Homeschool Memoirs #1 - All About You

It kind of feels like the first day of school at the Homeschool Memoirs meme and we're being encouraged to introduce ourselves, as the first theme is "All About You". Here goes...

Hi! My name is Jacqueline, not Jackie, but you're welcome to call me Jac if you must shorten it. :) I was named after my Aunt Jackie and it was always emphasized that she was Jackie and I was Jacqueline. I always introduce myself as Jacqueline and I still cringe when anyone calls me Jackie. When I became a teenager some of my friends started calling me Jac and I didn't mind that so much. My DH and my sister call me Jac often. One time it caused some trouble for Sis as a boyfriend got kind of upset about hearing her talk so much about Jac. ;)

DH and I will be celebrating our 21st anniversary in a few days time. Well, I should say our anniversary is coming up again but it will probably pass by yet again without too much celebration. DH is just not one for remembering or celebrating special days. Romance is not one of his strengths. He's a good guy, though, and a hard worker. He holds down a full time job and does lots, and lots of volunteer work. He's been going through a pretty tough time lately as his dad as been fighting cancer so I will be much more understanding this year than I have been in the past. ;)

When DH and I married I was a teacher in the public school system and I loved my job, however, when the little ones came along I couldn't imagine leaving them with someone else to go back to it. DH and I talked about that before we married and I told him that I thought my place was with my children until they went to school, than I'd go back to teaching again. So that was the plan, until I discovered homeschooling.

Way back in February I wrote a post called Our Homeschool History (Part 1) but I never did get around to writing part 2. :) Maybe some day. Anyway, at that post you can read about our beginning homeschooling. We started homeschooling when DS#1 was 8, DS#2 was almost 7, and DD#1 was almost 4. They are now 20, almost 19, and almost 16, and we have a new Little One that is almost 3 (she was a big surprise :)). The oldest two have finished their home education and are working in the field of construction at the present time. DD#1 is my only formal student this year, though I'm sure Little One will join us as much as she can doing her own little thing. She thinks she's as old as the rest of them. ;0)

Whenever I'm asked why I homeschool I say it's because I love to teach, I love to learn, and I love spending time with my kids. It hasn't always been easy but I can't imagine life any other way.

I am a proud Newfoundlander and a proud Canadian. I've lived on the island portion of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador all my life, except for the 3 years I attended college in Ontario. I love connecting with homeschoolers, especially fellow Newfoundland or fellow Canadian homeschoolers. That's why I started the Canadian Home Educators Blog Carnival.

Well, I think that's enough about me for now. There's lots more I could tell you but I'll leave more for another time. I've struggled big time in writing this and I need to just finish it and post it so that I can get on to the next assignment. By the way, I am a terrible procrastinator and often leave things til the last minute so you may find that I'm often one of the last to post in the meme. My motto is better late than never. :)