Hey, everyone!  Thanks for joining me for this month's Q & A homeschool post. I love sharing these posts with you guys because I really hope that they are an encouragement to you. I know when I started on my journey finding African-American moms who were homeschooling their children was hard especially in the community we lived in; I know now in some areas homeschooling in the African-American community is no longer an anomaly. There are many families choosing to teach their children at home and some are actually sharing their stories.  I am grateful that moms like Natasha are willing to share their homeschool highs and lows with the new and veteran moms on this homeschooling journey.  If you haven't read any of the other African-American homeschool mom interviews, please do.  

Grab a sit and meet Natasha from Houseful of Nicholes! 

Q & A with Homeschool Mom, Natasha

Tell us a little bit about your homeschool. How long have you homeschooled? What does your homeschool environment look like? 

My homeschool consists of three school-aged children in primary grades. We've homeschooled for a little over three years, and we tend to take spots all over the house. We're free roamers until we're not! LOL! If there is a science project that needs supervision, we're in the kitchen or the backyard, otherwise, everyone is free to do their work wherever they want as long as they stay on task.

How did your family decide to become a homeschooling family? 

The Chicago Public School System is floundering, and until I can trust it again, I decided to take the education of my children into my own hands.

What is your favorite part about home schooling? What helps you to keep going? 

Seeing my children completely "get" a concept makes me happy. Knowing that I am capable of teaching my children and that the intuition of a mother actually comes in handy sometimes encourages me to keep teaching my children.

What are your struggles with being a home schooling parent? 

Staying on task (the irony) and figuring out great curriculum.

Share a few words of encouragement with other moms who home school. What is your tip for keeping atmosphere joyous in your home? 

You can do it, as long as you DO IT! Homeschooling is not a walk in the park, and some days you may just want to ship your kids to a brick and mortar school. However, the days that rock more than shade out those tough days, and let me know that I'm right on track! Do whatever you need to do to keep learning fun. We had to realize that we couldn't have a public school setup at home in order to have real learning going on. I also found that sometimes, nixing the lesson plan of the day for a day out or a day of movies is sometimes best. School also doesn't need to last ALL. DAY. Find the cutoff that lets you know that learning went on, and that they had enough opportunity to ask questions, and furthermore, school when YOU want. It doesn't have to happen first thing in the morning or only during the week. School can travel with you, and happen on the weekends.

I love the reminder that Natasha shares with us, "School doesn't have to last all day." There's freedom in those words.  Homeschooling is about educating our children and not proving to others that we are educating our children.  Remember to just do it, and it will all work out.

Natasha is a wife and mom to four including a set of twins.  She writes regularly at Houseful of Nicholes. She is proud advocate of making healthy food available to everyone. She was even surprised by Harry Connick, Jr. because of her commitment. Check out the video on Houseful of Nicholes . You can often find her on the hashtag, #WeSowWeGrow, on Instagram.