Should You Homeschool? How We Made the Decision for Our Family
Is homeschooling an ideal option?
As a former public school teacher and Montessori private school teacher, I did not think so.
Neither did my husband, David.
Both of us came from teacher centric families. We believed deeply in public education. Our mothers were both passionate teachers for more than thirty years, and education was woven into the fabric of our families.
Homeschooling was not the obvious path.
Then we had children.
And suddenly the question became much more personal.
We debated whether to send them to preschool.
We talked about what kind of education we wanted for them.
We thought about Montessori, about school, about family life, and about what we hoped childhood would feel like.
Eventually, we jumped into homeschooling.
And we fell in love with it.
Years later, with our children now teenagers, I can look back and see just how important that decision became for our family.
But I also remember what it felt like before we made it.
Uncertain.
Curious.
A little skeptical.
And very aware that choosing to homeschool can feel enormous when you have never done it before.
So if you are asking yourself, “Should I homeschool my child?” I want to share our story and a few things I wish more parents knew before making the decision.
Homeschooling Was Not Our Original Plan
I think this is important to say because sometimes homeschooling stories are told as if the parents always knew.
They knew from birth.
They had the shelves ready.
They had researched curriculum before their child could sit up independently.
That was not us.
David and I both respected the school system.
We understood classrooms.
We came from families of teachers.
And I had taught professionally myself.
If anything, my teaching experience made me assume that school was simply where education happened.
Then becoming a parent changed the question.
It was no longer theoretical.
This was our child.
What kind of days did we want for him?
What kind of relationship did we want him to have with learning?
What kind of childhood did we want to protect?
And, because Montessori mattered deeply to us, how could we give our children a Montessori education that actually fit our family?
Why We Chose Homeschooling
One of the biggest reasons was simple.
We wanted our children to have a Montessori education, but private Montessori school tuition was not affordable for us.
That was a real constraint.
We also wanted our children to have a different kind of educational experience than the one we had grown up with.
Not because our own education had been terrible.
It had not.
And not because we believed public schools were bad.
We did not.
We both supported public education, and our mothers had spent decades teaching in public schools with tremendous dedication.
But once we became parents, we realized we had another option.
We could teach our own children.
And the more we explored that possibility, the more exciting it became.
We could create an education shaped around their development.
We could use Montessori principles.
We could spend more time together.
We could allow learning to move with family life instead of forcing family life to revolve around school.
That possibility began to feel less radical and more natural.
Homeschooling Is a Family Choice
One thing we learned very quickly is that homeschooling is never something only one parent does.
It is a family choice.
That does not mean both parents will teach equally.
It does not mean both parents will plan lessons.
It does not mean every family member will be equally enthusiastic from the beginning.
But homeschooling changes family life.
Schedules change.
Responsibilities shift.
Money may need to be considered differently.
Your ideas about work, education, childcare, and time together may all enter the conversation.
David and I had to make the choice together.
That mattered.
Homeschooling worked because it became part of how our family lived, not simply one more task added to my list.
If you are considering homeschooling now, this is worth talking about honestly.
Not, “Can we create the perfect homeschool?”
But, “What would this actually look like for our family?”
That question is much more useful.
You Do Not Need to Have the Curriculum Figured Out Yet
This is another place where parents get stuck.
They begin researching homeschooling and suddenly there are seventeen browser tabs open.
Curriculum reviews.
Math programs.
Reading programs.
Montessori materials.
State requirements.
Schedules.
Planning systems.
Homeschool rooms.
And somehow a decision about your family has turned into an attempt to solve the next twelve years before breakfast.
You do not have to know exactly what curriculum you are going to use before deciding that homeschooling is worth exploring.
You need enough information to feel grounded.
You need to know what matters to your family.
You need to understand the general approach you want to take.
Then you can choose the tools that support that vision.
This is especially important with Montessori because Montessori is not simply a collection of activities.
A strong Montessori homeschool needs a clear educational path.
Parents want to know what to teach, what comes next, how to follow their child, and how to make sure they are not missing something important. That desire for structure without rigidity comes up constantly in the families we support.
That is exactly why we created Child of the Redwoods as a complete Montessori homeschool curriculum instead of leaving parents to piece everything together themselves.
Homeschooling Is Not the Same as Teaching in a Classroom
David and I came into homeschooling with professional teaching experience.
You might think that made everything easier.
In some ways, yes.
But it also meant we had to unlearn a few things.
Because homeschooling works totally differently from teaching in a classroom.
At school, a teacher is responsible for a whole group of children.
There are schedules.
Transitions.
Institutional requirements.
Shared spaces.
Fixed school days.
A homeschool does not need to reproduce any of that.
Your home is not a tiny school.
You do not need to stand at the front of the room.
