Judith:
Oh, some of each, mostly leaning toward unschooling. I admit we w---a--y overstructured with my first child, and he suffered through our growing pains.

My daughter learned to read (seemingly in one morning!) at age eight. At nine she asked for her own subscription to Readers' Digest and National Geographic Magazine for Christmas. She was such a joyful learner and voracious reader that I didn't have a need to do much "enforcing" when it came to homeschooling. She just graduated this year, but if I had to do it over again, I'd structure some things more, such as spelling. I believed that because she was such a skilled reader, spelling would take care of itself. (It didn't.)

Melissa Morgan, my co-author, is a "relaxed homeschooler," a term I believe author Mary Hood coined. Melissa teaches skills, but, as the saying goes, she "never lets school interfere with her child's education." It's a balance you just have to keep striving for.

By the way, our editor made us take our personal opinions (the unschooling "propaganda") out of the book, and I admit it made the book better. We tried to pack the book with useful tips and freebies that would help families, no matter what their educational philosophy.

Judith:
Thanks, Joe--I enjoyed the interview. I'd like to invite your visitors to
sign up for a free e-mail newsletter ("Brief and no more than six times a year!" is our motto) at my website,
http://www.angelfire.com/on/shareddreams . The site is also host for the Allee On-Line Directory of Homeschool Authors and Speakers (a free service). My site has a link to Melissa's site, which emphasizes homeschooling from a Christian perspective.

Thank you, Judith for taking the time to spend with us and also thanks to you and Melissa for allowing us to reprint a section of your book.

Homeschooling on a Shoestring
by Melissa L. Morgan & Judith Waite Allee
excerpt from Chapter 2
"The Frugal & Wise Homeschool Budget"
"Following the Budgetarian Diet"