex military and now works as a computer consultant. As a result we have lived about 20 different places but we now live in our forever home in Middle TN and have been here for about six years.

 

As you can tell by my siggy I have six kids, Two are grown and out of the nest and the next in line is traveling for the summer and then moving out in the fall so for all intents and purposes out of the nest as well. The sixteen yr. old is in 11th grade this next yr. and still homeschooling. She will be doing Keystone for the last two years. The 12 yr. old went to 6th grade PS this past year and will continue in the fall with the 9yr. old joining her in 5th grade in the fall. I am almost done with this season of my life. I have been homeschooling for about 14 years now. The oldest two started in PS and then came home, the middle two pretty much always homeschooled and the youngest two until this year. I have been on the board for about 7 years now and found out about it when I read the first edition of the book and started using this method for the middle two.

Edited June 11, 2009 by KidsHappen

[Jennifer in MI]

I'll participate!

 

I'm Jennifer, married to Steve.

Live in Grosse Pointe Park, MI

 

Kids

Sam - 13, 8th grade (next year)

Andrew - 11, 6th grade

William - 8, 3rd grade

Margaret - 3 and a princess

 

Curriculum:

Sonlight (next year 100 and 4)

Lightning Literature

Lial's Algebra

Chalkdust pre-algebra

R&S Grammar

Saxon 5/4

Jump In

Rainbow science

Thinking Detective

Latina Christiana

 

There's more, but not much! I can't think of them now.

[Tree House Academy]

Well, I am definitely not "new" lol, but I will play!

 

My name is Rebecca and I will be 30 in August. I have two boys, ages 10 (in Aug) and 6 (in Sept). We will be doing 5th grade and 1st/2nd grade this fall using HOD for history and Science, and CLE for Math, LA, and Bible (see siggy). This past year was my first year homeschooling my oldest son (he came out of ps after 3rd grade). However, I have been homeschooling/home teaching my younger since birth. He was just always the kind of child that WANTED to be homeschooled. Even at 2.5 and 3, he was begging to not go to preschool and "just learn at home" with mommy. :001_wub:. We live up in the mountains of Northeast TN on a farm. Well, not a true farm as we do not really "work" the farm...but we have 60 acres of farmland and some chickens..and a garden! :D

 

I had a friend who is a member here recommend the forum to me last year...and I am still here. LOL

 

 

Welcome to all the newbies!

[HeatherLynn]

Sure thing! I m relatively new, but I think I am established as a poster now. :D

 

I am Heather (33), married to Chris (37). We live on a ranch in central Texas but will be moving soon back to suburban life.

 

There are 4 children, the two younger of our union and the two older from a previous marriage. Right now we have all four, but the older two travel the rodeo circuit with their Dad, so they will be heading out mid summer. He will be homeschooling them. I am beginning to homeschool my two youngest. Our curric. is posted in my siggy.

 

Wyatt will be 14 in July

Tucker will be 13 in July

Michaela just turned 11

Troy will be 4 in August

 

When we get moved and settled in we will be completing the foster program classes so we can be a foster family for medical needs babies (Most likely drug addicted, as our youngest was born addicted and we have experience through his adoption. Also, I am a respiratory therapist). Our goal is to adopt one or two more children.

 

I am also a full time student going for my second & third degrees. (I am in two programs and will graduate with two bachelors degrees in Entertainment Business and Music Business. I will be done Dec 2010, and plan to go forward with my Master's in Entertainment Business.) I also still work every other weekend as a respiratory therapist, while my DH stays home with the kids.

[Avila]

I am Shelly, and I am 35, married to Adam (37) for 15 years. We live on the Illinois side of metropolitan St. Louis. We have three girls who will be 10, 8 and 6 by the end of the summer. This will be our 4th year homeschooling.

 

We are a more relaxed classical for the grammar stage. We are following WTM for most of language arts and math and using HOD for the younger two DDs. For the logic stage, I am going almost full WTM, except for spelling and science. My 5th grader is doing History Odyssey Ancients 2, with some other stuff added in from Sonlight, Mother of Divine Grace, and Dorothy Mills' books.

[Chris in VA]

I'll play.

I'm Chris.

I live in VA.:D

 

I homeschooled two of my 3 kiddos, starting with a 9th grader and a K'er. This year, oldest son graduated in Dec and will go to VCU in Richmond. Second son is coming home after being in recovery; he'll go to public high school for his senior year. Dd is 9 and went to ps for the first time this year--3rd grade. I would really, really like to bring her back home for 4th grade and then as long as I can. I'm not a fan of middle school. I homeschool for religious, social and academic reasons.

 

We live on 40 acres of wooded church land about 20 miles from DC. Dh is the rector of George Washington's church. If you come to visit, I'll feed you brownies.

 

Ds' Curricula (over the 3.5 years)

Omnibus 1 and 2 (tweaked) with ds, a variety of math programs, a Great Books list, Sonlight 300 (tweaked), Apologia Bio and Chem, an enviro science program, Astronomy Today and Runkle Geog, Chronological Music History, a little Henle, a little French and Spanish, Write @ Home essay course, some Rod and Staff Grammar, Fallacy Det, lots of Bible (he read One-Year Bible 3 times thru for devotions, and did theology and comparative religion).

 

Dd's Curricula K-2

Saxon Math K-3

Rod and Staff Grammar 2

SOTW 1 and 2 with AG and lots of reading

Notebooking, narration, copywork

Bible with devotions and a K Bible program "Names of God" written by a friend

Science with Home Science Adventures Microscope; drop outs of Apologia zoo 3, Sonlight 1, Living Learning Books Science 1, Neo bio. Did a little of Trivium Academy's Earth/ Space plans and about half a moon lap book. Big into nature journaling in K and 1, some in 2, dd still maintains it.

Spelling Workout a-c, Phonics Pathways until she learned to read, some Montessori-type reading stuff.

Lots of free reading--dd is an excellent, voracious reader.

