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The decision to homeschool, this time around, was one that just seemed natural as it sort of fell into place. My adult child went to public and catholic schools. At that time, as a single working parent, the thought of homeschooling did not even occur to me as being a choice I could make. Now that I am raising my niece and I am still a single parent, this time working at home, homeschooling just occurred as soon as she came to live with me when she was 16 months old.

Mary had seemed a bit delayed in some skills when she came to me, so I had her tested by a group called First Steps. They found developmental delays, one, for instance, was that her mouth hung open all the time which they said was indicative of needing stimulation. She also had speech delays. A schedule was set up for in-home therapy. Two therapists came to our home each week to work with her. One was for "occupational" therapy which mostly worked with gross and small motor skills and stimulation. The other therapist was for speech. She taught her basic sign language skills which was to help relieve her frustration over not being able to verbally communicate her basic needs. She learned these very quickly and used them often.

Along with the therapy, I began working with her, too. I have an Associates degree in the educational field (currently working on a Bachelor's degree), have worked as a teacher's aid in Elementary Schools and preschools and I teach piano to children from age three and up. I also taught my daughter to read, write, spell and do math before she began kindergarten. Therefore, teaching, to me, is a natural part of parenting. Parenting my niece, naturally, has involved teaching.

I used to worry about the cost of curriculum for homeschooling until I discussed this with a fellow (experienced) home-schooler who says you don't have to buy the expensive curriculum. I soon learned to make use of the local libraries, free educational programs there and at museums, nature centers, art centers, etc. I also learned to seek out educational books from yard sales of home schoolers, used books from schools and libraries, and online. All at no to very little expense. The cheapest and most effective teaching seems to have been reading book after book to her and involving her in daily routines and her own passion for reading. Homeschooling, for us, continues through summer with more outdoor-related activities and increased selective socialization

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