"I see homeschooling as a way of life. For me, it shows in every smile brought to my boys, in every effort my boys joyously make to achieve and to shine before them."

"I hope that as a teacher at home, my legacy to my boys will not be text or tests, but an unspoken treasure, the treasure of my character, my capacity to care and to love and many fond memories"

So, why do I want to homeschool, having my schedule busier than I need to... have no time of my own.... you might be nodding your head and agree that I must be crazy and insane....

Although we are into our 4th year of homeschooling, "to homeschool or not to homeschool" is the question we revisit often. We constantly evaluate and pray for wisdom and guidance. Not only Guan and I involve in this process, but also all of our three boys do too. As I often share with my boys that I love homeschooling and consider it is a privilege, however, it is a choice we make as a family and we don't have to homeschool if it is not the best for them. The bottom line what Guan and I want is to find the best environment to raise our boys to become useful, responsible and mature adults and most of all, to be Christ-like and follow God's will.

Flash back in 1999... Actually, unlike many homeschool moms who knew that they wanted to homeschool their children starting at very young age, I never thought about homeschooling my boys. Both Jonathan and Timothy were in public school and I was active in school functions as well as helping out in classrooms. In 1999, while I was actively building our home-based business, I came across many homeschool moms. They intrigued me. As Guan said that we, in Montgomery County, have great public school systems, why would people choose to homeschool? It seemed odd and I was puzzled as well as being very curious. I then went onto three years of exploring journey where I went to many homeschool meetings as well as visiting many homeschool moms at their homes.

In summer 2003, as Jonathan graduated from elementary school, he asked to be homeschooled. As a family (more just Guan, Jonathan and I since Timothy and Xander were quite young at that time), we decided to give homeschooling a try. We reasoned that we can always try for one year and go back to school system if it doesn't work out....

How time flies......it's been 4 years... So, why do we continue to homeschool???

When we started homeschooling, we planned to have Jonathan return to school system when entering high school. Yet, Lord prepared my heart when I went to a seminar where speaker talked about the most important time to homeschool is high school. Last year, when Jonathan was in eighth grade, my prayer was answered that we were accepted into a wonderful homeschool community of "Chieftain Christian Academy" where we will be held accountable with our work. Jonathan is also able to take high school courses at Chieftain Institute with other homeschoolers as well as attending graduation and receiving a high school diploma.

Homeschool is certainly a very challenging task by all means.... yet I love homeschooling because --

1. we spend more time together as a family
2. one on one time with each of my boys
3. we get to choose what curriculum to use for each subject, but more so, how to learn and if something is not effective, we can discuss, modify or even change the publisher!
   
4. One of the highlights (my favorites) of homeschooling is to be able to co-op with other homeschool families: Currently, on Tuesdays, we do Bible study, basic money management and Chemistry with other homeschooling families. We are doing Bible study on the book of Proverbs called Wise Up with the Printiss family. I can't think of a better teacher and I am so thankful to have Maureen teaching my boys and even Xander participates in discussions. I teach Chemistry and since my background is in Biochemistry, I love the opportunity to teach and share my love of Science with them.
   
5. Only after the new year, we decided to add in "41 activities in basic money management" to prepare our children. And many interesting topics have come out from our money discussions.
6. flexibility of time -- as I learned one time with this quote " flexible people don't get bent out of shape". In 2004, we joined Chinese Immersion Class to China for two weeks, and while all needed to come back to the States, we were able to extend our trips two more weeks and visited Hong Kong and Taiwan. This past year, Timothy did 9 months schooling in a public school in Taiwan. I was able to take Jonathan and Xander to Taiwan for a month during Chinese New Year.
7. Boys have more adequate of sleep... no one needs to be up at 6 am to catch bus... we are more a family of night owl and not morning people. So, we start school around 9am.

In a nutshell, let me quote what my good friend Maureen said --

"I am glad to be alongside my children while they are learning. To guide them through the emotional struggles of growing up is just as rewarding as seeing them gain victory in their academics. I love the candor, the camaraderie, and the Christ-like attitudes the thomeschooling has nurtured in our family. The relationships we enjoy thru different support groups are the icing on the cake (which we all know is what everyone eats cake for!)"

And I am thankful that I have the choice and privilege to homeschool!