Having just complete my first year of home schooling with my 12 year old daughter, I am eager to share some of our experiences and what I have learned. Believe me, we both went through quite an adjustment, especially becoming accustomed to being together all day, every day. We both had to acquire new roles, that of teacher and student, and to accept each other in those roles. All in all, I'd say everything went well. Not only did we survive, we both learned a lot, grew from our experiences, and lived to tell the tale...

The focus of this blog is not so much on our personal experiences, but on the materials (books, DVDs, curriculum, technology) we used. As a future media specialist, I bring a love of information in all of its formats and a fascination with Web 2.0 to our home school classroom (aka our kitchen). I really enjoyed supplementing the curriculum with literature, movies, information from the web, and outings. Using Web technologies was an excellent way to engage my daughter in the learning process while teaching her important technology skills that she will need to compete in the 21st century economy. She absolutely loved assignments which incorporated technology, and I think your kids will, too.

In the posts that follow, I plan to review the material we covered last year (6th grade), introduce concepts like Web 2.0 and 21st century learning and then go on to explore various curriculum topics, and the many fun and fascinating technologies on line (and how to use them). Please share your ideas. After all, I'm still a novice at both home schooling and information science, and have much to learn as well!