 

4th grade

Landmark Am History part one and some Sonlight 3 books to supplement SOTW 3 w/AG (making a timeline and a notebook)

Saxon 6/5

R&S grammar, not sure between 3 and 4

Field-based bio, bird study, Jr. Ranger programs at local parks

Dance/swimming/gymnastics--all on a beginner level

Bible

Probably Spelling WO or Spelling Power

Lots of reading

Edited June 11, 2009 by Chris in VA

[Rich with Kids]

39 and married to DH for 5 years

 

5 kids ranging from 8 to 15

 

Have homeschooled almost 5 years.

 

Been on the boards for 4 years, I think...

 

Currently using Switched-on-Schoolhouse and Math-u-see (dreadfully behind because of the move)

 

In January, we decided to open an art gallery in Galveston. We put our house on the market and had our Grand Opening March 13. (We realized that day that it was the 6 month anniversary of Ike) We are only open on the weekends since we live about an hour from there. :driving: Well, we finally move Monday! Now we can start opening everyday and it can become more than an expensive hobby! :glare: We're moving to a cute, little pink house on a canal in a cute little town called Bayou Vista. It's about 1000 sq. ft. smaller than our current house so I've been :willy_nilly: trying to downsize and pack. There are some pics on my blog of our journey.

Edited June 11, 2009 by Rich with Kids
forgot to put my age...

[blessedwith7]

Hi - I am Tamara. I just turned 40 last month and live in Central IL. We are trying to get a farm started - have a few head of cattle, some sheep, some chickens... My dh works as a programmer to support our farm :) I have just recently started posting here again, but have been reading these boards for about 7 years. These boards are a tremendous help when figuring out what curriculum to use. I used to post some on the old boards, but didn't start posting on the new boards until this week.

 

We have 7 children: DD 11, DD 9, DD 8, DD 6, DD 4, DS 3, DS 6 months.

 

I am in the process of figuring out what we will be using this next year, but so far here are my thoughts: Singapore Math/Life of Fred, Abeka Spanish, Rod & Staff Grammar, Apologia Science, All American History (Not sure on this we have been using Story of the World), Mavis Beacon Typing, First Form Latin or Henle/Prima Latina, Latina Christiana for younger kids, Wordsmith/Wordsmith Apprentice, Spelling Workout/Sequential Spelling, Writing With Ease, Ordinary Parent's Guide for Teaching Your Child to Read, some kind of logic??

[Kay in Cal]

Kay (still) in Cal... but moving from Los Angeles area to San Diego area as of Monday. Santee/Lakeside, to be exact. 38 yo. I'm a United Methodist minister. I work full time, try to be at home as much as possible, and I do the curriculum planning and board cruising, dh does most of the teaching. I've been around the boards since I was pregnant with my first, summer of 2001. Has that been 8 years already? Sheesh!

 

Dh: Doug. 38. SAHD. Writer. We met in our youth at Johns Hopkins. He has health issues still from a serious illness four years ago.

Dss: Kieran, 7 Bright, bright, bright and a real handful

Corwin, 5 My creative dreamer cuddle-bunny

 

My sig has our curriculum for the past year.

 

Board related info: Breastfed only, WTM classical, married young but it's not for everyone, still wearing crocs, semi-free range kids but still protective, coslept, hate reality TV but love LOST, mainstream Christian, progressive, Dyson vacuum, made my own laundry detergent for a while but quit, sons are circumcised, love my Kindle 2, theistic evolution, curly girl, vaccinate, against Prop 8, classical pronounciation, Motivated Mom not Flylady, no guns, planning to homeschool until college, dating not courtship, frugal living but not obsessively so, I once walked past Harrison Ford in the hall as I was going into the local hospital.

 

OK, that last one was a freebie. ;)

[Debbie in IL]

Tamara, I'm in central IL too! We live outside of Bloomington / Normal.

 

I'm Debbie, married to Jerry for 18 1/2 years. Dd 14, ds 11 1/2. We are beginning our 10th year of homeschooling - neither of our kids has been to ps, although both went to preschool for 2 years when we first moved here.

 

This year, dd will use MFW Ancients, Henle Latin 1, Apologia Biology, Saxon Algebra 1 and Jacobs Geometry, Rosetta Stone Spanish, and a health course that we haven't decided on yet. :)

 

Ds will use Veritas Press 6, Henle Latin 1, Apologia Zoology 3 (the newest one), Saxon 8/7, Vocab from Classical Roots A, maybe Rod & Staff English 6.

 

Thanks, kidshappen, for starting this thread! I always love reading these.

[KidsHappen]

Board related info: Breastfed only, WTM classical, married young but it's not for everyone, still wearing crocs, semi-free range kids but still protective, coslept, hate reality TV but love LOST, mainstream Christian, progressive, Dyson vacuum, made my own laundry detergent for a while but quit, sons are circumcised, love my Kindle 2, theistic evolution, curly girl, vaccinate, against Prop 8, classical pronounciation, Motivated Mom not Flylady, no guns, planning to homeschool until college, dating not courtship, frugal living but not obsessively so, I once walked past Harrison Ford in the hall as I was going into the local hospital.

 

OK, that last one was a freebie. ;)

 

:D I think that you covered all of the board basics here except for the hoiday controversies. And I knew there was a reason I liked you, I would say that we have more than half this list in common. I never walked past Harrison but I did get a signed picture from him personally once.

[KingM]

I've been lurking for at least a year, registered last September, but my thread count is poor, as I mostly read, not post.

 

I'm 38, a DAD. (Now there are nine of us!) We have four children, ages 3-13. We homeschooled when we moved here, but the classes are small and almost like a great private school in this part of rural New England, so the three oldest go to public school.

 

We are, however, teaching them Spanish, SotW, and other afterschooling type subjects on our own and have many of the same concerns about socialization and the public education system as a whole as many full timers.

 

My wife is a long time member of the board, but I maybe won't out her as my spouse at this point, since she's somewhat less outspoken than I am. :blush:

[Kay in Cal]

Ooops... Christ first but Santa is fine, love Halloween, Easter is about resurrection and the Easter bunny knows that, tooth fairy brings $5 in gold dollars.

[elegantlion]

I'm Paula. I've been posting since the board switch and lurked before that. I'm 42, been married for over 16 years, my dh is like a big kid, so I call them the boys. I have one son, age 11. His nickname is Professor Z because he likes science and Z comes from a game. We've been homeschooling since first grade and just finished our fifth year.

