One of the most asked questions we get as a homeschool family is, “what made you want to start homeschooling?”
This isn’t an easy question to answer, given that five years ago our family had no idea what homeschooling was. We were only aware of the typical public or private school routes.
At age 5, children left the house to go to school and moms and dads went to work. That was our life. My oldest was in first grade, my younger children were ages three and almost two. I was priming them and getting them ready for their pre-k days in the near future.
It wasn’t until my husband received unaccompanied orders to South Korea that I stumbled across this thing called “homeschool”.
My husband had just returned from deployment less than a year ago and now the army wanted to send him to Korea alone. We would have been so disconnected as a couple, as a family. As military spouses, we understand that when the army says our husbands have to go…we don’t have much of choice but to prepare.
It’s not like we can change the outcome.
He already missed the first year of my daughter’s life and I wasn’t about to let that happen again. Deployment was one thing: WE CANT GO, but an overseas tour? I had to figure a way to get my family there.
I had heard of other families going to Korea without sponsorship from the army. This meant no ration card, no access to military post, living out in town and no access to DOD Schools.
I wondered…”how did they make that happen? Where did their children go to school? My children can’t learn Korean that fast!” It really was a mystery to me to put all the pieces together. I spent weeks researching and that’s when I came across the term ‘homeschooling‘ in a forum of military spouses looking for ways to keep their families together at all costs.
I mean moving to a foreign country is challenging enough, but beginning the journey of homeschooling while transitioning overseas??? I think we were up for the challenge.
At this point, the multiple benefits of homeschool were nowhere on my radar. I could only think of this thing called “homeschool” as a means to keep our family together.
I could have sat around and complained or sulked, but as military spouses, we know our husbands have a greater duty to serve our country. As spouses, our options really consist of only one thing: supporting our spouses.
With that said, I view homeschooling as a means to support my husband and his career, which in turn, has an impact of saving lives.
Not only did this choice to begin homeschooling support my husband’s career, but 2 months after all my researching when I took the plunge to name our school, fill out my letter of intent and began homeschooling, I discovered the many benefits of homeschooling along the way.
Once my husband and I realized how beneficial this concept of homeschooling was, we not only homeschooled for two years in Korea, but when decided to continue homeschooling stateside when we returned.
We couldn’t imagine sending them back and giving up the flexibility of picking up and going where ever dad goes. We couldn’t give up all the extra time we could spend with him when we came back from the field, training, and being able to fully enjoy four days weekends with dad.
Military families lead unconventional lives. We don’t have the same day-to-day routine as most civilian jobs.
I’m happy I stumbled across this idea of homeschooling five years ago. It has been such a blessing to my family. I know homeschooling isn’t for everybody, but I love having opportunities to tell parents all about homeschooling.
I get many opportunities to do this at the local Homeschool meeting that our Homeschool co-op hosts in our local community.
It’s so rewarding to see a new family begin their journey of homeschooling, knowing that I can be a support to them the way other families had supported me. I recommend joining a homeschool group whether it is local or online. The homeschool community is one of the most welcoming and embracing communities my family has had the privilege of joining. I also recommend downloading Time4Learning’s “Welcome to Homeschooling Guide”, whether you’re new to homeschooling or have years of experience behind you.
For more information on how to start your homeschooling experience, visit time4learning.com.
