My Family and Why we homeschool

We are a family of 8 and we have been homeschooling since the beginning of time! Yep that's right my kids have never graced the halls of a public school, (although I do admit to days that I would love to send them)! Why? You ask! Because I am lazy!! No really!! I don't HAVE to get up at 6am make lunches make sure their homework is done, sign papers, find lunch money, find a shoe, feed them breakfast, get them to school on time and whatever else public school moms have to do!
Seriously though, I grew up in a good sized town and by the time I hit High School I had seen and experienced way too many things that I ever needed to see! I can't say that I was really socially enriched.

My husband and I married in '89 and got pregnant pretty quick. We lived in a neighborhood where several of our neighbors homeschooled. That started us on the road. When I was pregnant with number 2 our midwife homeschooled (do ya think we were being told something?). One thing led to another and I attended my first curriculm fair with a 2 month old baby and a 3 year old! We started 'homeschooling' the next year!!

My oldest is now 20, married and has a little one. Over the years my ideas and philosophies have evolved and are ever changing. I am more relaxed now and we do alot of hands on learning. My kids are 17, 15, 11, 9, and 7! Yes I guess you could say I shelter them, but I like to think that I am teaching them how to choose activies and friends that encourage and uplift them rather than being thrown into social situations that they have little to no control over. There are always days that I wish I had the money to put them in private school, but really the majority of our days are joyful and productive. I have been know to try to talk families into homeschooling, especially families we like to hang out with that go to public schools. I do agree Homeschooling may not be the right choice for everyone, but for some it is the best choice!