We have officially started our third year of homeschool and I thought it would be a great time to write a quick post all about why we decided to homeschool and how we do it! I hope it gives you some insight or even inspiration into the world of homeschool and maybe dispells some myths (our version of it anyway!)

I haven't always wanted to homeschool, in fact when my kids were younger, it never even crossed my mind as something I would do. When I did start to hear about it and think about it, I was sort of against it. Not in the sense that people shouldn’t do it but just that I probably never would/didn't have the capacity to. I don't remember having any solid reasons as to why I wouldn't, it just didn't seem like something I'd enjoy or want. But then my husband, a videographer, started to help his good friends (and homeschoolers) make a full length documentary about homeschool and we started to get officially exposed to the world of homeschool for the first time.

We started to meet several homeschoolers and hear many different stories and reasons why people chose to do it. I started to admire the culture of it and the people we met! At the time, our kids were only 3 and 1 so we still had a lot of time to decide what we'd actually do. I was a stay/work at home mom so I was already used to being with my kids all the time and teaching them some basics. I quickly realized how much I loved being able to be home with my kids and how homeschool offered a choice of not having that end at age 5.

As the school age for my oldest was approaching, we went back and forth on if we should homeschool. It really is a daunting decision! We didn't want to rush through our decision or do it for any other reason other than if we felt it was right for our family to flourish. And after a lot of talks, the choice to homeschool became clear for these main reasons:

My husband and I are self employed so our schedule is pretty fluid and often requires us to go out of town. We were concerned about her missing school and/or us being restricted by her school schedule of when we could work and travel. We love having the freedom to go where we want, when we want! (And tbh how everything is empty during the day on weekdays haha)
I wasn't ready to give up my time with my daughter. Sure you can claim that I was coddling her or whatever but I don't care. She's only little once and I won't think one day years from now “man I spent too much time with my kid when she was little.” Yes time away is important for both kids and parents and we get that plenty!
Flexibility in learning. Again, after meeting and seeing how so many different homeschool families run things, I fell in love with the diverse and beautiful learning that can happen! Life is learning and there's so many wondrous and unique things to learn outside of the typical core subjects. I knew we could allow my daughter to dive into and excel in her unique interests and talents!
While I would not consider myself “anti public school” by any means, there are legitimate things I don't like about our current education system. I don't like how long the days are and how long the school year is. I don't like the dated subjects and methods of teaching in some areas. I don't like the overly large class sizes. I don't like the heavy emphasis on grades, tests, levels, ect. I don't like how little support and pay that teachers receive. I don't like how little play/creative time students get. I don't like how at such a young age they are already bombarded with so many kids' personalities and beliefs before they have formed a real idea of who they are.

And that's basically the main reasons we decided to homeschool! And while I do love it and don't regret it one bit, there are of course a few downsides and hard days. Sometimes I do think it would be nice to have days to myself to do what I wanted in peace haha. Sometimes I get frustrated or lost on what to teach/how to do it. I do value teachers and realize we miss out on their knowledge and trained methods.

Sometimes we get lonely (especially during 2020 when all of our activities were shut down and we were distancing from friends and family) or when we have a hard time coordinating play dates or co-op activities. Sometimes there's a battle of kids not listening or not wanting to learn. Sometimes I feel like a failure or like I don't know what I'm doing. Sometimes the books, curriculum, activities I want to do are expensive and we have to go without. Its really not all perfect or easy just as it would be in public school.

With all of that comes almost constant readjusting. I often have to switch up our schedule, lesson plans, and ideas. Something that worked really well for a time, won't anymore. Something that failed once gets tried again and is now successful. So while I don't have a hardcore way of how we homeschool, here is the general layout that's currently working for us!

This year, I am still following a typical school schedule of Monday-Friday but we don't do a full day of “specific learning.” In my opinion, kids are learning all the time through play, watching adults, and just living life! So we just choose two main things to do each day and by the end of the week, we've typically hit all the “core subjects” plus the things that are important and of interest to our family. I make it a goal to do at least 1-2 outings a week and we read a chapter book aloud every month. I make a general plan at the start of a month for all 4 weeks then on Sundays, I plan the week ahead with the actual specific lessons and do any prep/scheduling needed.

My master list of things to choose from for our daily activities is below. Feel free to implement this into your own home learning if you'd like!

Nature Walk/deep dive on nature topic

Math worksheet or game
Art/Craft project
Writing Prompt or Lit Worksheet
Science experiment/lesson
STEM activity
Museum visit or other field trip
Social Studies lesson
Library Visit
Gymnastics class
Bake something
Game Day (things like Uno, Minecraft, Lego)
1 topic that we apply multiple subjects to
Play date or co-op/community event
Watch a documentary or YouTube videos

As far as curriculum, we don’t really use anything specific or standard. We utilize books, field trips, play, real life, Pinterest, YouTube, and documentaries. We are also going to give Blossom and Root curriculum and Brain Quest a try this year. We're also going to work through the Tech Trep program because they offer so many amazing and free resources for schooling at home! At the end of the day, life is learning. We know that time spent as a family and taking in the whole world around us is invaluable! A healthy mind, an active body, communication skills, and a love of learning and people is far more important to us than grades and test levels. That is why we homeschool 🖤