a home for my heart

My daughter and I started homeschooling using Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online in 2018/19. We miss the wonderful teachers and school staff (and friends) at our local public school, but we LOVE learning together. I have lots of experience teaching in a church setting, but teaching academics is somewhat different and I'm learning how to do it as I go!

Reading is part of our family culture, so using Charlotte Mason's philosophy which has a heavy emphasis on reading livings books was almost a no-brainer for us. We read. If it's a school book, I'll ask for a narration. Regardless of whether we're reading a school book or not, whether there was a narration or not, all books are subject to comments, discussion, acting scenes out, art projects (lots of drawing, coloring, and watercolors), and lightning bolt connections that come out of the blue days or weeks later. My husband is an unschooler (and questions the label), and therefore our style also includes lots of unexpected discussions (sometimes lectures), usually scientific in nature. We do lots of impromptu science experiments. For all most subjects I am interested in developing Notebooking habits, but we haven't got there yet. Math is a bit different. We use Teaching Textbooks online with occasional discussions and manipulative when necessary.

Seeing the spark in my daughter's eyes as her face lights up with a connection, and having the opportunity to share that moment with her are my only and best awards.

I had several excellent teachers growing up, including Mrs. Hansen, Mr. Beyer (who read aloud to us), Mrs. Dozier, Mr. Moore, and Mr. Del'Orto. I attended College of the Redwoods, where a Geography class changed my life. I earned a BS in Geography with an emphasis in GIS from California State University, Sacramento.

My husband and I have three children. We both have degrees in the sciences and enjoy teaching our children about the world. Our family loves to read books. We particularly love listening to audio books and reading aloud together. We also enjoy going on adventures, hiking, camping, and dancing in the kitchen.