How can this book help you?

It is my hope that by sharing some of the home learning experiences that my family has had over these twenty-plus years I can offer you support and reassurance. We now can see that the children grow up to be self-sufficient, independent, confident adults that are able to relate well to people and the world around them. They retain their interest in learning, and are able to manage their lives in ways that benefit themselves and society.

Can homeschooled kids go to college?

As time goes on it gets easier and easier for those students that have been homeschooled to enter college. My kids entered college by first attending community college. To begin with they took some classes as high school students to get used to the environment, moving on to becoming college students. Then they transferred to four year schools for their upper division classes. Others that I have known or read about have entered by testing, or applying in other ways. Homeschoolers have a good reputation as motivated students. Like a couple of my kids observed when they first started attending college classes, they felt like they were so "fresh" compared to the other students that have been in the system for years.

What about socialization?

This is a question that has always been asked once people hear about the homeschooling. I feel that the kids have had wonderful socialization by learning at home. They haven't picked up the ageism attitude at all, and have friends of all different ages. They are able to spend time with people that they wish too, rather than those that happen to be in their same classes. Often after our park days the kids would go home or bring home children from other families for the evening, or a sleep-over.

There is still time to spend with neighborhood kids after school or on the weekends. They develop a wonderful bond with siblings because of the time spent together.

Why "letters to Mona"?

When I first decided to write this book, it felt stilted, and I had difficulty expressing myself. Then I had the idea to write it as though I was writing to my longtime friend, Mona. That made the telling so much more personal and allowed me to use the dating of the letters as a reference point for the reader.

What is the background of your family?

My former husband, Russ, and I grew up in Northern Minnesota (as did Mona). We dated in high school, and married in college. Russ entered the USMC after college. We had five children, four sons and one daughter, in the years between 1971 and 1988. We began homeschooling in 1981. Chris had attended school through the fourth grade, and Shawn had gone to kindergarten. Through an entire series of events we came to the decision to homeschool, and the kids didn't attend formal school again until they went to college. Chris graduated from college with a degree in accounting in 2002. He is married, and has one daughter. He works as an accountant. Shawn is scheduled to graduate in December of 2003 with a degree in theatre. He is currently applying to graduate schools. Devin works as a journeyman in the heating/air conditioning field. Donika attends community college majoring in dance and music. Trevor at fifteen still learns at home.

What method did your family use to homeschool?

Actually, we never used a particular method or curriculum. We didn't pay attention to grade level either. It seemed to work the best when each child learned at their own rate. A couple of the kids were very early readers, the others read much later. It was the structure of the school that I didn't want included in our lives. The goal was to have the children learn as they did in their early years. Mostly if one of the children expressed an interest in a particular thing, we tried to find ways to learn more about that. Individuality extends through all aspects of our lives, and I wanted to respect that for each of the kids.

We did use textbooks or workbooks when they fit our needs. We never believed in testing, unless the kids requested it, which they occasionally did for lists of words they were learning to spell.

Shawn decided to take the GED test, and used the study guide we purchased to prepare, so he took their practice tests.

Our San Diego homeschooling group tended to call the learning style we all embraced "unstructured".