I never thought I would, but I absolutely love to homeschool my kids. Even more than that, I love to roadschool my kids. True, there are very frustrating moments (more than I’d care to admit) but mostly it has been the most amazing learning experience for all of us.

I’ve had many people ask HOW we do it. How I (we) spend all day with our children, how I figure out what to teach them, how I get time for myself. The truth is, we just do. There’s no magic secret, mostly just good old fashioned, shoulder to wheel… work.

In complete honesty, however, I’m not sure I could homeschool in a house. The easy part about roadschooling is that our surroundings are always changing. Each week we have a new city. New science centers, new hikes, new museums, new beaches, new playgrounds, new National Parks. We are not visiting the same ones over, and over, and that definitely makes the same type of activity more interesting.

At the same time, roadschooling does make other aspects more difficult. I would LOVE to be part of a group. I know there are plenty of families out there that homeschool and do music groups, PE groups, or group lessons. That would definitely alleviate the pressure of doing everything myself. However, that also comes with the price of a schedule.

More and more I realize how grateful I am to be currently homeschooling my children. My favorite aspect is the FREEDOM. Its like I can suddenly breath again. We are not tied to anyone else’s schedule. I get to see my kids ALL day (and yes, I consider that a perk. Most days.). My kids can PLAY. Kids learn best when they play, so why don’t we let them? As I sit in science center after science center in city after city, watching them explore, fiddle, and experiment, I wonder if they really are learning anything. Then my kids will surprise me with an observation and I’m just floored. They DO learn. While discussing California with Rachel today for Geography, I mentioned that its nickname is the Golden State and did she know why? Andrew, sitting across the table, pipes up with all sorts of information about the gold rush, why it was important, and what people were hoping to accomplish by coming to California. What the? I asked him where he learned that, and he simply said, “My Tag Reader Puzzle”. He picked all of that information up while playing a game.

Is homeschooling right for everyone? No. I don’t think so. Will it always be right for our family? I don’t know that either. Is it hard? Incredibly. Do I always have the answers? Definitely not. I figure we just take it one step at time, we pay attention to what our kids need, and we go from there. For now though, I’m just going to enjoy it.