The Beginning of our Journey into Homeschooling

Hank and I decided to homeschool our daughter, Ashton, this year. She graduated from elementary to middle school which can be a scary transition. Our neighborhood recently got annexed into the city where Ashton will no longer be going to a city school rather than a county school. (City schools are very poor in academics, violence, etc.) We thought about private school, but our finances just couldn't handle it with one income.

I recently graduated from the University of Memphis with a Bachelor's degree in Accounting and Finance. Since I finally got my schooling out of the way, we thought this was the perfect time to begin homeschooling.

I was really nervous about beginning this journey. One minute I was excited that I could have a closer relationship with my daughter. The next minute I was literally freaking out. I have never taught school plus I had a two year old that demanded all my time. I really prayed about this decision. I just felt God wanting me to homeschool- not just academic school but learn more about God . Does that make sense? I want my daughter to grow up to be a godly woman. I needed to show her how to have a close relationship to God. I think that is the best knowledge I can teach my children, God's Word, for their future.

Well, we decided to go with a "box curriculum" which everybody I talked to suggested for the first year. We went with Bob Jones University with the DVD set. Her lessons were on DVD. All she had to do was watch the DVD and do her workbooks. How hard could this be? Wow, was I wrong. After I ordered the kit, I received 5 boxes at my front door within 2 weeks. How much stuff did I need? I have an OCD of organization. Yes, my family makes fun of me all the time for it. Everything must be planned and organized. Everything should be written in my big calendar! Being organized gives me such a high. I told you I am crazy! When those boxes came, my OCD went into overdrive. I had to have everything in a perfect format. I went out and bought organized shelves for Ashton's room. I had everything color coded, folders matched books, spiral notebooks also matched. I had my labeler ready to go to label everything in sight. You would have thought she was actually leaving the house to go to school thinking someone was out to steal all her school supplies. Oh, I forgot to tell you this was in the middle of June. School didn't start till August. Again, I told you I am crazy!

Well, tomorrow I will continue my blog to tell how our first month of homeschooling went..got to get Brayden in the bath tub and off to bed.