 

We currently live in Southwest Louisiana because we could no longer stand the ice and snow of the Mid-west. I wear flip flops almost year round now and love it.

 

This was our first year using LCC as a framework and the best year we've had so far. We also plan to homeschool through high school.

[KidsHappen]

I've been lurking for at least a year, registered last September, but my thread count is poor, as I mostly read, not post.

 

I'm 38, a DAD. (Now there are nine of us!) We have four children, ages 3-13. We homeschooled when we moved here, but the classes are small and almost like a great private school in this part of rural New England, so the three oldest go to public school.

 

We are, however, teaching them Spanish, SotW, and other afterschooling type subjects on our own and have many of the same concerns about socialization and the public education system as a whole as many full timers.

 

My wife is a long time member of the board, but I maybe won't out her as my spouse at this point, since she's somewhat less outspoken than I am. :blush:

 

Yes, I noticed that someone referred to you as a she yesterday. And you do know we will now be combing the members to see who else lives in rural New England? By the way, my hubby is one of you nine: KidsHappenDad but unfortunately he doesn't post nearly enough. He does know the board pretty well though, recongizes many names, stories, POVs and even a few pictues (Peek's of course. Who could forget that?)

[Impish]

Okies...Here I go.

 

I'm Imp, wife to Wolf, homeschooling Mama to Diva (10), Tazzie (4) and Princess (3 in Sept). I also have an older son that doesn't live with us that I sometimes refer to, which screws ppl up, because they often think of me as the mother of 3 kids, not 4. :lol: We live in a city in Alberta, Canada, and are desperately praying for escape. Our biggest hope and prayer for our family is to move to an acreage and begin farming to sustain our family.

 

We began our homeschooling journey when Diva was in the middle of grade three. Due to bullying issues, and a teacher who, at a parent, student, teacher conference announced in front of Diva that she was on her way to becoming just like the teacher's niece, a high school drop out meth head, had no reading comprehension,etc...Every day was a misery for Diva, and I knew I couldn't allow it to continue. Thankfully, I'd begun researching homeschooling, had made some connections via online of local homeschoolers who encouraged me not to wait until Sept, but to yank her butt home IMMEDIATELY, which I did, Feb 14. We've been homeschooling since.

 

The longer we homeschool, the more determined I become to NEVER have a child in public school again.

 

I went back to work last year, even arranging my work hours around our homeschooling. I ended up assaulted on the job, which left me with a permanent nerve injury called RSD. Although its meant severe chronic pain, and cost me much of the use of my dominant hand/arm, I'm incredibly grateful to God that I'm still able to homeschool my children.

 

I found my way to the Hive thanks to SpecialMama, whose my best friend irl. We even have a word. *snicker*

 

I'm blunt, sarcastic, loyal, funny (I think, anyways) and pretty bright. I know I'm pretty bright, cause Workers Comp made me go for a psych assessment, so I have paperwork people! I can prove I be smrt! I am so smrt! I am so smrt! Sorry. Tangent. More caffeine needed. Love a good debate, but not just for the sake of yapping.

 

Holy Hannah. Hows that for a whole bunch of stuff you didnt want to know?

 

Curric: TOG next year, Year 1. French. Saxon, probably 7/6. Apologia science. Piano.

[Desert Rat]

I'm Kalah, original screen name, huh? :o I just turned 38, yesterday but feel a heck of a lot younger than that. I've been married to dh (35) for 15 years in November. I stay home; he works as a super in construction-and his job is safe for another year. Yeah!

 

I've been homeschooling my two boys 9 and 6 since we found out my oldest was gifted. We didn't want him to fall through the cracks at PS. Nevada is ranked 49 out of 50 for public school performance the last I checked.

We use LFC, SOTW, SWO, Singapore (dang, no abbreviation!), FLL, RS4K, and lots more I'm forgetting, I'm sure.

 

Following in Kay in Cal's example: breastfed only, no circumcisions here, book loving, liberal, reformed vegetarian, soccer and TKD mom, pro-choice, co-sleeping, frugal but not overly so, pro gay marriage, ex-gothic, ex-dead head, middle path following, clean freak, who lives in Sin City but doesn't sin....much.

 

Thanks for starting the thread, KidsHappen.

[senunk]

Let's see...I am 37 yo. I am homeschooling our two daughters, ages 13 and 10. My oldest is starting high school in the fall. That's a bit of a nail biter for me. She will be taking history and english in an outside class with a wonderful teacher. I will be teaching her and a few of her friends Apologia Biology. Math will be at home with me. I've decided on CLE math, reading and language for my 10 yo next year. Wish I had gone with them sooner. She will do sotw, science, iew and photography at co-op. We have been hsing for 8 years now. This is going by way too fast! My husband is a wildland fire fighter, well actually he drives heavy equipment to make fire lines and roads. He is gone quite a bit in the summer and fall. Homeschooling is great for us because we can drop everything when he is home and focus on family time.

[Garga]

Board related info: Breastfed only, WTM classical, married young but it's not for everyone, still wearing crocs, semi-free range kids but still protective, coslept, hate reality TV but love LOST, mainstream Christian, progressive, Dyson vacuum, made my own laundry detergent for a while but quit, sons are circumcised, love my Kindle 2, theistic evolution, curly girl, vaccinate, against Prop 8, classical pronounciation, Motivated Mom not Flylady, no guns, planning to homeschool until college, dating not courtship, frugal living but not obsessively so, I once walked past Harrison Ford in the hall as I was going into the local hospital.

 

OK, that last one was a freebie. ;)

 

Yes, but do you wear shoes inside the house? (A topic that generates an alarming number of heated responses...)

[KidsHappen]

I know I'm pretty bright, cause Workers Comp made me go for a psych assessment, so I have paperwork people! I can prove I be smrt! I am so smrt! I am so smrt! Sorry. Tangent. More caffeine needed.

 

Nope, sounds like you have had enough caffine to me. :tongue_smilie:

[KidsHappen]

Yes, but do you wear shoes inside the house? (A topic that generates an alarming number of heated responses...)

 

Oh, yes can forget this controversial topic.

[mamaof2andtwins]

I'm not really new either, but I'll play along.

