Wow, I never thought I would type those words! I never pictured myself as a homeschooling mom, but here we go! Originally we had both of the oldest boys registered in a private Christian school for the fall. As most of you know we have been foster parents to a 5 year old boy named Finn – him and Henry are only a few months apart. We were all set for them to start kindergarten in the fall when we found out our agency had changed their minds about Finn attending private school. Immediately we were devastated but looking back, it’s so obvious it was part of a larger plan.

It wasn’t long after, my mind kept wandering to the thought of homeschooling. It would be too difficult to put the boys in different schools and for the first time, I started to entertain the idea. I spoke with several homeschooling mamas who expressed their deep love for teaching their own children and it sparked enough interest for me to do my research. The original thought of keeping Henry home seemed overwhelming and honestly scary knowing I would be the one solely responsible for his kindergarten education. I immediately started reading the book The Unhurried Homeschool and it was such an eye opener. From the freedoms you get, the extra amount of time with your children, and having control of how and when your children are exposed to things – I solidified the decision in my mind..now just to convince Curt.

He immediately thought it was a great idea which was further confirmation that I needed to know this was the right decision. Not long after, we asked Henry what he thought and he was also 100% on board and SO EXCITED. Another part of this journey to make this decision was knowing how much time I would be “getting back” with Henry. We didn’t get those first 3 years with him and keeping Henry home this year will feel like I’m gaining some of his most precious years back. It’s a win win for our family.

Now for the fun part – the schoolroom. I wrestled with even creating a specific space to begin with because so many blogs said you really don’t need one. Being a former kindergarten teacher myself, I wanted to create a space that would be special for this experience. I think having a schoolroom will also help with our routine although things don’t have to be run like a formal classroom. Separating homeschool from our living space will help keep some structure..and I love me some structure.

This room has changed so many times in the 2.5 years we’ve lived here. It started as an empty nursery as we finished our foster certification, Henry’s bedroom, Hailey’s bedroom, a guest bedroom, Teddy’s bedroom, our office space, and now a schoolroom. I was able to work with a few companies to make this space come together and I’m so happy with how it turned out!

My budget for this room was $250 and we stayed under budget with the help of Tilt Blinds and D.Marie Interiors wallpaper. Everything else was pretty much thrifted, from Facebook Marketplace, or found on clearance. I love this space so much but more importantly, so do the boys. Even though I won’t be able to homeschool Finn this year, he and Henry are up here almost every day and we have started doing some preschool review! I can’t wait for my first year of homeschool to start, even with all the ups and downs I’m sure it will bring. Thanks for taking the time to read this post, let me know what you think below! If you would like to follow our homeschool journey, I have created a separate account on Instagram, Our Gathered Homeschool. I will be sharing more in depth about how I plan to tackle this first year as a homeschooling mama!

Amy