farra marie rogers

welcome to my first post in nearly 5 years, after starting a blog specifically to record and remember the young years of my children’s life. if that isn’t a perfect example of how quickly time passes when you blink…

this was our first year of homeschooling, and I wanted to talk about our experience! ironically, I’m writing this while feeling very conflicted about what to do next year- hell, maybe writing this will help me make a solid decision. let me start by saying I never planned to homeschool but we did it and I freaking learned so much.

let me share with you what I was so worried about which didn’t matter AT ALL….

1. Space to learn. I redid our playroom to make it like a little school room. Actually, I love the look and the girls actually play school in there all the time. But what I pictured- me at the whiteboard and my kids listening and paying attention- was definitely a fantasy😂 it’s interesting that the freedom I love most about homeschool now completely rejects the idea that a classroom is needed for learning.

2. A schedule and routine of subjects we would complete everyday. I wrote it out and that was also a fun fantasy for about one week. It didn’t work for us and it definitely felt like too much for my first grader. We aimed for reading, writing, math & language arts daily and other subjects intermittently.

3. Staying on top of records daily. Didn’t happen and did not matter. There is no record of the best homeschool days we shared because my phone was far away and the last thing I was thinking about was providing proof of the experience. I’m unorganized and I still got my act together enough to pass our evaluation.

Things that were actually very helpful-

1. Taking pictures of activities and putting them in a homeschool photo album on my phone! I just went through and have over 500 from this year. I plan to make a printed album for memories and “proof” in case we need it!

2. Involving my kids by asking what they wanted to learn about. Those were the best days. When I put my control aside and let them direct the day.

3. Following homeschool mama accounts on social media and staying in touch with friends who were on the same path as us. Homeschool mamas LOVE to support & help you, find some and ask questions 🙂

4. Joining a local co-op! Lots of families are doing the homeschool thing now so it won’t be hard to find a group near you. Our co-op was so welcoming & supportive. We have an enrichment/play day on tuesdays and “fun friday” which is usually a field trip of some sort.

5. Embracing and learning about the importance of free play. Remember I expected to stand in front of a white board while my three little kids sat and listened? Yeah…no. The majority of everyday was spent playing. And while some days I wished I personally got more work done, I don’t regret a moment they enjoyed being wild & free 🙂

We used-

the good and the beautiful : LA, math, handwriting, drawing, science

zoom Spanish class with ms cristina

the local library for all the things

geography- teachers pay teachers workbook, melissa + Doug puzzles

art- built in to g&b LA book plus crafts

history- homeschool road trip, homeschool history podcast on Spotify

LIFE- the girls came with us to close on two rental properties and sell our first condo we lived in together. They helped us clean, watched us remodel, and learned about the process. we went on a road trip and stopped at many locations and learned about so much. they help me cook & clean. They watch me work from home in a business I built to be able to do that- they often help me put mail together and are around when I have events. they had a table at one of my vendor events.

Quinn teaches the things she learns to her sisters during playtime without me even asking. they play in the creek + catch frogs worms and bugs all day. They helped me paint a chicken coop, helped their dad build the chicken run, raised baby chicks, learned about the food chain when a fox ate some of our girls, nursed a chicken back to health, helped their noni plant a garden.

gym- outside most of every single day running playing climbing exploring, soccer, lacrosse, cosmic kids yoga

these are some highlights from our first year ❤️