from homeschool naysayer to cheerleader

All my life I have been, what I would call, an anti-homeschooler.  I would always say, I went to public school and turned out just fine.  If I’m honest I also thought, kids who are homeschooled are socially awkward and don’t have the emotional intelligence to be successful when they get older. 

You might be in the same camp as I was or maybe you are someone who has always believed homeschool is the best option. My 11-year-old who has been a straight A student since the beginning started having some difficulties in 5th grade with anxiety and forcing us to investigate homeschool as an option. This once homeschool naysayer, has now been turned into a homeschool cheerleader.   We are on the second year of homeschooling our two boys who are 11 and 8 and I love it.  Maybe I love it because my husband is the one who does the teaching, just kidding! 

Here is what I have realized through our journey over the last year.  Homeschooling is a great option and within homeschooling there are TONS of options to fit your schedule.  We are very blessed my husband does freelance work from home and has a flexible schedule.   We soar with our strengths and both do what we love, I research and create the curriculum and activities and he does the teaching.

I wanted to share a few lessons I have learned along the way; these are what changed my mind about homeschooling.

First, there are a ton of resources and community groups.  Find a few in your community.  We are in two, one is a very casual Facebook group and the other is a more formal group which we pay a small fee to be part of.  These groups are always doing fun activities and meet ups.  Get connected.  Look for a homeschool conference near you, it’s a great way to get introduced.

Second, you don’t have to pick one curriculum and follow it.  We did this the first 6 months, it was much like school at home, kind of boring.  This school year we picked from a variety, based on the subject and my boys’ interest levels.   We are doing a combination of actual curriculum, games from Amazon, spelling activities from various websites and Friday’s are Fun Days where we do projects or field trips.  Projects include learning about electrical wiring, carpentry, game coding, the possibilities are endless. The kids learn so much from hands on experiences.  You know your kids, plan the learning around them.

Third, homeschool is less stressful on mom! Bonus! I don’t have to worry about homework, spirit week, teacher gifts, birthday parties and all of that. I didn’t realize how much stress it was putting on me until these activities were not there anymore.

If you have been thinking about homeschooling, give it a shot, it’s not what I thought it was, it’s much better!