Our Homeschool Life

Before having babies, I taught Spanish at a public high school. I sent my kids to preschool at three and four, and when it came time for my oldest to start kindergarten, we spent a lot of time researching, pondering, and praying about how we should approach her education. We decided to move forward with public school, and for the next five years, our kids would attend three different public schools in three different states. While most of our experiences were positive, we found the mornings to be extremely stressful and I felt like I hardly knew what was happening in my kids’ lives, with them away from home for most of the day. Most afternoons, my kids were stressed, tired and came home with homework, straining our schedule even further. I felt my motherhood slipping away from me, and our family time dwindling. When one of our daughters experienced some trauma at school, we felt compelled to rethink our decision to send our kids to public school, and began to feel drawn to homeschool. I loved the idea of the freedom we would have, and actually getting to see my kids during their more cheerful hours of the day, but just thinking about figuring out how to homeschool felt completely overwhelming. Even though I had been trained as an educator, I still felt inadequate to plan lessons (what was I even supposed to teach?), juggle three different grade levels at once (was that even possible?), and manage my baby and toddler all while teaching all day. Still, the thought would not leave me, so I sought out other homeschoolers, begged them to share their wisdom, read up on anything I could, started researching curriculum, and bought a ticket to a homeschoolers’ retreat (and felt completely fraudulent…after all, I wasn’t really a homeschooler…yet). I learned that I didn’t have to know exactly what to teach, because we could rely on our curriculum to guide us and adjust as we went. I found that juggling three grade levels was busy, but completely doable. And I learned that being a mom to a baby and a toddler is hard, but a little bit easier when there are three older “helpers” around all day, and no school pickups to destroy nap time. In short, we dove in, despite our reservations and inadequacies, and we haven’t looked back. Homeschooling has given us so much freedom as a family. It has helped me to enjoy motherhood again. And best of all, our children are thriving mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually. If it weren’t so much work, I’d say it was a miracle. But the work is meaningful and fulfilling. I cry just thinking about the beauty it’s brought to our lives. I don’t believe that homeschooling is the only good way to educate your children, and it’s certainly not the only good way to mother, but it is a really excellent way to do both! I feel passionately that anyone who has a desire to homeschool their children can do it! I understand feeling inadequate. I understand feeling overwhelmed. But if the idea has been floating around in your head, don’t be afraid to dive in! I’ve packaged up all my hard earned wisdom, trial and error of our first year, and some of the best practical tips I’ve found in my “How To Get Started With Homeschooling” printable workbook. It’s 50 pages walking you through everything you need to consider to get started, from choosing (or not choosing) a homeschool method, to legally homeschooling in your state, to finding the curriculum that’s right for you. And so much more! It’s the workbook I wish I’d had when we started. I promise that once you work through it, you’ll feel empowered to start your homeschool journey too. You can find it under the “Shop” tab on the menu. Happy homeschooling!