A Home School Mom

 

I never thought I would be a homeschool mom. When I was younger, I had dreams of being big and important in the corporate world.  But 9 years ago, God called me off of the corporate ladder and onto Jacob’s ladder.  🙂  And it has been a much different climb!

I started working for Scataglini Ministries in September 2002. It has been an incredible blessing and I can honestly say that I would never want to go back to the corporate ladder. It was there that I was first introduced to the thought of me actually becoming a Home School Mom.  Kathy was homeschooling her children and had curriculum I could use. She was encouraging and helpful in the start up process.  I could not have, and I am sure would not have, done it without her.

But I recall that first year.  I started with my middle child, my daughter Jacqui. She was going into the 7^th grade and wanted to be homeschooled so badly!  I was so unsure of my abilities in that arena that I didn’t want to do both her and her brother, Ricky (3^rdgrade at that time). Their older brother, Steve, was already graduated and on to college.

Jacqui was a breeze to teach. She’s a smart cookie. She is hearing impaired, which made homeschooling so much better for her than being in a noisy, crowded room, trying to hear the teacher. As a homeschool mom, I was able to work more closely with her and help her through. I quickly found that she didn’t need a large amount of help. She would read her lessons and take her tests rather well.

As a home school mom, AND working a full time job (from home), my life was busy and crazy, as you can imagine. We had started off with Abeka as our homeschool curriculum.  It is actually a wonderful curriculum and it is awesome to have our History class actually start off with “In the beginning…”. But I also soon found that laying out the daily coursework, grading the papers and keeping track of all of the paperwork involved was very time consuming.  My children found the endless reading to be very cumbersome.

I eventually started looking for a new solution. I knew I wanted to continue my quest as a home school mom, but I wanted to be able to mainstream and be more productive, without compromising at all on my children’s educational needs. That is when I found Switched on Schoolhouse curriculum by Alpha Omega Publishing. It is WONDERFUL!  It was a lifesaver! 

Switched on Schoolhouse is an interactive, computerized homeschooling curriculum that is multifaceted in its approach and very time saving for me!  It comes on e a CD ROM and works on most PC computers. No internet needed.

The benefits for the student are that it incorporates a multifaceted, dynamic approach to learning. Each lesson incorporates a small video and/or a hands-on game that can be used to reinforce the lesson. It is so much more than just dry reading. And if your student gets tired of reading, he/she can even hi-light the text and let the software read to them!

My daughter, Jacqui, did so well with the Switched on Schoolhouse that she was able to finish High School early and is now attending College at age 17! My son, Ricky, is also motivated to do well and will be completing his freshman year of High School by early January!

Ricky

For the homeschool mom, Switched on Schoolhouse (SOS) is a life saver in its grading, record keeping, and syllabus functions.  As we sometimes need to travel during the week with Sergio, there are times where they might miss a day or two of school. With SOS, that is no problem. You simply click on a button to tell the program to regenerate a lesson plan, and it does all the calculations for you!  It has kept us on track for the last four years.  I love it so much that I have become an Authorized Distributor for Alpha Omega Publications.

If you are a home school mom, or even thinking of becoming a homeschool mom, check out my website where I sell the Switched on Schoolhouse curriculum at a 10% discount!  During the months of November and December, I will also be offering FREE SHIPPING on their entire curriculum.  Stop in and check us out!!