Hi! I am new to both blogging and homeschooling. The decision to homeschool came about when Bear (son, 5) did not win the "lottery" and get accepted into a charter school. The charter school we applied to grouped kids by ability, not age. My son is reading at a 3rd grade level and excels at math. I was afraid he would be extremely bored and lose his love of learning if he was forced to sit at a desk and rehash what he already knows. Sure there would be something new scattered here or there, but I doubt enough to keep his interest. His mind is like a sponge and I want him to keep learning at his own pace. I had heard about homeschooling, but this idea was very foreign to me. No one I know has done it. And I went to public school. Several of my in-laws are public school teachers and they are all smart, caring, well-educated and more capable of teaching than I am. Shouldn't the experts employed by our government be the ones to educate my kids? But the thought of putting my son on that yellow school bus did not feel right. It felt like I would be cheating him. And so begins our homeschooling journey...