Public School Teacher Turned Homeschooler

I never imagined I would be a homeschooler.

I became one with the intent that it might just be temporary.

I have remained a homeschooler (so far), and I am loving it. Seriously loving it.

A little background: In 2015, I had my son. He was my first, and likely, will be my only. I took a leave of absence from my teaching job during the 2015-2016 school year to stay home with my son. I didn’t really know if I would return to teaching the year following my leave of absence, but I definitely wanted to keep my options open. The end of that year approached, and the superintendent of my district needed an answer (because of funding) whether I would be returning or resigning.

I had to resign.

I cried as I wrote the letter.

Even though I did not have plans to return, I was saddened. Even though teaching is extremely stressful, I was sad. Even though I was doing what was best for my family, I was still sad because I really do love teaching. I never enjoyed all the politics, micromanaging, stress, etc., but the act of teaching I truly loved. Part of my identify was gone. It was tough.

Enter a worldwide pandemic.

Because of my son’s birthday and age, he wouldn’t have had to start school that first year living with the “great unpleasantness” as some like to call it. My son had been released from speech therapy and was doing pretty well on an academic level. I got a bright idea.

I had the idea that even though he didn’t have to start school that year, he would have to the next year, so I decided I homeschool him for his kindergarten year (I had been considering this any way. While I felt my son would do well in school academically, I did not feel his was ready maturity wise.). When he would go to school the next year, he would be on the same page as many other students in his class. Meaning, many of them would also not have any classroom experience due to virtual schooling that would be taking place. He wouldn’t be the only one in his class that had done school at home. It wouldn’t be weird for just him. This was my thinking. I didn’t homeschool because of COVID, but because of COVID, I was given the opportunity to homeschool.

I had no idea homeschooling would turn out the way it has. I also, honestly, had no idea just how well my son would do academically. I didn’t realize how well he could already read. I feel silly saying that, but although I did realize he knew many, many sight words and could read some, I didn’t realize he could pretty much read anything I would give to him.

As we progressed through my son’s kindergarten year, it became quite clear that should he enter public school in first grade, he would be performing well above that of his peers. That, coupled with the fact that COVID was still a huge concern, it was an easy decision to just keep homeschooling.

My son has no desire (at this point) to go to public school. I have no desire to send him. I will keep homeschooling until something changes, but at this point I still don’t feel “locked in” yet. I don’t foresee my son entering public school any time soon (or possibly, at all), but I also don’t feel confident enough to say “never.” But can I just say something?

Homeschooling is the best teaching experience I have ever had.

I get to set the schedule. I get to choose the curriculum. I get to make the decisions. It. Is. The. Best. As a former public school teacher, homeschooling is like a huge sigh of relief. I just get to teach. I don’t have to deal with all of that other stuff.

So in summary: I am a public school teacher turned homeschooler. I love it. I get to teach the way I want to. I get to make the decisions. My son gets more academically than he would in a public school setting. We get to have more experiences together.

And I got to turn our nasty garage into a wonderful classroom.

It’s now everyone’s favorite room in our house.

I will be sharing more about homeschooling here on my blog. My blog has been sorely neglected these past several years. Life happens. I completely understand if you discovered me back when I was a public school classroom teacher and aren’t interested in homeschool talk. If you need to unsubscribe or move on, I wish you nothing but the best. However, if you teach, and you’re looking for ideas about teaching or resources to help you teach then, guess what – I’m still a teacher. Teaching is still my jam. Just in a different way.

If you read all of this, give yourself a gold star and a pat on the back. Seriously. And if you have any questions about my homeschooling journey, just leave a comment below.