i love this picture from our last park day!

Why we homeschool, Willow Lorenz

I actually never had any intention of homeschooling and sent Skye to school all the way to high school... But when i decided to teach Heaven preschool myself because i wanted her to be ready for Kindergarten i started to think about the idea. It seemed easy enough and we had so much fun but i also thought she was too social to want to be at home all the time. We did send her to kindergarten and she had a lovely year, i spent a lot of time there as a parent volunteer and was very happy with the teacher and Heaven loved it. One of the things i noticed though was that she already knew most of what they were learning and i worried that she would be held back from learning new things... So when she started 1st grade with enthusiasm and came home crying the first few days it seemed like an easy decision. She begged me to stay home and we started homeschooling. I really love the freedom that homeschooling gives us and i like that we can cover alot in a short time giving her time to be a kid! Its so fun to be creative and learn from life and find her interests and discover where they can lead. I was homeschooled through 10th grade and always thought that it was a great alternative for some families. I hope that i can continue to stay encouraged and faithful because i really do think that homeschooling is so healthy for our kids! Its challenging for me to keep her interested so i appreciate all of your ideas and input... I feel tempted sometimes to put her in school for my own selfish reasons but for now we are pressing on! It is really nice to see all of our kids interacting and hanging out so i hope that we can all continue to organize fun stuff to do together...

why we homeschool, by Ali McNabb

When we moved overseas, I knew in the back of my brain that "schooling" options would soon need to be evaluated as our girls became old enough to handle some focused time with books, and their attention spans matured. When we arrived in north-western China, Asia was 2 1/2, and Eden was only 8 months old. I figured I had lots of time! (I think I underestimated little ones' abilities!) On our 1st visit back to California, only 9 months later - I realized that I needed to research my options, and get a better awareness of what was "out there" for people like us. We aren't in a city that has an international school, nor anything else for English-speaking children. One option for our kids is the State-run Elementary schools in Chinese, which cost a monthly fee (and tend to be militant). The other option (which I was excited to discover) is homeschooling. In our quick 3-month stateside visit I met a bunch of parents who chose to home school their kids, and have done an excellent job!! They were so inspiring, positive and creative! I was deeply challenged to learn all that I could about this new sphere - and become an expert, for my kids' sake! It has been an exciting journey - and as of today, we are only 1 year in....with 15+ years to go!! Whoa! I don't have any experience with teaching, but I think we as parents are best equipped to love & teach our kids, guiding them in this education process. I am just a normal momma, wanting to instill solid foundations in my kids' hearts so they can soar and make right choices in a challenging world out there. I also love that we can expose them to all kinds of thinking, people & places of the world, and help them find what is True. I really hope & pray they will become bright beacons on the hill.