I was homeschooled for 7 years, starting when I was in 6th grade. It was such a positive experience and allowed me to begin working in a Montessori preschool at age 14. By 16 I was working full time and doing my virtual school classes in the evening. This really jump started my profession and was more valuable than anything I would have learned in public school. After high school I attended college and graduated in the top 1% of my university with a degree in elementary education and certifications in ESE, reading K-12, preschool, and ESOL - proving to myself and everyone that questioned my parents' decisions in the 90’s, that homeschool was effective. I began teaching first grade at a charter school and worked there until my daughter was born 5 years later. She had medical complexities and couldn’t handle big germs, so I took a leave of absence to stay home with her. I never thought I would be a stay at home mom because I loved the classroom so much, but I fell even more in love with my new role. I truly wanted to homeschool and have the best of both worlds, but decided to enroll my oldest in public kindergarten so that she could experience having my mom as her teacher and get all of the therapy she needed to combat her developmental delays. However in March the world shut down and the decision to homeschool was put into everyone’s lap. We fell completely in love and never looked back! I now homeschool all 3 of my children, ages 9, 7, and 4.
We have a very eclectic homeschool style centered around building our relationship with God and each other. We do a lot of family style learning with units I develop around great children’s literature and enhance with hands-on activities and art. However, we also use a variety of other curriculums and resources as well, we love trying new things to figure out the best fit for each kid. In our homeschool we strive to create an environment where our kids are free to be themselves, work at their unique levels and pace, and learn things that are of personal interest to each of them - just as my parents did for me.
Olivia Cason
Fiona Desenberg
Homeschooling was something that I never planned or dreamed of. However, after my son had a miserable Kindergarten year at our local public school, I started looking into other options that would better fit his educational needs. We decided to give homeschooling a try for our first grade year to build back confidence and focus on the areas where he “fell behind” in Kindergarten. We thought that we would try it for one year and re-enroll back in public school - but my son and I both fell in love with homeschooling and we made the decision to do it full time.
Our homeschool style is very eclectic and we use a variety of different curriculums throughout our school year to match our educational needs, our interests, and our schedule. However, one thing that holds strong throughout our homeschool year, is our reliance on using a variety of books to enhance our studies. We love going to our local library and checking out the max number of books allowed to support our current unit study.