I had toyed with the idea of homeschooling for a few years, had done a ton of research, and tried implementing various curriculums in a very small preschool-y way. And then when it came time to get my oldest started in kindergarten, we realized we loved our parish’s school and wanted to send him there so I put all my homeschooling ideas on the shelf…at least for a few months. Then we moved 800 miles from said parochial school and I didn’t want to commit to a new school before I did my research. In the meantime, I prayed a lot and decided God was calling me to homeschool.

So here we are! Over halfway through our first year and loving it. I wanted to share on The Catholic Mama podcast what I’ve learned over the past 20 weeks, from when to start the school year to how to keep littles happily occupied when the older siblings are doing their lessons and more.

You can listen to the episode here or listen to it on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or iHeartRadio.

We follow the Mater Amabilis Curriculum, which I mentioned (and probably mispronounced on the podcast) and is a Charlotte Mason-inspired program with Catholic catechesis already built in (woohoo!). There are, of course, many Catholic homeschooling programs, but as I looked into each, this one seemed to fit our family the best.

I also found this book to be extraordinarily helpful in cultivating our homeschool atmosphere and my interior life as a homeschool mom.

Like what you hear? Then don’t forget to subscribe and leave a nice review for The Catholic Mama podcast. That way you won’t miss an episode and you’ll also help spread this little ministry.

Need help we answering some basic questions about Christianity and Catholicism? Then be sure and grab The Catholic Mama’s How to Talk to Your Kids about God, available for FREE here.