How I Became an Accidental Homeschooler & Fell in Love with It!

I never set out to be a homeschooler. My two oldest kids were in public school, one in 5th grade and one in 7th, and they were performing as well as I expected. I knew nothing different. My youngest was in preschool, and I assumed he would follow the same path. But then something happened that completely changed my perspective.

Some parts of preschool were good, but one day, I picked him up, and he teared up, telling me he had a very bad day. They had been playing a guessing game—you know the kind where a child thinks of something, and the class asks questions like, “Is it an animal? Is it a person?” Well, my little guy was thinking of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. (Smack my head.) The other three-year-olds just weren’t as obsessed with global architecture as he was. (He is both gifted and on the spectrum, though we hadn’t confirmed that yet). That moment, while likely not the first, was probably my biggest wake-up call that maybe traditional education was going to be a struggle. I didn’t know what to do, so I started researching alternatives.

We hadn’t been in the area long, so I looked into magnet schools and gifted programs, eventually stumbling upon a local Facebook group for parents of gifted kids. I joined, thinking they’d have resources, and they invited me to a park day that Friday. When I arrived, I noticed many school-aged kids playing, reading, drawing, and just living their best lives. So I asked, “Oh, does this city not have school today?” One of the parents looked at me funny and said, “Um, No, We homeschool.” My immediate thought was, “WHAT? WHY? I can barely get through homework with my kids! Let alone teach them all day!”

One of the dads said to me, “You just do what you need to do for your kids. I’m sure you could do it!” My second response was, “I’m literally the PTA president! This seems like a big leap😅” I was always involved in their learning—Room Mom, PTA, volunteering, bringing supplies, you name it. But homeschooling? Having the responsibility of their entire education in my hands? Impossible. But then I started spending time with this group, talking to these parents, seeing their kids thrive, and learning about all the different ways homeschooling is possible. My mind truly opened up. I honestly thought, “Well, he already knows how to read (he was self-taught at a very young age), and isn’t that the school’s #1 goal in Kindergarten? Seems like a safe time to take a leap of faith.” And that was it. I dipped my toes into homeschooling part-time that year for Pre-K and jumped in full-time the following year for Kindergarten.

My older two left school at the end of 7th and 8th grade and both graduated as homeschoolers. One is in college, and one is a Marketing Director for a nationwide restaurant company. I absolutely remember vividly being in the shoes of “Why in the world would you homeschool?” or “How could I possibly homeschool?” and also having no idea that these kids didn’t stay home working off a chalkboard all day. Was it a simple path? No. Just different. But it was a great path for us, and homeschooling morphed into exactly what we needed it to be. No blue denim jumper required (but if you want to wear one, go for it—you be you!).

There are as many ways to homeschool as there are to raise your kids, and just like raising them, to do it right, first and foremost you just need to love them.