Homeschooling Hump Day #1

Well, I am trying something new on this blog, and we'll see how it goes! As some of you know, we are planning to homeschool our kids in future years. I may even start some very loosely structured schooling this year, to hopefully give Sam a jump on learning to read. My sister-in-law Joanne is beginning her homeschool journey this year, and she has been sharing different helpful sites with me as she comes across them. This got me thinking that it would be neat if some other moms would like to share ideas back and forth. Obviously, I am anything but a seasoned homeschool mom, but I thought that I could start a weekly blog feature and put up a Mister Linky so that those of you who already homeschool, have homeschooled in the past, or are planning to do so in the future could participate. Even if you don't have a blog, you can leave a comment with links or tips for the rest of us. :) I will try to get a post up every Wednesday (Hump Day). (Yes, I know today is Tuesday . . . but for this first week, I decided to put the post up a day early so everyone would have a heads-up, and also so I could make sure I installed Mister Linky correctly.) BTW, if you've never used a Mister Linky, here's how it works: In the first space, type your first name, and if you'd like to specify what your post is about, you can add that in parentheses. For example, I might type "Carrie (HSLDA and TOS links)." In the second space, copy and paste the URL of the blog post you want to link to. My post link would look like this: http://samsmommy.blogspot.com/2007/08/homeschooling-hump-day-1.html. Mister Linky will automatically ask you to leave a comment on my post, but you don't need to, unless you want to. :) Anyway, it's fairly simple and hopefully will be fun for everyone.

Since I have never yet homeschooled, most of my posts along this line will be links to helpful sites. For this week, here are two great sites I'd like to share.

1. Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA): I have heard that it's a good idea to join the HSLDA in case you ever run into any legal issues regarding homeschooling. I have found that their website is full of helpful info, as well. You can bring up a page for each state and find out exactly what your state's homeschool requirements are, as well as latest homeschool news.

2. The Old Schoolhouse Magazine: I first heard of this magazine a couple of years ago. Later I requested a sample issue, and was very impressed. It is a large magazine, published 4 times a year, and is jam-packed with helpful articles. Once I actually begin homeschooling, I definitely would like to subscribe. The Urban Homemaker is currently running a special where you can get 4 issues of TOS for $10.95, and the shipping is free (you receive the current issues, plus 3 of the most recent back issues). I thought this was a fantastic deal, and already sent in my order. :)

Please feel free to borrow the (very amateur) graphic at the top of the page, if you like. :) I may try to play around with it some more as I have time, or design a new one, but this works for now.