I’m a person who always thinks its important to remember where we started in order to fully appreciate where we are. We have been homeschooling officially for over 1 year now and I recently came across a post I wrote after a few weeks in…..

We are three weeks into our official homeschooling status and I have to report that I am in utter amazement at what these three weeks have brought to our family!

  • Aidan has learned to read. I mean gone from struggling with letter sounds to sounding out anything phonetic and knowing a (decent sized) handful of sight words. I didn’t even have a concern about where he was, but seeing where he is blows my mind.
  • Aidan and Caleb are working together as a team. I’ve heard Aidan asking Caleb for help on a map when he couldn’t remember the name of something (Caleb is a facts man) and I’ve heard Caleb ask Aidan to “please can I use the square one”
  • Tim is less stressed in the mornings because he is not trying to herd the kids out the door at 7:00 and is thus making it home earlier in the afternoons because he can count on getting his prep work done in the morning before school since the kids aren’t hanging out in his classroom.
  • I am less stressed by the transitions in our day. I knew all of the transitions were disrupting Aidan, it turns out they were disrupting me to. More peaceful mom translates to more peaceful kids!
  • Everyone is getting better sleep. I’m not sure how this has anything to do with homeschooling, but I am not imagining it and the change was dramatic and sudden.
  • Kylee is in a nice rhythm since she is also not getting disrupted by comings and goings all day.
  • I have learned that not only can I teach my children, my children can learn with me as their teacher. I didn’t really doubt my ability to teach, but I was unsure if our relationship would be impacted negatively by mom in the role of teacher. Quite the opposite in fact, I think they appreciate my availability and knowing what to expect from day to day.
  • I am also learning to let my clean floors go but at the same time balance the needs of the house and the needs of the family better.
  • Caleb has not had any unknown gluten exposures. It wasn’t a regular thing, but he had several unknown reactions the first half of the school year that we never exactly identified. He has spent 2 of the 3 weeks with asthma issues, but February is his month so I’m not that worried about that and at least I’m not worried about how much time he is missing from school.

Suffice it to say I could not be more thrilled with our decision and am looking forward to continuing on in the journey!


Its great to read that and compare it to where we are now. In regards to reading, Aidan was loosely reading at the time and I was so excited. It took a lot more work from both of us to get him up to grade level now. I’m still trying to learn not to care about grade level, but I can’t help it. I was also clearly kidding myself about not being worried about where he was.
Aidan and Caleb may have left the honeymoon phase in getting along, but I still think they work well together. They have both gotten more competitive, which has been a recent challenge we face.
Caleb’s good health continues to blow me out of the water, both on the gluten free front and the asthma. I didn’t start blogging until after he was through the worst of his infant years and already diagnosed with Celiac Disease, but he is honestly a different kid! In fact, he’s one of the healthiest members of our family now!
Tim and I’s stress level regarding the boys schooling is lower than it has ever been. Life is full of stressors, but our family is close. We are facing a possible (probable?) move in the next 6 months and school is just one thing I’m not worried about in the least. I have grown so much as a person, as a mom, as a teacher, and as a homemaker through this entire experience. I feel like I am where I fit – not trying to be something I’m not.
The last year has really changed the way I see my family and our future.
It is an exciting place to be.