Come out, come out, whereever you are!

Will do, thanks for the tip. It actually snowed twice this year here in the South. We were shocked! How many do you have to go to reach that goal?

Right now I have 18 to go. I started the day at 944 so I am making pretty good progress.

I see you reached your goal. Congratulations! Now what?

Are you planning anything special for the upcoming weather changes?

How many homeschoolers do you have?

What is your chosen method?

Hiya Avonrep, nice to hear from you! We unschool here too. She pretty much does what she wants seeing how she's the only child. She became interested in cooking when she was 4 and gradually we built it up to where she can now cook pretty much anything she sets her mind to. She'll be 9 in April. She really enjoys Reading and Math. Most of her Math comes from online games, board games, or games she and I make up. We get a lot of our books at various thrift shops and books cover all the major gift giving days as well. We no longer have cable so the T.V. doesn't pick up anything. We made that decision because it was rarely getting watched, though we did enjoy watching the History Channel during the afternoons - we shall live without it somehow. Basically she does her own thing, involved me when she wants to, and if she's run out of ideas, I'll suggest something. Today I'll suggest she learn about Bell. She researched leap year last week and Madagascar before that. Just whatever she wants to know about. We do what we can to provide the resources. Still, to this day, unschooling amazes me. I went to Public and Private and I couldn't even fathom letting a child lead. It really works. I was skeptical but it really works.

When I first started I went all nuts and would go to Half Price books almost every week to add to the collection of stuff I thought I would need or might need. Software wise I am good till they graduate. I have so much stuff they could take the SAT's on the software I bought, without me ever having to spend another dime, but I want to make sure they get all the education they need and will keep buying workbooks but I found the one that works for us, call Comprehensive Grade? they are really good workbooks without all the christain hype.
I have found alot of homeschool resources are like that bible based, and though that is find with some people, it not for everyone including my family. Glad to see other homeschoolers on here getting active.

We're Christian unschoolers - you don't hear much about that. Lots of people think what I'm doing with my child is un-Biblical. As for the workbooks, we just don't use them. She has a Health A Beka which is Christian based and she learned phonics through A Beka but thats as far as I went with any Curriculum..The internet could teach her far more than I could...We made the family decision to choose faster internet service over T.V. so now she can see things "come to life" on screen. We do a lot of hands on too. She likes studying nature and collecting things that she finds. She's been using the computer since she was 18mo. My husband builds them so she picked it up early on.

I understand that completely. My kids have been using the computer since about the age of 1. As they have grown we have invested each year in a new computer, giving everyone in the house one. Though right now, one is down and needs to be fixed. I am a computer geek myself and went to school for it, just haven't found the time to go through and figure out what in the heck is wrong with it.
My kids like doing worksheets for some reason, and the books give me records in case, anyone ever accuses me of educational neglect. I don't really keep many records, we just master things and then move on. I don't believe in grades anymore, but it shows the state if I am ever question, that my children do work.

Yeah I know what you mean. I give random "tests" from time to time to show me that she's learning and to also have something for the records. Its just something nice to fall back on.

More unschoolers YIPEE! I'll have to go back and read your posts now. I just had to shout for joy. I was beginning to think I was the only one.

I'm leaning toward more structure now that I'm trying to fit in more income for the family..I bought some used teacher's manuals and other books of interest plus a few extras for fun ( kid's check book, play money, new rulers, 300 counters )..My daughter wanted flash cards..She's still very much a self learner...My husband just isn't terribly supportive. He wants proof of her work each day..We're gonna try to fit in about two hours of one on one with a little work and then unschool the rest.

That sounds like pretty much what we do too. We have co-op classes two to three days a week, where the kids get a couple hours at a time of structure, then the rest of the week, we just go with what comes natural.

I thought about that too...just doing a 3 day week and every other day be unschooling...Since we're learning all the time, year round, she'd get plenty of the book learning that way...I think I'll try that, thanks!

I'm happy to help. Our co-op class aren't always core classes. We've done Math, Science, Bible studies, French, Scrapbooking, Health, Language...you name it. But they are our only structured classes. It's nice to give the cores a break every once in a while, and just let them absorb them through life. Then they live it, and learn it, instead of memorizing facts and details. I think its way more productive, and proactive.

There's always something to learn here at the lake. I just feel better knowing she's learning some of what the other kids know. Makes me feel better at least..hehe

That's really what it boils down to isn't it? What makes us feel better...
As long as she is engaged, active, and learning. My oldest loves American history, and can sit and read biographies of dead presidents, yeah for her. I don't quiz her on these, cuz that would mean I'd have to read them. (snooring) But when she pick one up on a writer, or an inventor, I'm all over it, finding extra things for her to check out and launch new ideas. Sometimes we can get a little selfish, but I feel that teaches them, to each his own...ya know?