The Journey From Homeschooler To Teacher
(And Back)

I just purchased a blue kidney shaped “school table” for our homeschool room and I feel like my life has come full circle.

My mother homeschooled myself and my four siblings from K-12. Upon completion of high school after taking a few years to work different jobs and travel, I decided to attend the University of Saskatchewan and work towards getting a Bachelor of Education. Later, I transferred to NWRC and The University of Regina program based in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan to finish my degree. Even before convocation, I had secured a teaching position in my local school division. I taught grades 3 and 4 for a few years before getting pregnant with my first child. Looking into her sweet face, I knew I wanted to take all the wonderful things I had learned about early elementary education and apply it to all of the amazing benefits I experienced in homeschooling. So here I am: a homeschooler turned public school teacher now “retired” to homeschool her own kids!

Purposefully Working Toward a Diploma

My dedicated mother really set me up for success. She used specific tools, curriculum, resources, and strategies to make it as easy as possible for me (and my siblings) to attend and do well in post-secondary. To streamline our application process into post-secondary, my mom decided that we would get our high school diploma. I’ll outline the process we took here.

• My mom's goal was to make furthering our education as simple as possible (if that was the path we chose after high school). With that in mind, the following is an example of some of the resources my mom chose.

                    -Science from J. Wile

                    -Saxon math (started when we were old enough to work independently)

                    -Easy Grammar by Wanda Phillips 

                    -A variety of literature based unit studies

                    -Robert Shearer’s Famous Men series

• She also gave us Standardized Achievement Tests every two years to check her curriculum choices and to see if there were any gaps in the content that she needed to teach.

• While curriculum is important, the best gift of homeschooling was the relationship I had with learning. The greatest skills that supported me as a lifelong learner included a deep understanding of HOW I learned best, trusting in myself that I was a capable learner, and having a deep well of self-motivation. These all contributed to my success as I challenged departmental exams, attained my grade 12 diploma, and thrived as an adult learner in university and life beyond. 

• There were three main ways I achieved credits towards my grade 12 diploma: online classes (1 or 2 classes), challenging exams (I received most of my credits this way.), and an art class at the high school (which was a pleasure for me as I love art and two of my best friends were in the class).

• To help us prepare, my mom worked with the school division to get exam prototypes to direct our study and reading lists to pre-read for English language arts exams. Once, a welcoming teacher allowed me into his classroom for the semester review and test prep with his class before an exam. Usually to write the departmental exam, my mom booked with the school division, and I wrote at the high school. This was usually in a room by myself with a moderator present, but I also joined in with other students if the teacher was open to that.

• After achieving the correct number of credits, I was awarded a high school diploma through our school division.

Applying For University

Once I had my high school diploma, applying to university was a streamlined process. Filling in the application forms and sending a copy of my diploma was easy. I did a combination of classes online through online universities, Bible college, University of Saskatchewan, and finally finished my degree in education through the University of Regina at the Northwest Regional College.

A Homeschooler’s Experience in University

My experience in post-secondary as a homeschooler was very enjoyable. I had a solid understanding of how I learned best and was extremely self-motivated to study and do the work. While I did have some freshman jitters, I made good friends and good marks and learned to balance academics and my mental health.

I found as I got accustomed to the teachers and their expectations, I also understood how hard I needed to work to get the grade I wanted. This eased a lot of mental anxiety for me as I trusted myself to get the grade I needed and not have to sacrifice my mental health by overachieving for marks.

Bringing It Full Circle

Now as I prepare to homeschool my own children, the learning continues. As a teacher I will be learning new skills, learning how to better meet my children’s unique learning needs, and creating a learning environment that fosters confident lifelong learners. I know for sure I will be learning just as much or more than my kids as I experience homeschool as the “teacher.” I am so grateful for the opportunities homeschooling gave me as a child and am excited to pass those same blessings on to my children! 

Meeting my four little kiddos at our big blue “school table” this fall brings my homeschool experience full circle but is also a brand new beginning, and I am excited to see where homeschooling leads our family!

Written by Amanda McKay

Amanda McKay is a new homeschooling mother of Emberly (4), Weston (3), Aurora (1), and Sage (1). Together with her husband Scott, the family lives on a farm in northern Saskatchewan with a variety of pets including dogs, cats, rabbits, pigs, chickens, ducks, and horses! Amanda is an advocate for outdoor, child-lead, play-based learning. You can follow Amanda’s homeschool journey at @amandaraemckay on Instagram.