Jumping in!

Beaver Brook Reservation, Belmont, MA

Just so you know right up front, I never thought I would be doing this. Homeschooling was something that I had not seriously considered until the pandemic. I grew up going to public school, as did my husband, and I even taught at a public high school for years before I had my kids. When my son came home from kindergarten in March of 2020, the way I viewed education started to shift in ways I never expected.

Let’s go back to 2014, right after my husband and I welcomed our first child, and I was heartbroken thinking about leaving our son and returning to work. He casually joked “Well, we could always decide to homeschool!” “Yeah right!” I replied. Why would a public school teacher decide to go in such a different direction? Public school was all I was familiar with. I turned out fine, right?? Of course it would be the best plan for our son, and any other children that came along.

Skipping ahead a few years, a couple more kids, and our oldest is in full-day kindergarten when the pandemic hits our part of the world. I can still remember when he got off the bus on March 13, 2020 and said “Mom, I think school is over…she sent my folder and workbook home.” As scary as it was thinking about having all three of my kids home with me all day every day, I was willing to make the best of this change of pace.

In the beginning of this strange time, I remember how everyone was trying to make sense of it all. Parents were anxiously texting each other with activity ideas, sharing Pinterest posts that looked manageable, and daily schedules kept popping up on my news feed with ways to maintain some normalcy for the kids.

After a few weeks of muddling through on our own, the school decided that teachers should be sending out work for students to complete at home with their parents. Now, for a lot of people, this worked really well! Their kids were still learning and enjoying the structure of this new routine. But – not our kid! The bi-weekly Zoom calls to connect students to their teachers and classmates was something that our son just wouldn’t connect with. It was hard for him seeing everyone on the screen, and to pay attention to the teacher with all the faces right there, not to mention learning how to use Zoom!

For us, this way of learning wasn’t working, and I felt pretty alone in my dilemma. Not only did our kindergartner lose out on his normal academic school experience where he had been thriving, but he lost his regular social time, and sense of community. We were all starting from scratch (me included), and there was a lot to learn – for all of us! After finishing the year off with the public school experience, we made the decision to do things a little differently.

Maybe learning can be done in a completely different way – maybe we can tailor it to fit in with the seasons and daily rhythm of our family, maybe we can study what my kids are interested in, learn skills that they want to learn and develop at the pace they’re most comfortable with.

Even with the steep learning curve for all involved, it’s a decision I am so thrilled that we made that year, and have continued to make each year since! If you’re considering homeschooling, or interested in learning more about how we’re making it work, join me here as I share the triumphs, the tough days, and everything in between.