The tale of a homeschooling family that never thought they could

That’s us.  Yup, we were like the reverse of that Little Blue Engine that “thought she could.”  We swore we couldn’t, we wouldn’t, we didn’t want to…homeschool our children, that is. And some days I still can’t believe that we took the leap.  But, without doubt, it is the best thing that has ever happened for our little family. 

We want to share our story for two reasons:

First, I identify with that Little Blue Engine. So, this is for anyone out there who has contemplated making this choice (or any work/school/life choice) that feels “different.” For those who need to hear “I think you can.”  

And secondly, full-time homeschool was an unexpected turn for us, brought about by the unexpected global pandemic of the last year.  As I’m writing this, we are at the one-year mark of that pandemic.  It’s a time when so many people are reflecting on the events of the last 365 (plus) days. So, it feels like a good time to look back on how we got here.

Now, I want to pause for a moment and pay respect to all those who are grieving, who have lost loved ones, or watched jobs and businesses disappear over these last many months.  This blog post – this story –  is about a silver lining that our family has experienced in this pandemic year.  But, by sharing it please know that we are not in any way trying to diminish those losses.  The pain and suffering of this year has been massive for so many.  We see you, and our hearts are with you.

And, we also know that unexpectedly, many families were plunged into virtual/distance/non-traditional learning with their schools this year.  And, for many people, it has been a difficult road.  We see you, too.  We understand.  This is simply a sharing of our journey, not a comment on anyone else’s.  Everyone will find their own beautiful path.

Planting Seeds

We’re going to start a little further back – at the part where we were just absolutely sure that homeschooling was not for us.  My husband and I both had a traditional school experience (in both public and private schools).  That was what we knew.  That was what we planned for our kids.

When we moved back to Kentucky from New York City to raise our family, we met a lot of homeschooling families, and while we were loving getting to know them and fascinated by their stories, we felt sure it wasn’t for us.  One by one, several of the mothers pulled me aside over those early years, and planted the seeds.  

“Have you thought about homeschooling?”  “I think you would really enjoy it.”  “You work so many afternoons, evenings and weekends, it might give you more time with the kids.”

I listened.  I was intrigued.  So was my husband.  But there was no way, right?  I mean we both work full-time.  And we work together on the two businesses that we run.  How on earth could we also plan and carry out a homeschool curriculum.  There were no more hours in the day.  And anyway, school days were about to free us up to finally have some quiet time to get work done in the mornings.  We were so looking forward to it, actually.

But, those homeschool moms had a point.  We worked during most of the after-school hours, and a lot of weekends.  When our oldest started going to preschool four mornings a week, we started to feel it.  Once he moved to a five-day regular school day, we weren’t going to get to see him much.  Did we really only have one year left with him?

And then another homeschooling mom planted another seed.  She knew our concerns about having the time to do it all.  

“Have you thought about a hybrid school?”  

A what?  We had never heard of that.  But, we found out that these exist. In fact, we had several to choose from. These were private schools where the kids went to school some days and other days were at home with guided assignments.   We got to have the kids home with us on Mondays and Fridays, and a lesson plan to follow.  Now, that we could do.  And so, we did.

We loved our new school and this new lifestyle.  It felt like the best of both worlds.  

A Taste of of Full-Time Homeschool

Our oldest was in 2nd Grade and our youngest in Junior Kindergarten one year ago, as the pandemic hit and schools began to close. Along with the whole country, we found ourselves schooling at home.  Our school handled it beautifully. Books sent home, more guided lesson plans, instructional videos to watch on Google Classroom, an occasional class Zoom call to catch up with teachers and friends.  It was great.  

Plus, we already had some homeschool experience, right?  We’ll be fine.

But unexpectedly diving into full-time homeschooling, while also navigating a pandemic and pivoting two businesses to a new normal was way harder than we thought.  We were utterly exhausted. And I’m not going to lie, once we checked the final box off the last lesson plan list we took a huge sigh of relief.  We made it.  And things will be back to normal by fall, right?  Wrong.

When we realized that was not going to be the case, we had to decide whether or not to send our children back to school.  There were so many options and opinions on what was best.  Some schools were doing virtual, others in-person or hybrid.  After watching the first few months of the pandemic unfold and the ever-changing recommendations, it was hard to predict what the future would hold. 

And so, we considered making a huge leap.  A leap that felt impossible at first.  Could we pull the boys out of traditional school and homeschool full-time?  Were we insane?  Running two businesses and homeschooling two children.  How was this ever going to work?

To figure that out, we started planning.  As we thought it through, we realized that with a little creative thinking, our teams and systems in both of the businesses could be adjusted to work with a new schedule.  With some additional help from our long-time babysitter (who homeschooled her three children), we just might be able to make this work.

We also realized that this would mean long days for us.  We would still need to be able get all our work done, even if that meant working long into the evening hours after the kids went to sleep.  But, we thought we could do it. (Oh, hello Little Blue Engine) and so…

We started up the mountain.

We bought a curriculum that we loved.  And we took the entire month of August to get ready.  We prepped both businesses and spent time with our teams setting up new communication systems, doing team training, writing plans, getting everything in order to run smoothly with our new schedule.  

We prepped our homeschool.  We set up our school areas, read teacher manuals, divided subjects, and bought our Ticonderoga pencils and a great portable white board.

And, we created that very intentional schedule.  We built in breaks for us to check emails and Slack channels, while the kids had unstructured playtime.  We created dedicated office hours for each of us, and dedicated class time – so that we would have specific times to focus on the kids and on the businesses, without feeling pulled in two directions at once.  And we decided to start the day with “Morning Gathering,” a centering time for our family to prepare our hearts and minds for the day ahead.

Taking the Leap

We were nervous on the first day of school.  Would the boys take to it?  Would they listen to us?  Was I really prepared to teach Latin?  Are we really not checking email until 10:30am?  I could feel the butterflies in my tummy. 

But, as we stood in a circle  as a family at “Morning Gathering,” holding hands and praying over our first day of homeschool, something felt really, really right.

And suddenly, we were doing it.  We were actually homeschooling.  And the businesses and our teams were doing just great, too.  We were actually becoming more efficient than ever because of this new schedule, and all the new systems we put in place.  Plus, we have two pretty spectacular teams.  We are so lucky to work with each and every one of them!

Slowly but surely, we are finding our footing. 

We fall down a lot.  We question our abilities a lot.  We get tired, and sometimes cranky with each other, but we’re working through it.  And every morning brings another “Morning Gathering” where we can center ourselves and try again.

Though the days are long and full, and many times don’t go just as we planned, our little family is together.  We’re learning together, growing together and finding out that we can do things we never thought we could do. And, we’re wrapping our minds around a work/school/life balance that looks different than what we’ve ever known. And realizing that like that Little Blue Engine, we think we can keep climbing that mountain together.

As the blog unfolds, we’ll keep sharing what we’re learning as we create this new way of schooling (and life) as a family.  We’re doing things differently.  Thinking outside the box.  Creating our own version of “new normal.”  

For those considering homeschooling, thinking about work/life balance or who are intrigued that you might be able to design a lifestyle that is “different” than what you’ve known before, we think you can.

Journey On.