 

Jennie~41 married to David (50 in less than a month :lol:) for almost 18 years

 

Kids

Jonathan 15 and going into 10th grade

Natalie 13 and going into 8th grade

Carolyn and Brianna are 9.5 and going into 5th grade

 

Curriculum

CLE math (levels 300,400,500,600,700)

CLE language arts (levels 300, 400, 800)

CLE reading (levels 400, 500 and 800)

TT Algebra 2

CLE English and Lit 1

Writer's Jungle

History Odyssey Level 2 Middle Ages

Notgrass Exploring World History

outsourced Biology class

RS4K Level 1 Bio, Chem, and Physics

RS4K Level 2 Chem

Total Health High School

Tell Me More French

Artistic Pursuits High School Book 1

Harmony Fine Arts with AP 4-6 Book 2

 

We will be starting our 10th year of homeschooling in about 4 weeks.

 

Jennie

[Rich with Kids]

Yes, but do you wear shoes inside the house? (A topic that generates an alarming number of heated responses...)

 

Shave or wax? :D

[angelovearth]

Hi Everyone!

 

I'm 39, live in Montana, and have been homeschooling my two boys for 5 years now. They are 12 and almost 11. We use Sonlight (We'll be doing Core 5 this fall). I just got turned on to this board a few weeks ago and I've been here since.

[Garga]

I'm Jackie. Married 17 years this month. Two boys aged 6 and 4. Been hsing for 2 years.

 

I homeschool because I was soooo lonely as a SAHM when my first son was born. It made me consider our society and how we are box ourselves away from each other. SAHM's sitting at home alone with colicky babies. Elderly people in nursing homes. Small children sitting in classrooms away from their family all day. Husbands sitting in cubicles in offices. I came to the conclusion that humans were not created to be alone. Families were designed with the intention that they would spend large amount of time together, caring for each other and helping each other.

 

Add all that to misgivings about the effectiveness of the ps system and I was ripe to be a homeschooler. I love it.

 

I live in PA 10 minutes down the road from Gettysburg. Been here 5 years now, after living in the Baltimore suburb. Moved here for the peace and quiet.

 

Use a variety of curricula: whatever seems to meet our needs.

 

Christian, breastfed, didn't scream while giving birth-but don't care if you did, no circumcision, raging bookaholic, lighthearted, glass half full, wear shoes in the house, love Halloween (but feel a touch guilty about it), hate scrapbooking, love movies, keep the house neat and tidy but not so good with things like mopping and fingerprints on mirrors, hate stick-shift cars, am an indoor girl with two boys, am learning to cope with being outside, picky eater, co-slept with first son and vowed never to do so again (colick, no sleep for about a year for any of us), hate confrontation but do love a good debate, resigned to short haircuts because my hair is straight and fine.

[hsmom3tn]

I am Angie, early 30's (although I feel a lot older), and have three children. I have always HS'ed since my oldest started K. He should have been in 6th grade this past school year, but I didn't feel like he was ready for 6th grade yet, so I gave him another year of 5th. So, we've HS'ed for 7 years now :001_smile:

 

I can't believe I didn't know that this forum exhisted, LOL. A friend told me about it because I was looking for places to sell some of our books. I got here and saw that I needed to join and post at least 50 times first, but I don't think that's going to be a problem :001_smile: I have read many interesting things, and gotten some good advice already on this board, so I'm really glad that I joined.

 

In the past we have used SOTW, Apologia Elementary Science, Saxon Math, Singapore Math, a few old PS textbooks, various teacher books & workbooks from the local teacher store, Spectrum workbooks, Easy Grammar, tried the AO Lifepacs, and probably a lot more that I can't think of right now. We use a lot of living books and have done a few unit studies that I made up myself. We also used a lot of file folder games, when they were younger. My kids really enjoyed them and I love putting them together :001_smile:

 

This year (09-10) I am planning to use TT with my DS, Saxon 54 with my DD's; Easy Grammar for all; Apologia for all; Sonlight 3-4 for all; Sequential Spelling for one DD who is struggling; and Spellbound for DS and other DD. That's all I've gotten figured out so far. I've been loving all the posts about Life of Fred, which I had never heard of, and am seriously considering getting that for my DS to work on for the rest of the summer. He needs some help/refreshing with fractions, decimals, and percents.

 

Thanks for the welcome!

[Wyndie]

Well this is fun!

 

I'm Wyndie, age 37 and am married to dh who turned 40 this year. He's in the military so we live wherever we're told to but currently are in SC. We hope to retire here; it was actually the plan when we bought a house a few months ago but then his re-up came and he was concerned about getting out. He's been in 21 years so if orders come down the pike he doesn't like, he can seperate then...so military we remain.

 

I have three kidlets, Nathan age 9, Chrystine age 7 and Faith age 3. They are all unique little characters and it's fun to watch them grow and learn. I first got into homeschooling b/c Nathan's food allergies were so severe that touching food from other children would cause him to stop breathing. So staying at home was essential for his health; Chrystine followed in his footsteps with the allergies so it made the decision to stay home even easier b/c we didn't want the crazy of trying to find a suitable place for 2 kids. Although it wasn't my choice, I am glad now that it was forced upon me b/c if it hadn't been, my kids would never have had the opportunity to hs. Chrystine is very VERY right brain dominant so traditional school would have crushed her. Nathan is as smart as a whip so he would be fine in regular school (albeit bored!) except for the allergy situation.

 

We have used a variety of different things. While I found this board by googling for some homeschooling infomation, I have used SOTW vols 1-3 (audio) for the past 2 years. The first year of hs we used MFW and I studied up on CM and did a little of her stuff but not too much. I try to mostly unschool although Nathan does require the structure of workbooks. We have gone thru a variety of curriculum with both the big kids trying to find their style although I'm fairly certain now that unschooling is what's best for C.

 

My big kids take an outside the home help class. Nathan takes IEW (he's a voracious writer and has already sold a comic book publicly), and will be taking american sign language this fall. Chrystine took intro to music last year and will be taking piano this year. Music really turned her around in her capacity to learn so we have resolved to provide music lessons for her as long as she is interested.

 

Faith is a smart little cookie who has no idea she is 3; she's pretty sure she's 9 and can do whatever Nathan and Chrystine do. She's awesome and makes us laugh all the time; although she is extremely know it all so we're working to form that into a useful trait. :D

 

Um I think that's most of it. Fun thread!

