by Kimberly Grogan. Kimberly and her husband Kevin are owners of Dash-Sports. She is an athlete and active in the sports and business community.
Let me start by saying that the situation of schooling from home at the end of last school year was not ideal for almost everyone. I cringed when I read memes or comments from traditional homeschool parents saying things like ‘welcome to our world’ or comparing the two situations. There is nothing to compare. One group chose to homeschool, the other had no choice, and for that, I empathize.
Our choice to homeschool one of our children 6 years ago and both of them 2 years ago was brought about by one wise mom’s advice. She encouraged us to “figure out in what learning environment each of them will thrive.” That has been our family’s guiding theme throughout our kid’s schooling journey. We are pretty sure our son, homeschooled since 4th grade who is now a rising sophomore in high school, would not be the same student or kid today had we kept him in traditional school. I schooled him at home with the curriculum I chose for 3 years, then he had 1 year of a private online school and is now at a hybrid homeschool. Our daughter came home for a year, went to Montessori for 2 years and then has been with her brother for 2 years at a hybrid homeschool. They currently go to school 2 days a week and have teachers that give them assignments for the other 3 days. Each year as we contemplate the next year we include them in the conversation, and we ask where will you thrive.
We are not a typical, mom stays home to homeschool, dad goes to work, homeschool family. My husband and I own a retail business, so we both work each day. Both of us are also dedicated to a 10-15 hour a week hobby. We didn’t have to give up either completely. Schedules and discipline help us fit it all in, especially in the early years. But now that the kids are older, they set their own schedules and get their work done. One of the great things is that they don’t have ‘homework’. They just have daily assignments. So once they are done, they are free to do what they want. Yes, as they get older they have to study for tests more, but they aren’t too tired to do so.
I was really scared when we started homeschooling. Would I be a good enough teacher, would he learn enough, would I be able to handle it all with my other commitments? Yes, I’ve messed up forgetting to look over stuff or have written the wrong assignment down and then left for work for the day, but more often than not, it has been a fun journey of getting more time with our kids. They are thriving for sure.
Homeschooling gave us the freedom to not put tests in our son’s schooling until he was ready for the pressure and to teach things we know are important to living a balanced life. It has given our family the freedom to take trips when they are the least expensive, and we get to go to theme parks in the middle of the week when they are least busy. We can go see grandparents and family almost anytime. Exploring is learning, so we have time and freedom to take many field trips.
There are so many resources, online options and programs for enhancement that I’m sure will only get more robust through the years as more parents choose to homeschool. I usually spend a few hours spread out over a few days researching the curriculum or program in which we will enroll, and then make a decision about what the next school year will look like for our kids. Then, closer to school starting, we gather all the books and information for schedules and organize their workspace. They typically need a bit of help at the start of the school year getting used to a new teacher or understanding some things, but at 15 and 12 they pretty much take care of their assignments and studying without us.
We are thankful to have two happy, healthy (they get to sleep a lot!) kids that love learning and pushing themselves to do their best, and we attribute a lot of it to our decision to put them in schooling environments where they will thrive. The sacrifice on our part, as parents, are tiny compared to the gains we know we have as a family because of the freedom of time.
