My children had been attending public school for several years when we made the switch to homeschooling. I have already shared how and why we started homeschooling. Still, I have not described what it actually looked like and felt like at the time, or how many adjustments I had to make for it to work.  

Having finally decided to bring my kids home, I started to get really excited. High on enthusiasm—low on experience—that was me! Luckily, my enthusiasm kept me going, even when I realized I had no idea what it would be like. My enthusiasm also helped make up for my husband’s lack of enthusiasm. He realized we had no other good options, so he supported my decision, but he had very little confidence that my new plan would work. He took a “wait and see” position. I, on the other hand, jumped into the plan whole heartedly.  

The fact that I had majored in elementary education gave me added confidence that I could handle this. I knew what a classroom looked like and I knew how to manage one. I did not realize that those preconceived notions I acquired as an education major would actually hinder my success in some ways.  

When we started our first year of homeschooling, I did what any teacher would do before the start of a new school year—I set up my classroom. I was able to acquire four school desks from a surplus sale at our school district office. I had a bulletin board, a dry-erase board, library shelves, a teacher’s desk, charts, and other very school-looking things to create our physical environment.  

I scheduled our school to start at the same time and on the same day as public school. I lined the kids up for their first day photos and then we went into our classroom, where we began with the Pledge of Allegiance and took our places at our desks. I explained what our school day would look like, referring to the nice time chart I had on the wall. I had the children look in their desks and become familiar with all the textbooks and other materials I had carefully prepared for each of them. Then we went to work. I was excited enough that I was able to ignore the fact that the toddler was running around, pulling books off the shelf, and that the baby was a little antsy, wanting Mom to stop talking and pick her up. I tried to ignore the fact that my eleven-year-old son was bored to tears and my eight-year-old son was drawing pictures instead of listening. This was going to be the best school day ever! 

The next day, we did not all get into the school room for the Pledge of Allegiance until closer to 8:30. We also only made it through three of the subjects I had scheduled before we gave up for the day. However, I still counted it as a good school day. By day three, I called it a success if all the kids made it to their desks at some point in time during the day. The girls were not a problem. They were loving this new game of playing school. The boys, on the other hand, were not loving it and were far less cooperative. So, our first year of homeschooling started. My preconceived notions of homeschooling quickly crumbled and reality soon began to take its place. I slowly developed an entirely different vision of what home education is and how to successfully make it happen in our family.  

The next seven posts list some of the pre-conceived notions I had and the reality that soon emerged. 

No. 1: My Kids Will Always Be Enthusiastic and Cooperative

No. 2: It Won’t Be a Problem to Add “Teacher” to My List of Other Responsibilities

No. 3: Education Happens in a Classroom

No. 4: School Will Be Our Top Priority–We Will Never Miss A Day

No. 5: School Takes 6-7 Hours a Day

No. 6: The Core of Our Education Will Be Based on Traditional Textbooks

No. 7: Everybody Else is Going to Support My Decision to Homeschool