Jennifer Vail

Whether he’s just taking a vacation day to catch up on a house project or has a random day off from work, I love having my husband home. Don’t even get me started on that wonderful family cocoon we cuddle up in during the slow and confusing time between Christmas and New Year’s. Having my husband home in the middle of the day is a treat equivalent to when I’d be on a field trip and realize that I’d normally be in math class, but was watching a show or taking in zoo animals. It’s out of the norm and always a surprise.

Well, it was.

“Oh, I could never homeschool!” I hear that a lot, as most homeschool parents do. When given a few moments of thought, it’s usually the reaction of most people. They imagine the time they’d be giving up, maybe a job they’d have to leave. Insecurity strikes, and we suddenly feel like we don’t know enough to ever have graduated high school, let alone teach our children.

Time and patience and finances—homeschooling can certainly require a lot of us as parents. Those requirements, though, can feel downright impossible as a parent with a chronic illness.

It used to be that the first question I’d get after someone found out I homeschooled was, “What curriculum do you use?” It’s probably the only thing most people know to ask that doesn’t come across as judgmental. Heck, I asked it back before I signed my son out of public school for good.

Over the last year, though, the questions have shifted. What used to be polite queries have turned into interested, informed, almost intense interrogations about how they could possibly homeschool, as well.

My kids consume books like air, and there are entire homeschool days when we get so lost in a story that we forget to do math. If you’re considering buying any of BookShark’s literature-based programs, then I’m sure you can relate. There is just nothing that beats the feeling of being swept up in words, and my kids respond really well to the time spent cuddled up together, lost in historical fiction.

BookShark, naturally, is a perfect fit for voracious and eager readers. Sometimes, though, an issue arises with my order that I know other readers can relate to: We already have some of the books included in the curriculum package.

Homeschooling has been on the rise in the last few decades due firstly to the flexibility and freedom it provides and then lately because of a worldwide pandemic. Changing the setting of instruction from classroom to kitchen table doesn’t always change the methods of learning though.

Whether due to societal pressures, status quo, insecurities, exhaustion, or just being unaware, there are still many obstacles to true freedom in homeschooling.

With all that has changed around the world this year, one of the most obviously impacted areas has been schooling. Entire campuses closed with no notice. Co-ops were cancelled. Desks were placed yards apart, screens became instructors, and education became a series of boxes to check rather than an enriching experience.

There has been a large movement taking place over the last several months, one that promises to improve your life, simplify things, and keep you from being overwhelmed.

Your house will take less time to clean, your outfits will take less time to plan, and your life won’t be cluttered with what is unnecessary.

History has been my favorite subject for as long as I can remember. I used to fall asleep every night watching History Channel documentaries when I was in high school, and I still read biographies just for the fun of it. Maybe it’s just because I’m nosy, but I can never get enough history. Fortunately there’s never a lack of it to devour!

We are living in unprecedented times, about halfway through a year that will likely have its own chapter in future history books. Everything has been disrupted, from meat production and toilet paper availability to gas prices. Images we never thought we’d see have become daily observations. Even those living the most flexible lifestyles have found themselves out of sorts, out of routine, out of control, and that includes homeschoolers.

I hear this objection a lot: “I could never homeschool, I’m too bad at (insert any subject here)!” And I admit that in the beginning, I had this concern, too.

Accepting the sole responsibility for your child’s education is a heavy weight, yet there is a misunderstanding that we homeschool parents have to have it all figured out before we sit down with our first math manipulatives.