Hi! I’m Emily, and these are my people.
You may not know this about us, but we didn’t start out as homeschoolers.
The fall that our oldest son was four, we signed him up for half-day 4K at our local elementary school. He spent the whole school year there, with twenty other four year olds, and had a great time. They sang and made crafts and listened to stories. I visited the classroom and helped out on field trips. He was more than ready to read, so he joined a group of kindergarteners and caught on quickly – one day halfway through the year he came home and started reading to me from a short chapter book. I was amazed! His teacher was lovely and I felt that the school day was a perfect length.
The next summer, however, I realized with dismay that half-day was not an option anymore. He was supposed to be in all-day kindergarten, and suddenly this whole school thing didn’t sound quite so pleasant anymore. He still desperately needed a long afternoon rest time, and I still desperately needed him at home. Sure, he could have gone, and we would have adjusted eventually, and it wouldn’t have been the end of the world – but I knew I would miss that time with him, days of his precious childhood that I could never again recover.
My husband and I were both homeschooled, and it was always in the back of our mind as a possibility, so that fall of 2018 we took the plunge and pulled him out of the elementary school. I figured we could give the homeschooling thing a try for one year, and perhaps stick him back in school for first grade if we decided it wasn’t for us.
Turns out – it was for us, and we loved it.
A year later, we enrolled our second son in the half-day 4K at the same school, thinking that our oldest had had a good experience there and Son #2 would probably enjoy it also. We endured it for precisely one month before I pulled him out, despite the raised eyebrows of his teacher and the quizzical glances of the principal and all of the doubting comments I received.
“You’re going to do what? Hmmm. Interesting…”
Turns out – I realized that by being gone at school, he was missing out. He was missing out on the beautiful books we were reading and our play time outside and all of the sibling relationships being formed and so much more. Public school was simply too great a price to pay and I couldn’t do it any longer.
None of our subsequent children ever set foot in a public school, and – though life can always change – at this point I can’t imagine it happening any time soon.
A Few More Fun Facts About Me
I’m a believer in Jesus, and if you’re not, you should be! Don’t worry about homeschool or parenting or literally anything else until you’ve got that figured out. If you’re curious about what that means, this short video is an excellent explanation.
My husband has put up with me for fifteen years now and he is the actual best.
We have been given five precious souls to care for and they are our riches.
I read voraciously and often neglect the housework. Still working on that – balance is hard.
I managed to get two degrees in music performance but I’ve learned more, much more, from raising children than I did from all those years of college.
Our life is not exceptional, our children are far from perfect, our homeschool is a continual work in progress, and our best pictures conveniently omit the messy chaos in the rest of the house. But I want to share our struggles and our joys in the hopes of encouraging others in their homeschool lives and encouraging us all in a life with a few more books and a few less screens.
If you’re new to the blog, start here! I’ve got our best blog posts and resources categorized for you to easily scroll through and find something of interest.
We are learning for life: both in the sense that learning is not separate from Real Life, but it is for life, it all weaves together beautifully, and we cannot separate the two – and also in the sense that it does not end at age eighteen. Learning, and life, continue together – always.
For privacy purposes I refer to my children as Big Brother, Middle Brother, Little Brother, Little Sister, and Baby Brother. These are not in fact their actual names.
last updated August 2024
Do you have genuine questions? Sincere concerns? Snarky comments? Email me anytime at [email protected] – I’d love to hear from you.
