20 Things Homeschool Moms Don’t Miss About Back to School Season

Its time to get ready for another homeschool year, backpacks from LandsEnd

It’s that time of year where we are inundated with back-to-school shopping. For many parts of the country, kids have already gone back to school. But here in Maryland, we still have until after Labor Day before school is officially in session. That is unless you’re a homeschool mom like me. We homeschool moms are here too, just on a slightly different schedule.

Homeschool moms

It’s been a while since I’ve written about my homeschool journey. Mainly because…life. I’m always asked, “Are you still homeschooling?” The answer is yes. The next question is usually, “How long do you plan to homeschool?” And my answer is always, “as long as we can.”

Now that our oldest is officially a middle schooler, I have mixed emotions because that means that he is halfway done with school until college (if he chooses to go).

There is no way we would’ve lasted this long without the continuous support from other homeschool families both on and offline. For instance, we’ve made some great friends who have become like family through homeschool co-ops. Meanwhile, I can always count on various Facebook groups for a good laugh when things get stressful. It’s groups like these that confirm we are on the right track.

Livy showing off her new backpack from LandsEnd

Motherhood and Milestones

Although the kids all have friends in a traditional school, they don’t really know what they are “missing”. Our youngest has never been to school outside of the home/co-op, our middle was in pre-school for a year and the oldest in pre-school for three years. As a new mom, I remember looking forward to taking all of the back-to-school photos and going to all of the school functions.

However, when I became a homeschool mom, I realized that it was going to look different than what I pictured. And the funny thing is that it many times, still looks like what I imagined.

20 Things Homeschool Moms Don’t Miss About Back to School

Remember those homeschool groups that keep me sane? Well, this discussion was had in one of them, and many of the answers gave me a good chuckle because I’ve thought the same. In other words, it’s great to know you’re not alone.

These shares came from the Melanated Homeschool Families Support Group on Facebook.

  1. Waking up early to rush in the morning
  2. School carpool/dropoff lines
  3. Planning vacations around the school schedule (WORD)
  4. Back to school shopping (PERIODT)
  5. Work work work work work (all the homework that comes home)
  6. Packing school lunches
  7. Sticking to a routine schedule
  8. Long nights doing projects
  9. Your child being smarter than the teacher (👀Oopsss)
  10. Anxiety attacks
  11. Kids always getting sick
  12. Parent-teacher meetings
  13. Fighting traffic
  14. Common Core (Meka Monet: I think we can all agree here)
  15. Bullying (😔)
  16. Constant Fundraisers
  17. Sensory overload
  18. Tardy and absence notices
  19. Disruptive kids (Tequila Cheatham McCray)
  20. Schedule. Schedule. Schedule.

gymnast Brielle shows off her new backpack

Back to Homeschool

Homeschooling is not as daunting as I thought it would be. In actuality, it’s more fulfilling than I knew it could be. I’ve shared some free or nearly free resources here. And I will definitely be sharing some more soon.

If you’re a homeschool mom, what would you add to the list? Cheers to a fab new year!

pinterest image for homeschool moms

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2 Comments

  • Kelly
    January 8, 2020 at 5:59 PM

    Yes yes yes! It’s back to school time in Australia now and it’s lovely not to be trying to get uniforms and booklists and supplies like everyone else. We’re just chilling out eating mangoes.
    Kelly would like you to check out…Travelling and Homeschooling in Australia – The Ultimate Guide (2019)My Profile

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