If someone would have told me 10 years ago that I would be successfully homeschooling my future children, I would have probably laughed in their face (not literally because that’s mean). Homeschooling was such a foreign thought to me and I personally never knew anyone that was homeschooled. When I was a child, I dreamed of being able to stay home and do school, but that to me wasn’t homeschooling, that was more, “I can’t continue waking up this early if I want to survive into adulthood.” By 12th grade, I actually was doing a bit of homeschooling in the form of online classes. I found it a million times easier to concentrate and I loved that I could work at my own pace. Still, this to me, was not homeschooling.
Fast forward to when my daughter turned 3. We had landed a spot at a prestigious Montessori school that she had officially reached the age to attend. We went for a tour and actually got to interact with the current students. We loved the teachers, the classroom and the philosophy, but something was missing. Something that went beyond the typical, first time away from mom jitters. I realized that no one could teach my daughter as well as I could, because I KNEW her better than anyone. I knew how she wanted to learn, and most importantly WHEN she wanted to learn. Everywhere I had looked in the classroom, I could pinpoint the method in which I could teach her the concept. I didn’t need a teaching degree or a certification to give my daughter the best education. I also didn’t feel right paying $14K for a 3-year-old to go to preschool for a few hours a day. I rather save that astronomical amount for if she chooses to attend college.
Another aspect I had realized, was for the past 3 years of her life, I was already homeschooling her. All I was doing was just continuing on with what we had already begun. Whether I believed it at the time or not, I had read how children are inherently curious and will always learn what they needed to learn. I didn’t quite wrap my head around this concept until I had witnessed my daughter starting to add and subtract on her own a year later. I hadn’t intentionally taught this, but through life and experience, she had picked up this concept. After that, the proof that this was true just kept rolling in. She was so inquisitive about everything in our daily lives, always asking what something said or the million and one “why’s” that seemed to constantly roll off her tongue. Homeschooling became the natural choice for us and the new norm that so eloquently fit into our lifestyle.
Today my daughter is 10 and my son is 7. I have spent every day of their lives with them. I have taught them academics, life skills and character building but nothing compares to what they have taught me. My son has taught me patience and to love deeper than I ever could. His compassion for people and love for animals shines through him, lighting up everyone he encounters. My daughter has taught me to be confident in myself and to love the woman I am. She will one day do great things, and lead our world in a new direction. So, if you asked me today, if I made the right decision all those years ago to homeschool, I would tell you, I wouldn’t have it any other way.