Start where you are.  Don't worry, Just discover!
Whether you are working full-time, part-time, in the home, out of the home or are home full time with your kiddos.  Considering homeschooling does NOT start with a dramatic life make-over.
Just begin turning over shells to see what you find.
Once you are in the process of discovery, the journey you take will uncover itself.  I promise.  There are women and men who have found inspiration when simply researching homeschooling and they find that that inspiration gives birth to new ideas of how they want to prioritize things and lifestyle, etc.  For some women, it's meant beginning a career instead of ending it, for some, it means moving, for some, it means realizing their status quo is perfect for them.  Don't worry, just Discover!
Here is a resource list for homeschooling:

Surviving Your First Year of Homeschooling

This resource, to me, was a light shining in a huge vast ocean of way too much information.  It is not from a specific faith background, so I know it will relate to any of you reading this.

A second resource that is amazing is to find someone in your area or someone at all that holds an "umbrella school" for homeschoolers.  That simply means that you can register with them (give them your name, kids names, and about $50-100) and voila!  Your kids are now enrolled in a "Private School" which precludes the need to do any other paperwork with your school district. 

Another amazing resource that is essential for your beginning is the HSLDA website to research the laws in your state. 

http://www.hslda.org/default.aspx

Gobbsmacked Education-Curiosity, Wonder & Discovery

Gobsmacked Education; a

Crescendo of Curiosity
moving from the right answers into good questions.  A homeschool journey of the hippest kind.


The unlikely journey of a NYC Corporate Career-woman turned homeschool mom.


I was in New York City working for a major production company in sales.

Summary of growing up in blended home & satisfaction with public school & husband's satisfaction with private school.
NOT afraid
Faith-filled in a BIG God
I wanted the best when I got pregnant and the best was definitely someone else teaching and me filling in the gaps.

Preschool
Recession
Kindergarten
Meeting clients
Ginger asking
Meeting more HS-ers out and about
1st grade.
Social nightmare
volunteering
"Colorado" teachers
Grant preschool
Kumon
Talks with Harvard - yes, Harvard.
Thus the birth of Anderson Academy

1st year.  Patience not required
How to live with an extended family who sucked at raising you but thinks you are crazy for homeschooling
How to survive a HS conference w/o a headcovering or a gaggle of kids.
  prep but not all in - exit strategy was not to paint anything or let either of us have a desk.
Every minute structured.
So exciting.  So fun.  So, right.
Social/Structural detox - withdrawl symptoms - the struggle is real, but it's not what you think.
Hurling yourself onto a country road with no cell service in a foreign country where no one speaks
Stages of Culture Shock
    - honeymoon
     - frustration
    - adjustment
     - acceptance
     - homesickness

Fruits:
      I know you.  I know me - better.
     Tracking hours
     Efficiency
     Pajama school
     Naps
     Field Trips
     Be a kid
     Not raised by their peers
     Hybrid school - public school/private school/experiences
Looking for my people.
The first year is about having a pulse at the end and following every curriculum plan to a T and seeing the other things you wish you could have fit in but didn't have time and wondering if you are failing in every way.  
We are still alive!  Others watch as if observing a train wreck.

Year 2 with 2
Buy a desk - use the shelves.
How to build a curriculum with 2 kiddos
Spelling:  really?
Integrating subjects becoming clearer
Curriculum of character
More naps
Field trips
More ballet - Nutcracker
Be willing to look weird
I want to be cool
Finding your people in a collection of islands
Strange encounters of the homeschool kind
Margin for peace when things get hard. Really, really hard.
Confirmation of why you followed curiosity.
Not raised by their peers.
Still looking for my people/learning from all
How to address longing for "school"/romanticism
Where to take your kids to get rid of them for a little while
I think we're going to make it!

Year 3:
Classical method - where have you been all my life?  Falling in lust with socratic circles
Unearthing my own curiosity - hope reborn.
The goal has shifted - right question, not right answer
Revealing Wonder... a heart comes alive!
More ballet, soccer, concussions, broken limbs, volunteering
Efficiency gives a wide berth for play, discovery learning.
Finding your people...  No bungee jumping required.
   much different getting to know other moms in FRONT of all of your kids.
   Resolving conflict with no bus stop gossipfest - how to grow up in 10 days or less
Yes, you still wonder if you are failing
Standardized tests - which one?
Homeschool Brain: You might not be as on-time and on-it as you once were.
Fruit:
   `More field trips
   `More naps
    `more pajamas
    `More room for hard and miracles and hormones (yours and theirs)
    `You found your people
    `They found you.
    `Your vocabulary begins to change.
    `You ask a lot of questions
    `You like talking to your kids
     `You notice that you aren't raising clock watchers.
      `there is room for serving
     `wonder about the bigger picture sparks
     `integration of all subjects begins
        - reflections of math in music, art in science, writing in history and the soul in all of it
 I definitely think we might make it!

