Homeschooling Weirdos

If you asked me ten years ago if I would homeschool my future children I likely would have laughed at you. Surely homeschooling was only for folks who are super religious and want to unnecessarily protect their children from the dangers of the world. Surely kids who are homeschooled are all socially awkward weirdos. Nothing I would ever want for my future offspring. Plus would I really want to be around my kid(s) all day every day? Yet now here I am actively and enthusiastically making the decision to not enroll my kiddo in Pre-K and homeschool my daughter.

One might argue that my decision to homeschool is a selfish one. It definitely started out that way. The reason my husband and I first considered homeschooling was because we wanted to live an unconventional lifestyle of full-time travel. Putting our kiddo in a traditional school setting would just get in the way of that dream. Now I am convinced that even if we were living a stationary lifestyle homeschooling would be the path we would take. It’s definitely not the path for everyone and maybe one day I will decide it’s not the path for us but right now it is.  

Here’s why. {Feel free to disagree and put on your judge’s robe. I know I did.}

It turns out homeschooling families aren’t any weirder than families that take a more traditional route. At least I no longer think so. We have met some of the most amazing homeschooling families during our travels. Meeting and knowing them has given me more confidence in my decision, as well as an awesome support system as we begin our journey.

Watching my daughter grow and learn every day has been not only a gift but a learning experience for me. I have come to strongly believe in the power and importance of child-led learning, time spent outdoors and play in her development. I want her to maintain her curiosity and love for learning. I don’t want education to be a chore. I want it to be a joy. To me education is so much more than reading, writing and arithmetic. It’s social, emotional and physical wellbeing. Homeschooling gives us the flexibility to allow our family to find out how our daughter learns best, explore her interests together, and work to meet her needs as a whole, happy and healthy person.

Travel still factors into our decision. While we do currently have a home base, we are still traveling most of the year. Homeschooling allows us to continue a lifestyle that has been so positive for our family. Travel has always been a tool for learning as our daughter has grown and we are lucky that we can continue to utilize it throughout her schooling journey. It opens so many possibilities that I am not ready to close just so we can send her to a traditional school.

Our family values slow, intentional living. Choosing to homeschool allows us to more easily live by our values without getting sucked into the societal norms that more and busy are better. With homework, extracurriculars out-your-bottom, on top of a full school day; there would be little time for down time, letting her just be little and quality time with family and friends.

It turns out I actually love being around my daughter (most days) and it feels unexpectedly exciting to be learning together as a family. Doing things our own way and hopefully having fun.

I have no way to really know if I will be good at being a homeschooling mama, or if it truly will be a good fit for my family. I want it to badly but the truth is it could be a total failure. All days won’t be some perfect Instagram post of earning National Park Junior Ranger badges or nature journaling in gorgeous backdrops. Some days, I am sure, I will swear a thousand times and wish I could just be a “normal” person and drop her off at school. We are taking a risk, but if I’ve learned anything in the past few years it is that risk often results in reward. So here’s to hoping that the good days outweigh the bad days. And, well, if they don’t we can always change our mind.

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