Homeschool · Life

Reflections on Our Homeschooling Journey This Year

Without further adieu the 2025-2026 homeschooling year has come to an end. This year has been a rollercoaster of a ride when it comes to homeschooling. Homeschooling is already a fulfilling challenge but being a working mom who also homeschools comes with a whole new set of challenges. Biggest challenge we faced this year was schedule. I started the year waking the girls up at 7AM so that they could do their lessons before I started work for the day, but the lack of sleep made them grumpy throughout the day. I then tried to work their lessons in small batches during my breaks and lunch. That also didn’t work for us. I’ve learned that I was still operating on the premise of my public school background, I was used to school as something that happens in the mornings at specific times. I forgot that one of the reasons I even decided to do homeschooling was the flexibility of it. So after prayer and guidance I decided to move our homeschooling lessons to the afternoons when I was done with work for the day. Some days were harder than others but overall this is what ended up working best for us.

Up until now my youngest Emily (6yrs) has also been doing her lessons right alongside her sister Anastasia(8yrs). They have been at the same level and doing their lessons together but this year that changed as well. If she had been going to public school Emily would have only started Kindergarten this year while Anastasia just finished 2nd grade. So when I saw that Emily was still working on learning the fundamentals when it came to reading that was when I knew it was time to separate the lessons and give them both individual attention at their level, which to my surprise they both thrived with and actually preferred the individual lessons.

It has been a year of many changes and lessons for all of us but it has been a successful year. I love seeing how far they’ve come and how much they’ve progressed since we started last fall and I’ve learned what does and does not work for us. But all things come to an end and this year we ended the school year with a bang and went to the lake with their grandparents. It was a perfect way to end the school season and start the summer festivities. We have many activities planned for this summer but at the same time, it is the time for rest and relaxation for all of us.

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

Life

How I like to unwind after a chaotic week

If the lack of posts says anything about this week, it should explain just how chaotic and crazy this week has been. Busy enough that I really haven’t had much time for a little piece of quiet. If I haven’t mentioned it before, I am a mom that wears many hats: wife, mother, engineer, teacher, student, etc. This week we finished the first quarter of the preschool curriculum (A-Z, A is for Adam. Curriculum is from Masterbooks) next week we get to start over, as in starting from letter A again. Apart from the joys of homeschooling, work has been notoriously busy and on more than one occasion have had the whole house asleep before I sign off for the night, hazards of working the second shift. Finally, the icing on the cake, I am behind on my own school work, Operations and Supply Chain management class (which is so unbelievable dry), which means even later nights ahead.

To summarize the above self-pity session, it has been a busy week. When life gets so busy that it feels like the remote control is stuck on fast forward, this is when I desperately need to take some time and unwind and rejuvenate.

Coffee, coffee, coffee

Boulevard West in Clayton, NC

First stop, COFFEE more specifically, coffee shops. Working from home is fantastic but I love it when I can take a moment of alone time to myself. I love small coffee shops, especially when I get to try a new ones and I like to take the time and actually sit there. For starters, I get to savor my coffee, read, write in my journal, or sometimes just people watch. One of the cons (or pros if you’re antisocial) is lack of human interaction. Sometimes you just need a moment to interact with other people who are not your husband or kids. Then of course, Coffee in and of itself, is soothing and while I don’t handle the caffeine the way that used too I still enjoy my cup of coffee every day, sometimes two.

Rub a dub, dub, soakin’ in the tub

Floating candle bath bomb. Awesome, pretty, slightly hazardous if you have long legs.

Option two, is my most used option and is my go to for after those tough days at work. Late night bath soakin’ in the tub. There is nothing more relaxing to me than taking a hot (or boiling if you ask my husband) bath. Sometimes I read, books, webtoons or webnovels. Sometimes I watch a show, and other times I just pop in some headphones and just enjoy blocking out the sounds around me. The experience exponentially improves when I have candles and bath salts/bombs.

If you feel “burnout” setting in, if you feel demoralized and exhausted, it is best, for the sake of everyone, to withdraw and restore yourself.

Dalai Lama