We are in the Austin area.  I have met some great homeschooling families here at park days and we are getting involved with the Spanish club.  We are going to be on a very tight budget for a while, so activities at pools and parks with admission fees are out of our reach temporarily.  I have a teenager who was classified as "gifted" in public schools--he is still  there for the sake of marching band and concert band.  But I am teaching the girls at home.  I did not intend to homeschool once we settled in a permanent home, but my 8-year-old's attitude toward reading and learning is so much improved that I believe she is much better off continuing  in the home.  I try to allow my 5-year-old to engage in many of the same activities as her older sister, which can be difficult to arrange since she is only beginning to read words.  Both girls show the same high level of intelligence we observed in their brother.  They have  great oral vocabularies, (way beyong their spelling abilities) and are  incredible at "inventing" a word if they don't have one!
      Homeschooling is proving to be a great adventure for all of us, and  I am learning as much as the girls are.  At first I was worried that I did not have the proper training to teach them (my degree is in General Studies) but it seems to be working to the girls' advantage.

August 12, 1999.