A note from our Editor:
As a homeschooling mom, I know how difficult it can be to find curricula and other educational products that will effectively educate our children. Each of my three sons has a unique personality and different learning styles; and each has different needs. I’ve spent too many hours online searching for products that will engage my children and offer challenging, yet flexible content that fits within our budget. It’s difficult to find the “right” curriculum, isn’t it?
We created the ChoosyHomeschooler website as way for us to learn more about other parents’ experiences with educational products, programs, services, software, websites, reference tools, and other learning management tools. The product reviews on our website were written by parents who have used these products and can give us some valuable insight into the effectiveness, usability, and relative price/value of each product. The reviews also contain valuable commentary on how the parent used the product; information about their child’s strengths, weaknesses, or special needs; plus additional hints & tips on product use or the use of supplements. Our overall organization and product tagging system will make it easy to find reviews written by parents similar to you; with children similar to yours!
I invite you to share your experiences with other parents by posting reviews of products you have used. Together, we can help one another!
Jennifer K. Gray
For more information on searching for products, using tags, and writing product reviews, please see our FAQ page.
Members of the ChoosyHomeschooler team:
Jennifer Bolton,
Ontario, Canada:
Our family has been home learning since the year 2000. We are definitely a different family! We have a number of special needs, which always presents unique challenges. My oldest son has APD, SPD, Anxiety Disorder, Tourette Syndrome (mild), Asthma, and his hands have benign hypermobility. My youngest son has APD, SPD, Anxiety Disorder, Tourette Syndrome, and is Gifted. Both boys have had a speech and language delay. I have Anxiety Disorder, Tourette Syndrome, Sclerosis, and a sore big toe! You know the aches and pains of being a mom, getting older, and going non-stop everyday! My husband is Gifted, and in my opinion has ADHD, but who knows for sure? Its an ongoing joke around our house! In spite of these challenges or maybe because of them, we have learned perseverance and dedication! We use free resources for teaching whenever we can, to keep our boys’ interests and to tailor their learning experiences to their individual learning styles and special needs.
On the ChoosyHomeschooler website, I work on the blog as the blog coordinator. I love meeting our new writers from all walks of life and seeing how they bring their diversity to their reviews. I am always learning something new and find this role fun and challenging!
April Duritza,
Charlotte, North Carolina:
Hi! As a third generation homeschooling parent with 7 year old twin daughters, I am thrilled to be part of the ChoosyHomeschooler project! My hobbies include reading, writing, hiking, and knitting. (Socks and lace are my favorite knitting projects, though I haven’t had much time for either, just lately!) I also am the owner of the homeschooling website and blog, Bringing Up Learners, where I design and share free homeschool lesson plans and other resources. I live just outside Charlotte, NC, where I was born and raised.
On the ChoosyHomeschooler website, I help out with editing and expertise for the blogs, and I am also working on the development of our new upcoming projects. As someone who has personally benefited from the freedom of homeschooling, I am so pleased to find another way that I can contribute to the homeschooling movement to which I owe so much!
Jessa Gillis,
Small town in Maryland:
I live in a two-stoplight town in Maryland that is halfway between Baltimore and Philadelphia. I homeschool my only child and read just about everything I can find. When I’m not reading—either to myself or to my daughter—I enjoy knitting, listening to music, watching cooking reality TV shows, and cooking.
My family has a garden for the first time this year, and spent a significant portion of the summer either picking fruit or making jam. I also love working with computers, and have hopes of learning a programming language or two… in my copious spare time! As for my daughter, she’s about to turn six and would spend every single day in her karate dojo if she could, but laments that there is no pink belt for her to earn.
Jennifer K. Gray,
Near Boston, Massachusetts:
I’m the mom of three very active boys. Our family enjoys taking educational “field trips” to destinations throughout Europe (specifically the Netherlands) and we have visited many of the Carribean islands. We also like letterboxing and creating home-made board games.
Some of my previous projects include: creating technical documentation for a social science research company; copy-editing and indexing continuing education books on teaching special needs children; and creating and facilitating creative writing courses for inner-city youth in Baltimore. In my spare time I enjoy running, biking, and reading. I also volunteer in a local women’s shelter, teaching yoga and relaxation classes.
Elise Jaffe,
Washington, DC:
OK, I admit it! I’m not homeschooling my kids. We are fortunate to live in a very good school district and, overall, they are getting a great education. That being stated, my husband and I don’t relinquish all of their educational upbringing to others. Over the years, we have used various supplemental programs at home and (try to!) keep up with curriculum changes, course requirements, and the ever-changing educational philosophies at the public schools.
When I’m not taking my kids to swim team, music lessons, or dance class, I spend much of my time at the computer. As a freelance writer and editor, I have written software documentation, training guides, and brochures. Before kids, when I worked full-time in an office, I developed operating procedures for running a personal computer Help Center, wrote proposals detailing personal computer products and services, and wrote articles for technical newsletters.
I am very happy to help the ChoosyHomeschooler website be polished and in good working order – I try to keep the tags concise and consistent, I manage the rotation of the featured reviews, I assign the images to each product, and I provide some quality control testing, when needed. In my spare time I like to knit, read, and walk the dog. I live just outside of Washington, DC with my husband and two daughters.
Debe Lange,
Small town in Wisconsin:
I’m a city kid who grew up in Eau Claire, WI, but I’ve traveled the country, and worked in a Fred Astaire Dance Studio while pursuing a professional singing career. Back in Wisconsin, I was engaged to my true love after only three dates, and here we are 34 years later! My husband is a railroad foreman and was also a non-denominational pastor and counselor for 24 years.
During that time, I homeschooled our seven children (four boys and three girls) for 19 years and I’d do it again in a heartbeat! We began in 1983, long before there were support groups, homeschool curricula, or affordable home computers, so it definitely was challenging. All our children graduated with diplomas, and six chose to further their education by earning college degrees.
Today, they’ve all moved out on their own. Their families are scattered across the country from Washington State to New Jersey! Their chosen occupations are diverse and include a Boeing aircraft mechanic, Coast Guard Search and Rescue, a stay-at-home mom, two Bucyrus welders, a Business Major, and a nursing student. Oh yes, did I mention the 8 ½ grandchildren? Currently I’m a freelance writer and editor, and have ghostwritten three books; one of them specifically about homeschooling children.
Richard Rasmus (Founder),
McLean, Virginia:
Until four years ago, I knew as little about homeschooling as most people outside the movement. None of my three daughters were homeschooled, and I had spent most of my career managing telecommunications and Internet businesses. All that changed, however, when I was hired to be president and CEO of K12, Inc, an online curriculum provider. During my time there I met many homeschoolers, and from them I learned to appreciate the impressive paths that they had chosen and the challenges that they faced.
My goals for the future now revolve around harnessing the power of new high-tech collaboration tools to make it easy for homeschoolers to share resources, make connections, and benefit from the collective wisdom and experiences of other homeschoolers across the country and around the world!
I have three daughters of my own who were already happily established in our local schools by the time I learned about homeschooling, so it appears that for now I can just hope to have the opportunity to homeschool their children some day!
