Switching to the homeschool environment is one of the biggest decisions a mother can make for her child. The decision can stem from a variety of reasons; bad "school" experiences, bad "teacher experiences", an educated decision can come about if you have researched homeschooling before your children ever need to enter school.

Having just completed our second full year of homeschooling, I think this is a good time to evaluate our homeschool experience.

I had my reservations when we first began our homeschooling journey, but now when I look back, I'm so glad we gave it a try. We started because we wanted to take advantage of all of the great things there are to do/see around in our area, and around the country. My husband was traveling a lot when we started, and this has given us the flexibility and freedom to travel with him.

Amazon has all the books and resources you could imagine.  Start your research here.

Many homeschoolers use a canned curriculum which is very formal, or on the other end of the spectrum, many also choose "unschooling." We have ended up somewhere in the middle.

Things that I worried about before we started have turned out to be non-issues. Socialization, I believe, is now much more natural for Nicki. She interacts every day with people of all age groups. She is as comfortable having a conversation with an adult as with another child. There is a very large group of homeschool friends that she sees all the time. So she still has her school friends and now many more friends too. Believe me, socialization is not a problem for her.

I was also worried about being cooped up in the house too much. Just the opposite has happened. Nicki has voice and drama lessons, (the homeschool players put on 2 great productions last year) Cello, Science, French, Art, Ceramics, Ice skating, Horseback riding, etc. She gets through her basic academic classes quickly at home and the rest of her time is spent pursuing things she's really interested in.

In many ways this has actually been easier for me than traditional school. Nicki needed to slow down in some subjects and speed up in others. She has great interest in the things she's studying so she doesn't need prodding from me and I also have control over our schedules.

We are very lucky in that we have a charter school system here in California, which we use, so our materials and most classes are paid for.

I realize it may not be for everyone, but so far, homeschooling has been a great experience for us. For now, I feel we have definitely made the right decision. We will see what the future brings.