CASD HomeSchool Option: Christy Rucker's Story

Christy Rucker is the author of the book The Simple Homeschool. She writes regularly for the homeschool community – online and in print magazines – and works for her state homeschool association. For fun, she mentors other moms who are starting their homeschool journey or moms who need support to make their homeschool what they want it to be. Christy’s hobbies include reading, gardening, and thrifting with friends. She sometimes jokes that food is her love language and coffee is the water of life. You can meet up with Christy on Instagram at @christyrucker.

Oh man, homeschooling. Such a scary concept for a parent. To walk away from everything you are familiar with in education, even temporarily, is nerve-wracking. What if I do it wrong? What if I mess my kid up? What if I miss things and he falls behind? What if he won’t do his work for me? What if we have a problem, and I don’t know how to fix it?

These were all my fears when I started. Below I will give you some resources to help answer these questions and give you support, but first, let me tell you how we fell into homeschooling. We started as a public school family in the Coatesville area. My oldest attended kindergarten and first grade at a local elementary school. It was a good experience overall. There were a few problems with other kids in the class. And it was a lot of work for me sometimes – projects to do, requests for volunteers, homework – all the things parents do to support their child and the school.

Things changed for us when my oldest hit second grade and my youngest started kindergarten. My oldest started having panic attacks. For two months, he would have a panic attack every morning right before school. I would drive him to school and drag him in, both of us crying. We were a mess, but the guidance counselor was supportive. She would take my son, get him settled down, and then get him into class. Every morning was emotionally torturous for our family.

Then one day, two months in, the principal saw us and pulled us into our office. My son was reprimanded and threatened about what would happen if he didn’t come to school. Mom will go to jail. It will be your fault. Everyone will be mad. That was our last day of public school, and we suddenly became homeschoolers.

I thought that we would only homeschool for a year, then I would send my sons back when they were older and more ready. But that first year was amazing. It was hard because I made it hard, but it was still great. So, we did a second year of homeschooling. That was great too. Now here we are, eight years later, and I cannot imagine doing anything else. I even work for our state homeschool association, write and speak for the homeschool community, and mentor moms starting on their homeschool journey.

What did I like so much the first year that kept us going? We had so much freedom. We weren’t bound to the school’s schedule anymore. We didn’t have to wake up at a certain time, have the morning rush, be a certain place on time. In the evenings we didn’t have to do any homework. Our evenings were our own again. We also had the freedom to take days off whenever we wanted and go on vacation whenever we wanted. So much freedom of time.

We also had freedom of choice in materials. I could choose the best resources to use for each child. If my son had a particular interest, I could tailor his academics to him. I’ve found this especially important as they’ve gotten older and their interests have developed to what may become careers. My youngest is now 12 and codes at an adult level in three coding languages. He can create software, apps, and websites with no problem. Two weeks ago, I needed help with a project that required HTML. I couldn’t do it. After an hour of struggling, I asked him to help and he finished the project in less than five minutes. That is what homeschooling can do – your child has the freedom of time and resources to pursue and develop their specific interests in ways that have a direct impact on their future. My twelve-year-old has the skill set to get a job in the software or web design industry right now.

So, I liked the freedom of homeschooling that first year, but I also loved the relationship that developed between me and my children. Even today, with teenagers, we are so close. We discuss everything. We have thoughtful conversations. We have a healthy relationship with no “teenage rebellion.” It’s amazing to me how mature and thoughtful my kids are.

This does not mean that we do not have struggles. My oldest was diagnosed with Aspergers a year after we started homeschooling. I had to learn how to work with his atypical mind. We would bump heads when his need for efficiency clashed against how I thought we do school. We had to make compromises.

As my children grow, I’ve also struggled to find the right resources and curricula to meet their needs. One year we switched our math curriculum three times to find the right fit. Finally, one clicked and it made all the difference. There have also been times where my children have needed help with a skill. For my youngest, it was reading. For my oldest, it was multiplication of three-digit numbers. For reading, we hired a reading specialist for three months. For multiplication, I turned to the online homeschool community for ideas and found what worked. There is a lot of support in our homeschool community.  You can see all her other recommendation and resources on our resource page:

And one final word: You can do this. You can. I promise.