Mentor Program

Let's be honest: homeschooling can be scary! The commitment to schooling your children at home is never made lightly, and most families have spent large portions of time considering their options before making this decision. After discussing, planning, and—finally—deciding, a commitment to homeschooling is made with some trepidation. It is an exciting, yet daunting, task to undertake: the education of your children!

The first year of homeschooling is often the most overwhelming, and the SGHA Mentor Program was developed to ensure that your homeschooling experience is a success. The team of Mentors is made up of veteran homeschoolers who have volunteered to be available by telephone, email, or in-person, according to each family’s unique needs. Whether you need answers to those inevitable questions, or just a listening ear, SGHA’s team of Mentors is dedicated to providing support and guidance to its newest Members.

If you are new to homeschooling, or are still trying to decide whether homeschooling is right for your family, the SGHA Mentor Program can help. To find your Mentor, or if you have further questions, contact Rachel Broadway. Mentors may also be contacted directly. Read more about our wonderful team of Mentors below.

Mentors

Michelle Simpson
Hi, I'm the wife of Auston and mother of 3: Nathan 14, Jessica 13, and Ashley 11. This is my 7th year homeschooling. Homeschooling was not something I had ever considered before I decided to do it, but I've loved it ever since! My son would not be the great, almost normal kid that he is if I had not homeschooled. On a personal level, I love to read and literally have thousands of books. I've even been known to read at red lights. I spend a lot of my time doing things with and for the kids. I'm one of those people who, if I don't do something, I tend to get lazy and do nothing. That's how I ended up being the leader to my Girl Scout troop and President of SGHA. I saw a need and worked to start something, and somehow ended up in charge! I love homeschooling and plan on continuing to help others even after mine have finished!

Joyce Borja
Wife to Robert and mom to Joshua, Christopher, Michael, Catherine, Daniel, and Sarah. I graduated with a B.S. in Elementary Education from the University of Maryland at College Park, but quit teaching to stay home with the kids. I never envisioned myself as a home-schooler, but after having a less-than-stellar experience with private school and being somewhat wary of public schools, here we are five years later and still going! We use the Classical Approach to education, and are enrolled with St. Thomas Aquinas Academy in California. As an Air Force family, we’re from everywhere and nowhere all at once; we’ve lived all around the country and in Europe as well. In July 2006 Moody AFB became our sixth duty station, but we’re scheduled to rotate out in the summer of 2008. We love traveling and visiting new places, and moving from place to place has been an education in and of itself. We’ve been able to visit the Smithsonian museums and National monuments in Washington DC, historic sites of the Oregon Trail in Kansas City and St. Louis, the Everglades and the Florida Keys, and various European cities like Rome, Paris, Brugge, and Lucerne –all thanks to the Department of Defense!

Jeanne Lippincott
Hi, my name is Jeanne, and I have been homeschooling since 1997. I have two children 8 and 17. I've tried various methods of homeschooling, and, for us, a more traditional approach works best. We use secular curriculum for our main course of study; add into the mix lots of library books, Internet games and resources, life skills, sports, and field trips. We also participate in 4-H, building our leadership skills, community involvement, and helping via volunteer activities. Besides schooling, I've been known to sew, knit, cook, bake, yell, do laundry, iron, read, yell, scrub floors, cry, whine, drink wine, and impersonate American Idol contestants (to torture my kids--hey, I gotta have fun, too!). And when life gets too difficult, I live by four very important words: chocolate chip cookie dough.

Jennifer Scott
My name is Jennifer Scott. My husband Mike and I have 3 children. Alexandra is 15, Jessica is 13 and Mikey is 11 years old. My husband is in the Air Force and we have been in Valdosta for 2 years now. We chose to homeschool because we wanted our children to have continuity in their education - being a military family we move fairly often. We also enjoy taking time off when my husband is off and having the flexibility to travel and allow each child to work at their own pace. We believe that homeschooling is the best educational choice for our family. We use a variety of curriculum, but we loosely follow the classical style based on the book, "The Well Trained Mind" by Susan Wise Bauer.

Dana Armstrong
I am the mother of five: two boys and three girls. Both boys have graduated from our homeschool, Sacred Hearts Academy and are pursuing their own lives now. I'm now concentrating on my next two upcoming high schoolers!

My hobbies include website creation, online and print publications, Girl Scouts, writing, and hanging out with my family, and now blogging!

We've been homeschooling for 10 years and we use a mix of Alpha Omega, Bob Jones, and other curriculum in our schooling. We're involved with many things outside the home, too.

Someone once called me an overachiever and my husband says I have Volunteer-itis. I suppose that's true as all of the organizations I'm involved in are on a volunteer basis! Most of them have to do with children and, to me, that's a great reason to volunteer.