Homeschooling Then Versus Now: Interview With Jessica

Here on the blog, I love to share, not only our family’s life homeschooling, but “our life” collectively as homeschoolers. That is why I regularly post interviews with everyday homeschool moms just like you! I hope you will be encouraged by reading this interview with Jessica as she talks about her experience from the past four years homeschooling her girls from the beginning until now.

To see more interviews from other homeschool moms, see the Our Life Homeschooling Gallery of Homeschool Mom Interviews.

Introduce Yourself

Hello! My name is Jessica! I am married to my wonderful husband Cyrus! We have three beautiful girls Aly, Macy and Emily. We enjoy camping, RZR riding and really anything that involves being in the mountains. I have an Instagram account where I share all the things homeschool, and occasionally I make reels of our cute black labs, Daisy and Duke. My Instagram handle is @the_unlikely_homeschooler. I chose that handle because that’s exactly what I was, very unlikely to homeschool. But God!

What made me interested in homeschooling:

I didn’t always want to homeschool. I was public schooled, and so was my husband. It’s what we knew. It wasn’t until 2019 that the Lord began to work on our hearts by using our middle kiddo, Macy. Macy was in kindergarten at the time when she started talking to my husband and me about homeschooling. Macy didn’t like school. Like at all! Macy was sick A LOT, and when she wasn’t sick, she would come up with fake illnesses with the hopes of being able to get out of school. It was absolutely heartbreaking. I had never dealt with this before. Aly, our oldest, always loved school. So this was new to us. Macy started praying about homeschool when we would all say our prayers at bedtime. This is when God started working in our family.

I’m not even sure where Macy picked up on homeschooling, but I truly believe it came from the Lord. Macy remembers talking to us about homeschool but she doesn’t remember where she got that idea from. It just had to be from the Lord. He really does work in mysterious ways.

Our oldest, Aly, who was in the 6th grade at the time started thinking about homeschooling and decided that she too wanted to be homeschooled! This got me researching all things homeschool, looking up our state laws, curriculum, and umbrella schools. With a lot of prayer, I too, became passionate about homeschooling our girls. My husband wasn’t on board with it at first, but God worked on his heart , just like He did mine. We decided that our kids would finish out the school year and we would homeschool for the upcoming school year (2020-2021).

Enter in COVID, our school shut down. My husband and I made the choice to withdraw our kids that March of 2020 and start our homeschool journey. By this time I had already purchased curriculum and even had our homeschool space set up. So we were set. Never having homeschooled before, I took the advice of others, and did more of what’s called unschooling. It went well for a couple of weeks, but Aly and Macy wanted more. I decided to let my kids lead the way and we busted into our curriculum. The girls loved it, and I did too.

Here we are almost FOUR years later and we’ve never looked back. I now have a 10th grader, a 4th grader, and a 2nd grader. Homeschool has truly been a blessing to my family. The time I have had with my children, that I would have otherwise missed out on, has been huge! I love that we can use a curriculum that has a biblical worldview! All three of my girls enjoy learning, and that makes my heart so happy!

Looking back on these almost four years, I wish I would have considered homeschooling sooner! It wasn’t like I had anything against it, but just never considered it. I wish I could go back and choose this path from the beginning. It was all in God’s timing though, and I’m so thankful that He worked on my heart and my husband’s.

Homeschooling Then Versus Now

What have I learned since I started this journey?

I’ve learned that not everyone is going to approve of our choice to homeschool. Some of my hardest critics have been family. I say the “hardest” because it can really hurt when you know that they don’t accept your choice to homeschool, because it doesn’t fit the narrative. I have learned though, that it doesn’t matter what they think. What matters is that we are doing God’s will and at the end of the day I would much rather obey God and do His will, than worrying about pleasing people. If God calls you to it, He will lead you through it, and He has certainly led me through all of it.

Is homeschool lonely?

It was for us at first. When people found out that we were homeschooling, a lot of our circle of friends stopped talking to us. It was so hurtful seeing the people who we cared about and had friendships with, just stop talking to us. Especially for my children, because they just didn’t understand.

What has helped now is the fact that I found a co-op about a year ago. Being around like minded mamas, and seeing my kids build strong friendships has truly been a gift! It has given us community and we really needed that! You gotta find your tribe, and we definitely found ours.

What about socialization?

This question really does make me LOL! For one, this was one of my very first questions. I know, ridiculous right? I sure have learned a lot! I feel that since we started homeschooling, that we have even more socializing, than when my kids were in public school! The socializing though is much better homeschooling than when they were in public school. DISCLAIMER: My kids have friends and they didn’t turn into wierdos! Phew! LOL

If I could go back and change anything, what would it be?

Give yourself time to learn your homeschool style. Charlotte Mason was a style I heard over and over. I thought we were a Charlotte Mason style homeschool but turns out we are eclectic! Learn your style and maybe try several different styles, until you find the one that fits for you.

Favorite Resources:

*This post contains affiliate links which means I may make a small commission at no cost to you.

My favorite books are from MasterBooks.com. If you’re looking for a curriculum that is biblically based, and one that your children will love, I highly recommend MasterBooks!