Journey to Homeschooling

This is our seventh homeschooling our two children.  Our family moved across the country to Idaho from Texas the summer after my oldest turned 5 years old.  
A little history:  I taught first grade for 10 years in the Houston area and a year at our local junior college.  So with many changes that came with our move, I felt God calling me to keep our kids home and be the stability in their lives. 
Most moms say they feel intimidated and unprepared to homeschool.  I had the opposite problem and now consider myself to have been over confident.  Although, I took on homeschooling like many others with too much curriculum and too many planned activities.  All went well for a month or two but slowly the fun drained away and the tears began.  (His and mine.)
At this point in my mind, we were ahead of the local half day kindergarten, so I just scrapped it all.  Everything that wasn’t brining us joy was removed.  Instead we filled our days with pretend play, game, dress up, picture books, hikes, library activities, park days, and bike rides.  Guess what? Both kids, then 6 and 4 years old thrived.  This freedom to play was exactly what they needed.  What we needed.
Basically, that is what we have done for the last 6 years.  Adding longer chapter books for read alouds, unit studies, organized math together, personal private blogs for each child, and independent reading as each year went by.
This year, with my oldest moving into what would be considered middle school, I felt God nudging me to reevaluate and make some changes.  I did so reluctantly because we really loved our unschooling lifestyle.  That said, I could see the three of us craving more structure, more predictability to our days, and more challenging work.  Just throwing money and curriculum at the problem was my first attempt and you guessed it.  Failure the first month of this school year.  With a long visit from my parents we took a break.  During this break the kids each worked on a major furniture project with my mom and dad, while I researched, read, and investigated what changes made sense for us.  
Now, daily we come together for our “morning basket” which encompasses:  devotion, history, science, art, and our read aloud.  Next, we move to what I consider “desk work.”  Here we cover math using Life of Fred and grammar, spelling, as well as writing using Bravewriter.  The biggest shift has been bringing a new level of enchantment to our day.  Usually in the afternoon, we join back up to play a game (most times enhancing math or language skill, but not always), enjoy a snack during poetry teatime, bake a sweet treat, OR (big or not doing all these every day) take a hike/bike ride through nature.  My favorite addition is on Friday nights my husband joins us for movie night complete with pizza and popcorn.  
All of this to say, whether you are new to homeschooling or not, recognize it is flexible, always evolving and changing.  Be a student of your kids, so you can recognize when a change needs to occur.  Don’t allow yourself to be so stuck in a method that it becomes your identity to the detriment of your family.