I never set out to homeschool. I’m a product of public schools and a school psychologist. I planned to stay home with our children until they were school age and then return to work. Life likes to laugh at our plans and here I am: suddenly, unexpectedly homeschooling… and loving it. We fell into homeschooling because we were blessed with a funny, loving, asynchronous, energetic, and passionate outlier. Our son attended a 1/2-day kindergarten program and it was not a good match. This boy who was once so excited about going to school started asking if he had to go the following day. His smile faded, his love of learning dulled. Then, we started getting behavior slips at pick up. In the end, we opted to have him assessed and the results indicated that we had an outlier among outliers on our hands: a profoundly gifted and twice-exceptional son with academic skills two to six grade levels above kindergarten. We met with the school to discuss the testing and it was immediately and abundantly clear to me, as a school psychologist, that the school was not equipped to meet the needs of this child in a k-3rd-grade building. We jumped into homeschooling headfirst, we flew by the seat of our pants much of the time, and we ended up loving the process. I drank the kool-aid, folks… homeschooling is pretty amazing.

Maybe it’s because I jumped into homeschooling without a plan, but I love reading the Homeschool Day in the Life posts. Everyone homeschools for different reasons, and we all have unique families. What works for one may not work for another. I never fail to learn something from Day in the Life posts, whether it is an approach I hadn’t thought of, a new book, or a fun resource. And, because my son is so asynchronous, I am always on the hunt for fun new resources!

When I heard that iHomeschool Network was hosting a Not Back to School Blog Hop with a Day in the Life theme, I was thrilled! I’m looking forward to reading every single one! I plan on hunkering down with a hot cup of coffee and my iPad.

Homeschooling Outliers:

A glimpse into our homeschool life

For those of you who enjoy these series, here are some days in our life for your reading enjoyment! I love to read through these old posts, too. I see so much growth, not only in my children but also in myself as a homeschooler and mother.

Our Homeschool Day: Joyful Learning

I wrote this post in December of 2014. We were still fairly early on in our evolution as first-year homeschoolers, and I was just beginning to realize that children learn all the time when you relax and follow their lead.

 

 

A Homeschool Day in the Life 2015

This was my first official Day in the Life post, written as part of the annual Simple Homeschool link up in January of 2015. I love how, in this post, I was learning to adapt to our life’s circumstances while homeschooling. The winter of 2014-15 was not our healthiest, we were in the midst of a major home renovation, and it was the snowiest winter ever. If I can homeschool through that, I can homeschool through anything!

Cait’s Homeschool Day in the Life 2016

Be sure to check out the post I wrote for Simple Homeschool. I was honored to participate in the Simple Homeschool Day in the Life series for 2016!

Day In the Life, My Little Poppies Style: A Day in the Life of a Gifted Homeschooler

I wrote this post as part of a Gifted Homeschoolers Forum blog hop in March 2015. In March, we were in the midst of a huge construction project at home. This post was written at my parents’ place in the mountains, where we had spontaneously decided to go as an escape from the chaos at home. That alone is a homeschooling perk: the ability to up and leave at a moment’s notice!

 

Day in the Life of a New England Homeschooler in SPRING!

We survived!! Spring in New England is always an exciting time but, this year, spring tasted sweeter. We had survived our first winter homeschooling, through illness, construction, and heaps and heaps of snow!

 

Learn Nothing Day 2015

Learn Nothing Day is a tongue-in-cheek response to all those questions that homeschoolers receive. You know the ones: “How long do you homeschool each day?” “Do you take days off?” “Do you take vacation?”, etc. Here is our attempt at celebrating Learn Nothing Day. Hint: we failed with flying colors!

 

A Homeschool Day Through HIS Eyes

I was reluctant to hand over the iPad for the day but I love the result! Here’s a glimpse at our homeschooling through the eyes of my 7-year-old son, Leo.

 

 

Wondering if your child is gifted/2e?

Now, it’s your turn… What does your homeschool day look like? Do you love to read about how others do this thing? If so, click the image below to keep on hoppin’!