When I first became a mom, homeschooling was not necessarily something I pictured for our family. In fact, growing up, I think I had the same picture of homeschooling that a lot of people have. Kids sitting at home all day, working through books, without much happening outside those four walls.

It is funny how much that picture has changed.

Our homeschool journey actually started long before we officially called ourselves homeschoolers. Before preschool, we used ABCJesusLovesMe at home. It was simple, play based, and gave us an opportunity to learn together without making everything feel like “school.” There were books and activities, but there was also learning through everyday life.

Eventually, our oldest attended a private Christian school. She used Abeka for kindergarten, and for a season, that worked well for our family. At the same time, our family was going through changes of its own. My husband’s work changed during COVID, I was growing my own business, and life looked very different than it had just a few years before.

By the end of kindergarten, changes within the school helped us begin seriously considering bringing her home.

So in 2023, we did.

I wish I could say I had our homeschool style figured out immediately, but I absolutely did not.

For first grade, we started with a curriculum that had been recommended to us. Coming from Abeka, however, the pace felt much slower than what our daughter was accustomed to. I began pulling from different books and resources, trying to figure out what worked for her and what worked for me.

Eventually, I found myself coming back to something familiar: Abeka.

There was something freeing about realizing that choosing a curriculum did not mean I had to use every single piece of it exactly as designed. We could use the books and structure we liked without feeling like we had to recreate a traditional classroom inside our home.

That realization changed a lot for me.

By third grade, we decided to try Abeka Academy’s video streaming program. Instead of me teaching every lesson myself, she could watch her teachers, complete her schoolwork, and then come to me when she needed help. I could facilitate her tests, quizzes, homework, and school day while still being Mom.

That became especially valuable as our family entered another new season. We are a military family now. I run a business from home. We added a baby to the family. Our days do not always look the same, and honestly, our homeschool does not always look the same either.

Now, as we move through fourth grade, I think I understand our homeschool much better than I did when we started.

I like structure.

I like having curriculum.

I like knowing what needs to be accomplished.

But I also love the freedom homeschooling gives us to recognize that education is so much bigger than a textbook.

If a history lesson sparks her interest, we can find a video and learn more about it. If we bring home a fruit we have never tried before, suddenly we are learning where it grows, how to cut it, what it tastes like, and how different cultures use it. We can take field trips, participate in activities, explore our community, and follow questions when they come up.

Some days school happens primarily at a desk.

Other days, learning follows us everywhere.

And maybe the biggest lesson I have learned through our homeschool journey is that I do not have to find the perfect way to homeschool.

I am a recovering perfectionist, so that one has taken me a little while.

What worked in kindergarten did not necessarily work in first grade. What worked in first grade changed again by third. What works with one child, in one season of life, may need to change when that season changes.

And that is okay.

Homeschooling has given us the freedom to adjust, grow, try something, change our minds, and keep moving forward.

Our homeschool journey has not been about finding the perfect curriculum or creating the perfect school day.

It has been about learning our child, learning our family, and building an education around the life God has given us.

And I think that may be my favorite part of homeschooling.

We are still learning what works.

We are still growing.

And our homeschool story is still being written.