I have been homeschooling since 2009, when my oldest child’s chronic illness inhibited them from successfully navigating full-day kindergarten.

Homeschooling was a way to live our values and it became part of our family dynamic. My husband and I believe that as parents, we are responsible for developing and culturing the people we have created. We give them the opportunity to grow into their most authentic selves so that they may contribute in their own unique ways to the world.

Our four children benefited greatly from Classroom Preschool during ages 3 and 4, and then we started teaching them at home in Kindergarten.

It is my homeschooling style to use the Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards found at pdesas.org/standards to identify grade-appropriate expectations, and then build upon the latest concepts that the children have produced engaging feedback on. I employ teachable moments, tangible manipulatives, multimedia, technology, libraries, museums, art spaces, colleges, zoos, and the natural environment. We have benefitted from a wonderful support system of teachers, mentors, advocates, experts, and homeschool groups.

Besides management of the household, my daily tasks include: research children’s developmental and academic needs, locate and assess resources that meet those and future needs, and develop a curriculum that introduces resources in a manner that engages the children in their learning styles.

I manage the children’s schedule of experiences, project and budget costs, deliver the children in a prepared manner to events, invoke intelligent and critical feedback from the children, assess their experience participation and information assimilation, assess academic level and needs, and begin the process again.

Our oldest child achieved their Associates in English at age 18. Our second child successfully integrated into public high school as a freshman and just finished her junior year. Our ten year old will start private school next September, and our twelve year old is still homeschooling: )