An exclusive Gittle interview with Sara Dean (editor for many of the Gittle Publishing books) about her experience homeschooling her two children. Parents deciding to home school their children skyrocketed during COVID. Sara started homeschooling her children long before the pandemic.
Why did you decide to home school your children? My son went to public school in kindergarten and first grade, but he was being bullied on a regular basis, so I pulled him out and sent him to a private Christian school. They closed down after a year, and the owners said we could have anything we wanted if we wanted to home school. There was no way I was sending him back to public school, and I didn’t want to send my daughter into that environment either, so that’s what we did.
How old were they when you started homeschooling them? My son was eight and going into the third grade and my daughter was five and going into kindergarten.
In the beginning they were ecstatic!
How did your children feel about homeschooling in the beginning? Did that change over time? In the beginning they were ecstatic! I don’t think they realized they actually had to do schoolwork! They weren’t as excited as time went by. When they reached high school, I asked them each year if they wanted to continue homeschooling or try public school again, and they both chose homeschooling, so I guess they still liked it a little bit.
What resources do you use for homeschooling? In the beginning, I used the Bob Jones University curriculum for every subject, but as I got more comfortable teaching, I realized that some of the subjects were a little confusing for them, and I branched out and used different curriculum for each subject until we figured out which ones worked best for each kid. When my daughter reached middle school, she enrolled in the American School’s online program, and both kids switched to Penn Foster when they reached high school.
When COVID hit, we had to shut down.
Do you interact with other parents who home school their children? When we started homeschooling, our town had a homeschooling group that met in person every Wednesday. Sometimes the kids socialized while the parents got together and talked. Other times we took them on field trips, had holiday parties, or Open Mic days. When COVID hit, we had to shut down, and they were never able to get it going again. But the time we spent there helped us feel like we weren’t alone in homeschooling, and my kids made friends in the first few years that they still have to do this day.
How do you test your children’s progress? At the end of every school year my kids both took a standardized test like they take in public school. I get a report showing how they did, what grade level they scored on, and how they stacked up against public school kids that took the same test.
Some people are concerned that homes-chooled children won’t learn social skills. What’s your view on that? I used to be one of those people! I used to believe that the only way kids would learn social skills was to be in public school, but after we started homeschooling, I realized how wrong I was! Along with attending homeschooling group meetings, my children were in Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, karate, archery, soccer, and beauty pageants. They have been much more social than if they were in public school.
Homeschooling allows you extra time together.
What advice do you have for other parents considering homeschooling their children? Try it! You won’t regret it! Our kids grow up way too fast, and homeschooling allows you extra time together that you can’t get back. It also gives your kids a better education, you know what they’re learning, and you can teach them things they’re interested in, as well as what they need to know. My homeschooling journey is coming to a close as my son recently graduated, and my daughter is about to in a few months. It wasn’t always easy, but I can honestly say that I wouldn’t trade the time it allowed me to have with them for the world.
Tell us about your latest project. I’m currently focusing on editing, and I am actively building my list of clients. I offer free sample edits to help them decide if I am the right person for their project, I work with each person to find a price that fits their budget, because the most important thing to me is that I’m helping someone achieve their dreams. I don’t want money to be the reason they can’t do that. if anyone is interested in working together, they can feel free to contact me at sdean26201@gmail.com to discuss it further.
Sara Dean’s Children’s Books
Find all of Sara’s books here.
Sara Dean lives in West Virginia with her husband, two kids, and several fur babies. She is the former developmental editor at AKW Books and is now a freelance editor. Sara has had books published for every age group from children to adults. She has also written for several trade publications and ghostwritten over 100 books. She is a member of SCBWI and a former member of Pitch to Published. When she isn’t sitting behind a computer screen writing or editing, she can be found driving everyone around her crazy with her Christmas movies and music, which she enjoys year-round.
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