Let the Homeschool Adventure Begin

 "I know what you're thinking: home-schooled kids are freaks."

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Last week I mailed in our letter of intent to homeschool. Kentucky is pretty chillax about the homeschool laws, but we are required to notify the superintendent of our district about our intentions and to provide some very basic information. So on Friday I went down to the Post Office with my little letter all typed up and sent it via certified mail. And we're off!

When Husband and I first decided that we were going to give homeschooling a shake, I admit I was pretty scared and intimidated. I'm impatient. I value my "me-time". I get frustrated working with Bear on her homework. Not a great recipe, amiright?

But then I began reading. I Googled. I libraried. I turned nouns into verbs all over the place until I began to get a picture in my head of how I could pull this off. Because while Husband will help out wherever he can, it will primarily be me acting as "teacher," and that's a little overwhelming.

But you know what? I got this.

My research showed me that homeschool can literally look like whatever you want it to. It's not about "this is how you teach at home." It's about figuring out your educational philosophy, blending it as well as you can with your children's and family's strengths and needs, and building from there. That's a little intimidating, too, because it's such a broad idea and frankly some parameters can be nice at times. But it's nice to know that there are a whole hell of a lot of "right" ways to do this, and plenty of time to correct any mistakes because it's far easier to catch up a few children than it is to catch up an entire class full.

I worried too about the reactions of my friends and family. Would they judge me? Would they doubt me? Would they think I was crazy?

Not a one of them. If any of them are thinking it, then they're hiding it well, because no one has had anything to say except to offer support and to ask reasonable, curiosity-driven questions. I projected my own initial fears onto my loved ones. I failed to give them their due credit and that's on me.

So here we go. We're planning to begin September tenth, our first act as homeschoolers being to take advantage of our new flexibility and freedom by extending our summer break. I do have plans for that first week, though they are light and not super structured. I have some bigger, more in-depth (but fun!) stuff planned for this fall, too, but again—we're taking it slow and enjoying our flexibility. Nothing too rigid, as I don't want to burn out a month in.

To everyone who will head back to school (whatever that school looks like!) in a few weeks, good luck and enjoy a great year! And thanks for coming along on our journey.