We are child-centered, eclectic, and project-based, yet we also homeschool with an eye toward preparing for college applications. Join my chats if you would like to talk to a home educator and learn what homeschooling looks like for us as well as connect with other families who are considering an alternative education for their child.
I believe any willing parent can homeschool, and in this series, I will show you how I have homeschooled my kids with minimal stress. I will give you a window into my family's child-centered, eclectic, project-based homeschool, and I'll share how I prepared my son for high school level work.
I also want to help you figure out what works best for your family. Homeschooling for you might not look the same as it does for my family. As senior editor of a homeschooling magazine, blogger and newspaper columnist, I interviewed other homeschooling families, reviewed homeschooling curricula, and researched best practices. As parents, my husband and I consider ourselves mentors, and we help our kids achieve their goals by giving them time and the proper tools. I have learned that every kid and every family is different, so homeschooling will look different for everyone.
This series will offer support and camaraderie to parents who are either thinking about homeschooling or who are already on this journey. I want to create a safe place for parents to share ideas, goals, worries and questions with other parents who are taking charge of their child’s education. Note: For this reason, I will not be recording these sessions. Participants are free to share or not share as they feel comfortable.
This class is perfect for parents who are in the earlier stages of homeschooling, especially early to late elementary school. If you are a more seasoned homeschooler, yet you'd like another family's perspective on homeschooling, contact me, and I can create a class more suited to your needs. You are also welcome to check out my one-on-one session or let me know you're interested in my homeschooling high school session.
Session #1: Introduction — I will introduce myself, this class, and how I got into homeschooling. Everyone in class will be invited to make an introduction: Why are you thinking about homeschooling? What would you like to learn in this class? I’ll touch on different homeschool philosophies, and we'll talk about what you really need to homeschool.
Session #2: Creating Homeschool Priorities — I’ll discuss what homeschool priorities are and how they can take the stress out of homeschooling. I will help you think about your own priorities. Participants will be invited to share their priorities, if they feel comfortable doing so. Please have some paper and pen.
Session #3: Project-based Homeschooling (PBH) & the homeschool environment — What is it? How did I do PBH? How can you incorporate it into your homeschool? I’ll show you my home, how I set up our learning spaces, and how I used project-based homeschooling techniques in my homeschool.
Session #4: Academics — How did I approach this? At what age did I start more formal work with my boys? I’ll share some of my favorite secular resources with you as well as other resources that I know to be quality curricula. I'll talk about what I'd do differently now, if I did it again.
Session #5: Record Keeping — Am I organized or not? You’ll have to be the judge of that. I’ll share with you all my overzealous record-keeping failures and successes. We will discuss what we will focus on in our last class as well.
Session #6: Your Q & A. Please submit questions and topics you’d like to discuss. We may pick one of these to focus on during this session, or maybe we’ll discuss a variety of topics. Everyone who completes this course is invited to join my biweekly homeschool support group where we can continue to chat and support each other with our individual needs, if there is enough interest in forming a group.
Note: Class sessions might be tweaked as I receive feedback from participants. My goal is to create a class that is highly useful for parents seeking more information about home education.
Contact me with any questions.
If you are interested in this class, but the time doesn't work, or maybe you're just interested in part of it, please write to me. I can set something up for you.
I’m a homeschool mom living in Georgia, U.S.A., and I write the blog mamaofletters.com. I’m also the former senior editor of home/school/life magazine. My two boys are 16 and 13-years-old, and they have never attended a traditional school, kindergarten or preschool. Though we are not unschoolers, we are very child-centered and child-led. I have used project-based homeschooling techniques and a variety of resources to teach my boys a typical course of study, but we have not followed the same strategies or “milestones” that a traditional public school would require.
As a family, we love nature and science, and we watch documentaries almost everyday. We also love music. My eldest son is a serious classical musician who plays the piano, and he’s preparing to compete on an international level someday. My younger son plays the cello, and he has been interested in birds since he was four-years-old. He’s turned us all into birders. You can learn more about our homeschool here and more about me here.
I get a lot of joy out of sharing the work I've done and reassuring parents who are exploring different educational paths for their kids. Please let me know how I can help you.
I promise I will NEVER share your email or personal information with anyone else, ever. That also goes for what you might share in my Zoom sessions. I do not record these sessions in order to protect the privacy of all participants.
