Answering the Questions

Ever since announcing that my husband and I decided to homeschool this year, I have received many questions.

"How long do you plan to do it?"
"What curriculum are you using to teach with?"
"How will Emma receive social interaction with children her age?"
"How did you come to this decision?"
"Are you nervous?"

I have decided to sit and answer some of those questions for you!

"How long do you plan to do it?"
 Not sure! As of right now, we are trusting in God's guidance and leadership and waiting on His plan. Taking it one year at a time and going to try our best to enjoy it and learn as much as we can along the way!

"What curriculum are you using to teach with?"
This was a hard to decision to make as there are so many wonderful curriculums available for us to use! Going into my search, I knew wholeheartedly that I wanted it to be Bible based! That is number one priority and so very important to my husband and I! I was highly recommended the Heart of Dakota Little Hands to Heaven curriculum and once I read through the reviews and previews online and saw how affordable it was, I decided to order it. However. once I received it and started flipping through the lessons, I came to realize that Emma may have needed the next level up {Little Hearts for His Glory} and decided to return it. I felt it wasn't going to be challenging enough for her and although she is only 4 1/2 years old, I do not want her getting bored! So, while debating whether or not I should exhange for LHfHG, I came across the website Hubbard's Cupboard!

What I have found here has been exactly what I was looking for. Bible Lessons, Scripture Memorization, Character Traits, Phonics, Reading, Math, and Science lessons all able to be printed out for free! I figured what better way to give homeschooling a try than to use the free resources that are availabe for us to use?! I know that once Emma gets older and if God continues to lead us to homeschool, I am going to need to purchase a good curriculum, however, for preschool, Hubbard's Cupboard {HC} looks perfect for us! I will be using these lessons in conjunction with the My First Hands-On Bible for the Bible lessons as well as My ABC Bible Verses: Hiding God's Word in Little Hearts and The Singing Bible for our scripture memorization. For reading and phonics help, we will be using in conjunction with HC, the Bob Books, Set 1: Beginning Readers as well as Now I'm Reading! Playful Pals, Level 1. I am beyond excited to start teaching Emma to read! Add in some free printables from Homeschool Creations and 1+1+1=1 and we are set to go! I am currently in the midst of organizing everything into our Homeschool Binder and creating a daily schedule that follows along as closely as possible to the HC schedule that we are advised to follow. Praying to be able to create a routine that helps aide in our days going as smoothly as possible!

"How will Emma receive social interaction with children her age?" 
This seems to be a big question among non-homeschoolers; one I even found myself asking. For now, Emma is involved in a wonderful gymnastics program that she absolutely loves! In a few weeks, she will be starting Rainbows which I am excited for since Missionettes was something I was a part of as a little girl! As she gets older, and if we are lead to continue on our homeschooling journey, I will look for a homeschool christian co-op in my area as well as keeping her involved in as many activites as she chooses. The possibilities with homeschooling are endless!

"How did you come to this decision?"
Prayer! Lots and lots of prayer! Seeking out God's guidance and His plan for not only our lives, but our childrens lives too! Homeschooling was actually laid on my husbands heart first before it was ever laid on mine! About a year and a half ago, my husband brought the idea of homeschooling to my attention. I had never given it any thought beforehand. I had always just assumed that my children would attend a private christian school like I had. However, my ways are not my own {Isaiah 55:8}, and God had other plans. I began praying about it and felt God's push and leadership into the direction of homeschool. Like I mentioned in the beginning of this becoming very long post, I have no idea how long we will continue on this journey and have also learned never to assume anything. Emma might just be attending a Christian school next year. Maybe even a public one. Who knows! That is one of the wonderful things about having complete and total trust in Jesus Christ to lead us on the correct path!

"Are you nervous?"
I was, but with continued prayer, wonderful online support, and everything starting to come together in an organized way, I am starting to feel at peace with this decision knowing that it is the right one since it came from Him!

If you are a new homeschooler and are nervous or scared, I would love to pray for you! Please let me know in the comments section below!

If you are curious about homeschool and have no idea where to start, check out my updated {inspiration} page!

If you have any other questions for me, I would love to hear them and promise to do my best at answering them! Please ask away in the comment section below!

May I ask for your prayers as we begin this journey in little more than a week? We are getting very excited about all that God has planned for us this year!

Linking up with other fabulous homeschooling moms at the Hip Homeschool Hop!

*amazon.com links are affiliate links

And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. ~ Deuteronomy 6:6-7