Our Homeschool Journey

My decision to homeschool my children was not something I thought up over night. It was a series of current events from 2020-2022 that solidified my decision. I think we all know the time period I am referring too, some called it a pandemic, others called it a PLANNED-emic. Regardless of where you land on the politics surrounding those years, it is what took place during that time that made my husband Robby and I decide to homeschool.

At the time we had two little girls, and another baby girl arriving before Christmas 2022. I was in the throngs of researching homeschool methods, via blogs, books, and word of mouth ideas from friends. I had ZERO idea what route was best for my family. I heard of the CM (Charlotte Mason) method and I loved the idea of it, but it seemed unreachable. (More on this later)

Fast forward to the start of 2024, I was in panic mode. I settled on an open-and-go curriculum that I came across on Pinterest. It looked fun, and engaging, so I scraped together the money and told my husband this was it! Don't worry how much it costs, because we have two children I will reuse it for. September arrived, and I was armed and ready to take her kindergarten year by storm. Library books were in hand, and I set a cute little "first day of school" table up for her with coloring sheets, and alphabet games. It was perfect, or so I thought.

The truth of the matter was, I did not enjoy the curriculum, and neither did she. Most of it was review from 4K, like putting the letters of her name in the right order. She had mastered the art of sorting items from larger to smaller. She was bored, which made our school time, difficult to say the least. I had to substitute lessons for the holidays, because I wanted something with a biblical reference for her, so I was making more work for myself. I finished strong that spring. We took the summer off and just enjoyed being together outside, playing and being together.

Then, in 2025 the search began again for a first grade curriculum. I was on the hunt for something less "textbook", and more immersive. I wanted culture, music, and Jesus involved somewhere. CM method was still on my mind, but again I could not get myself to make the leap. So, after talking it over with my husband, I purchased yet another curriculum. This one was more affordable and was allowing us to read through a child's book series together, which I loved! It wove history, art, music and bible study together in a way I thought was easy for a first grader to grasp.

As soon as we began, it was clear to me that the amount of work required of us to get through each lesson every week was unattainable for our life and our family. The idea's behind this curriculum were great, but there was little to no wiggle room. I ended up finishing first grade with just math, phonics, and reading practice.

That left us with the BIG question: what do I do for second grade, which is starting in the fall of 2026? God finally spoke to me that going with the Charlotte Mason method I discovered originally was what I needed to do. I found Ambleside Online early on in the spring of 2026. Two things caught my eye, the main one being it was FREE. Yes, you read that correctly. I was shocked at the amazing variety of literature, music, art, and Bible readings we would be able to get through. The second thing I was drawn to was that the schedule is divided by weeks. I was able to break down each week in a way that will work for my family and my kids individually at the same time. I could not believe I had not found this before, but now I needed to understand what this method of homeschooling was.

I did what any nerd would do, I began to research. I listened to countless podcasts from

A Delectable Education. These women are amazing, and helped me meet Charlotte in a very real way. I gobbled these up any chance I could get. I then joined a great AO Facebook group as well, if you are not already in that group, stop what you are doing now and join it! Finally, I ordered Volume One Home Education by Charlotte Mason herself. I read it, and reread it again and again.

I will have two girls in Y0 and Y2 for the 2026-2027 school year. I started collecting the books from Amazon, Thriftbooks, thrift stores, you name it. Until at last I had the adorable book stacks, complete with their math selections. My oldest will continue with Masterbooks for second grade, and my middle daughter will begin kindergarten with The Good and the Beautiful.

My plan is to do the riches together and keep the girls one-on-one for the daily readings and math.

However, this is a loose plan since I am brand new to AO and the CM method in general.

Which brings me to the reason I am beginning this blog: I want you to join us on our journey.

The good, the bad, and the ugly will be shared in this space. I think this is a safe space to share what real homeschooling looks like for a family of five.

Stay tuned as we wrap up first grade, and prepare for this new transition. I will share some updates along the way, as well as do an introduction post about our family as a whole!

Thank you for joining us, lets do this homeschool journey together.

Sincerely,

Danielle Meyer