Introduction

I am a mother of two, a wife, an artist and avid reader, part-time college student, and a part-time administrative assistant, living in beautiful California, just a bit north of the bay. My children, C.O. - my 5 year old son, and C.J. - my 3 year old daughter, are the lights of my life. I have planned on homeschooling them prior even to C.O.'s birth, following a literature-rich, semi-classical, semi-Charlotte Mason, quite eclectic approach. We love the arts, nature, hiking, and gardening. C.O. also loves airplanes, cars, trucks, tractors and trains. He recently started playing soccer, and so far really enjoys it! C.J. also loves cars, etc., plus fairies, dancing, digging in the dirt, and having pretty things to play with.

I am homeschooling for a variety of reasons: 1 - I feel that schools today focus too much (though not necessarily through their own fault) on testing, instead of looking at education as an exploratory journey. 2 - I enjoy having my kids around - I don't really want them to be gone 5 to 7 hours a day, then still having homework. We wouldn't get much family time that way. 3 - I like the idea of my children being able to pursue topics that really interest them in more depth than schools are able to allow. I truly believe that when a child gets involved in their own education, they get more from it. There are more reasons that I'll probably think of later, but right now I have a head cold and can't think any more clearly!