Allow me to introduce myself:
I am excited about this opportunity to be able to blog for families.com and share everything I have learned as well as my daily experiences as a homeschooler with you. By knowing about my background in homeschooling and a bit about my life, I hope it will help you understand my unique viewpoint on the many aspects of homeschooling.
Welcome to my world.
I homeschool two “tweens” and have been doing so for four years. My daughter is 10 years old, with an outgoing personality and likes to be the center of attention. When she was in school, her biggest problem was an inability to sit still. Therefore, she was a distraction to the class, and Ritalin was suggested. After two years of constant pleas and finally an ultimatum to have her tested for ADHD or do not bring her back… I did not.
My son is her polar opposite. He is 12 years old and the strong and silent type. His biggest problem in school was that bullies figured that if they could single him out and bully him, then they would have control over the smaller, weaker children. He is highly intelligent and though we tried to get him tested for gifted programs we were always turned down. He scored 100 on most tests, but occasionally, if he were having a particularly upsetting day, he would score a 20 or 30 on the other tests. This knocked his GPA down to a B instead of an A+ and disqualified him from the testing. He became bored, sullen, and appeared to be depressed. When we decided to homeschool my daughter, my son came to me and said, “If she’s not going, neither am I. I can learn online.” He had already found several web sites with good curriculum and was ready to go.
Therefore, the following fall, I started homeschooling a second and fourth grader. Four years later, both kids read on high school level, and score in the 90th percentile on standardized tests for their grade.
Before homeschooling, I worked part time from the home as a Muralist and Interior Decorator. Once I began homeschooling I cut back to doing the occasional mural, giving decorating advice online, and writing articles on interior decorating. At the same time, I started writing about my homeschool experiences, and am very excited to be blogging about homeschooling on families.com.
I still paint, mostly on canvas, and am involved with a late night TV debate show and affiliated magazine at the local college where I plan to start pursuing my Masters Degree in Fine Arts, or Literature… I cannot decide. You will also find articles I have written on homeschooling, decorating and other subjects all over the Internet. My BA is in Fine Arts, with a minor in English and I love Art and the written word equally and passionately.
