I was a public school teacher for six years before having my own children and becoming a stay at home mom.

I taught middle school special education. Yeah…it was a tough, but very rewarding job.

I even earned the title of “Teacher of the Year” for one school year.

I always knew that we would homeschool our children.

I was called to it before we had children and once we had them that calling was confirmed many times over.

One thing I’ve heard from friends and family members is the assumption that because I was a public school teacher that I would be great as a homeschool mom.

I’ve even defended myself against non-homeschoolers with the statement that I was am a former public school teacher. Once that statement is out in the open, possible nay-sayers are somewhat pacified.

But with each passing day, I am discovering that this assumption and defense is completely off-base and not true.

Being a former public school teacher does not give me an advantage as a homeschool mom.

The one thing that I constantly battle to overcome in becoming a better homeschool mom is my background as a public school teacher.

There are days when I find myself frustrated because my children are not sitting in a desk from 8-2, dutifully filling out worksheets and working towards meeting some high and lofty “standards”.

Yet, at the same time, that is the beauty of homeschool. My children are not bound to a desk. They are not ordered to “sit down and be quiet” for long, boring hours at the time.

They get to enjoy learning alongside their brothers and sisters.

They can do jumping jacks as they recite their math facts and sound out words standing on one foot if they need to.

They can take nature walks.

They can read chapter books on the couch or in a comfy chair…books that may be way beyond or even below their grade level.

Homeschool is not just doing public school inside the four walls of a home.

No…it is much, much more!

Homeschool is cultivating relationships before achieving academic goals.

Homeschool is experiencing life together as a family.

Homeschool is being free to discover and learn at your own pace.

Homeschool is meeting the individual needs of the children that you know and love.

A teaching certificate and college education did not qualify me to be a homeschool mom…being a mom who loves and wants the best for her children is the only qualification that I need.

Some of the best homeschool moms I know did not have a background in education that somehow magically qualified them to teach their children at home. They are just mothers who are loving on their children and doing their very best to give them a quality, enriching education.

I have to fight the public school voices in my head in order to truly enjoy being a teacher to my own children.

It is a battle that I intend to win with purpose, peace and freedom.

My husband and daughters spent tracked Hurricane Isaac as it made it’s way to and then across the United States.

This provided a way for my husband to be involved in our homeschool studies.

Through tracking Hurricane Isaac my girls learned geography, map reading skills, current events, weather, and so much more!

They also spent time praying for the people in the way of this coming hurricane.

I am so thankful for my husband’s participation in our school. He did all the leg work printing out the map, getting the tracking coordinates, and plotting them with our girls each night.

They tracked Isaac’s path until it was down graded to a tropical depression after traveling through Louisiana and Mississippi.

For the past few years we had a room dedicated to homeschool. The room was the living room of a small garage apartment attached to our home in Virginia. It was a blessing to have, especially as we began our homeschooling journey.

When my girls started kindergarten I purchased cute little desks for them and they loved it!

But towards the end of last year, going into the garage for homeschool felt much like walking into a dungeon. It was very unmotivated. I also knew that we were moving and didn’t know what kind of space we would have for homeschool in our next house. I went on the assumption that we wouldn’t have a room dedicated to homeschool again, and started making the move to doing the bulk of our school at the dining room table.

I loved it!

I loved having the dining room table as our central school location. School is such a part of our lives, it just felt more “right” not to separate it, but to make it a part of our home.

We do have an open area in the front of our new house, by the dining room. I think the owners used it as a formal living room. I am using that area plus the dining room as our homeschool room space. It is bright and it is a central location to make homeschool a priority in our lives.

My girls did miss their little desks when we were doing school solely at the dining room table, so they are happy to have those back.

The living room is not pictured, but we do many of our read-alouds and history lessons there, sitting on the couch. I also utilize bed time for read-alouds.

Most of our current curriculum is stored in these shelves I purchased at Target. I put together a really nice calendar board this year, but I’m going to be replacing it with a map. I have a hard time fitting in calendar time and I’m choosing to just let it go rather than stressing about it. I’ll keep the big calendar up, though.

I have two dry-erase boards/easels that I use a ton. I use one for writing down notes as I’m teaching language and history lessons or to demonstrate handwriting. The other is used with our All About Spelling lessons. These are invaluable to our homeschool! My girls actually got the easel as a birthday present when they turned three. At this point I think I’ve used it more than they have. I do let my two-year old scribble on the back (it’s a chalkboard) and on the dry erase part when we’re not using it to keep her occupied.

And this is what our dining room table looks like at the end of the school day before we’ve cleared it off for dinner. Just keeping it real for you!

Do you have a dedicated space for homeschool?

Show it off and join in the School Room Week at the Not Back to School Blog Hop hosted by iHomeschool Network.