Today marks the day I realized just how vast the homeschooling world really is.
I had dipped my toes. I’d talked to some moms I knew who homeschooled (or wanted to homeschool), I’d followed a homeschool mom on twitter here or there, and I made a list of curriculums that other moms had suggested in my bullet journal (hello fellow millennials), but never had I ever really stuck my head in and had a full look around. Until today. And now I’m a little dizzy.
Even as I’m writing this, I’m wondering what space I’m losing in my head. Do you know what I mean? What used to occupy the spaces that are now crammed full of different books, maps, nature studies, journals, literature, science projects, art, and hands-on programs? Do our brains expand or am I losing something? And what did I used to think about before I started planning out how to raise my kids? Am I losing part of myself?
The short answer is no, of course not. If anything, these new challenges are making me more myself than before because I’m doing what I feel very called to do. When we hear God’s call and respond we are being the best and most fulfilled versions of ourselves, and I know that. But I also know that my memory isn’t what it was before kids (mom brain is a real thing), and sometimes when I look around my house (which could be described as “playful chaos” with a design concept somewhere between “whimsical garage sale” and “various piles”) I feel like I’m not accomplishing anything. Especially if it’s been a rough day parenting. Do not misunderstand, my kids would definitely be known worldwide as the two most wonderful, beautiful, incredible children if there was any way to quantify that, but science has fallen short yet again. That being said, sometimes we’re cranky or we want what we can’t have (sigh) and times are rough. I have a hard time feeling purposeful when I feel like I’m not living up to the goals I’ve set for myself, and this is all the more difficult when the goals I’ve set are vague. And that’s where my recent homeschool research comes into play.
We started “homeschooling” Katie off and on around the time she turned 2. Sometimes I sat her down with flash cards that featured colors and shapes and asked her questions, sometimes we did a craft or an activity to develop small or gross motor skills, sometimes we learned a song. Daily we spent time reading together. Actually, reading together is the thing we’ve been incredibly consistent with, but that’s definitely in part because she demands it. The girl loves a good book. I get it. You get it. Books are the best. We all agree. Anyway, the point is, we’ve been kind of making up things as we go along because we knew we didn’t have to get serious until kindergarten, so we figured we’d just test things out and learn a little about how she learns and what motivates her. All this is great, except now we’re a year (or two?) out and now I feel like I need to get my act together. It’s time to make a legit plan for preschool so we can learn to work together and have a peaceful home-educational experience. It’s time to find our groove and figure out what we need. It’s time to actually research curriculums and decide how we want to do things. And so, ever the millennial, I went on Instagram.
You scoff, but there is a LOT to unpack on the gram. The homeschool community on Instagram is booming. And these moms (and dads) are tagging all the companies, curriculums, Etsy shops, and authors that they use and love. So down the rabbit hole I went, and what I found was at first very overwhelming, and then later, after a few more hours of research, very comforting, encouraging, helpful. The Instagram pictures are curated, sure, but the captions are honest. We’re all just trying our best. And after sorting through all the different suggestions, googling, reading reviews, and really thinking about what’s important to me in terms of my children’s education, I feel like I know what I’m going to do for this next year. What will I do the following year? No idea. I’ve started a collection on Instagram and on Amazon, and I’ll come back to it later. But for this year, I have a solid plan that I think will work for both Katie and me, and moreover, I’m excited to get started.
Why am I sharing all of this? I don’t know. I guess I just felt like it. I haven’t updated this blog in a solid year, so it felt like the thing to do? Plus, where else do I have an outlet for this topic? Besides James, who is going to listen to this whole mess of thoughts? I don’t know. So why not just post it on my old, long-neglected blog? An ideal solution. Anyway, if you made it this far, great! And if you’re a fellow homeschool mom, or you’re thinking about it, but you don’t know where to start, drop me a line and I’ll tell you about the stuff I found that I’m excited to use in my home.
That feels like enough for now.
Alicia
