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26 August 2012:

When I first had the idea of home schooling, my daughter was 2.  With 4 years between then and Grade 1, the idea of home schooling had been decided by my husband and I and also forgotten.  We moved to a wonderful neighbourhood, where she was set to attend a good school.  With just 2 days to registration, the first reminder came through from a long time friend in America, who out of the blue emailed me  to find out if I would be the hands and feet in South Africa for a community project she wants to head up in America through her home school community.  That email lead me to contact a woman I used to work for, who informed me she was also home schooling her granddaughter.  From there doors started opening, too many to ignore.  When you are called by God to do something, it’s “in your face obvious” – ignoring Gods voice on this, would have been plain silly.
My husband then bumped into an old school friend, who just happens to now be living a stone throw away from us and his wife is also home schooling her 3 children and runs a support group for home schoolers on the East Rand of Johannesburg.  I then attended a home school seminar and who should I bump into, my very first “boss” straight out of school in KZN, who also now lives in Gauteng and home schools her 3 girls.  The home school world is bigger than I thought and very well supported.  I’m realising that everything in life is connected!!!
Of course, like any other parent I would imagine, I have been through many fears: Will my child suffer in any way, mainly socially or academically?  Would I be able to home school effectively while still holding down a half day job from home?  Is there any support for home schoolers or would we be going at this alone?  It was amazing to see how all the fears I had were being answered by God one by one, where practical solutions were offered and my fears stilled.  Someone said to me: “God does not call the equipped, but he equips and strengthens the called!”

So why is this blog called “Home School Reminders”?  For one, I have a terrible memory, so I wanted a blog that I could look back on and be reminded of curriculums, peoples names, websites I’ve found useful, the good times and the hickups.  Then I needed a place with all the legalities around home schooling (i.e. to register or not with Government, what the Education Act says about each phase of school). 

I hope you find this blog useful and please drop me a comment, I would love to hear from you!