Year 4:
The magic happens
No longer straddling the fence
Conversations of the old way fade away
Gratitude sets in for curiosity, discovery and humility
Wisdom seems to be more available
Peace with the failing and the falling and the feeling
More room for hormones
Academic rigor with a sense of humor
Math still makes everyone scream sometimes
Cotillion
Yes, still answering the socialization questions
People still worry about you
Travelling off-season
Grades - How does that work?
Intentional living resonates in your bones
As they get older
two steps forward... 3 steps back....5 steps forward
what is regular school?
talking to adults is normal

Year 5:
Time warp... slipping away...
Missing them when they're asleep
Transitioning to hybrid school
Can you work now?  Do something?  Filling your cup
Friends are critical - supportive diversity
Spreading yourself too thin - with so many fun options - how do you choose?
Serving
I think I like this too much - they aren't your dolls
Middle School training wheels - skinned knees & bad grades
MIT in 6th grade
Mentoring
Still answering the socialization questions
No fear
Independence - turning arrogance to wisdom, folly to self-sufficiency
Start getting a life
Going too fast... did I say that already?

You can do this...
Living curious
Live in the question
Pregnant with wonder
Don't blink
Labor of love
Love in the unknown

4th Year (almost) Free and Clear - Evolution

So, here we are.  Standing almost completely on the other side of our 4th year homeschooling.
Wow.  I remember the words of a stranger telling me last summer that the 4th year was the best, because it is when you and your kids finally have untangled yourselves from the expectations of others and set your own standards.  It is the year your kids settle into their own skin and their curiosity has full permission to thrive.  I asked her what was magical about the 4th year and she didn't have an answer.  It just is.
I can say that is true with all of my being.
My kids went from complaining or fears of missing out on something (esp my oldest) to really embracing the freedom they have.  My oldest developed an app this year and tutors 3rd graders in reading and spelling at a nearby at-risk school.  She was able to write creatively and challenge herself academically in ways that I never had to introduce.
My youngest also tutors kids in spelling and reading at the same school, he has learned the beginnings of computer coding and realized he is really good at building in robotics.  He has finished more history books than you could imagine and memorized over 400 items of History, Math, Science, Latin, Geography, Timeline and English Grammar.  He also has a tertiary understanding of those items and can connect the dots to the real world when he sees or hears something that is familiar to him.
More than that, I have seen the character of both kids begin to unfold and blossom.  I'm sure that happens everywhere.  Isn't it AWESOME that we mature?  That, in and of itself is a miracle.  That we go through difficult challenges and incredible victories and somehow, the brain utilizes this information to actually transform us.  Evolve us.  What spiritual person could deny evolution of this kind?  How can a faith not make room for evolution as well?  God himself designed us to learn, to transform, to evolve and He made us in His image.  Hasn't he made everything with that adaptability?  Without adaptability, I can't imagine where I would be from one day to the next as a human being, let alone a homeschool mom/entrepreneur.  Adaptability is only possible because of how God wired my brain and my heart to work synch.  The current situation must become less comfortable that what is required to grow/change (introducing restraint, new thinking, benefit of the doubt are all VERY uncomfortable in situations where they have not been practiced prior).  However, once the mind and heart have communicated with the soul, and there is a consensus, to move forward and adapt to a new paradigm, then the magic happens.  That is where the Spirit meets the flesh and the world gets a glimpse of LIFE.  New life.  Re-birth.  Every day.  Isn't that AWESOME>!>
Anyway, at those moments, when I experience that for myself, or, watch it in my kids or friends, I am high.  Propelled by the adrenaline, dopamine and every other joy-inducing chemical that God made to fire off when we believe that we are HIS!  That we can defy the powers of death and stupid habitual destructive beliefs about ourselves because we are ADAPTABLE.  What is also so cool is that our adaptability is not a forced situation.  We choose when, where, how much and why we either adapt or we don't.  Sometimes we just can't see that there is a need to adapt or, most likely in my experience, I don't adapt because the grief of letting go of expectations is more painful than moving forward - even if it means moving forward to joy.
I have seen my own capacity for love increase or, deepen really... because, finally, my selection for who to love has become much more selective.
I serve many, but love fewer.  I have seen that my kids are finding that this is satisfactory to them.  I used to see their nervousness if we didn't have plans or people.  Now, they read or play or whatever - although the people we love we see all the time :-). 
Thank you God.  Thank you Jesus for such an incredible year of transition.  Evolution.  Love.  Thank you for the trinity - the tripod- the trifecta that is you and reflected in our mind, body, spirit.  Thank you for your gentle clarity.  Your kind and patient consistency.  For replacing death with a life that gives way to yet more life. 

