How a one-year experiment transformed our family’s approach to education and life*

When Life Gets Turned Upside Down (Cue the Fresh Prince Theme)

You know that feeling when your carefully laid plans take an unexpected turn? That was me—pregnant with twins, juggling a needy three-year-old and a creative, bouncy five-year-old, all while attempting to get a graduate degree. I was sitting in a class reflecting on faith, imagination, and how goodness, truth, and beauty have inspired artists throughout history—from George MacDonald to Dorothy Sayers to Salvador Dali.

As I wrote poetry about what inspired me—my grandmother’s home that shaped me and filled my imagination with play and wonder—my kindergartner was struggling. She came to me with big, deep feelings about not understanding the sensory overload of school. The transition from a warm preschool environment where play and learning went together to fluorescent lighting, loud noises, and a teacher managing 25+ other children was overwhelming for my little artist.

She would have adapted eventually. But then she boldly asked, “Why can’t we try homeschooling like the HOME learners we know?”

Reluctant Beginnings

Let me be honest—I loved my kids, but I also wanted the break school provided. I cherished that time to think and sit undisturbed. My image of homeschoolers had always been that they were awkward and sheltered—not something I planned for my kids to be. Yet as I contemplated what education truly means and what lasting memories I wanted my child to have, I questioned whether traditional schooling aligned with my values.

What did I remember from elementary school? My teacher bringing in her dog, Mrs. Bravo’s lipstick on her teeth, our class Mayfair, and a few field trips strewn in there—just a handful of magical moments. Was that the educational foundation I wanted for my child?

After the twins arrived, life became chaotic. By the end of that school year, I wrestled with the idea that it would be good to take a year together to experiment with homeschool. After all, first grade isn’t that hard to teach, and it might help us transition as a newly expanded family.

The Year That Changed Everything: 2019

I tentatively agreed to homeschool for one year in 2019, starting with some other home learners we knew. Little did I know that only months later the whole world would be homeschooling alongside me. All the sudden my new found passion for home education was met with the very real reality of how a bemouth of a system like education can become stifling to small children with the demands of masks and zoom schooling something I definitely didn’t want my young children to face. So as the pandemic wore on, my amazingly talented neighbor—an eco-architecture professor—decided to continue homeschooling her three children, and we joined forces.

Despite our different contexts and beliefs, we found beauty in being with our kids and creating educational experiences together. She taught them to make sculptures from twigs, took them into the forest to identify plants, and nature journaled with them. Meanwhile, I created a Hogwarts-inspired adventure with STEM lessons and poetry teatime picnics in the garden.

Those early days were truly magical.

From Experiment to Lifestyle

The magic didn’t last in quite the same way, but I decided to stick with homeschooling. Homeschooling became more like a steady drumbeat that patterned our days sometimes with exciting solos and sometimes with steady rhythm. However, the more I read amazing authors like Julie Bogart, Ainsley Arment, Sarah Mackenzie, and John Holt, the more I embraced the delicious life of home learning.

Our chaotic mornings of rushed breakfasts, shoving kids into clothes, and frantic drop-offs to preschool and kindergarten transformed into a slow rhythm of sharing books together (with a little chaos still sprinkled in). Our evenings filled with conversations about books we’d read and games we’d played. I witnessed firsthand those “a-ha” moments when my children learned to read a word or solved a math problem.

Why I Stayed

This is how a one-year experiment turned my life upside down and homeschooling became what works for our family right now. Not to shield my children from the world, but to invite them into it:
– To taste the wind
– To be wild and free
– To learn at a pace that works for them
– To delight in stories, projects, and community
– To grow as fellow humans and lifelong learners -To explore goodness, truth & beauty together – To just BE together ( childhood is a blink)

Reclaiming my own Childhood

What surprised me most was how homeschooling gave me a second chance at witnessing childhood. Growing up between divorced parents was challenging and propelled me out of childhood sooner than I’d like my kids to experience. Now, homeschooling fueled my own learning and passions as I experienced childhood joy through my children’s eyes—a healing journey that enriched us all.

Our homeschooling journey hasn’t been perfect, but it’s been perfectly ours. That unexpected detour has become the most meaningful path I never planned to take.

*Have you ever taken a temporary detour that became a permanent journey? I’d love to hear your story in the comments below!*