My family lives simply and quietly in rural west Tennessee. I've been married to my sweet William since I was 18 and he was 19, back in 1996. I remember well all the naysayers and finger-waggers as we wed, those who said I was "throwing it all away" to marry so young. But I wanted nothing more than to be a helpmeet to him and mother to children. The plural "children" were difficult for us to conceive and five never made it to be born... we've had unexplained infertility and multiple early miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies. Yet one baby did survive, Gail, who has now grown into this amazingly bright, inquisitive and active little four year old girl.
She came ten years into our marriage, and has already lost two more unborn siblings since her birth. It seems that our family will most likely remain small, but although our quiver contains only one arrow, we are so thankful for that one! Yet I do feel somewhat out of place amongst most other homeschoolers with multiple (and often multitudes of) children, whether online or in the local co-op which meets weekly. This is why I'm so happy to have found this place!We had considered homeschooling Gail since even before she was born, but wavered somewhat in her early toddlerhood. At times my husband was more avidly for it, then at other times I would be convinced and he would be unsure. Most of my hesitation was grounded in my own insecurities and also in my lack of orderliness and neatness. I think that much of his hesitation stemmed also from the latter! After much prayer and study, we finally reached a conclusion of, "Yes, we will, with the Lord's help."
Gail just turned four years old this month, but for a long time now has shown a great desire to learn and especially to read. Without much deliberate instruction, she has learned a wide spectrum of colors (including many modifiers of shade) as well as many shapes. She is not very interested in counting, although she can. Her real love is learning the names of things (especially animals), and the WHY of things, and her utmost desire is to be able to learn about them "on my own" by reading. Since we don't have television (although we do watch movies), she sees us reading a great deal and is longing to be able to do this herself. Often she approaches as we read to ask where we are on the page and which words we are reading at that moment, then she sighs dramatically and laments, "I don't know how to read yet, and I can't wait."
She enjoys writing immensely, knows many letters and can write a few names from memory or with very little prompting. She understands clearly that letters represent something, and continually asks how to spell certain words so she can label drawings or address a picture for a certain person. So she grasps the concept, but we have not yet delved into letter sounds.Lest I make it sound as if she will be the ideal student, let it be known that I spend much of the day rescuing the kitten from her not-so-tender ministrations, kissing boo-boos which result from fearless leaps from perilously high places and defending myself against attacks from a plastic sword. She is a four year old, after all, and has seemingly boundless energy and a propensity to spend much of her waking time gambolling about on all fours like a horse. She leaves little collections of things everywhere (a clutter-monger like me), and I must be careful not to put her "stacks" in disarray. I spend a great deal of time removing little rocks from all surfaces and putting them in the designated place, which is quickly filling because she is determined to deplete my parents' supply of pea gravel under their swing until there is nothing left but grit. Every rock is pretty, of course, because as Gail says, "God made everything beautiful!" My parents, by the way, live across the little dead-end tar and chip road from us and are excited about homeschooling and a chance to be "subsitute teachers" if I have an appointment at the dentist or what have you. Their support came after some brief negativity, but they are now on board after seeing that every other "weird thing" we did (exclusively breastfeeding, using a sling, etcetera) worked out just fine.
It's nice to have support!We recently bought several items from Rainbow Resource that we are anxious to begin using in a more formal time of instruction, with Gail very excited and enthusiastic about the prospect. I wonder if there are other parents of preschoolers here on this board?
Thanks for reading this long-winded introduction...
I'm so glad you found us, this is a very supportive place! How fun that your dd wants to read and write already - you'll have a wonderful time hsing and I'm excited for you as you start on this family journey.
but your soon to be homeschooling years will fill your 
and keep you very busy!! 
Sometimes I'm just a little "out of it" and behind.