[Colleen in NS]

I'm Colleen, I'm 41, am completing my 6th year of homeschooling. Found these boards around 5 years ago or so and have been reading/posting ever since. Started off with an "unschooling" mindset, then read WTM and implemented some more concrete ways of doing things, which appealed to me. Between WTM and its methods/resources, and these boards/this website, I have learned SO MUCH about teaching my kids at home. I'll be forever grateful for these resources.

 

It's fun to log on here and see so many new posters.

[jujsky]

Some good info would be:

 

Your name, rough age (20s, 30, 40s, etc.), how many children and their ages and grades, maybe their curriculum, how long you have been homeschooling, how or why you decided to do that, how you came across the board, maybe where your are from or general location where you live, and anything else we may find interesting.

 

I'm Julie, but my username is jujsky everywhere because otherwise I wouldn't be able to keep it straight ;) I'm in my early 30s and have a DS (6 in August) and a DD (5 in September). This was my 2nd year of homeschooling, if you count pre-K. Both kids did K this year because DD was ready. She's actually a stronger reader than her older brother. We used Calvert, but are switching to K12 (independant users) in the fall because I'm hoping with the video clips and computer work it will be a better fit for DS. Put the kid in front of a TV or video and he absorbs it like a sponge!

 

We decided to homeschool for many reasons. I was a public school teacher out of college and saw the things that go on in schools. Our public school is a failing school. Aside from one secular private school, all of them in our area are religious (we are not). And, even though we had already made the decision to homeschool when we discovered this, my son has sensory processing disorder, so life in a brick-and-mortar school would be difficult for him.

 

I learned about this board from some of my cyber-friends at homeschoolreviews.com. They said it was a great place to hang out, and they were right. I've enjoyed my brief time here.

 

I live in NH, have been happily married for almost 10 years to the greatest guy ever, and I love reading and animals. That's it from me :001_smile:

[laughing lioness]

I'm 40+, have 5 kids and am 2 weeks older than my dh, who makes me look much older, especially when he shaves his beard off each spring. We've homeschooled for 18 years, 2 have graduated. The oldest is in college full time and travles to Romania as much as possible. The 2nd just graduated and is going to hang around for another year and possibly go to Israel in the spring. We've lived in OH, CT, CA, NM, and currently in SD. Read The Long Winter and perhaps you'll take pity on me:001_smile:.

I also have a 9th grader, 3rd grader and 1rst grader. We homeschool neo-classically using Omnibus, Living Memory, Saxon, Horizons, CopyBook, Latin, Logic, IEW, Apologia, other stuff I'm forgetting about and thousands of books. My kids rock. My dh loves me. I'm a blessed woman.

[Firefly]

I'm Kelli, 40 years old, living in a sleepy sea town in CT, married to DH for 17 years (met freshman year at university), two kids (curriculum choices listed in my sig), two cats, one dog, two turtles, seven hens and a beehive.

 

I'm Pagan, but with libertarian leanings (and married to a Christian), which means I am too liberal for conservative circles and too conservative for liberal circles. :lol: But that's okay, as a life long sci-fi geek, erm, I mean...fan (Firefly was one of my all-time faves), I am used to being on the outside looking in. I'm grateful to the seven kind souls here who've decided to befriend me anyway. :D

 

In my previous life I worked as a therapist, now enjoying life as a SAHM... knitting, gardening, cooking, reading, and making my own herbal remedies.

 

That's it in a nutshell!

[emeraldjoy]

Shave or wax? :D

Or neither, which would be me....ha, ha.

Hello.

I have never formally introduced myself so here goes.

 

I am Emerald and have been on the boards for over one year and less than two (can't remember exactly).

 

I have four children 10, 8, 3, 7 months.

We have been teaching them at home since the oldest was halfway through 1st grade.

 

I live in Montana.

 

The Well Trained Mind was the first book I read about homeschooling and I fell in love with the idea HOWEVER, I do not follow it rigidly but use it only as a guideline and sometimes not even that.

Our solid curriculum is Saxon and the rest is thrown together and forever changing, but nothing, nothing, nothing expensive. We read.....A LOT, which is how I would define out homeschool. We play outside a lot too.

 

I love Jesus so very much but usually have a hard time relating to people who claim that as well and I dont go to church. My bike has a sticker that says Jesus is a Pacifist.

We are a natural family planning, health food eating and herbal drinking, nature loving family that loves to be together as absolute much as possible (I guess that could be considered Helicopter on my part which is a term I learned here, but I dont care). We love our Bicycles too!!!!

I am a social worker by profession and we have traveled overseas and worked with starving, trafficked girls in Cambodia; sometimes this experience makes me sort of "uncaring" to the normal moans of living.

Oh my I could go on for ever; nothing but talking about yourself, right?

 

I will end by saying that I have received so much good information from these boards, especially the education one; so....even though Iget frustrated with some of the conversations on here and what I perceived as intolerance, I am forever, forever grateful for this resource.

 

e

[happygrrl]

Some good info would be:

 

Your name, rough age (20s, 30, 40s, etc.), how many children and their ages and grades, maybe their curriculum, how long you have been homeschooling, how or why you decided to do that, how you came across the board, maybe where your are from or general location where you live, and anything else we may find interesting.

 

 

 

I'm Lisa, and I rarely remember my age (38). I live deep in the Oregon woods... and I mean deep! We have been off the grid for more than 10 years and are constantly in the process of building on the cabin (now more of a house) and cutting wood, gardening, working on the water lines etc.

 

I have been homeschooling my 3 for 6 years now and have cycled through many curriculum choices. We finally "landed" with an LCC-style schedule. Whew! I have 2 with LD's, so traditional learning is a challenge. I rely on this board for encouragement, new strategies, and of course sale and swap. I have been lurking for years, but never posted until the new format, as the other one confused me.:)

 

I am not brave enough to list all of my stances on the board controversies, as they appear so incongruent. I would have to write pages of explanation! I *did* buy a desk apprentice, but have not bought Circa disks yet. That's all I'll say.

