Surprised By Homeschool

Pre-pandemic (I think a term we all now use), I had been working with a local non-profit but have a background in education, mostly teaching lower elementary grades. Our girls were in our local public school; they had fantastic teachers and loved their school. I enjoyed my part-time work, helping facilitate programs for families in our community. Sharing and teaching is just part of who I am.

Enter Covid...

Early March 2020, my work was suspended, and shortly after schools closed. I was able to stay home full time and help support my girls in their online programming from school. We didn’t just survive it; we had fun and expanded on what their wonderful teachers were sending home. We were enjoying the togetherness. All the while the world was fraught with worry and uncertainty. I had always supported parental choice in education but had NEVER previously considered that home education would be something we would do.

A Mindset Change

However, by the end of June, I felt in my heart that our family needed to switch lanes, and I started researching homeschool boards and asking questions of those I knew who homeschooled. Our decision has resulted in a personal paradigm shift from my previous preconceived views. There is tremendous support out there! I think there has been a homeschool stigma that I truly feel is just not correct. Our local homeschool group is great, and the Alberta group on Facebook is a wealth of information.

I chose to go parent-led for our grade 4&6 daughters. We are sticking pretty close to the Alberta Program of Studies, but I chose parent-led for the flexibility it provided to combine our girls for some things and really dig into their interests. We just wrapped up a space unit which is from grade 6 science, but I simply had to have my younger daughter (the astronaut dreaming girl) join in.

For our monthly novel studies, we are reading mostly historical fiction with heroines because that is what they enjoy and because we can!! I totally believe in stretching them, but this year feels like such a tremendous opportunity for them to really do some things I know they will love and are already passionate about. We have a wonderful, informative facilitator. I feel like she truly understands my girls, my teaching style, and our goals for home education.

The girls named our homeschool Hope Academy, even making a paper mache mascot for us to hang on the wall in the corner of the basement that we set up and organized for our school space. Although to be honest, ‘school’ also takes place cuddled together on the couch, at the kitchen table, on our back deck when the weather is good, and as much hands-on activity as we can, wherever that may be!!

Going Forward

We recently made the decision as a family to continue to homeschool next year. The benefits are just so wonderful, the flexibility and experiences we are having (even with COVID restrictions) are just so great....and we all see it! The Covid situation is fluid, There is hope with vaccination roll-out, but we truly don’t know what next year will look like in schools. I am soooooo proud of all educators, those in the school classrooms and those in their homes. This year is teaching us all we can do hard things!

I hope my daughters will look back on our time together learning at home as a precious gift Covid gave us when honestly there is so much it has taken away. We have made dandelion cookies together for science and tried our hand at making fossils out of salt dough when 'traveling' to the Grassland Region in Alberta for social studies. We’ve used gummy bears to lay out our federal government and chocolate bars for fractions. We did a beautiful Christ-centred unit for Christmas and are excited to embark on a special Easter unit together. We have always had family scripture study and focused on Christ in our home, but there is more time and opportunity to weave our beliefs into all we do with home education. Simply put, we are loving it more than we ever thought possible!!!!

The teacher-student ratio in our home is 1/2. They are safe, and our home is peaceful. There is a continuity that even wonderful teachers and schools cannot provide this year.  They are learning and growing together as sisters. I have a front row seat to their 'aha!' moments, successes and challenges.

In the beginning of 2021, my work started offering some virtual programming so I have been doing some facilitating, trying to keep my toes dipped in at work a few hours a week. Balancing home education with other commitments is no joke. This decision is so personal, and each family is so different. I always come back to the question in every decision: What are our priorities? What is right for this season in our lives? Just because we say yes to it now doesn't mean it will be the right thing forever. When I look at the options, what is good, better or best? I don't think it is likely we will continue to homeschool for the rest of their school careers, BUT for now, home education is this wonderful, unexpected opportunity that I know I will forever cherish and hope my girls will too!

This article was written by Jennifer Polischuk.

Jenny is an educator who has discovered a love for homeschooling! She lives in Alberta with her husband, two daughters and their little dog. She enjoys traveling with her family (when COVID isn't around); road trips or flying, it doesn’t matter where. She’s a book lover from biographies to self-help to beautiful picture books.  She obsessively takes pictures of her family and makes yearly albums. She is grateful for her faith. Jenny loves live music and warm homemade cookies!! 

Read more articles from homeschoolers sharing why they homeschool.