This article is designed for new homeschoolers or those looking into this adventure. If you're brand new to teaching your children at home you are probably overwhelmed at the sheer volume of curriculum choices available and would love someone to take you by the hand and just tell you what to choose. Well, one of the best things about homeschooling is that you have the freedom to choose and to individualize a program that's suited to both you and your child.

Although I've worked with hundreds of homeschooling families over the years, I can really only speak for our family and how we did it. We homeschooled our two children for over 11 years - both right through high school. They are now 26 and 23 years old and now raising families of their own!

Our oldest attended college and although she is married, raising a son and expecting another child, she is still furthering her studies and planning to begin homeschooling her oldest in the fall of 2003. Our youngest owned a business, sold a business, is now working successfully in business and recently decided to enroll in classes to pursue a more focused career ... in business.

Homeschooling for us started out in a rather structured textbook-workbook approach because at the time that's all we knew existed. But it lasted less than a year, because I knew, intuitively that there was a better way and our children loudly echoed my sentiments. After some starts and stops in different directions we settled into what is now called 'Eclectic Homeschooling'. (Back in the eighties, it didn't have a name.) Common sense was the motivating factor... we used what worked... be it a textbook, unit study, project, self-directed study, field trip, group instruction... if it worked we continued with it and if it wasn't working or it was completely boring we discarded it.

One thing I found out early, however, was that if I didn't like a particular book or program - or if I couldn't easily understand how to use it - well, no matter how much pressure I was under from others to use it, the simple fact was, it would end up gathering dust on a shelf. That was an expensive lesson learned early. We, like most of homeschooling families, lived on one income and couldn't afford to throw money away on materials that would only be used as bookends.

The important thing to understand early on in this journey is this: use the plans and resources that work for your family. Determine now not to be unduly influenced by what others are doing. Understand that there is not necessarily one right or wrong approach. Keep an open mind and don't get locked into a program that is supposed to solve all your curriculum problems if you know in your heart that it's not working. You haven't failed... you just need to move on and explore some other areas.

Through the years we used a regular combination of unit studies, hands-on projects, textbooks, enrichment programs, self-directed learning, classroom instruction, and, as the children got older, mentoring, apprenticeships and mail-order programs.

On our Resource Network page, you'll find some great places to start your search. If you live anywhere near Michigan or Massachusetts, consider attending our Homeschool & Family Learning Conferences for the best information and equipping available. If you have specific questions that we can help you with, please submit them. If we don't have an answer, we'll direct you to someone who can help.