Maybe you’ve given the subject some thought.

Maybe you haven’t, and just the idea of it makes you cringe.

Maybe you’ve run the idea by your husband, and he absolutely hated it.

Maybe you’re certain that homeschool is indeed the path you’d like to travel, but you just don’t know where to begin. No matter which of the above applies to you, you will absolutely leave this blog with more insight to help you decide what is best for your family!

My decision came a few years back. I should give a bit more context; I retired from the education field at the end of the 2019 school year. Having taught in some capacity for 5 years, I made the decision that it was time to leave that chapter. Throughout those years I was blessed to teach in all 3 settings: private, charter and public. I can say with full conviction that it is one of the most fulfilling things one can do in life, to teach. I’ve loved each and every one of those students that came under my care with a love that can only be described as maternal. This is why I had to leave. At the start of the following school year, I knew that we would be expecting our own little bundle of joy. I could never have known the love I was about to experience. I had expected that perhaps I would take a year off to nurse him and then I would promptly return to my position as teacher. But there was one thing I hadn’t considered, just how much I would grow to love the time spent with my little one. I remembered the fondness of having the opportunity to spend so much time with all of my students and then it hit me, moving forward that would be time that I would not be dedicating to my own son. It didn’t seem fair. I then considered the very real fact that we cannot expect the kindness and love that we feel and show towards others, to be felt and shown towards us and our loved ones. The truth is, there are bad people in the world, and the news reminds us of this every day. I had a new job; it was to protect. The currency changed from money to giggles and spit up, but I felt all the richer. I battled with this new situation. Can I make this work? How? I’ve never done this before. Worry set in. Then I considered again, how I’d heard first graders using inappropriate language, how I’d seen with my own eyes, second graders behaving sexually. This could never be the behavior I would want to send my innocent one off to learn. I presented the idea to my husband, again. He wasn’t sold, he said what many of you have said and heard, “I don’t want them to grow up weird.” He even presented valid concerns of not wanting them to be behind the other children, and how could I argue with that? Then my heart settled on the final plea, the nail that would seal the coffin, “Honey, If they go through traditional schooling, we have absolutely no control over what they will be taught.” I could tell this one hit home. Here in our household, our faith in Yahweh, Who is called God and His only Son, Yeshuah, Who is called Jesus Christ, means more to us than anything else. Having spent much time in classrooms spanning various schools and districts, one thing I can confirm is that you are required to teach according to the standard curriculum given to you. It makes no difference if you agree politically, morally or in any other capacity. This presented a clear conflict of interest for us. How could we agree to entrust our most prized possession to an institution for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, only for him to be returned to us in a condition far worse than we’d sent him in? So, there it is, we settled on our decision to homeschool, where we knew we’d have control over what our babies would be exposed to, what they’d be taught, and how they’d be treated.

Now the question you’ve been wanting answered. How is it going? Oh, we absolutely adore it! Our oldest is 3 grade levels ahead of his age of peers, he is able to both read and write at the age of 4. Our other two children are supremely ahead in their classes as well; there is just no formal way to test a 2 and 1 year old. lol. Due to my educational background, (Bachelor of Arts in political science, minoring in legal studies/ Master of Science in educational administration with a focus in curriculum,) I have personally chosen to create the curriculum that leads class here for the time being, but I imagine that as they grow, I will make the switch for more structure. Sometimes we learn indoors, sometimes we study outside in the fresh air. Sometimes we read about civil servants in our textbook and sometimes we head down to the fire station and meet a few! My point is that we do have those options, and it’s a beautiful thing! When I wake my children in the morning, they are thoroughly excited for class, they can’t wait to see what they’ll learn today. They’ve not been tainted by the constant shushing, the constant sitting still, the dreaded bullying or the feelings of inadequacy because they couldn’t grasp a topic as quickly as others. We made the decision that was best for our family, you have to do the same.