[Rich with Kids]

I'm Lisa, and I rarely remember my age (38). I live deep in the Oregon woods... and I mean deep! We have been off the grid for more than 10 years and are constantly in the process of building on the cabin (now more of a house) and cutting wood, gardening, working on the water lines etc.

 

I have been homeschooling my 3 for 6 years now and have cycled through many curriculum choices. We finally "landed" with an LCC-style schedule. Whew! I have 2 with LD's, so traditional learning is a challenge. I rely on this board for encouragement, new strategies, and of course sale and swap. I have been lurking for years, but never posted until the new format, as the other one confused me.:)

 

I am not brave enough to list all of my stances on the board controversies, as they appear so incongruent. I would have to write pages of explanation! I *did* buy a desk apprentice, but have not bought Circa disks yet. That's all I'll say.

 

You should have a blog. I'd love to read an see pics of your lifestyle!

[Lucy the Valiant]

I'm new!

 

I'm Katie, married for 9 years, and home schooling our twin girls (5yo) and 1 boy (3yo) and expecting one more.

 

I'm still figuring out our curriculum plan . . . we're moving this year to a fixer-upper, so I'm hoping to AIM LOW, LOL. My girls are AVID readers, and my "loose" plan is to do Galloping the Globe notebook-style, Singapore Math, Spanish, and music lessons. I know that doesn't fit perfectly into the classical method, but . . . like I said, I'm still figuring things out. :001_smile:

[JudoMom]

I'm JudoMom, formerly known as threelops, and have been posting here since 2004 or so. It was when my oldest was going into K. I'm 33 and have been married for 12 years to my wonderful dh (who will be 40 this year).

 

Our boys are 9, 8 , 6, 5 & 3. They are going into 5th, 4th, 2nd, K/1, & K4-on-demand. We'll be using Saxon, Rod & Staff, Latin Prep, MOH/SOTW1, WWE, Imitations in Writing, RS4K Level 1, Phonics Pathways, Plaid Phonics, and I don't remember what else.

 

We do Judo (hence the name JudoMom :tongue_smilie:). My older 2 boys have been in Judo for 3.5 years and are orange belts with a stripe, my middle son has been in for 2.5 years and is a yellow belt with 2 stripes. My 4th son started in January and he's still a white belt. My littlest guy has a gi but hasn't been on the mats yet (he's been begging for months to do "Judo with the guys", but had to wait until he was potty trained. I started with my middle son 2.5 years ago and am a 1st degree brown belt, so 2 more brown levels and I can test for black.

 

We've got 2 American Eskimo Dogs (they are 10 & 9) and 1 Betta fish (named George Washington). We plan to homeschool through high school as long as it's working.

[HRAAB]

Guess I never did an introduction, so now's a good time. I'm Janet, still (barely) in my 40's, married to Tim for the last 24 years. We're the parents of 5 girls and have always homeschooled except for a short detour into public high school. Over the years we've pulled together our own curriculum, used boxed curriculum, been part of on-line charter schools (K12 and IDEA), and played around with unschooling.

 

DD 19 was traditionally/classically homeschooled, is now a part-time college student, working full-time and living on her own.

 

DD 17 was classically homeschooled in the early years, began unschooling in the teen years, tried one semester of public high school, came home, took over her own education, and started college at 16. She is now a full-time college student with a part-time barista job and a boyfriend. Heaven help me.

 

DD 11 is using Teaching Textbook Algebra, VIE for grammar, Write Source for writing, Critical Thinking Press books, Human Odyssey, RS4K Chemistry plus tons of reading

 

DD's 8 (twins) are using Miquon along with Horizon, FLL, WWE, SOTW 1 plus lots of reading, exploring and discovery.

 

I've breastfed for 12 of the last 19 years, co-slept for most of those 12 years, go barefoot in the house, Birkenstocks outside, garden, preserve everything we grow, raise chickens, bake my own bread, cook from scratch (except for an occasional pkg. of ramen noodles), try to live as simply as possible, find living frugally an exciting challenge, was raised Christian but have gone back to beginning to re-build my faith life. I'm definitely left of middle in most things, but not all, which makes my views hard to explain at times. I love being home with my family and enjoy my own backyard more than anything else I can think of. My dh is an unemployed technical writer currently, and in my previous life I was in property/casualty underwriting. My last day of work I swore off pantyhose and make-up, and outside of a couple funerals and weddings, I've made it.

 

This board is a fountain of knowledge; I wonder how I survived all those years without it.

 

Janet

[mom2jjka]

Hello. My name is Michelle, and I'm fairly new here.

I've been married to my DH for (almost)14 years.

We live in WI and we have 4 kids (DD11, DS9, DD6, DD4)

 

I am a conservative Christian, and I lean toward being 'slightly crunchy.'

In my 'life before kids' I was a kindergarten teacher. I've seen the other side - and I'm never sending my kids there! - LOL.

I am passionate about God, my family, homeschooing and carseats (I'm a volunteer CPST in my 'spare' time.)

 

I'm fairly eclectic for curriculum.

 

We have used a good sampling of many different curriculums, and although I lean towards traditional I really like doing history from a classical/chronological perspective.

Some of my favorites include: FIAR, CLE and MFW, but I have a special needs child - and HOD seems to be the best fit for her.

 

Here's what we're using next year:

 

4th & 6th Graders

MFW - Rome to the Reformation

(in addition we are also using the SOTW2 AG and the CLP text Story of the Middle Ages)

CLE math (4th & 6th graders)

CLE LA (4th grader)

CLE reading (4th & 6th graders)

GWG 6 - (6th grader)

CLP Spelling (6th Grader)

 

1st Grader (has apraxia)

HOD's - LHFHG

Singapore Math

ETC

First Reader (when she's ready)

Possibly some units of FIAR (?)

 

4 yr old

R&S ABC series

B4FIAR/FIAR

Edited June 11, 2009 by mom2jjka

[i.love.lucy]

I'm pretty new here. My name is Amy, married to my funny dh for almost 21 years. We live in Central TX but I'm from CA and dh is from LA and we've lived in LA, TN, CA and now TX. We have 2 kids, Lucy is almost 9 (hence the user name) and Elliot is almost 5. We've been homeschooling for 6 whole months!!! Pulled dd from 3rd grade public school and haven't looked back. I liked a comeback someone wrote in another thread "we're religious fanatics, that's why we homeschool!" :tongue_smilie:.