You do not need to fill six hours with formal lessons.
You do not need to make your child sit at a desk because that is what school looks like.
Montessori homeschooling can be woven into the life you are already living.
A lesson may take a few minutes.
Your child may spend a long stretch practicing independently.
Reading can happen curled up on the couch.
Math can happen with hands on materials.
Practical Life happens in the kitchen, the garden, the laundry room, and everywhere else family life is unfolding.
This realization was liberating for us.
We were not trying to run a school.
We were educating our children at home.
Those are not the same thing.
Education Does Not Begin on the First Day of School
Homeschooling also does not really begin or end on a certain date the way “going to school” does.
The education of your child begins at birth.
Really, it begins the first time your child stares at your face.
The first time they reach for something.
The first time they wobble toward you on unsteady legs.
The first time they ask, “Why?”
Learning is already happening.
It continues whether your child stays home full time, attends school outside the home, or does some combination of both.
This was one of the things I came to appreciate most deeply about Montessori.
Education is not something adults turn on between certain hours.
Your child is learning constantly.
Montessori simply helps us become more observant and intentional about supporting that development.
You Do Not Need a Teaching Degree to Homeschool
This question comes up all the time.
“But am I actually qualified to teach my child?”
I understand why parents worry about this.
Teaching reading feels important.
Teaching math feels important.
Choosing what comes next feels important.
It is important.
But you do not need to become a classroom teacher before you can homeschool.
In fact, your relationship with your child gives you something a classroom teacher can never fully have.
You know your child intimately.
You know their interests.
You know their frustrations.
You know when they are tired, curious, distracted, joyful, nervous, or completely obsessed with frogs this week.
Montessori gives you a framework for using that knowledge thoughtfully.
And a good curriculum gives you the educational structure so you do not have to invent the academic path yourself.
That combination matters.
At Child of the Redwoods, the Foundational curriculum is organized into six progressive levels based on readiness, not simply age. That means your child can move differently across subject areas while you still have a clear roadmap for what comes next.
The lessons are fully scripted because parents should not need professional teacher training just to get started.
And our Foundations of Montessori courses help parents learn the philosophy, child development, and teaching techniques as they go.
You do not have to know everything before you begin.
You can learn.
What If You Are Afraid You Will Make the Wrong Decision?
This may be the hardest part.
Because there is no little envelope that arrives in the mail saying:
“Congratulations. Homeschooling is definitely the correct decision for your family.”
Wouldn't that be convenient?
Instead, you have to make a thoughtful decision with the information you have.
You may wonder if your child will learn enough.
You may wonder whether you will be patient enough.
You may wonder whether homeschooling will work with your job.
You may wonder what your family will think.
You may wonder whether you will eventually decide to send your child to school anyway.
All of those questions are allowed.
Choosing homeschooling does not require you to predict the future.
You are making a decision for the child and family you have now.
And homeschooling does not need to become an identity you can never change.
Some families homeschool for a season.
Some continue for many years.
Some combine homeschooling with other forms of education.
The important thing is to make the decision thoughtfully, then pay attention to how it is working.
That is actually very Montessori.
Observe.
Respond.
Adjust.
We Fell in Love With the Homeschooling Lifestyle
One of the things we did not fully anticipate was how much we would enjoy the lifestyle itself.
We loved the flexibility.
We loved spending our days together.
We loved being able to move across the country without education being tied to one particular school.
We loved the homeschooling community and the support we found there.
And we loved seeing learning become part of ordinary family life.
Homeschooling did not make every day easy.
Of course not.
There were difficult days.
There were lessons that flopped.
There were plans that changed.
There were moments when everyone needed to get outside immediately.
But year by year, we continued.
And those years became our family story.
So, Should You Homeschool?
I cannot answer that question for you.
And I do not think anyone should.
But I can tell you that you do not need to fit some imaginary homeschool parent profile.
You do not have to distrust public schools.
You do not need a teaching degree.
You do not need your entire curriculum planned.
You do not need a Pinterest worthy homeschool room.
You do not even need complete certainty.
You need to look honestly at your child, your family, your values, and the kind of life you want to build together.
If Montessori is part of that vision, you also do not need to figure it out alone.
We created Child of the Redwoods because I know what it feels like to love Montessori and still need a practical way to turn those ideas into an actual education at home.
The curriculum gives you fully scripted lessons, interdisciplinary learning, a clear developmental progression, planning support, and Montessori education for you as the parent.
You can see the path without having to map the entire thing yourself.
If you are still standing at the beginning wondering, “Could we really homeschool?”
Yes.
You could.
The bigger question is whether homeschooling makes sense for your family right now.
Give yourself permission to explore that honestly.
You do not have to know how the whole story ends before you write the first page.
