Hi, I’m Mary.  Mom to the Engineer (9) the Princess (7) and the Destroyer (5.)  We decided to homeschool the Engineer because he’s a 2e kiddo and won’t be able to function well in a traditional classroom setting.  We weren’t really planning to homeschool despite kicking the idea around for a while.  His failed IEP evaluation made the decision much easier.

Now we’re headed full-bore into school stuff and loving the ability to customize what he needs.  He may be a first grader in age but cognitively he wants to learn so much more than the basic stuff.  We live for rabbit holes, and spend much of our time saying “that’s cool, let’s go look it up!”

So how did this blog get started?  Well…originally it was a way for me to share things that I came up with for the Engineer.  I’ve pared that back due to copyright issues, and while I still post free printables, the majority of my posts are plain venting.  Just me getting annoyed with something.  Or celebrating the little victories.  It’s something of a journal, but hopefully more readable!

You might be wondering just what sort of wacko parent sets out to teach their kid about Newton’s First Law in Kindergarten.  That’s me!  I’m not pushing him to learn – he’s dragging me!  And honestly, that’s why I didn’t really want to homeschool in the first place.  I knew what I was getting into.  I knew how much work it would be.

See, I have a confession to make.  I’m homeschooled.  Or was.  However you want to look at it.  Once upon a time when people only homeschooled for religious reasons, my parents decided to homeschool me.  I learned fairly well and I loved the freedom of homeschooling.  My most vivid memories of homeschooling were sitting at the desk in my room doing Saxon algebra, but really reading a book for a few minutes instead of doing more math problems.

Fast forward to college: I did fine.  Reassuring, I know.  Graduated in 3.5 years with a double major and a Suma – so I’m living proof that homeschooling works.  Not only that, but I’m published!  Woo! (an essay, not the whole book.  What, did you think I was plagiarizing?)  There’s a paperback coming out too so I’m excited about that.  Somewhere, some poor college student is referencing my paper in their assignments.  Now that is mind-blowing.

So what would I be doing if I wasn’t a parent?  Or blogging?  I’m an artist.  I specialize in cyanotypes – a very old photographic process that involves brushing the emulsion on the paper.  It’s rather painterly, but with a digital twist.   My art has taken a backseat to kids and homeschooling, but I’m working on rebooting things because it’s a vital part of who I am.

So pull up a chair, and stick around for a bit.  Subscribe if you want my posts to plop into your inbox.  I’m in for a wild ride and I fully intend on sharing it.   Maybe, just maybe, writing about this stuff will keep me from losing my mind.  We can hope, right?

All free printables are for personal, educational use only.