Marcus Ward
- Marcus and Hannah Ward are parents of three kids living in Montclair, California.Hannah homeschools their oldest daughter, and Marcus works remotely as an internal auditor.The Wards say homeschooling just made sense and saved them some money on school supplies.
Marcus: Homeschooling's not that taboo anymore.
Our decision to take up homeschooling was more internal between us than external. We follow Jefferson Bethke, an author and prominent voice in Christian media, who wrote several books on family and marriage, which led us to learn more.
We read one book after another and fell into the rabbit hole of reimagining how we wanted to raise our family.
Hannah: I was homeschooled until the second grade by my mom, and I never thought I would homeschool our daughter, but I'm happy it turned out this way. Our oldest was months old during the pandemic, and as we started looking at remote work, I enjoyed spending a lot of time together under the same roof. I eventually stopped working freelance and became a full-time mom.
The more we read and listened to podcasts, the more natural it felt for me to start teaching from home.
How we homeschool our daughter
Hannah: We homeschool our daughter through a local charter school that offers a hybrid schedule. Most of her learning time is in the living room, with a few hours a week in a classroom near home.
She's in class with other kids on Monday afternoons and Wednesday mornings for two and a half hours. She takes two classes a day in the classroom and has five core classes that I teach her at home.
At home, between breakfast and lunch, I teach English, math, science, and history on a given day. At school, she's taking an art class, a storytelling class, and a STEAM class that mixes science, technology, engineering, arts, and math.
Marcus: Not to be biased, but we knew our daughter was bright for her age. She's already reading a bit, which is ahead of the norm for her age. We worried that if we put her in kindergarten at one of the local public schools, she'd still be learning letter sounds.
With homeschooling, you can be more targeted in your teaching approach and more easily relate what you learn in a book to family life and the real world.
Hannah: Our day starts at 7 a.m. and ends around noon, much quicker than most schools, since I only have to worry about teaching one child. However, we have a 3-year-old running around and a 10-month-old, adding some extra variables.
Our schedule at home is also much more flexible than a traditional classroom. I try my best to take advantage of our youngest's nap for a few hours, giving me time to lock in with teaching.
I'll sometimes have to remind our older son that we must be quiet when she's working, but overall, he's learning a lot just by being in the vicinity.
After all her work is done, we have free time to go outside, ride bikes, and hang out with the kids together and with other kids nearby. Marcus gets off in the afternoon and often reads to them in the evening.
Being in the classroom two days a week also helps her with those intangible skills of raising your hand to speak, getting in line, and the other interaction you miss with other kids and teachers when you learn at home.
We receive some training and financial help
Hannah: Some charter schools here give you a stipend to homeschool your kids. In our research, we saw some schools offering up to $3,500 per school year for school supplies, books, and extracurricular activities.
Marcus: We signed up for five different schools and ended up choosing between three. The hardest part can be getting a spot. We had a friend with older kids who knew when the applications opened, letting us get closer to the front of the line.
Those schools offered a range of resources and funds, and we chose the one that gave us the least amount of money, which was still a $1,750 stipend.
Hannah: Within that package, we got a $500 coupon for supplies from some of their approved vendors, which came with lessons to help me teach. I had a bit of imposter syndrome just thinking about being a teacher, since I didn't go to school for education, and this helped ease some of those nerves.
Marcus: I'm from Birmingham, Alabama, and I'd never heard of public charter schools as an option, especially with this kind of funding. I was like, "They give you money?" It's all new to me and my parents back home.
Our families have been hesitant but supportive
Marcus: Growing up, I didn't know of anyone who was in homeschool. I went to public school my whole life, and in Birmingham, I don't think we had these opportunities or support systems in place.
My parents questioned homeschooling, ensuring it was the right option for their granddaughter. They didn't advise against it, but wanted a better perspective on why we chose this instead of public school.
Hannah: My family lives nearby, and my mom will come by two days a week to help while I'm homeschooling. She's been the biggest hands-on help, but our families have been supportive through this new experience.
Marcus: Our daughter is bright and has the learning capabilities to allow us to consider this and potentially get her further ahead than a traditional kindergarten.
Hannah: We've talked about doing the same for our sons, but we don't know yet. It's a case-by-case basis to see if they'll be equipped to handle a classroom or an at-home setting. For our daughter, who is our oldest, it just made so much sense. We're doing it year by year, and she may end up going to public school after a while — or not. Right now, being adaptable is the greatest solution to any doubt.
I'm jazzed for everything in the coming school year
Hannah: I'm already watching her grow and have those 'aha' moments. The in-class work is great for her to come back home and tell us what she learned, the friends she made, and the field trips she took.
It's exciting to watch your kid experience the world for the first time and see how they approach different situations. There's also an added satisfaction when you can be the teacher who shows them.
