To homeschool or not to homeschool?

A year in the life of a homeschooler (throwback to 2022!)

I have a confession to make: I get distracted very easily. I’d say it’s primarily due to ADHD – I’m focussed, working hard, and then something else more interesting comes along and suddenly I’m heading in a completely different direction! Didn’t see it coming, didn’t even know it happened. An hour or two later (or one or two years later), I realise that I was doing something and never finished it. Oops.

Take this website as an example – just a teensy distraction of 2 years I have quite a number of blog posts in various states of completion sitting on my computer, awaiting the glorious day when they make it onto the website to be read by the masses (I can dream!), so it was with some amusement that I came across this blog post describing the typical year of a homeschooler - assuming that all homeschoolers are like me - from 2 years ago. Has life changed since then?

Thankfully, yes. Do the conclusions remain the same?

A year in the life of a homeschooler

I’ve been homeschooling for 4 years now and each year unfolds in roughly the same way.

Term 1

I’ve just spent a few months on holidays and I’m ready to get back into it.

 Planning done? Check!

 Activities organised? Check!

 Workbooks bought? Oh drat, I forgot to order the maths book. Um… check?

 Schedule sorted? Well, we’ll give it a few weeks for things to settle and then

I’ll have a better idea of what we’re doing each day.

I start off with amazing intentions and full of hope and joy. This year is going to be GREAT! It’s going to the BEST YEAR OF HOMESCHOOL YET!

Term 2

I’ve become disillusioned and starting to question my sanity. Why was I doing this again? Routine is finally kinda-sorta finalised but a number of things I’d planned have been rejected by the kids or fallen through. Curriculum choices turned out to be less than the right ones (what a waste of time and money!). Other activities are going strong but here is one that wasn’t available at the beginning of the year – should we add that in? I need to find my son a drum teacher but have no idea when we’ll fit in lessons, and I want more home time so what can I cut out? Meanwhile, health assessments have increased understanding of challenges within the family, and changes need to be made to accommodate them. Do I look for another therapist or do I just do what’s needed myself? I’m getting tired.

Term 3

We’re already halfway through the year and I feel like I’ve only just found my feet! A re-assessment is needed of their maths though, and are they doing enough history? I notice that my year planner has excursions marked in that I had planned to organise, but what once sounded like a good idea is now replaced with a better one: ‘let’s just have a home day’. The kids are tired and I’m due for my annual mini break-down from exhaustion. It’s not even homeschool that’s causing it but dealing with NDIS and disability (mine and the kids’). Hmm… I wonder if things have changed and there’s now a school that I can send them to.

[As part of my annual breakdown, I spend 2 weeks of the term googling every school in existence and even visiting one. My hopes are inevitably dashed ☹.]

(Interlude: Term 3 holidays)

I start planning for the next year. Why? Because if I pretend that term 4 doesn’t exist then it’ll just go away, right? And 2023 is an open slate where all my hopes and dreams that I’d aspired to but failed to implement for this year can be re-scheduled.

Brilliant!

Term 4

Effectively spent finishing activities/plans/books/goals (or not, let’s be honest), and wasting time until it’s more socially acceptable for me to declare holidays. Many homeschoolers don’t do term 4 at all, while I’ve always stopped at the beginning of December, giving us a 7 week term instead of 9. Hmm… something to re-think, perhaps? Oh dear, Christmas is coming!

‘Homeschooling is wonderful’ Yeah-nah.

I’m not going to sugar-coat homeschool and make it sound like sunshine and rainbows, all smiles and happy family. Because that would be LYING. By the end of the year I’m tired and worn out. It is a very lonely, frustrating, and difficult path. We get no support from the education department, and it’s hardest for those with disability. I work largely by trial and error, spending an inordinate amount of time researching something only for it to not work or be rejected. I’m constantly reviewing and revising, wondering and fretting: Is it enough? Was that the right decision? Should I try something else? How do I fit it all in?

Homeschooling is not easy, but sometimes sending them to school is harder. I know because I tried.

Why do I continue?

You could be forgiven to think that I’m planning to quit and send my kids to school next year. So far homeschooling sounds awful, so why do I plan to keep going? When I put all that aside and reflect on what we’ve done over the year, I know that it really is worth it and I would have it no other way. Both of my children have made some amazing achievements, some because of me and some inspite of me. We’ve learned more about what things they enjoy, they’re good at and what areas we need to work on (as well as things we’ll never do again). I’ve learned more about me and what supports I need to seek, as well as how I can support others. I can list their strengths and challenges, and what I’m doing with each. I can tell you their exact potential, and their hopes and dreams for the future. I can also tell you that while I’ll never 100% know what that future would have looked like had they been sent to a school, I know it wouldn’t be as good as this. For a person who never intended to, or wanted to, be around her children full time, homeschool is actually pretty great and I am really blessed to able to live this lifestyle.

I know not everyone feels they can homeschool (and to be honest, some people shouldn’t homeschool!) however if you have children then have you considered if perhaps it’s something God might be calling you to do? My advice:

a) Pray.

b) Chat to other homeschoolers about their experience. Don’t reject the idea simply because you don’t understand what it’s about.

c) don’t think it’ll be as good as some make it out to be (it is NOT that easy), and

d) don’t think it’ll be as bad either.

I think I’ll lie down now and take a nap…

My homeschool review happens to fall in November, which is a brilliant way to finish a school year. This means that I have someone from the Home Education Department come to my house and sit there for an hour or two and we chat about how we’re going. I show work samples, she surreptitiously does a welfare check, and we both agree that homeschool is right for my kids and I’m doing a great job.

‘What???’ You say. ‘A great job? Did you not just read what you wrote? You sound like a terrible homeschooler and like it’s an awful lifestyle and I advise that you send your children to school immediately for their sake and yours!’

You’d be right, except that God gave me term 3 holidays and a November review.

Thanks to these I am forced to reflect on the year that is passed and realise that, actually, this gig isn’t so bad! Sure, it’s tiring, and I’m worn out. It is a very lonely, frustrating, and difficult path. I work largely by trial and error, spending an inordinate amount of time researching something only for it to not work or be rejected. I’m constantly reviewing and revising, wondering and fretting: are they learning enough? Was that English book the right decision? Should we try something else for history? How do I fit it all in?

I’m not going to sugar-coat homeschool – it is not the easy choice if you genuinely desire to provide your child with the very best education that they can have.

If you want the easy road then send them to school.