When I was in college taking American Government in the early 1990s, I wrote a research paper on the then-new School To Work Opportunities Act of 1994. It was legislation written to link to Goals 2000 in an effort to transition […]
Homeschool Graduates: The Next Chapter
Many readers know that our two daughters are homeschool graduates: They both graduated from our homeschool when they were 16. Now that several years have passed, I thought it would be a good time to update everyone on how they are doing post-graduation. Our […]
Three Generations at Teach Them Diligently
This was my third year attending a Teach Them Diligently Convention. The biggest blessing of the conference this year was being able to attend with three generations of my family: My mom, who homeschooled us in the 1980s, my homeschooling sister […]
Being Frugal Without Being a Cheapskate
Are homeschoolers cheap? Hopefully, we are frugal — not cheapskates! There’s a difference between being a good financial steward and avoiding paying a fair share of costs or expenses. As homeschoolers, I think we should strive to be frugal, but not […]
Can Public Schools Learn from Homeschools?
Recently I was sitting at a stop light staring up at a fancy billboard ad encouraging people in my district to vote “yes” for a $41 million school bond, and it got me thinking about how our public schools spend […]
Homeschool Veterans: Pay it Forward!
It is time — past time, really — for me to pay it forward in the homeschool community. I have always liked to help people, but I mostly do it on a one-on-one basis — quietly. However, the past couple of years I have […]
Five Reasons I’m Thankful for Homeschooling
As a NextGen Homeschooler, I am thankful for my own homeschooling experience as well as the opportunity to homeschool my own daughters now. Homeschooling has come a long way since the mid-80s when my mom started homeschooling: From more curriculum options and […]
Revisiting Our Homeschool Mission
When we first started homeschooling, I believed I was homeschooling for the right reason… and I was. More than anything else, I wanted my children to love God, to have a personal relationship with Him, and to live their lives […]
Does Common Core Affect Homeschoolers?
As a homeschool blogger and leader in my local homeschool support group, I get a lot of questions about Common Core. Questions like: “What’s the deal with Common Core? Why should I be concerned? Does Common Core affect homeschoolers?“ I’ve even […]
Thoughts on OCHEC Tulsa Convention 2014
I missed you this past weekend. Seriously, I missed you. There were quite a few people missing this year at the OCHEC Tulsa Convention 2014 — attendees as well as speakers and vendors. Perhaps the reason attendance was down was […]
Homeschooling Freedom in Oklahoma, Part 2
I shared last week about my experience being interviewed by a national TV news program regarding homeschooling freedom in Oklahoma and whether there should be more regulation. The focus of the story, which appeared last night and is summarized online, […]
Three Decades Later: Homeschooling in 2014
Our story at NextGen Homeschool began in 1984, when Dean & Karen Gotcher began homeschooling their three children (authors Rosanna & Elizabeth, and my husband Kenny) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Back then, homeschooling was almost unheard of unless you were in […]
Homeschooling Freedom in Oklahoma: Defending My Rights
Wednesday afternoon I was asked to do a TV interview with a national news program about homeschooling freedom in Oklahoma, where we live and where I was homeschooled as a child. Currently, families are free to homeschool without any regulation […]
30 Days of Thanks: Five Reasons I’m Thankful for Homeschooling
Join us in 30 Days of Thanks! We will be posting all month at NextGen Homeschool about some of the things we are personally thankful for, and when we do, the post will include a link-up at the bottom so […]
30 Days of Thanks: Curriculum Choice
Join us in 30 Days of Thanks! We will be posting all month at NextGen Homeschool about some of the things we are personally thankful for, and when we do, the post will include a link-up at the bottom so […]