Homeschooling Journey - As A New Homeschooling Mom
Hey mamas! I made it halfway through the school year, as a first-time homeschooling mom to my kindergartener. I have to say it has been an adventure filled with a lot of adjustments and multitasking! I learned so much and have so much to share, so let’s get into it!
Here’s what I will discuss in the post or you can click the play button to listen:
Why I decided to homeschool
Homeschool Curriculum
Homeschooling Schedule & Routine
Homeschooling and Working Full-time
Homeschool Adjustments Moving Forward
Will I continue to Homeschool?
Dislosure: This post contains affiliate links that are at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.
Why I decided to homeschool
There are so many reasons why I decided to homeschool but my main reason was to protect my son's innocence and nurture his spirit. But as a single parent who works a full time job and has no teaching experience, I had so many doubts.
I didn’t want to fail my son, I didn't want to prevent him from moving forward academically since he was doing so well at preschool.
Even with the odds stacked against me, I remembered one thing, people grow where they feel safe. There was no doubt in my mind that my son feels safe with me at home.
I will do whatever it takes to keep him moving forward academically, so, that is just what I did. As a new homeschooling mom I did tons of research, created a schedule that worked for me, and purchased a curriculum that kept us on track!
So cheers to us, for doing hard things!
Homeschool Curriculum
Luckily for me, there are so many homeschooling curriculums available, including free alternatives. If you’re looking for different curriculum options, click here to read about the Best Homeschool Curriculums for beginners. As a new homeschooling mom, I realized that I needed some direction and a curriculum was a necessity for me.
Please keep in mind that a curriculum is not needed to find success and you should do whatever works best for you and your family. As for me, we decided to go with Christian Light Education.
The kindergarten curriculum comes with multiple individual workbooks, activity books, and a teacher's guide. It was everything I needed to get started with confidence.
Homeschooling Schedule & Routine
So now that I picked out my curriculum, how was I going to work this into my already busy and hectic schedule. When I tell you, where there’s a will, there's a way and there is nothing that will stop a dedicated mama.
I decided to use the curriculum to help navigate my week. We homeschool 4 days a week, with Friday’s being more flexible.
On Mondays and Wednesdays, we focus on math and some science, and Tuesdays and Thursdays are for reading and phonics. This routine has worked perfectly for us and on Fridays he does arts and crafts or we catch up on anything we missed during the week.
This schedule is simple and works perfectly for me and my son being that I work full time but still leaves room for adjustment or small changes.
Homeschooling and Working Full-time
You may ask, how in the world is this possible? I currently work full time but thankfully I work from home, so there is some flexibility to my schedule.
But what surprised me was learning that kids only need 1 to 2 hours of dedicated learning time. So I decided to pick the slowest part of my day to homeschool my son, which is between 9:45 and 11:45. This is right after the morning rush, the reviewing of emails, and before lunchtime.
This doesn't mean I step away completely from my work, it just means that I can manage to do both while making sure I am also available to my son during this time.
While he works on his workbook for the day, I’m on my computer and it's been working out great for the two of us. Some days we adjust and some days are longer than others, but every day I am grateful for this opportunity. Here’s a list of some of the supplies I use to make this adjustment smooth and effective.
Homeschool Adjustments Moving Forward
There have been so many learning curves this year, especially as a new homeschooling mom who works full time. The best decision I made so far was purchasing a curriculum, this really shuts down any doubts I had in my head and worries that he will not progress academically.
With that said, I’ve learned that I don’t have to replicate school at home. This doesn't mean that I will no longer use a curriculum, it just means that It won't be the focus of our school year.
I want to integrate a more hands-on approach, more experiments, more activities and more engaging homeschooling days. I decided the best way to integrate the two is through AI. I will be using AI to help come up with a routine that will integrate hands-on activities and still include my curriculum throughout the week and school year.
This leads me to my next adjustment, being more prepared. I’ve noticed that I wasn’t as prepared as I would like to be. I want to integrate the holidays, crafts, and important moments into my schedule.
So it’s important that I plan ahead and get a rough yearly plan that includes holidays and special occasions, so I am not planning activities the day before or week before, like I did for valentines day.
I’m sure I will have a list of more adjustments when the school year comes to an end. So come back for my end-of-the-year homeschool review post or sign up here for my newsletter so you can be the first to know when it comes out.
Will I continue to Homeschool?
Before I make a decision on whether to homeschool next year or not, there are a couple of things I’ve learned as a new homeschooling mom. I’ve learned to give myself grace. There is no rule book on how to homeschool your child, but I’ve learned that no one knows your child better than you.
So I allow this to be the focus, if he needs more time with letters then that ok, if reading that book has to wait until tomorrow, that's ok too.
Homeschooling is about customizing and adjusting your method to fit your child's needs.
This takes me to my second lesson, do whatever works best for you and your family! If you want to purchase a curriculum then do that, if you want to join a Co-op or a homeschooling group, that's ok too.
If you prefer to hire a private tutor or even choose a cyber school for your little ones, I'm not judging. We are all trying to do the best for our family and no one can tell you what will work for your family, only you have the answers to this.
Lastly, I’ve learned that this is just as much of a learning experience for you as it is for the child. Many new homeschooling parents were schooled in a traditional public school setting and are relearning how to teach and engage with their kids.
Some of us are the first to homeschool in our families, we have no idea what we’re doing but we are doing our best! There’s a lot of unlearning and rebuilding that needs to get done. So, this summer I will be reading The Four-Hour School Day and I’m going to spend time learning new tips as well.
So, will I continue to homeschool? As of right now, we are not done with our homeschooling year and I am determined to finish out the year strong.
But will we return next year, possibly but I won't know for sure until we complete this school year and I can take time to reflect.
So make sure you sign up for Homeschooling newsletter and see what our plans are for next school year.
Until then, keep going and keep thriving!
