Why We Chose to Homeschool

If you had told me years ago that I would homeschool my children, I probably would have laughed.

Growing up in New York, homeschooling just wasn’t something I was exposed to. It wasn’t on my radar, and when I imagined having children one day, I pictured them going off to school just like I did.

But sometimes life has a way of opening your eyes to things you never thought you’d need to consider.

As we began navigating life with neurodivergent children, I started looking at education differently. I went down the homeschooling rabbit hole, asked questions, researched, connected with other families and realized something I wish I had understood sooner:

Homeschooling isn’t “school at home.”

It’s the opportunity to create an education around the child instead of constantly trying to fit the child into one specific way of learning.

Our days don’t necessarily look like a traditional classroom. We can spend intentional time on reading, handwriting and math, then take what we’re learning outside, into the kitchen, on a field trip or into everyday life. If one of my girls needs more time on something, we have that freedom. If she’s ready to move ahead, we can do that too.

And honestly? I’m still learning right alongside them. There are days when I need more discipline in the actual schooling part of homeschool! But that’s also one of the beautiful things about this lifestyle. It doesn’t have to look perfect to be effective.

One of the biggest questions I hear is, “But what about socialization?”

Meanwhile, I’m over here trying to figure out how to fit everything on our calendar.

Between our homeschool co-op, field trips, church, activities and time with friends, socialization has never been our problem. If anything, homeschooling has given us the flexibility to do more.

If I could give one piece of advice to a family considering homeschooling, it would be this: find a co-op and find your community.

Our co-op has been such an important part of our experience. Homeschool families come together to teach, plan field trips, share experiences, let the kids build friendships and simply do life together. The community piece has been just as valuable to me as the educational piece.

The girls are thriving, and homeschooling has allowed us to slow down where we need to, move forward where we can and make room for so many experiences outside of academics.

Is homeschooling for every family? Probably not. But I’m so thankful I was willing to look beyond what I had always known and consider something different for ours.

What started as a road I never expected to travel has become one I’m incredibly grateful we chose. And if you’re standing at the beginning of that same rabbit hole wondering if you could actually do this, I hope sharing our experience makes it feel a little less intimidating.

You don’t have to recreate a classroom.

You just have to be willing to learn what works for your children.