Yep. We’re homeschooling this year. Like the ‘withdrawing the kids, buying textbooks, and going to Homeschool Day at Six Flags’ kind of homeschooling.

This was not my plan. But we chose to homeschool because it seemed like the most faith-filled response.

My parents homeschooled me, starting in the “dark ages” when it was still illegal where we lived in Michigan. The first non-family teacher I had was when I started college. So when I was a new mom, I was certain I would homeschool my kids.

Well, the short story is, after 3 weeks of preschool, I was humbled by my then-3-year-old, and we enrolled her in a private preschool.

She thrived.

When she graduated preschool just days before she turned five, we were confident that she would do well in Kindergarten. We couldn’t finance private school, and her personality is so suited to a classroom; we didn’t want to bring her home to do battle learn with me.

So she marched onto that big school bus and went to public school. Meanwhile, I took a position as a teacher’s aide at her preschool, where I learned how much I didn’t know about preschool education and classroom dynamics. I loved that job.

One of the teachers at the preschool told me the story of her girls’ experience, and her advice to me was, “If you can, homeschool your girls through middle school.”

I thanked her for her input and tucked that nugget of advice away, but I’m sure I rolled my eyes a little and thought, “Nope.”

A change of heart

At the end of 2019 I remember one night–I was getting ready for bed and told Sam, “I think God wants me to be willing to homeschool the kids, if for some reason we needed to bring either or all of them home.”

He stared at me like I had sprouted wings.

“Not that I want to.” I felt I needed to be clear; this was not my idea. “But I feel like I need to be willing.”

So we again tucked that away, thinking that something dramatically wrong would have to happen for us to pull one or both the girls out of school. But that’s okay, “It will probably never happen.”

Our girls have had great teachers; their school has been a gift to us, and while no educational option is perfect, we are grateful that we’ve had a good experience with our public school system.

Enter Covid-19

And now here we are. School districts are circling around how to reopen, whether to reopen, whether kids will be doing digital learning or classroom learning, or a combination of both, surveys are being emailed and ignored. The unknown has been so stressful.

So that we’re talking about the same thing, what most of the country did at the end of the 2019-2020 school year was not “homeschooling.” It was digital crisis-schooling, at home. There are numerous articles about what the difference is.

While the circumstances were less than ideal, having the girls at home since mid-March allowed for some decompression. We were able to see and work on some relationship issues with our girls and how we related as a family, that we never had time to focus on while running non-stop.

I only know a few things about education and kids: Every year is different. Every kid is different. And flexibility is vital.

For weeks Sam and I talked about homeschooling after the kids went to bed. We didn’t want to introduce the idea to them too early or without having our own conversations first.

We currently have a rising 6th and 4th grader, a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old.

My younger daughter, going into 4th grade, is a homebody and would honestly rather eat dirt than go to school.

But my oldest, the 6th grader, was born for school.

She graduated elementary school and is heading into Middle School this year. She has been anticipating being in the drama club or chorus. Her social life is strong at school. She wants to be a teacher, and shows a natural propensity to it.

We couldn’t just announce to her the decision to withdraw. We had to lead her gently to it. Talk up the advantages. Promise we weren’t committing to this forever. We had to listen to her and let her express her disappointment and grief of missing her end of 5th grade and her 6th grade middle school experience. (Though we’re probably also giving her a great break from the melodrama that is the 6th grade experience.)

Now How Do We Homeschool?

All through April and May I only let myself think about and pray about and talk about the idea of homeschooling, until the kids finished up digital learning.

Then as soon as school ended I committed to researching my state’s legal requirements, the county’s general subjects of study for the grades I’d be teaching, and overviews of style, method, and curriculum. I joined Facebook groups for local homeschoolers, I searched Facebook marketplace. I talked to friends who homeschool.

I gave myself June to choose curriculum. My goal was to decide on and obtain as much of our curriculum as I could.

YouTube channels such as HomeschoolOn by Rebecca Spooner and Homeschool to Homeschool by ToriAnn Perkey have been extremely helpful and encouraging. Both negative and positive reviews were very helpful to choose books for each of the girls. A quick search like, “curriculum review middle school science” brings up dozens of videos.

My goal for July is to organize. Many of our books have arrived. We have a corner of the living room that will house our supplies. I plan to go on a decluttering rampage in the next week or two. We have to try to establish our routine at least somewhat before we add actual learning to our days.

We start homeschooling in August

Because I did learn at home all my life, I have a pretty realistic expectation of how it will go. I know what it’s like to have kids at home all day, every day. It is not idyllic.

I found myself dreading the fights. Not just the kids with each other, but my own fights I’ll have with the kids. They are young humans who don’t always like doing what they’re supposed to. I’m dreading training myself to have discipline to my own daily routine. My lack of free time.

This morning I spent some time praying and journaling about the coming school year. I acknowledged that dread, and am choosing to exchange the dread for anticipation of God’s help.

My confession is that I will not anticipate lack, but God’s provision of peace, productivity, organization, rich relationships, and hope.

Because, after all, He has given us everything we need for life and godliness according to our true knowledge of him who loved us. 2 Peter 1:3, paraphrase

What are you deciding to do next year?

If you decide to homeschool, what are you anticipating (and/or dreading) the most?