Dipping Our Toes Into Homeschooling

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We are considering homeschooling. There, I said it.That was seriously a really hard thing for me to type. Here's a little backstory.My husband was homeschooled up until grade 9. He had the most amazing experience and was able to reach some pretty amazing extracurricular achievements because of it. He's also the smartest and most talented person I've ever known....so there's that. ;)I was not homeschooled. I went to public school all my life and also had an amazing experience. I loved school, got really good grades, played sports and loved my teachers.I've always known that due to my husband and I having totally different school experiences, that we would have a lot to talk about when it came time to decide where our children would go to school. The problem is when you have babies, them turning 4 and going to school seems like something you need to deal with in, oh, I don't know 20 years. And then you blink and they are 4 and the scary school decision is staring you right in the face.My husband and I have had so many long talks about it. And my conclusions have ranged from "I was born to be a homeschool mama" to "NEVER EVER! I want him to go to school just to have the house threenager free for the day." Several of my close friends have recently decided to homeschool and it's been really interesting to chat with them about their plans and motivation. We've been praying a lot about it and to be honest, we still don't have much clarity or peace about it. It honestly it stresses me out so much that I usually just pretend Dex is still 2 and decide to put it off another couple years.Almost daily I go over all of the pros and cons (for my family) and thought it would be fun to just chat through some of them here, in case any of you are in the same boat as me, or if you're wondering what in the heck would possess someone to want to homeschool (I was that girl for a looong time).Okay, first some cons. On one hand, I don't know anything about this. Growing up, I didn't even know homeschooling was a thing. Although I'm a perfectionist, I'm not an overly organized person and I feel like a rigid schedule is just asking me to break it. I worry that I won't be a good teacher. That I won't be organized enough or motivated enough (as bad as that sounds). I care so deeply about my son's education and more than anything, I just don't want to mess it up. Or mess me up. Homeschooling is a BIG commitment. It's a privilege and a gift and I'm sure the benefits are endless. I just don't know if I can hack it, emotionally. If it will cause me too much anxiety. And the "social thing" - I certainly don't want to stereotype (and my husband is the most social person I know) but Dex loves being social and surrounded by other kids his age. There are days I can picture it and it would be so beautiful and fun and perfect for my son. And other days - I think, someone else would be MUCH better than me at this job. Lastly, I want a break. I would need to implement some serious "quiet time" (something I have struggled to make happen in the past) because I fear I would just burn out.And now for some pros! So, I love the flexibility it would bring to our family. My husband works from home and the thought of him being able to help with the schooling and for us to do field trips and learning together makes me pretty excited. I have loved "teaching" Dex so far, and although I am supremely biased, I think my kids are crazy smart. My son is really active and thrives spending time outside and learning in nature, I love that we would be able to do things like that for our school. I love that we would cater what we were learning to each child's area of interest to keep them engaged and excited about learning. As much as I mentioned wanting a break sometimes, I do love the idea of spending these precious years all day with my kids. Influencing them and teaching them and getting to know them better.This is clearly a big decision that is different for every family and while these are some pros and cons that are frequently flying around my mind, they would probably look completely different for your family. It might be all pros and you can't imagine why I'm worried about all those cons, or it might sound like your worst nightmare and you can get all those "pros" checked off in your public school system - which is awesome!At this point we are still praying about it and waiting for God to give us some direction with this whole thing. We have some tours to schools in our area planned and are going to be doing some more research for the next couple of months. In the meantime, I thought I would "dip my toes" into the whole homeschool thing and just see how it fits. Practice setting some school-like routines and following some loose curriculums to see how I feel, how Dex does and whether it's a good fit for our family.Monday I'll be sharing some fun homeschool inspiration in the form of bloggers/youtubers/podcasts that are perfect for the stage I'm in, and if you're still wondering if it's right for your family!Thanks so much for reading!

Hi - I'm Britt! A wife and mama, pursuing joy and dreaming big dreams with my husband and three babes. Here I share about our everyday life, style, motherhood, and some blogging tips and tricks I've learned along the way! Thanks for stopping by!