How it all began

All of this homeschooling started way back in 2008. Melanie and I knew that our young girls were not ready for "real" school, but they still showed that desire to learn and they were definitely ready for what I considered my main goal for Kindergarten, which was to prepare them for and teach them to read. Mary Carol was just barely 4 years old, but she showed an eagerness to decode our confusing language, so after much consideration, we opened Kindergarten in the converted nursery in our house.

And, as little brother's often do, William refused to be left out of the fun. So he joined us as an honorary Pre-K student. What exactly that meant, we weren't sure, but we found out quickly that offering William different work than our Kindergartners only served to distress him more than being faced with a challenge. He kept up quite nicely, though distinctly at his own level for reading and writing.

Here are our little gems ready for their first day of school in January 2008:

With our friend, Eleanor right by our sides, we breezed through elementary phonics and Melanie and I found ourselves with 2 terrific readers in no time and 3 students ready and eager to learn the Bible verses, math basics, and themes we presented.

We've had our times of difficulty with the logistics of schooling while selling a house, while one child is in the hospital, and while living in an apartment that was too small for day-to-day life, let alone schooling, but once we started down the path of growing these blessings in our home, we've never looked back.