 

DD will be in 4th this year using HoD Preparing, Singapore 3A/B and maybe transitioning to CLE - not sure, R&S Eng 4, Spanish, and lots of other fun extras. DS will be doing pre-k with LHTH.

 

I'm really more of a CM person than classical, but I see the similarities and like this board, so there ya go.

 

Tend to not get into the debates and controversies. But I read 'em!:lol: I agree with these statements :D:

 

Families were designed with the intention that they would spend large amount of time together, caring for each other and helping each other.

 

Christian, breastfed, didn't scream while giving birth-but don't care if you did, raging bookaholic, lighthearted, glass half full, wear shoes in the house, love Halloween (but feel a touch guilty about it), hate scrapbooking, love movies, keep the house neat and tidy but not so good with things like mopping and fingerprints on mirrors, hate stick-shift cars, hate confrontation but do love a good debate, resigned to short haircuts because my hair is straight and fine.

 

ETA: Oops. I forgot, I'll be 42 this summer.

[Pretty in Pink]

I'm Elizabeth, married to dh for almost 7 years now. We have four boys, ages 10, 5, 3 and and infant going on 1. We began homeschooling our oldest at 5; none of the children have been to a traditional school. I think I've been on the boards a year, maybe two? I have no idea.

[HeatherLynn]

Board related info: Breastfed only, WTM classical, married young but it's not for everyone, still wearing crocs, semi-free range kids but still protective, coslept, hate reality TV but love LOST, mainstream Christian, progressive, Dyson vacuum, made my own laundry detergent for a while but quit, sons are circumcised, love my Kindle 2, theistic evolution, curly girl, vaccinate, against Prop 8, classical pronounciation, Motivated Mom not Flylady, no guns, planning to homeschool until college, dating not courtship, frugal living but not obsessively so, I once walked past Harrison Ford in the hall as I was going into the local hospital.

 

OK, that last one was a freebie. ;)

 

Didn't realize we'd cover the contro's, but I am proud of who I am so here:

 

Charismatic Christian, staunch pro-life since way before Christianity, gun collector (who also trains her children to handle guns to hunt safely and shoot for sport), hunter, fisher, pathetically trying to grow a garden, circumcise my boys, no longer vaccinate after my son was adversely effected, pierced daughters ears shortly after her birth, I let my DD wear tank tops and bikinis and shorts (not too short), courtship no dating, exclusively breast fed all my children including my adopted son, was even a wet nurse for 4 months, I believe most gay people were born that way and therefore do not judge them like is common among Christians, love modern music, do not censor my kids very much, allow my boys to travel the US/Canada to rodeo, my 3 year old has a 4 wheeler and so do the other kids, Dh is teaching 3 yo to ride a dirt bike so he can moto-cross just like "Daddy", can no longer have children due to a messed up body and will continue to build my family as God sees fit through adoption, secretly envy the Duggars, was a DJ at a country radio station for 4 years and loved it, and probably a lot more, but I'll stop there.

[mommaduck]

I'm Mommaduck, married to Big Dawg for almost 15yrs + highschool sweethearts for 4yrs before that. I'm old enough to have my knocks and learn my lessons, young enough to still see plenty of life ahead of me (no longer in my 20's and not yet in my 50's ;) ).

 

I'm mama to (ages accurate or to be this year):

Bean 13

Banana 11

Goose 9

Peach 8

Pea 6

Coconut 3

Monkey 1

 

 

We've used a bit of everything over the years, but sticking with MFW, Abeka Phonics/Math, Online Cherokee, Latin for Children, Teaching Textbooks, Apologia, Life of Fred, and A Reason for Handwriting.

 

 

I'm a TCK, a Reformed Christian (yep, I'm a Calvinist and believe in Providence), a bit of a hippie, and you can't put me in a box ;)

 

(and I need to update my siggy again...drat, these ducklings just keep getting older!)

Edited June 11, 2009 by mommaduck

[blazingtrin]

My name is Kari and I am a first time home schooler for 09-10 year. I am home schooling my 6th grader who has Asperger's. I am in the thralls of figuring out which books I want to use. I just wanted to quickly introduce myself and say hi. (I'm the one peppering the board with all the questions, :lol:!

 

Kari

[lionfamily1999]

I'm another Julie, lol, there's a couple of us here. I'm in my last year as a 20-something and will have been married 10 years in September. I have three kids, Jo (dd) 12, Drew (ds) 8, and Luke (ds) 2. We all live in Westmoreland County, Virginia. The kids love the fact that we live in the middle of nowhere, but our county is in the Encyclopedia ;)

 

I started hsing in Dec after I found out Drew's teacher had issues. Rather than argue, try to "fix" the system, or begin a long pointless battle, I pulled him from school. My dd is still in ps.

 

We're still pretty close to TWTM model. Drew's moved up to 3rd grade, as far as what he's doing, and we LOVE hsing.

 

All those things that make us different ;)

Christian, not very conservative; breastfed, stopped when they grew teeth; super easy births, not even fair; total bookaholic; it's a half a glass of water...; barefoot inside and out, only put on shoes where required; guilty Halloween lover, too; I never finish any craft projects, there a few quilt pieces, some blankets that could be better used for scarves and most my clothes lack hems; love horror movies (hiding that in the middle); house's a train wreck, but if it was clean, I'd never find anything; trying out some free-range maneuvers, letting the kids play alone is just as much fun for mom, lol; anti-big-brother-this-is-for-your-own-good-government; wish people could just recite the Constitution instead of changing it; trying no-poo, dh said I smelled fresh from the salad shooter last night :glare:; think we'd all be better off if we could stop blaming eachother and our differences for all the problems and diseases of the world; not scared of the flu.

[Dawn in OH]

I'm Dawn (36) married to my husband Kelly (43) for 10 years. We have three children: Boy age 8, girl age 6 1/2 and a boy that will be 2 in August. We live in Northeast Ohio.

 

The two older children are working at the same level. We started homeschooling them at age 3, informally, and are going into our 3rd official year this fall. We homeschool year round.

