How We Got Started in Homeschooling

Way back in 2009 when I first began homeschooling,  I had no idea what I was doing. Due to a variety of circumstances, we pulled our son out of the small, private school in which he had been enrolled for kindergarten and first grade, and began the journey of homeschooling. At that time, I honestly thought I'd only be homeschooling for—at most—a year.

2nd grade "classroom area" at home

Like I said, when I first started homeschooling, I had no idea what to do. We were coming out of a Classical Christian school which stressed rigor, discipline, chanting, Latin, etc. I tried re-creating the classroom at home, and we did well for the first year. We did all the schoolwork at a desk, covered all subjects every day, and it was fun for a while. But eventually, the "need" to do school just like they did at the other school started to fade into the background, and we started to spread our wings. Once I realized the benefits of a flexible schedule, and moving around the house, I started loosening up a bit.

In the midst of this, a new friend introduced me to Charlotte Mason by giving me a large book to read and a massive "Rainbow Resources" catalog. She probably had 30+ tabs in that catalog, and I was completely overwhelmed. I think I read or skimmed the book, ordered my own catalog, and returned everything to her. I continued doing what I had already started, tracking with the classical school in the off chance that we re-enrolled him the next year. But then we moved across the country and decided we'd better continue for one more year. And then that year turned into two which turned into three, and so on.

6th grade Titanic exhibit a the local library

As time marched on and we became more comfortable in our homeschooling journey, I investigated other methods and found that I had a bent towards "unschooling," although I was pretty uncomfortable trying to explain that to friends who were paying thousands of dollars a year to have their children in private school.

Last Spring, I was kinda at the end of my rope. I was desperate for some support (everyone I know who homeschools is doing a program called "Classical Conversations" which puts every child on the same track). I searched and found a wonderful support group called the "Charlotte Mason Club" led by an amazing homeschooling mom, Alba Rice. I'm so grateful for her support and willingness to facilitate an online forum once a month. Finding that group has been exactly what I needed to revitalize my struggling homeschool program and get my focus back where it needs to be: the relationship with my son.