How Homeschooling Changed my Relationship with my Child

After spending the majority of my time at work, teaching other children, I soon realized I was missing out on a lot of my own child's growth and self-discovery. That was one of the reasons our family decided to homeschool, but what happened next changed everything.

1. Our family can be the first priority

We come first and love it this way! If our family wants to stay up late watching a movie together, we now have the opportunity to do that. This has given more intention into the way we spend each day, allowing our time together to be meaningful and not rushed at all.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not standing over my child begging for his company every waking minute (we definitely need our time apart throughout the day), but I have gotten to truly slow down and appreciate the time we never had together before homeschool. It's so fun to get to enjoy our breakfast, arrange our schedule to fit our family, and to genuinely bask in our togetherness.

2. There's no sense of "competition" while learning

As we learn, I can guide my son and focus solely on his comprehension of the concepts we're covering.

In my classrooms in the past, over 25 students would all be trying to squeeze their needs into the little time allotted to instruction. It was an ongoing task to attempt reaching all students' needs, stay in touch with their families, and juggle assignments and grades for each learner.

I didn't want my child to be on the other end of that, trying to find a spot to fit in and be heard when it wasn't as realistic as it has been perceived by non-teachers. I knew what that situation looked like, I spent 5 years trying to effectively teach students and each year I felt like there could have still been more effort by me or different strategies for my students.

With homeschooling, these factors don't apply, making it easy for my son to take learning at his own pace and dive into topics that interest him most!

3. We spend more one-on-one time together

This may seem like a no-brainer, but I did not expect to have grown my bond with my son as much as we have since starting home education. While my little shadow used to constantly be attached to my hip, he has grown a stronger sense of independence over the last year.

As a mom, we want these years to last forever, so I feared losing my little when he hit this stage. Our time together looks a little different, as it has in each stage of his life, but the conversations we have are baffling and the discoveries he makes on a day-to-day basis while learning have been my favorite thing to witness.

4. Flexibility in our curriculum and schedule

Imagine being the headmaster of a school, creating the game plan, tweaking the schedule, deciding on routines, etc. When it comes to learning at home, that's your role! Homeschool can be as laid back or rigorous as your learner needs, meaning you're the captain of that ship.

I create the curriculum we follow, supplementing as needed, but there are various programs to select from that will fit your family’s needs. Be sure to check out your state and area expectations and guidelines!

We schedule our weeks around must-do tasks, like appointments, then I choose blocks of time to set aside for work and homeschool. Although our schedule may look different from week to week, the routines we keep are the same. This still allows for predictability each day and easy-to-remember steps that my son can follow as our schedule changes.

How could home education change your life?

In which ways would homeschooling positively impact your learner positively?