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Let’s just state the obvious: being a homeschooling mom is NOT easy.

Maybe you find yourself homeschooling because you want to protect your kids’ health the best you can. Maybe your typical public school option isn’t even available to you at the moment. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to try homeschooling, but just weren’t quite sure how you could make it happen … until now.

For whatever reason you are now calling yourself a homeschooling mom or how reluctant you feel, let me tell you that you CAN do this!

No matter how overwhelming the days or curriculum choices may be, please know that you are NOT alone.

In fact, a recent report estimates that there will be 8.5 million homeschooled kids in the United States alone for fall 2020 – that’s up a mere 6 MILLION kids from spring of 2019!

Truth be told, I started out as a reluctant homeschool mama myself nearly eight years ago. As a young mother, I was adamant that I would NEVER homeschool my kids. But here I am – and I have grown to love it. You can learn more about how and why I became a homeschooling mom right here!

Whether being a homeschool mom is something you’ll be for the next school year or for many school years to come, it’s my goal to help you move from reluctant homeschool mama to a rockstar homeschooling mom!

Homeschool Mama of the Month:
Nellie Boyer

Nellie is an incredible, upbeat, homeschooling mom who lives near Washington DC with her family. She has a love of music, running, soccer, and helping other women find happiness as moms.

Q: What are the grades (or ages) of the kids that you homeschool?

A: My kids are ages 14, 12, 10, and 7. Grades 8, 7, 4, 2.

Q: When and why did you start homeschooling?

A: We began homeschooling 10 awesome years ago. We embarked on this journey after 1 year of Pre-Kinder for my oldest, and after reading a book called Dumbing Us Down, by John Taylor Gatto. We decided to just take it a year at a time.

We fell in love with homeschooling. As a military family, we were moving every few years, so this helped us to keep consistency in our kids’ education…not to mention the flexibility we had to travel and enjoy the world.

Now that we are settled, we have chosen to continue our homeschooling life. It has become a family culture and we love it.

Q: Do you have a favorite curriculum?

A: I used Five in a Row when my children were very young, 2nd grade and below. It is literature-based and very simple to do. You get to read the same beautiful picture book 5 days in a row and take a different topic from it everyday. For example, the story Madeline takes place in Paris, France. So for the 1st day you talk about Geography, identify and label Paris on a map, and spend some time exploring pictures of landmarks in Paris. It’s so fun.

As my kids grew, I wanted a bit more rigorous academics. We moved to The Family School (ahsonline.org). This is also a one-room school house approach to learning and covers History, Literature, Science, Geography, Art and Music. They are developing math and language arts for the 2021 school year.

We all do a lesson together, then each child has individualized assignments based on their age and ability. The academics are stellar, the assignments are great, the lessons are easy and well laid out with videos and flashcards, but what I absolutely LOVE about this curriculum is the gospel tie that each lesson has. Every day we get to have a genuine gospel conversation connected with the subject we studied. We feel the spirit in every lesson.

For math we use Math-U-See. It’s a mastery approach and builds an excellent base for harder math down the road.

For writing and grammar we use Institute for Excellence in Writing (www.IEW.com). This, in my opinion, is the best writing program. You can teach it yourself or have the students watch the DVDs and then do the assignments. I’m an English Major and I’ve learned and improved my own writing through this program.

For spelling, we use Spelling U See. In this program, the kids copy down passages and learn the spelling rules for the words used in the passage.

Q: What is a joyful homeschooling moment you’ve had recently?

A: Just this last Saturday, I came downstairs a bit later than usual, and every kid was sitting in the living room, reading. My 7 year old was right there along with his big sisters, with an open book, reading along. They all love reading, and this was demonstrating to me that they all love learning.

Q: What advice would you give to a new homeschooling mom?

A: First off, I would say to make God your partner in all the decisions you make. He knows you. He knows your children. And just like you, he wants what is best for them. So listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and God will magnify your efforts.

Secondly, I would remind you that every family is different, and has unique children and unique circumstances. So DO NOT COMPARE! Please. Don’t try to imitate someone else, or another family. You can take their example, but you have to make it your own. This is the only way to have a peaceful heart and a peaceful homeschool.

Third, I would plan margin into your day. Make sure to have down time for your kids and for yourself. This is a great year to focus on home, family, and relationships.

Lastly, begin with the end in mind. What are your goals, what are your children’s goals? One of my goals has been to help my kids fall in love with learning. That means I have to love it too and demonstrate that love in my own behaviors. So I read a lot, I study, I get excited about learning and discussing new things. That energy then passes to my kids.

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