I don’t think easy is a word most of us would use to describe homeschooling.
It can be delightful. It can be wonder-filled. There are moments that feel magical and meaningful and deeply worth it. But the average homeschool day? It’s hard.
And honestly, that shouldn’t surprise us.
Homeschooling isn’t separate from motherhood. It’s an extension of it. And no one describes motherhood as easy. Why, then, do we hesitate to name the truth that the day-to-day work of homeschooling is often difficult?
We aren’t teachers from 10 to 2 who clock out and return to being mothers for the rest of the day. We don’t switch hats. We carry it all at once. We are mothers who have taken on the additional role of primary inspirer, curator, and mentor alongside everything else motherhood already asks of us.
All mothers teach their children. But choosing to homeschool means choosing to hold that teaching role more intentionally and more visibly. It’s still motherhood, just with fewer boundaries and far more overlap.
When we begin homeschooling, many of us start by “playing school.” We pull from our own childhood experiences, recreate familiar rhythms, and try to make home feel like a gentler version of the classroom. That can be a natural starting point.
But eventually, many of us hit a moment where it stops making sense.
If the goal is simply to replicate school at home, why did we choose this in the first place? It would be far easier to send our children somewhere else and let the system carry the weight. Homeschooling begins to feel heavier when we are trying to make it something it was never meant to be.
Part of that tension comes from the picture we were sold at the beginning.
We were promised eager children, hanging on our every word. Delight-filled read-alouds. Beautiful projects that unfolded exactly as planned. Siblings who rarely fought because we practiced good habits and filled our homes with intention and purpose.
And then reality shows up.
A workbook page scribbled on in protest. A table cluttered with everything except the project you carefully prepared. Groans when you pull a book from the shelf. Constant questions about when screen time will happen. And suddenly, you’re looking around your home wondering what you’re doing wrong.
You’re not doing it wrong.
There’s a reason homeschool gurus tell the same handful of stories over and over again from their years of homeschooling. Those moments are real and precious—but they are rare. They’re the highlights we carry with us, not the full picture.
The days filled with mess, complaints, wandering attention, and failed attempts don’t make it into the narrative. Not because they don’t happen, but because they don’t sell.
Hold onto the sparkles when they appear. Treasure them. Let them remind you why you chose this path.
But remember—they are sparkles, not the whole story.
If you’re having a hard homeschool day, week, month, or even year, it does not mean you’re failing. It means you’re living a normal homeschool life. The same one most of us are living, even if we don’t always say it out loud.
Most of what I write begins as conversations I wish we were having more often. If you want to receive letters about real homeschool days, motherhood, books, and letting go of impossible expectations, you’re welcome to join my email list.
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When families are ready for something a bit more tangible, I create Bookish Adventure guides as a gentle companion to homeschool life. They are story-based, flexible, and designed to support real days, not ideal ones. You can explore the guides here if and when it feels helpful.