The Human Condition: The 532,345th Reason I LOVE Homeschooling!!!

Honestly, I cannot imagine the last few years being any more difficult for so many reasons. 
NONE of them being homeschool (wow).
In fact, most, if not ALL of the joy, love and miraculous-ness has ALL come as a DIRECT result of homeschooling and what it requires and gives off and gives birth to.


A daily example - this week, no - even just the last TWO DAYS have been an epic example of the magic that still exists in this horrible world.  That God still does provide little miracles of encouragement in just the perfectly weird way that I need it.  My faith has been purified of all bullshit. 
First and foremost, I've been so amazed by my kids.  Just sitting there watching them.  They are exasperating little miracles of curiosity, defiance, cuddles, serving, fascination, hard work, laziness, laughter, screaming and everything in between.  I've had the priveledge of seeing my daughter grow from a six year old to a 10 year old.  I have watched her be a soldier, a girl, a friend, a hero, an inventor, helper and so much more...  I have watched my son grow from 4 years old to 8 at home and witnessed his tender heart, his wacky levels of testosterone, his heartbreak, his learning, his getting back up, his voracious appetite for information. 
This last week alone, because of homeschool we:
- Got to travel out of town to see a friend in her new house - on a Tuesday night - because we could.
- Got to follow up on a coding project to begin developing Ginger's app, version 2.0 - because we were homeschooling and we had the time and found the resources.
- Got to answer a LOT of questions from dinner guests and learn a tremendous amount of information about their views of education and they are now championing the kids in different projects.
- Had the privilege of visiting a school in Denver that needed books and that visit now has become a weekly date with their Bubbagramps, tutoring at risk kids in reading and spelling.
- Began planning a trip to New Zealand for October to visit another homeschool family.
- During the day, a visit from a window rep became an incredible discovery.  He is one of the top 10 youtube videos for card-trick how to's!  So, the kids got to see his videos and he was so encouraging of what they were doing at school and they got a free magic lesson, right in their own kitchen!
- I received an incredible amount of generosity from other homeschool moms who are in the battle everyday and yet find the time and energy to stay centered, give to themselves & their families, love on their husbands & kiddos and retain a HUGE sense of humor and adventure.  These women, after 4 years of homeschooling, have finally become my "people."  I realize that for the first time, I have far fewer friends in the system than out.  These people encourage my husband, my family, my kids, my faith, my hope.  They are hands-dirty kinda people.  I think to be a hands-dirty person for others, you have to own your shit - especially the kind that scares the literall Hell right out of you.  You have to face the shame that makes you puke and then know that it wasn't real... we must face our own fears/needs/dysfunction and with that, sort through all of the self-judgement, shame and etc. that we carry (read:get EVERY Brene Brown book you can and pour over it Slowly, painfully).  The goal isn't to get rid of the shame, but just see it for what it is, so that it doesn't prevent you from loving fully. 
- What I've learned recently as well, is that homeschoolers have an entrepreneurial spirit.  They see what is inefficient  and they tighten it up.  They see what is interesting and pursue it. They see what needs fixing and they fix it.  They see what is toxic and they leave it to it's own demise.  We are like kids - always asking "why?" and, we don't stop until we are in an environment that supports that.  It models a way of being that rewards our own kids curiosity (much to our exhaustion).

One More Year, DONE! ish

Wow - how do I catch up? Not today.  Too much to say. 

End Of Year Bridge Ceremony. Goodbye. Hello.

Well, good gracious.  It's been an amazing, action packed, life-giving, growin'-up, real-world, root thirsty kinda year :-).

The first year I homeschooled both kiddos and wow does it take a village.  A great village. A God Village. A weird village.  A village I never thought I'd want to seek out, let alone use as my life-line.

Schooling two kiddos on purpose was quite different than schooling one kiddo.  Grant is very gifted so, it was easier in that I just took him along for the ride, adjusting his materials/activities as was needed.  Ginger excelled in urban planning.  She loves that.  I think that's awesome!

I am overwhelmed with the thought of chronicling the year's achievements, setbacks, victories, sweet moments and summation - but I know I must.  That reflection is often a glimpse of wisdom that will be needed in the future.

For now, however, enjoy this video of our end of year ceremony.  I am amazed at how excited the kids are, when it's just the two of them and me :-). It is important to me to have a rite of passage.  Though our education, per se, is fluid, I want my kiddos to be formally acknowledged for what they've accomplished.

I need that too - I realized how much I needed to have an offical "last day" when, after this ceremony, I didn't do laundry or clean anything for two weeks (except the occasional shower).

I needed to dumb down.

Chill out.

Veg.

Meditate.

Get behind in everything.

Let go.

Click below:

End of Year Bridge Ceremony

Coding: New Literacy Litmus Test. Are your kids ready?

Click this:  Coding for our kiddos - brave new literacy -