Good Afternoon Everyone

My name is Stephanie Pheneger. I am 26 1/2 (I turn 27 in June!), and I have 3 amazing loving kids. I am also married to my huby of 4 years. His name is Zach. My kids are Aiden aka Bubby (5), Sydney aka Sissy (2), and Sloan aka Chunk (1). I got out of the Navy in 2012 because I didn't want to spend anymore time in because of what was happening, and I didn't want to spend anymore time away from my kids then I already had. I am still a working Mom at this point and will be quitting my job soon to homeschool the kids. Aiden starts kindergarten this year and I'm so excited. My Mom (Donna Pheneger) belonged to this board when I was homeschool. I was homeschooled from 6th - 12th grade. I loved it and I learned so much from it. I am still in college, I'm using my GI bill, and I am currently finishing up my Bachelor's in Business Administration and starting up my Master's next spring. I changed my Master's degree to Education with a specialization in Children with Special needs. My middle daughter Sydney has non-verbal autism. I am trying to help her anyway I can and I know I can do it.

I have no clue what I'm doing (but thats pretty normal for me! Haha!) with homeschooling. I'm petrified but I'm leaning on God to lead me and my family along the right path. I love books so that may be an issue for me because I love book stores and I'm constantly buying books for the kids and myself. Hubby doesn't like to read so I don't have to worry about him (LOL!).

When I was younger homeschooling moms were pretty strict and proper. My mom was the complete opposite. She loved all of us and told us daily. She let us have fun with our school work and loves watching us grow. Now that I live 10 minutes down the road from her she loves watching her grandkids grow up. I hope I can do that for my kids. I can't wait to "meet" ya'll!


Also I believe Miss CLW (Cindy Lou Who) is still part of the board. Hi Miss CLW! Love ya and miss ya!

Steph

Hi Steph! GREAT to see you here! Sounds like you are off to a wonderful start. It does my heart good to see homeschooled kids grow up to be homeschooling moms and dads. :0)
Welcome!

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Ahh... I thought the last name sounded familiar!
Welcome to the boards!

I've known your mom for many years on here.

Welcome! I haven't been here long enough to remember your Mom - but glad you're here : )

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http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/

Hi Steph... And a warm welcome to the homeschooling moms' club!

I wasn't homeschooled myself but my husband and I had decided early on (even before our wedding!) that when we have kids, we will homeschool them. It did take some convincing to get his parents to agree to this (since they live with us and were totally against the idea) but eventually when we put forward our points, they came around and now they are pretty open to the idea. I didn't tell them then, but deep down inside, I admit I did have some apprehension - what if I steered my daughter the wrong way early on? What if I didn't monitor her studies well enough and later on she realizes she's left behind with regard to her peers? And, most importantly, how would she learn social skills, without mingling too much everyday with kids of her own age? I voiced out these concerns to my husband and we decided we would not let anything go wrong. After all, where there is a will, there is a way! Right?

And so we began. We started by poring over dozens of magazines and websites, picking up one thing from here and another from somewhere else. It took months. And then, once we had sifted through the chaff, we felt we were almost ready. We had a fairly set curriculum (with help from places like http://www.jumpstart.com/teachers/curriculum ), with a plan to have a look at our actual progress with Sarah (that's our daughter) every three months and then decide how to proceed further. And touch wood, it's been three years now and Sarah is 7 years old and we have nothing to complain about. She's picking up really well and believe it or not, is the most talkative girl in her friends' circle! All our fears were allayed and now it's a happy happy situation for all of us

All the best to you too. Am sure you'll make a rocking homeschooler mum!

Hey Martha R.!

I know I love the fact that I was homeschooled and so was hubby so it makes it so much easier. I have been looking at schools the past few months and I was the one to come home crying to my hubby telling him I didn't want to send him to school. That's when he turned and said "Then we are homeschooling them!" YAY!!!!

Stephanie P

Hey Tory!!

Then it's nice to meet you! I'm sure my Mom will come back around since she will be helping me and she will be a homeschooling Grandma. She's the one that has kept me calm through this even though inside I'm screaming. LOL

Stephanie P

Anna,

It's ok it's still nice to meet some other homeschooling Moms. Around here we have a few and I'm the one to sit in the back and observe first so I don't know many.

Stephanie P

Hey Amy!

All I can do now is just pray. I almost hyperventilate when I think about my kids and me homeschooling them. I love school and I love learning but it's crazy to think I'm the one that will be doing it from now on. I have the same questions you did and I think my Mom when I told her and first started to really think about it she kind of "shook" me out of my craziness. She told me she was the same exact way and it's ok to freak out.
I haven't told my grandparents yet in all honesty. My Dad's parents were NOT happy with us being homeschooled and were very vocal about it. It really really hurt my Mom. My Mom's grandparents were happy for us. They were like "Ok, but make sure they learn!". We have told my husbands parents and they are overjoyed just like my mom and dad. Since we were both homeschooled we know to join an umbrella school for Florida, Join HSLDA, and I joined the FPEA (Florida Parents Education Association) because I get awesome discounts. LOL

Thank you so much and again it is so nice to meet ya'll!!!
Stephanie

Welcome!

Yay, I'm not the youngest one on here anymore, lol! I turn 30 next month. I have 3 kids: 9 1/2, 7, and 1. I have been homeschooling for 3 years. It has definitely been an adventure. My oldest has had some struggles, but has come really far this year and it's the first year I have felt "successful" at homeschooling, more confident and comfortable. I think at least part of my struggles with ds were because he had 1.5 yrs of public schooling before we started homeschooling and I have been undoing what they did. Things have been much easier with dd, who has only been homeschooled. But I think their personalities also have a lot to do with it.

The best thing I can say is to hang in there and the difficult times will pass and it will all be worth it. It can take time to find out what each individual child needs, but when you do and you see them learning and making progress, it is a great feeling. It's a learning experience for everyone.

I was also in the military (Air Force) and got out in 2011 to homeschool. One of the best decisions I ever made! I have not used any of my GI Bill, though, and don't know if I ever will at this point, lol. You are definitely a lot more motivated than me.

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Mom to Christian (13), Saphira (10), Xavier (5), and Adrian (2).