Today my sons graduated high school as homeschooled students. As I reflect on our journey, many things and emotions come to mind. I am surprised at how fast the past thirteen years have flown by; my head spins when I think about the events that have transpired in our educational journey. How did thirteen years go by so fast? What happened to the time? Time dilation is a reality we all face as our lives on this earth progress, day by day and year by year. For me homeschooling my kids was more than a journey; it was an experience that will resonate with me. Homeschooling my kids was the greatest honor of my life, one that I struggle with concluding. I think of all the things that I could have done better, all the details that I should have paid more attention to, and all the ways that I let others affect me that I should have ignored.

As my journey ends and I think about our homeschool experience and the events of the past thirteen years, this post will focus on all the things I would change if I had the chance.

Take more pictures:

I homeschooled my boys for over a decade and only have a few pictures. How did I let that happen? In my defense, when I started homeschooling, phone cameras were not what they are now. I had to use a dinosaur, a digital camera that required a photo chip to store media. They were not the greatest and many times photo files were lost or deleted when uploading for printing, as many who used these antiquated cameras will understand. These cameras were frustrating and required deliberate action on the part of the user to take photos. As we keep our smartphones close, capturing moments is much easier and does not require much forethought. Still, it’s not an excuse but something I would do better. If you are starting your homeschool journey, capture all the moments you can, they are fleeting when they are gone, they are gone.

Paniced Less About High School:

In the back of every homeschooling parent is the anxiety-provoking high school years. These are the core years that will form the future of your student’s career path; it’s hard not to be nervous as this milestone approaches. After each year, I could feel the butterflies stirring in my stomach as we inched one year closer to high school. At the end of our 8th-grade year, I was very nervous going into the summer before 9th grade. However, I realized that high school was not the beast I imagined.

As I worked with my umbrella school advisor and began course planning for the following four years, my students had a vision for their future and chose many classes for their high school careers. We live in the golden age of information. Finding resources for high school classes is at our fingertips. Help in the form of homeschool co-ops and online classes for homeschool students is abundant. While I taught many of the subjects, several classes were online classes. Homeschooling encouraged my students to be self-learners and self-teachers. As I look back, high school was undemanding. My students did much of the work; I assumed the role of facilitator, allowing them to take on a more active part in their education.

Had I known the reality of homeschooling during my students’ high school years, I could have saved myself many sleepless nights. If you are just starting your homeschool journey and you have many of these same thoughts and hesitations, don’t worry. Work with your umbrella school academic advisor and your students, you will find that homeschooling during high school is straightforward and uncomplicated.

Not Allowing My Family to Interfere in Our Homeschool Education:

Homeschooling comes with a lot of stigmas. I was sandwiched on both sides by will-intended yet ill-informed grandparents in aspects of homeschooling. It was not until COVID-19 gripped the nation and remote learning became necessary that my family realized the value of how I was educating my children. As many families began struggling with the challenges of remote learning, my nieces and nephews included, only then did grandparents come to understand and appreciate our approach to education. 

I struggled with relationships with both sets of grandparents concerning my educational choice for our children. I allowed them to interfere and strived to show them that many myths surrounding homeschooling are attributed to misinformation and fear. I have COVID to thank for the eventual acceptance, but it came at a high cost for many others. I regret that I allowed this family dynamic to persist which caused much tension and stress. 

If you are in this situation, stand your ground and inform family members that this is not on the table for discussion. Don’t allow them to place doubt in your mind about your ability to educate your children. Your children do not need to attend an accredited school. You know your child better than anyone else; these scare tactics are based on false information. 

Not Doubting Myself So Much:

I am my own worst enemy and second guess myself often. Am I doing the right thing for my children? Am I a good enough teacher? Should I send them to school like all of their friends? Do I have enough patients to get through this school year? Did I choose the right curriculum? I could go on and on. As parents, we second-guess ourselves a lot. It is our job to raise good human beings; we want to do that to the best of our ability.

When homeschooling our children, that responsibility becomes even more paramount. It is easy to doubt our decision based on others’ opinions and our opinions of ourselves. If you take nothing else from this post, take this, you know your child the best no one can make a better decision for your child than you.

Public schools are not perfect educational institutions neither are charter or magnet schools. All aspects of education have issues; our job as parents is to decide which of these paths is best for our students. It is in this area that your opinion supersedes all others.

More Prepared For The Conclusion of Homeschooling:

Even now, as I am creating this post, I am in the emotional throws over the conclusion of homeschooling. Many thoughts and emotions circulate in my mind as I think back throughout our homeschooling endeavor. Did I prepare my students well? How will a homeschool education affect them going forward? How will I adjust to no longer being a teacher? All of these thoughts and emotions consume me at the moment.

While homeschooling my students we were working toward this goal, graduation. Now that we are here, I’m unsure how to handle it. I am excited for them and thrilled that I went the distance but saddened that some of the best years with my children are over. I found myself unprepared for the emotions that would take over my mind as I requested their diplomas and purchased tassels with caps and gowns. Concluding homeschooling is a lot harder than I expected.

As a homeschooling parent, I never experienced the emotional upheaval when sending a child to kindergarten. I never experienced fear when a school shooting was reported on the news because my children were at home with me. These are new feelings for me.

If you are starting your homeschool journey or are closing in on the conclusion, prepare yourself for the thoughts and feelings that will surely come. I know I will get through this but prepare yourself for the throughs that will inhabit your mind. It’s hard to say goodbye and even harder knowing you can never return.

Cherish the good old days while you are living them. I wish I recognized and was living in the good old days before they were gone. Time with your children is fleeting, cherish those days and capture as many of them in pictures as you can.

Now that my homeschooling journey has ended, I want to help others who are just starting by sharing all the knowledge and wisdom I have gained throughout this incredible experience.

In addition to being an accomplished homeschooling mom, I am a published author, multi-disciplinary writer, and blog contributor. If you like this blog, please visit my portfolio of work.

The Works of Noelle Moser

In my next post, I will examine the myths of homeschooling and how to combat the negativity. So, grab a cup of coffee, and a notebook, and let’s begin.

~ Noelle K. Moser ~