Reflections on Our First Year Homeschooling – From a Public School Grad

It’s almost mid-August. Another homeschool year is fast approaching. This will be our second official year as a homeschooling family, even though I’ve been “homeschooling” my kids since they were born. I’ve been thinking a lot here lately about what went well during our first year homeschooling and what did not go so well. 

Let’s get down to it. I grew up in the public school system. I started this homeschool journey with absolutely no one in my real life that had ever homeschooled. It was kind of scary! I had a lot of reassurance from family that I was probably doing the right thing, but I also had a lot of doubt. I like to get the bad over with, so here’s what didn’t work well last year:

Self-Doubt

I had a lot of self doubt last year. Trying to homeschool while pregnant, and then later with a newborn and a toddler is HARD. Add in the fact that it was our first official year and I struggled. I’m glad we chose My Father’s World Kindergarten and it has such a gentle approach, but I also feel like Bug is probably a bit behind on some things compared to public school kids. Should I worry about how he compares to public school kids? I don’t know the answer for sure, but now that he is going to first grade I am going to be more serious with keeping up with the standards for our state and trying to make sure we are hitting those things here at home.

Schoolroom Far From Main Living Space

I LOVE having a dedicated schoolroom, but ours was in our basement and it just was not practical. I think it was easier for me to skip school when I didn’t feel like dragging all of the kids downstairs. In our new house, our schoolroom is actually right next to the living room, so it will be so much easier to get housework done, change the baby, entertain the toddler, while my older two work.

Not Enough Field Trips

We had a new baby last year, so we didn’t get out nearly as much as I would have liked. I really want to plan more fun outings this year.

Not Enough Activities for the Toddler

I’m planning to add in more preschool activity boxes to keep my Tiny Tyrant busy while I homeschool the older two. He’s at the age now where he wants to do something with us, so I’m coming up with more activities for him.

What I think I did well our first year:

Family togetherness

I LOVE having all of my kids together. They are actually enjoying being friends with each other. I hope they always have a bond.

Seeing my child master new concepts

There is absolutely nothing more rewarding than watching your child master a concept that you taught him. Hearing my son read his first words nearly had me in tears. I will never get over that great feeling of watching the lightbulb come on when my kids learn something new, or when they are fascinated by something they have learned.

Learning together

If you ever want to realize how much you don’t know, just homeschool your kids. We welcome all kinds of questions from our kids and we try to answer them as best we can. Just yesterday Bug asked us why our echoes bounce off the walls. So, we had a fun little impromptu science lesson!

I wouldn’t trade this homeschool experience for anything. This year I am planning to be more organized and more diligent in my teaching. 

Want more homeschooling posts? Check out the Back to Homeschool Blog Hop with the The Schoolhouse Review Crew and Homeschool Blogging Connection!