This is My Thank You to Teachers From a Homeschooling Dad

I was always told that if you want to truly understand the struggles of another person, you need to walk a mile in their shoes. Since I am now a homeschooling dad, let me just say that I now truly understand and appreciate the challenges of being a teacher.

Here's the short version of why we decided to go the homeschool route with our family. We have 4 kids who vary wildly in age. That means in some cases different schools in different parts of town with different schedules of when they need to be somewhere. We also really wanted to expand their education to go along with our faith which is vital to us.

We made the decision to homeschool before the pandemic hit back in March. COVID-19 solidified our reasoning that keeping our kids at home was the best for our family due to virus concerns. My little boy would have been going to his first year of kindergarten and I just couldn't bear the thought of him dealing with a mask all day.

We started our homeschool curriculum back in August. Let me tell you after being at this for two months I appreciate teachers more than ever. I always admired and supported educators. I have many family and friends who are teachers. But, I didn't really understand how hard they had it until we tried to get our kids headed the right direction.

Just try to keep 4 kids focused on their studies while also maintaining your sanity. I dare you. It's like herding cats. My kids are now really doing well and now request to do extra work and projects. I'm very proud of them, but it still is a struggle some days. To think that our local teachers have to balance the needs, wants and abilities of 20 to 30 kids simultaneously blows my mind.

I hope our Wyoming educators understand how much they are appreciated. If not, let me say it again. You are amazing people and so vital in the lives of our kids. As a homeschooler, I appreciate that fact now more than ever.