Are You Contemplating Homeschool?
It took me nearly two years to decide to start homeschool with my kids.
And then I started, and I am still unsure many days.
Here’s a little bit of my thoughts that led to my personal decision to start homeschool.
Spoiler: This is not going to be a neutral pros and cons article. For something along those lines, check out my blog here.
My kids are awesome.
They all are, right? (Shhhhhh, haha.) My first born just amazed me as a first time mom. He learned so fast and surprised me with what he would pick up. He’s funny, creative, outgoing and so effervescent and special.
I wanted to create an environment where he could thrive. Be unique. Play! And not sit at a desk for hours a day or potentially get looked over in an over filled classroom.
First Impressions Of Homeschool
I was not in homeschool. Public school all the way. But I had a lot of homeschooled friends growing up.
I’m familiar with the jokes that homeschooling kids are weird, socially inept, difficult to relate to. But that was never my experience.
All the kids I knew growing up were funny, intelligent, super cool people. And as an outsider looking in, they had so much freedom- late bedtimes, flexible schedules and were always active and *doing* things.
The Biggest Challenge
The biggest obstacle in considering to start homeschooling was my ability.
First of all, I don’t like being busy. I never have. I thrive on plenty of downtime and running around too much stresses me out quickly. Would it even be possible for me to teach my kids for 6 hours a day? And work??
And what about my patience level? This is huge for me. With other people’s kids? Patient. With mine? much shorter fuse. Am I capable of teaching without losing it every five minutes?
Truth in the Obstacles
The first thing that chinked my wall was hearing a dear friend talk about homeschooling her daughter. The curriculum she used was a very legitimate, popular source. Yet I heard her say, “I feel like I could do this even if I worked full time.”
This shattered my misconception about the time commitment.
And now I know about unschooling as well. They emphasize no assigned “school time” and learn 100% organically from typical day to day life.
And patience. It’s always going to be a challenge. You can’t ever have enough. Maybe this is how God is really going to impress true patience on me. One day at a time while trying to love my children as best I can.
What It Looks Like Now
We are currently spending thirty minutes to an hour a day “schooling”. I anticipate this increasing next year with more electives. But even then the community using the curriculum we chose is pretty consistent in saying that a two hour school day is typical.
I am getting to know my children more deeply. I am catering to their learning needs as they go, slowing down and being easy on myself and them. After all, it’s all about flexibility. Relax!
And it has been such a fun creative outlet for me. I love thinking ahead, prepping crafts, and coming up with alternative activities to help them get over a hurdle.?
I love being the one to see the lights turn on!
