Our First Homeschooling Year

I have always known that I wanted to homeschool.  After we did not think that this would be possible financially, we enrolled our first daughter in our church’s school for preschool and pre-Kindergarten.  They were very good and we had no issues with the school or what was being taught.  But I continued to want to homeschool.  After the birth of our second child, I realized that I wanted to be home with the children, teaching them myself, more than ever. In March 2010 we made the move to my quitting my job and coming home with the children and we began our homeschooling adventure with our 5 year old.

I immersed myself in curriculum and books.  I studied types of homeschooling, unit studies, all in one programs, lapbooks, notebooking, online curriculums, and coops.  I couldn’t believe how much information was out there and began to ready everything I could and try to decide what we wanted our approach to homeschooling to be.

Though we are Christian and knew that homeschooling would include studying our faith, we also believe in the importance of a well-rounded education.  I went to my first homeschool convention about a minute after we decided I would be coming home.  Me, with a background in upper level education and curriculum development, and my mother, a school teacher of almost 20 years, were just amazed at what was out there.  

We settled on an all-in-one Christian based unit study curriculum for Kindergarten.  I have to say that it was an excellent way to get my feet wet and give me a place to start but I found that I wanted and needed more out of our school days.  But having a place to start was great and I have no regrets from starting out our homeschooling adventure the way we did.

After having progressed through Kindergarten in less than a year and reading everything I could about homeschooling, I found that I didn’t want to continue with the same curriculum for 1^st grade.  So I began to do more research and make decisions.  We have moved onto a more classical approach to education utilizing a wide variety of programs and resources.  We love computer based programs but do not want them to be the sole way of getting an education. 

I’m not saying that we don’t have frustrating days. But I would not change for one minute our decision to homeschool.  It has brought my children and me closer and my daughter has thrived as we explore information she is interested in.  Though we have a schedule and set things to cover, to me, the joy of homeschooling is the flexibility to let my children learn about something they are interested in.  If they love something, we keep learning about it and dig deeper. It is amazing what kids are capable of.  Being able to homeschool means that I get to participate in this beautiful process of watching my children’s eyes light up as they discover new things and learn about the world for the first time.

Homeschooling may take time, commitment and patience, but in the end, homeschooling is a true blessing. I wouldn’t want it any other way for my family.