How hard is homeschooling?

I recently had the opportunity to share with a friend about homeschooling...and whether it is hard or not. And then just yesterday I received a comment asking the same question. My response would have been quite lengthy so I decided to post about it rather than respond privately.

Why?

Because I think a lot of people think it would be too hard to homeschool, and as result they don't try it. The reality is this:

Yes, it is hard. Hard the way that having a brand, new infant is hard. It's hard the way starting a new job is hard. It's hard the way being a work-at-homehome mom is hard, only your kids don't go off to school at age 5.

As with anything, we have good days and bad days. My kids would have the same in any other school. I certainly have the same with or without them around.

We get frustrated with, and tired of, each other. We need breaks. We say we are sorry a lot. And we have to forgive a lot. But I can do all of that in a two-day weekend or a five-day work week. I see it as raising kids. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Curriculum can be daunting to many people. As in, say the word curriculum and watch their eyes glaze over, daunting. This also doesn't have to be. Depending on the state in which you live, the requirements are different. I am grateful to live in Texas where I have plenty of freedom to homeschool. In Texas our home is considered a private school. Private school indeed - we even chose a name for it this year. ANCHOR ACADEMY.  We chose ANCHOR because Christ is our anchor. He provides the hope, the patience, the love, the everything that we need to get through each and every day, regardless of our school choices. He is the hope. And we selected the verse you see below to help remind us of our position with Him...firm and secure. Heck, we even have a logo and we're getting t-shirts made. The kids love that. My daughter wants a skirt now to wear with it. Ha...this coming from the girl who hated uniforms at her private school last year...

The friend I mentioned at the beginning...she is my friend who said to me on more than one occasion, "Girl you have stars in your crown because I could never homeschool my son."

Know what? She's homeschooling him starting this week. Not because I twisted her arm. Not at all. I couldn't have twisted it hard enough to convince her, but God was already showing her that a change was needed. So last Friday we went to Mardel to pick up a few math books and tools to get her started. She told me that the word curriculum made her feel nervous and overwhelmed. So we started with basics. And as we go through the next few months, she will certainly get a better feel for next year when she has to decide which curriculum to choose for next year.

On to the second part of my answer. Wait, you say? There's a second part...that was one long-winded first part.

Long-winded indeed. I just want you to get a good idea of what it's like.

No, it is not that hard. If you stay home already, your days will look only slightly different. You already probably spend time working with your kids on letters and numbers and such, because every American seems to think that school needs to begin at 6 months old. Heaven forbid, our kids might be behind. We're also the nation that expects so little of our teenagers that we've created a culture of kids who don't know how to leave the nest after graduation from high school OR college...so behind...um, yes. But only because we handicap them ourselves. (Sorry. That is a completely separate post).

No, it is not hard. Why? Because you're already doing so much of it anyway that by the time you're facing kindergarten, you're already doing it.

Honestly, I spend about 2-3 hours each day doing school. That's it. Because in the regular school system - either public or private - the day is mostly full of filler. That doesn't mean it's bad. It just means it's different. So, if you're looking at homeschooling thinking, "How will I fill eight hours without poking myself in the eye from boredom?", then please rest assured - your kindergartener will only require about an hour of your time focusing on learning specific things. Seriously. Could you do more? Absolutely. It's all about what your child needs, wants and requires. And it's about what you can handle.

I spend about two and a half hours with my son who is in 5th grade. I spend about two hours with my daughter in 2nd grade, and I spend about 30 minutes with my preschooler. Thirty minutes is about the length of his attention. We cover every subject they would cover in any other school: math, science, history, language arts, reading, spelling and Bible. Some days we have art projects that line up with another subject. Some days we have science projects or experiments.

We only do school Monday-Thursday. Some days are longer than others. But it works for us. And we love it.

I hope this helps you understand a bit better...the yes and the no. Today there are so many options available for homeschool. There are university-model schools where kids go three days a week and they're home two days, there are co-ops a plenty and there are many more homeschoolers than you realize. Where I live you could easily meet a new homeschool family every single day just going through your routine errands. We are everywhere. :)

Hope this is helpful to you.