Our Homeschooling Journey

     It's hard to believe that I've been homeschooling my boys for a whole decade! We will soon begin our 11th year and I feel like I've only blinked. My oldest will be a Junior this year and my youngest will start middle school. We've had so many ups and downs along the way and have learned so much.  Way back, 11 years ago, I only knew one homeschooling family and they lived out of state. I had many people share their negative opinions about our choice. There was always the, "...but what about socialization? " question and the, " Well, you won't go through high school, will you? " I felt completely alone and honestly, I never felt like I was enough; and their comments weren't helping. 

    I had spent a year praying about this. Doors were closing and others were opening, and it felt right. I felt God tell me that it was time. I stepped out in faith, and we started homeschooling in 2012. The first 6 months were the hardest. The first mistake I made was using our chosen curriculum as if it were designed to fill 7+ hours a day. It really took me an entire 6 months before I realized that one reason we chose this for our family was so we could make their schooling work for them and instead, here I was recreating public school, at home. I quickly fixed that and suddenly homeschooling because SO much more enjoyable! 

[Here's Landon, our eldest son from his first day of kindergarten to his first day of fifth grade. 11th grade is right around the corner.]

[Here's Liam, our youngest son from his first day of kindergarten to his first day of fifth grade. He will soon start middle school!]

    

Fast forward eleven whole years and my boys wouldn't have their schooling any other way. They have dissected owl pellets, star fish and sharks. They've swam with dolphins and even whale sharks! They have been to 18 national parks, 5 national monuments and have travelled from the east coast to the west and back. They've learned so much history and geography from seeing it and touching it. They have been to the very spot where Wild Bill Hickock was killed and watched money being printed at the US Mint. They've had pets and chores, some cooking lessons, sports and other extra activities and have made wonderful friends through co-ops. The list of learning experiences that they have been able to fully immerse themselves into just goes on and on.

As the school year inches closer, I have some great tips to share with you! If you're a new homeschooling parent, have been at it for a little while or just considering the possibility, you'll want to keep your eye out for my next homeschooling post!