Many of my loyal online friends have been asking how our transition is going from homeschool to private school. Of course my real life friends are asking also, so many at church stop me to ask how it’s going. I can’t tell you HOW MUCH that means to me!! What a faithful bunch of prayer warriors I have in my life!! SO thankful!!
So, it’s kind of a loaded question. I try to answer quickly, not ever sure how long someone really wants to listen to me ramble on. But, you know I’ve always had a lot to say about homeschooling…it’s been a passion of mine…and this has been a huge change for our family. I won’t lie, it has been a HUGE CHANGE for our family. ha! Change can be good, for sure…and thankfully we are having a GREAT experience at our new school. That said, change also is hard and just takes time to navigate and learn.
Transitioning From Homeschool to Private School
We are learning a lot and growing a lot and so I wanted to share 10 things I am learning as we transition from homeschool to private school.
1. I hate waking my kids up in the mornings. One of the reasons I loved homeschooling was I truly felt my kids were getting adequate sleep. Now that they are in school, waking them from a deep sleep in the morning is hard for me. That said, we are blessed to live about 1/4th of a mile from school so often my kids can sleep til 7 or 7:15 before I have to wake them! We are also trying to get in bed a little earlier and this helps also.
2. We are going through a lot of ice. ha!! We are probably some of the last folk on this green earth to not have an ice maker in our fridge. I used to refill the ice trays 1-2 times per week. Now we are filling large water bottles for the kids every morning to take to school. I’m filling ice trays daily now! Isn’t it funny the little things like this that we notice? It’s not even a bad or good thing, just something I’ve noticed.
3. My relationship with my kids is ALREADY improving. This is one of the things I shared when I wrote about putting our kids in school to begin with. I was fighting with at least 2 of my kids daily just to get work done, chores done, etc. My INFJ doesn’t handle this well. At all. I was miserable and feeling like a failure and just flat needed a break. Now, when I pick my kids up from school I am EXCITED TO SEE THEM. Y’all. This makes me cry to write. I was so overwhelmed with feeling like I wasn’t doing a good job with homeschooling that it was taking over our relationships. Now they get in the car HAPPY and CONTENT and TALKING to me. A lot. They each start talking at once about their day and I just smile and thank the Lord for these conversations.
4. We picked the perfect school for our family. I searched from Knoxville on east and looked at every private school under the sun within about an hour radius. I looked at websites, I looked at curriculum choices, I looked at prices and I visited a few. I didn’t know right away if I could even make a choice like this, I didn’t know the right choice even right away. But, now that we have been there 2 weeks, I am 100% sure. This is only the 2nd year this school has existed. The principal was a homeschool mom herself. She has sat and listened to me cry and pour my heart out over this decision several times now. And I know that she gets it. This was soooo important to me. I wanted the school we sent our kids to know this was a HUGE deal and this decision did NOT come lightly. They continue to talk to me and answer my multitude of questions. You see, I’m used to knowing every little detail of my kids days, every little detail of their educational plan and curriculum. These folks are being SO patient with me.
5. My kids are in the right school for them academically. As a homeschooler, I had the desire and always thought we would homeschool long term. Because of that, I never worried about grade level requirements. Meaning, I didn’t say, “oh the public school learned this in 3rd grade, therefore we HAVE to learn this in 3rd grade.” Needless to say, we are kind of all over the place in various subjects. One child is great in math, a little behind in reading (but not as far behind as I had thought all those months before!!) Another child is struggling in language arts and grammar but is doing well in history and reading and doing OK in math. Another child is actually doing well across the board, and I didn’t necessarily expect that to be the case! Folks, I was too hard on myself and my kids as a homeschooler!! I literally thought I was failing my kids every.single.day. But, back to the school, they are MEETING my kids WHERE they are at and giving them appropriate materials to help pull them up in the areas they need it. Over half this school are former homeschoolers!! What a blessing that they are willing to do the extra work to meet my kids where they are at.
6. My house is really, really quiet. This one has thrown me off, y’all. I am an introvert. I have looooonged for quiet mornings to just have a cup of coffee and read my Bible in peace. And, don’t get me wrong, I am LOVING doing just that! But, it’s still very, very quiet. A few times I have cried because of the quiet. But, overall I think it is good…it just takes time to get used to.
7. I’m not bored. People keep asking me how I’m spending my time. So, I have several answers for that question. 1) I’m doing more housework around my home. Craziness. 2) I’m teaching piano lessons 2 days a week – and I’m also doing a lot of searching and printing and trying to find fun games and make myself a BETTER piano teacher. 3) I’m going to walmart. Too much. ha! 4) Tuesdays I will be leading worship and attending our ladies Bible study at church. VERY excited to be able to do this after several years of not going. 5) Meeting people for lunch or coffee. LUXURY. 6) Taking MORNING exercise classes. I seriously used to think this was a MAJOR luxury, not because of money but because of TIME. 7) More reading – books, the Bible, online. 8) I have one small social media job (would love 1-2 more!!) and I spend 1-2 hours nearly daily on this. 9) I’m spending more time on my own blog as well. Trying to write better content, trying to learn more about how to improve, just wanting my blog to be a blessing and working toward that end.
8. My time with Jesus is precious. The Lord has been slowly and gently restoring my heart. I have been blessed to spend hours just praying and reading the Word and crying through my struggles. For me, this is such a blessing to not be rushed. My heart has needed this time desperately!
9. God isn’t finished with me yet. {Or my kids!} I can’t tell you how I was struggling with guilt and feelings of failure through the last school year. I really felt pretty hopeless — about how I was failing them as a teacher and how I would never be able to turn around all the damage done, etc etc. God is placing truth in me and helping me to hear it and speak it to myself. He is giving me Scriptures to encourage me and He is reminding me that this life is a JOURNEY. A pilgrimage. None of us has arrived. I’m so thankful for this time to allow God to restore my heart and to work on restoring my relationships with my kids.
10. Trusting God brings peace. This sounds so cliche. But this summer, more than any other time in my life, I have practiced saying, “I trust You” to God. Multiple times a day. I am training my mind to think and say those words AS SOON AS a worry creeps into my mind. Y’all. This has brought such peace beyond all understanding. Not everyone is called to homeschool. Not everyone is called to put their kids in private or public school. But, regardless of what your struggle is, I encourage you to start saying, “I trust You” through your days…ask God to help your unbelief. He will answer, friends! He is faithful!
So, that’s what I’ve been learning the past few weeks! What about you?