What brought you to homeschooling? The Wagners had friends who homeschooled, but Eric still had to work to convince Taffy to consider homeschooling for their future children. Having been raised by a single parent, Taffy never considered staying home, as her mother had always worked outside the home. After much prayer and nine years of marriage, Eric and Taffy were agreed in the decision to homeschool and had accumulated lots of materials and had a direction for their homeschool when they were blessed with twins Erica and Cody.

Describe your homeschool Like many homeschoolers, the Wagners began homeschooling while the Twins were in the womb, as Eric and Taffy read to the babies and played music for them. “Once they were born, someone was always reading to them” says Taffy. As the children grew, they purchased a boxed curriculum but it didn’t meet their needs. Taffy went online in search of resources and met other homeschoolers who made recommendations and helped the Wagners create their own program.

The Hands on Homeschooling website  was helpful and combined with Letter of the Week the Wagners were off to a good start. Leap Frog videos were fun for the whole family and gave the children an introduction to phonics. Erica and Cody had difficulty with numbers, but with prayer and patience, Taffy used household items to make the abstract concepts more concrete. “People really need to understand how their children learn, but you have to watch them over a period of time to learn what works best with them.” Taffy has learned that her daughter is a strong auditory learner while her son is more visual.

How do you incorporate your career with your homeschool? Since the twins are no longer taking naps, Taffy finds that dividing up the day works best in homeschooling Erica and Cody. “The twins really do better learning together and I’m glad that homeschooling allows them to stay home together.” Taffy and the children homeschool one hour in the morning and another hour in the afternoon. In between, Taffy works in her home office and the 3 year old twins enjoy time to play. Taffy also works the “Mommy Shift“ -- rising early before her family and staying up until 2am to make time for her writing.