About Us

Homeschooling, Parenting and Loving Life One Day at a Time

Hello and welcome to Raising a Self-Reliant Child! We are a bilingual family of three homeschooling in Miami, Florida. My name is Patricia, I come from the “middle of the world” as they say in my home country, Ecuador. Roberto comes from Nicaragua, and our son, Super Hero, was born right here in sunny Miami.

We’ve been homeschooling since very late in August 2011, a few days before Super Hero turned 6. Back then homeschooling sounded very unusual to me, and to be completely candid, a bit weird. Oh dear, it pains me to admit it now. So unusual and weird that I was willing to take on a rat race commuting to a very-far-away school braving hideous traffic, rather than thinking about educating my own child. Roberto, on the other hand, had recognized the benefits of homeschooling long before me, and endeavored to convince me prior to enrolling Super Hero in kindergarten. I wouldn’t budge though, and so we carried on, laboring daily to get to this notable magnet school almost an hour away from us. Rising at 6 in the morning and returning home at 4 in the afternoon, beating the horrendous commute traffic, and meandering school drop-off and pick-up lines, is not what I had envisioned as ideal for a kindergartener. “School’s way too long” Super Hero would tell us, “why can’t we just stay there from 9 to noon like in preschool?”

Why can’t we really? We knew all along that school would be different from preschool, which was very nurturing and unforgettable for us. We attended a cooperative preschool, and there, we parents, got to stay with our children for as long as we wanted, any day, any time. The 20 or so families in the cooperative, along with an extraordinarily gifted teacher, were it. We were the preschool. There we played dress-up, planted butterfly gardens, strawberry picked, milked goats at little farms, fed giraffes at the zoo, jumped, biked, hula hooped, cooked, painted and read together (and a zillion other things we did with our big, ‘extended’ family). So why couldn’t we continue learning this way? We wanted to spend our mornings together, or our afternoons together, or just moments together doing those meaningful things we had been used to. Suddenly, we couldn’t.

bilingual homeschooling in Miami, Florida

Super Hero on his 6th birthday, a few days after we began homeschooling

Let’s do this together!

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To be fair, our kindergarten experience was very short lived. One evening during supper, only after 6 days of public school, Super Hero put his fork on the plate, looked up at us, and nonchalantly said –”Guys, I think we need to homeschool … kindergarten is not for me!”  Roberto and I exchanged glances and raised our eyebrows. We had made sure not to debate about homeschool in front of him. And yet here was our still-not-6 year-old son, delivering the answer in such a calm and confident way.

So here we all are, going through this learning journey together. We feel grateful that we did take the leap, because there’s absolutely nothing we’d rather be doing. We absolutely love spending time with each other. It’s tremendous fun to make our own schedules, to sign-up for the classes Super Hero really wants to take, to study the subjects we want, anytime we want, whether it’d be morning, afternoon, or evening, weekdays or weekends. It doesn’t matter when or where, as long as we’re having fun and enjoying the process. Homeschooling provides that and so much more for us! Yes, I’m proud to say, I’m a full-blown pro-homeschooling convert!

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you’ll find something in my blog that will make your homeschooling journey more fun, and more enriching, even if it’s only a tiny bit  😉

Warmly,
Patricia

Watch Me on a Miami TV’s Talk Show

If you speak Spanish, you might like to watch this debate about homeschooling.  My friend, and President of Miami Beach’s Home4Homeschoolers.com, Jannet Dannon-Madeira, and I, were invited to a local Spanish-language channel to share our homeschooling experience. The socialization concern is by far the thorniest issue, and sadly, the biggest misconception.

I appear at video mark 1:15 and again at 3:55.

But Who Are We Anyway

Patricia

Patricia

Patricia is co-owner of CPC Computer Consultants, a professional IT Consulting, Web Design & Development and Search Engine Optimization firm established in Miami since 1998. Patricia has 20 years of experience in the areas of Public Relations, Sales & Marketing and Information Technology, in both the private and public sectors.

Patricia received her Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Universidad Católica in Ecuador, and her Master’s in International Management, cum laude, from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. She then graduated cum laude at FIU with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, a minor in Geology, and another Bachelor of Science in Mathematical Science. Patricia has completed 15 graduate credits toward the Master’s in Computer Science also at FIU.

Patricia was chosen for listing into the prestigious “Cambridge Who’s Who” and “Biltmore Who’s Who” rosters. She is a founding member of Femfessionals, a member of Golden Key International Honour Society, and a former member of BNI Gables Rainmakers and Phi Kappa Phi.

Connect with me on Google+ at +Patricia Espinoza

Roberto

Roberto

Roberto is the President and founder of CPC Computer Consultants, a professional IT Consulting, Web Design & Development, and Search Engine Optimization firm established in Miami since 1998.

Roberto’s experience in the IT arena spans 27 years. He’s worked in the IT field in the State of Florida as well as in the private sector before launching his own IT Consulting firm. He uses his expertise in Information Technology to advise businesses of all sizes.

Roberto obtained his Associate of Arts in Miami Dade College with a major in Computer Science. He graduated from FIU with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a minor in Geology. He later received another Bachelor of Science in Mathematical Science, and subsequently earned his Master’s in Computer Science also from FIU.

Roberto is a member of BNI Referral Professionals, Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

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