I am... And I would love to give you some of my 'infinite wisdom' - !! I had a practical book of humor and insight typed in reply, but it was just deleted when I switched screens 'sob'. And this is slooowww to type in...
I am the PPEF for my daughter. (Primary Parent Educational Facilitator)
In short, I am happily homeschooling (although that term bugs me, as we travel frequenty and use enrichment outside the home in most subjects). From a purely academic view, your process can be as 'organic' or 'comprehensive' as you choose. An only child does not benefit as a child with siblings will, with built in playmates and/or study partners. You are going to be 'it' for everything. Except on the days another child arrives, then you are invisible. As it should be. My daughter is nine. She has an open dialogue with her father and I about her education, and about other educational options. She was in Junior Kindergarten at three years old. We had always intended to teach her ourselves, but she had romanticised the school bus and where it would take her, so she went to school.
I am not going to talk about school. Public education is what government over-involvement and under-funding have made it.
I am going to talk about the incredible world our children live in. Not perfect. Just incredibe. She deserves to benefit as much as she can from an active, academic and practical education. She deserves to understand the world she will actually live in, and how it works. She has learned that 'one size' does not 'fit all'.
I love learning. It is a lifelong process. I want my daughter to know she can do or be anything if she works hard, continues to grow and learn. Whenever my conversations are about homescooling, I always have too much to say. The majority of people seem to have forgotten their history. People have always shared what they knew... Wether it was how to build a home, how to grow a garden... Or how to read a book. Sharing is how we have evolved, block by block. But mass institutionalized learning was never about learning (especially in primary grades) as much as it was about numbers management. It still is.
Now we have access to the world at our fingertips (internet in iPad, anyone?) and ways to get around the world in a day... It is an incredible world to teach your child about. An only child may get more chances as it is cheaper to do some things (but not all things) with one child instead of several... That's my opinion and experience. She navigates with roadmaps, can name all provinces and states, has 'schooled' in 37 states, 4 provinces, 3 countries, countless hotels, on beaches, on boats, in bed, at breakfast, in English, in French, on horseback, with dolphins, underwater, on skis, in a garden, in a lab, with a skunk, holds a chameleon (and can spell 'chameleon'), reading recipes and cooking on her own, playing, laughing, visiting, dancing, volunteering, auditioning, acting, painting, in art galleries, in museums, at many aquariums, in shopping malls, at summer camp, in clubs. And yes, even in schools. But we are educating her and steering the process.
I cannot answer 'what grade is she in?', because that is a school thing... But she has averages 80% on level six maths, higher in science. She is an avid reader, reading history, science and appropriate content novels. She is left anded, so her writing requires constant practice. Her spelling is level five-ish.... As you can see, no simple answer to the grade thing, as her learning is custom tailored to her.
We are in i for the long haul, despite the process being NOT AT ALL like I imagined. It is more demanding, more challenging than any job I have had (I have managed companies!) but far more rewarding. We have a close bond, and a unique system to balance mothering and mentoring with teaching academically... But it works. For us. I have yet to meet two families who homeschool exactly the same way, or for the same reasons. That is the beauty of it. I would not choose to teach my daughter in the way that most have chosen, but that us why it is called 'choice'.
If you stick with it, be confident with your choices, as long as they have the intended results. Or better results. More often you will have to change how you do things - hence the 'one size does not fit all' approach. Our process has found me growing and learning these many years as much as my daughter - an unintended side effect, as I entered into this thinking I was so smart, and had so much to teach her ! That is still true, but my plan in the beginning did not take into account the smart, whitty, interesting individual who is my daughter. Now that I know her better, I know we will both be learning for years to come!
Enjoy your journey!