 

We're crazy. If you want all the details:

We don't watch tv.

We don't eat processed foods.

We are Libertarians.

I breastfeed and co-sleep.

We do not vaccinate.

We are not religious, but if we HAD to declare a religion it would be Buddhist.

We want to own a farm to grow and raise our own food.

I'm a member of the Mother's Institute/Mother's For Liberty and CHAADA (Children and Adults Against Drugging America).

 

We enjoy hiking, camping and canoing.

 

In my previous life I was an Executive Assistant and the Manager of a Bed and Breakfast. I would like to someday have my own B&B or at least a restaurant. I cook and bake for fun not just necessity.

[DawnM]

My name is Dawn. I live in NC, formerly in CA.

I was a high school teacher and then a high school counselor for 16 years in CA before moving here.

 

I am in my early 40s and have 3 boys, ages 11, 9, and 5.

 

We use:

 

Sonlight

All About Spelling

Abeka L.A. (soon to switch)

Singapore Math for 5th grader

MUS for 4th grader

Horizons math for K

Explode the Code

[ElizabethB]

I'm 39, but not for much longer.

 

I didn't find this place, it found me--someone here linked to me and I saw it on my webpage stats! I started reading and got hooked.

 

I have only been homeschooling officially for 2 years, but I started teaching my daughter phonics at 3 1/2 when she started guessing at words from being read the same stories over and over. I've also been tutoring phonics since 1994.

 

I owned Latin books and other Classical learning type books years before I had children, I tell people halfway jokingly that I had to choose Classical Christian homeschooling since I already owned most of the books for it. I also love real books and hated all boring textbooks in school, but history textbooks here my least favorite, so I'm excited to teach history in a way that is not so dry.

 

We move more often than I wish and are moving this summer from Arkansas to Los Angeles.

 

I jumped out of an airplane 5 times. My daughter recently asked me why I would want to do that, I told her it seemed like a good idea at the time and all my friends were doing it. I'm not sure what I was thinking! (I was 18 or 19 at the time.)

 

We are Christians, but have been many denominations, even some who we have differences of opinion w/ regards to major issues such as baptism. We just find the nearest Bible believing, Spirit filled church.

Edited June 11, 2009 by ElizabethB

[tabrizia]

I'll delurk for a few minutes. Hi I'm Sarah, I'm in the 30 something age category, 31 to be exact. I'm married to Dan (32 almost) we will have been married 8 years come August and together 13 years come October. We live in DC metro on the Maryland side, DH is a computer contractor, and I'm a SAHM.

 

We have 2 children Desmond who is 26 months old and Eloise who is 3 months old on Sunday. We have always planned to home school even before we had children and I don't see that decision changing anytime soon. Eloise is working on being a baby, Desmond is working on getting into as much trouble as possible and some pre-reading skills as well as counting and his numbers, though I don't really have any set time for skills learning it is all toddler led at the moment.

 

I think I'm been lurking on the boards for 5ish years now. Long before we were even thinking of having children, well at least long before we were thinking about trying to have children. I mainly lurk at the moment, since both of mine are really young, so we are mainly just playing and learning through life at the moment.

 

As for me, I am a fairly secular Jew, DH is Hindi and we are raising our children with the knowledge of both religions. We co-sleep, I am tandem nursing and baby girl is exclusively breastfed and will be for at least 6 months. We also use cloth diapers and selectively/delay vaccinate our children. DH and DS are pescetarians (only eat fist no other meat), because DH has an meat intollerence, DD and I are dairy free, because she has bad reflux when I have dairy. We are also gamers, DS knows how to work the Xbox360 though he doesn't have quite enough fine motor control to play most games without help yet, but the time is coming, he also is allowed computer time and enjoys various educational computer games.

 

*Goes back to mainly lurking*

[Mrs.MacGyver]

I'm Lisa, 37 yo, lived in Canada and all over the US, prior Navy Corpsman and Lab Tech, married to DH for 11 years (he was a Corpsman, EMT, Cardiovascular Tech in the Navy, but now is in the Army as a Helicopter Pilot). We homeschool for the flexibility and mostly because we are control freaks:D. We not religious - all over the place ( but mostly Libertarian leaning) politically and fiscally. We are super conservative with our kids in some ways and super liberal with them in others. Our families don't "get" us. We are completely sci-fi geeky, but also athletic jocks. We dream about someday being able to get away and "off the grid" (we are socially awkward anyway - LOL). I hate it when men are portrayed as dumb or inept. I think everyone should have to wait tables for a year during their lifetime. Breastfeed, co-sleep, circumsize - yes. Yes to guns, rotweillers and german shepherds. Anti-Croc. I have to wear shoes inside because we have wood floors and I can't stand to feel any kind of dirt or cherrios on my feet:glare:, but the kids barely wear shoes inside or out.

 

I have been lurking here for years and years, but I am a reluctant poster. But since DH has been deployed, and we don't know any homeschoolers around here, I am trying to get out of my comfort zone a bit. :) I have appreciated all of the input on curriculums over the years!

[RegGuheert]

Hello. My name is Reg and I'm a homeschool Dad. I have been a homeschool Dad for 14 years. It has been 23 years since I attended public school.

 

You guys: "Hello, Reg!"

 

I've been married to MomsintheGarden for 21 years and she is a homeschool Mom. It has been 21 years since she attended public school.

 

You guys: "Hello, MomsintheGarden."

 

I am almost as old as MomsintheGarden and we have seven wonderful children!

 

We live in VA on 22 acres. I work from home so we are basically nine people who never leave the house! (If I ever get into an uncomfortable conversation about homeschooling with someone, I usually joke that I recommend that they NEVER buy a house from a large, homeschooling family since we put a lot more wear-and-tear on a house than normal folks!) I have never screamed during childbirth, but I wanted to and I know someone who did! :D

 

MomsintheGarden has been showing me threads on this forum since long, long ago when it was that awful format. Basically, I find the discussions that you ladies have here to be fascinating! ;) I'll do my best to discern which threads are "No Men Allowed" and I will try to stay out (but you KNOW I will hang on every word!). :D

 

Finally, MomsintheGarden feels I tell all of you WAY too much about us on this forum. She has also recommended that I change my screen name to DadsontheForum.