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The Lives of Recent Homeschool Graduates

Do you wonder what the future looks like for your homeschoolers?

What will happen when they graduate from your homeschool? What will YOUR life look like as a “retired” homeschool parent? Will they be equipped for the “real world”? Will they get into college?

When we abandoned the ideal of public school in 2008, some of those questions were on my mind. Now that we’ve completed our journey, I have the answers (and I wish I hadn’t worried so much about the questions back then!).

This blog has been relatively quiet for the past year - oh, I’ve posted here and there, but it’s been hard to put into words what the completion of homeschooling has truly been like. My adult children also value their privacy. I’m trying to keep what I share about them to a minimum - because it’s THEIR life.

Mostly, I’ve struggled with just telling you it will BE OK. And, of course, when I write that it’s over, it’s really OVER - so coming to this blog to write has been hard, too.

Where My Homeschool Graduates Are Now

Advice: It’s all going to be ok. I promise.

I wrote a lot about my daughter's application to college, etc… Homeschool to College has been a popular series on the blog, so check it out if you missed it. Too many homeschooling parents make it too difficult when applying to college. We took a straightforward route, and it worked well.

The Life of Recent Homeschool Graduates

Anna graduated from college in 2023 and is now working at a school for children with special needs children. We always knew she had a heart for anyone on the margins and nurtured this in her. In my mind, I pictured her working with the elderly or those with special needs.

Grant graduated from our homeschool in 2023 (yep, I had a high school and college graduation simultaneously!). After taking different electives in high school to match his interests and after doing an evaluation with YouScience, he applied to the only university in our state that offered a Sports Communication degree. He is finishing his freshman year now and has received hands-on experience in sports communication (announcing games, working the scoring tables, etc.…).

Both kids are doing what interests them and what they love. This is a direct result of homeschooling!

(Y’all - I look tired in this picture because I WAS!)

Recent Homeschool Graduates

The Life of a Retired Homeschool Mom

Advice: Don’t lose yourself in homeschooling so much so that you don’t have anything left for just YOU.

(I hope this makes sense.) I am abundantly thankful that I had been building the SQUILT Music Appreciation curriculum for several years and could transition into full-time when the kids were gone. Having something to do for ME was quite helpful.

There were still days, however, when I found myself a bit weepy - especially after my son left for college. I recall going on a walk one day and texting him - “Are you having any trouble with being homesick?” to which he replied, “Nah.”

What? After everything I did for him and all I sacrificed to homeschool him, he wasn’t homesick?!? How ungrateful could he be? It just took my husband and a good friend to talk me off the ledge and remind me it was BECAUSE of homeschooling that he was well-adjusted, doing well in classes, making friends easily, and not pining away for home.

Now, I fill my days with the following:

  • Serving homeschool families in SQUILT Music Appreciation

  • You’ll always find me reading (come see me at Homegrown Book Picks!)

  • I am cleaning out all the places in my home that I neglected while homeschooling - ha!

  • I joined Bible Study Fellowship; I should have done this sooner because it’s been wonderful!

  • I am making my health a huge priority (at 52, a lot has crept up on me, so I’m working on this!)

More Homeschool Thoughts to Follow

It’s been tough to gather all of the thoughts I’m having about this time of life. There is so much goodness to share, but at the same time I want to be honest about some of the harder aspects, too. There are curricula I am so glad we used - and others not so much. There are big subject areas I am thankful we emphasized.

I have a lot to share with you!

I would do it all over again, but I wish I could give my younger self some advice—it would ease the road a bit.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below, and I will address them in the next post - I want to help this next generation of parents homeschool their children confidently and well.

You might also like:

Don’t Forget the Mom Who Has Graduated Her Homeschoolers

Homeschool Curriculum We Have Used and Loved

Three Winter Poems for Children to Memorize

I am a firm believer in children memorizing poetry. It is not only a gift of language and learning, but also of BEAUTY. And the best thing about memorizing poetry? It is one of the most simple things you can do with children!

As a child, I memorized My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson. This simple poem has remained with me my entire life. Maybe you have a similar poem that stayed with you, too.

Through my children’s homeschool years, I was sure to include poetry memorization in their education. The easiest time to practice anything we were memorizing was Morning Time. Perhaps the favorite poem that stuck with us was Teddy Bear by AA Milne.

Now that my children have graduated, I still enjoy reading poetry. I especially enjoy children’s poetry, probably because of memories of my mother sharing poetry with me as a child and the memories I made sharing poetry with my own children.

As it turns out, I’m in good company with my belief that children should memorize poetry. According to Susan Wise Bauer,

…memorization builds into children’s minds an ability to use complex English syntax and stocks the language store with a whole new set of language patterns.

Beautiful poems are such simple gifts we can give our children! I’d like to suggest three poems that your children can easily memorize - and these can be used with ANY age of child (or adult!).

Three Winter Poems for Children to Memorize

Dust of Snow by Robert Frost

“Dust of Snow” was published in the Pulitzer Prize-winning volume of poetry New Hampshire. Frost uses a conventional ABAB rhyme scheme and omits adjectives or adverbs in the poem. This style elucidates the simplicity of the everyday occurrence: a crow taking flight from a tree branch; but, most importantly, Frost shows how such an innocuous action has gravity for the narrator, giving him “a change of mood.” Frost’s uncanny ability to elicit deep-meaning with colloquial and basic language is in full display in this poem.” (source)

I love the ABAB rhyming pattern and the lack of adverbs and adjectives. Kids might enjoy trying to write their own poem in the same manner.

The North Wind Doth Blow by Tasha Tudor (Traditional Mother Goose)

Tasha Tudor’s books have long occupied a place in my heart. I vividly remember this poem from my childhood (see what a gift poetry is?).

The poem is a very simple Mother Goose nursery rhyme which Tasha Tudor included in a 1944 collection. I have included the first “verse”, but there are actually five in case you want to memorize all of them.

Three Winter Poems for Children to Memorize

Snowflakes by Linda A. Copp

This contemporary poem presents such beautiful imagery of snowflakes.

If I were still teaching music in elementary school, I would set out triangles, shakers, sand blocks, and a host of xylophones and metallophones to help children develop an accompaniment for this poem.

Three Winter Poems for Children to Memorize

How to Memorize a Short Poem with Children

We always kept it simple when memorizing poetry:

  1. Display the printed poem (If you memorize many poems during the year, consider hanging them all in one place. You’ll be amazed at how accomplished children will feel, challenging themself to memorize the poems on the wall, fridge, door, etc…! )

  2. Read the poem together several times each day.

  3. Use the poem as copy work. (Maybe you want to make more of a lesson out of the poem, too - but I believe a beautiful poem can stand by itself, so don’t put pressure on yourself to turn it into a big lesson!)

  4. Eventually, your children will begin reciting the poem from memory.

  5. Keep track of the poems you memorize and periodically review them so your children don’t forget them!

Download the Winter Poems PDF printable, which includes all three poems.

I’d love to know if you memorize poetry with your children. Or, maybe you have a favorite poem from childhood. Share it with me in the comments below!