Journey to Unschooling

Our path to homeschooling was set in motion by a major, cross-country move.  I envisioned our son, followed by our daughter, attending elementary school in a small community where I work as a first grade teacher.  

In the fall of 2010, this idea began to fall apart as high stakes testing became a larger and larger driving force in schools and my husband started to entertain the idea of moving west for a job. Being a supportive wife, I joined him on a business trip to Idaho and fell in love with the slower, laid-back lifestyle.  We even visited local schools only to discover large class sizes.  

Once we returned wheels were turning to make make the move and for me to find an alternative to public school.  In my search, I discovered Idaho had extremely relaxed homeschooling laws, so I read everything I could get my hands on in the area of homeschooling.  

After  we moved, we officially began "homeschooling" kindergarten.    Well, requiring work only lasted 3 months.  In December, I released the control I was desperately trying to hold.  Instead we baked, played games, hiked, enjoyed books, watch movies, and pretended.  In doing so, I found they were both learning and thriving.  

Since that turn in December of 2011, we have dappled in unit studies and math curriculum at the request of one or both kids.  Yet, we continue to return to the freedom of unschooling to fill our needs.