Welcome!!

Welcome!!!
You have found your way to my Blog!!  Thanks for stopping by.
 A little background about me:
I am a 34 year old Wife and Mom of three, step-mom of two, who is currently not employed outside of the home.  A couple years ago, I ran across home schooling when I was doing research on alternative ways to educate my ‘troubled’ daughter.  My reason to begin home schooling is not what some view as the ‘norm’ – - it was more punitive versus elective and fun.  That was definitely a mistake.  As it turned out, my daughter EXCELLED at home school – - and I LOVED it!!  It was SO nice to have her around – - I learned so much about her and myself – - not to mention, home schooling. 
We started by ‘schooling-at-home” and then moved to Unit Studies, when she became really interested in the Holocaust.  She spent 6 weeks studying the Holocaust and has since been able to recall the information. 
Our home school experience was both good and bad – - bad only because she is not willing and able to stick around and follow the rules long enough to make a real go of it.  But, I had such a good time learning about her – - learning the information with her – - and generally just having her home; I wanted to do the same with my youngest.  My middle child, we (all) feel is best suited for public education. 
At the end of this semester (December 2007), I will pull my daughter out of public school and will begin home schooling her in January. 
Home schooling my oldest daughter has given me some very valuable lessons: 1) Home school and School school are two different things!!  It is not necessary to be so rigid and exacting – - they will learn and learn better!  2) I tend to be a perfectionist and need to continue to work on toning down the stress.  3) Enjoy the child and the process – - it will all work out in the end. 
So, with all of that in mind, I started pondering the curriculum – - with my oldest, we did not use any curriculum and although it was fine, it was A LOT of work for me – - and we did not get to spend as much time together, because I spent SO much time just gathering resources and putting together a workable day for her. 
This time, I wanted to use at least a partial curriculum so that I could spend more time with my daughter – - and also, she is so much younger that I think it will be a while before I am more of an observer. 
One of my friends on MySpace decided to home school her children, this school year.  She decided to use the Charlotte Mason method (with a little Waldorf thrown in).  She posted the link to Ambleside Online (http://amblesideonline.org) – - so, when I finally decided that I would home school my youngest, for sure, I thought I would start there. 
I really like the curriculum – - especially the use of “harder” books – - I certainly felt the public education in my head, goin’ crazy!!  ; ) 
I am also going to use the free Home School curriculum from Hillbilly Housewife (http://oldfashionededucation.com/fullcurriculum.htm) next year.  I have worked really hard at getting most of the first year into a do-able half-year curriculum.  I will add it here – - and if you would like to use it, feel free to do so.  I will also add my schedule, soon.
 
I will utilize this site for our many adventures of home schooling and will continue to blog about other things at my MySpace site: www.MySpace.com/jhcckkm
 
Best Wishes to all of you…..
And, again…..Welcome to our site!  Glad to have you along for the ride!!