by Sarah Hughes, February 2023
I started homeschooling in the fall of 2022, and it’s the best decision I’ve ever made! We live in North Carolina, and we are a military family as well. Being a military spouse definitely affected my choice to homeschool. These are just a couple of ways homeschooling has made our lives a little bit easier as well as some possible cons to consider when choosing to homeschool as a military family.
Relocating and Not Switching Schools
School Districts:
When we moved from Georgia to North Carolina, I was stressed about finding a house in a good school district because my kids were still in public school. We didn’t have a lot of time to find a house, so it was nerve-racking when a lot of the houses were crossed off the list because of bad school districts.
We’re currently in the process of moving again. It is such a relief now that I’m homeschooling to not have to worry about the school district that we’re moving to.
New Kids:
My kids were also anxious about being the new kids at a third school. They’re still the new kids in our homeschool groups, but it’s a different culture than public school. They don’t feel nervous to go to the group activities because there are kids in and out of the groups all the time. Everyone is kind of new every semester.
Different Levels:
When we moved from Florida to Georgia, the schools were at completely different academic levels. In Florida, my kids were ahead or advanced. When we moved, they were suddenly behind because the new school was moving at a more advanced pace. With homeschooling, I don’t have to worry about the school level or pace changing. Nobody is behind because I can meet my kids where they’re at and work at their level.
More Time with the Service Member
There are times when my husband’s schedule has been crazy. With deployments, detachments for training, working night crew, and recruiting duty (the worst!), he was rarely at home. When my kids were in public school, it was harder to take advantage of the days/times that he was home. In the evenings, the kids had homework. On the off chance he had a day off, they couldn’t just stay home from school because they would feel behind the next day.
With the flexibility that homeschooling gives us, we can enjoy our time when he is home in the evenings, or if he has a day off, we can also take the day off from school and just spend time as a family. This is especially important when you know a deployment or detachment is coming up.
State Regulations
When you move states frequently, you have to make sure you are following each state’s legal regulations for homeschooling. It can be a little confusing and also change the way you’re schooling. For example, in North Carolina the homeschool laws are relaxed; you just have to test once a year. But in Georgia, where we lived previously, you have to include specific subjects in your curriculum, write progress reports for each subject at the end of every year, and you only have to test once every three years.
I would suggest becoming a member of HSLDA for legal protection and advice when moving frequently and homeschooling. When preparing to move to a new state, look into a statewide homeschool support group for current information about the homeschool laws as well as ways to get involved with the homeschool community in your new area. For example, NCHE has a webpage that specifically addresses families new to North Carolina.
Support
I have found that I need the support of my spouse more with homeschooling than when my kids were in public school. I need his encouragement when I’m doubting my teaching. I need breaks from my kids since I’m with them all day long every day. I don’t get that break from them going to school. When he is gone for a long period of time or his schedule is just crazy, it does make it harder to homeschool. However, I think the pros tremendously outweigh the cons for our family.
Sarah Hughes is a homeschooling mom of four and military spouse currently living on the coast of North Carolina. She’s blogging through her homeschool journey from the beginning and sharing what works for her family, what doesn’t, and all she has learned so far. Subscribe to the Hughes House Homeschool blog here.
Photo credits: Military family photo from Adobe stock, Soldiers marching photo by Filip Andrejevic on Unsplash, kite flying family photo by Klara Kulikova on Unsplash, moving plan photo by oxana v on Unsplash.
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