Homeschool Moms in the Wild: Esperanza Singley

"Hello! I’m Esperanza Singley, but everyone calls me Espie - a lot less syllables. I am mom to Adelyn, Matthew, Leah, and Logan and wife to Matt. Over a quarter of a century ago I worked as a software engineer at a manufacturing software company where I met my amazing husband - he fixed my computer on my first day of the job! We’ve been together ever since. I became a stay-at-home mom with my firstborn and have enjoyed mom life ever since. When I’m not consumed with mom duties, I enjoy hanging with my backyard chickens and reading on my kindle.”

When did you begin homeschooling?

“So, I have two answers for this one. Technically I started in 2008 with my oldest doing kindergarten. But when I found out I was expecting twins that year, we put a pause on homeschooling and enrolled her in private school for first grade. The twins were three months old when I found out I was pregnant again! Fast forward to 2014, the twins were ready to start school and our homeschool journey officially began.”

How did you begin homeschooling? 

“I did not want to homeschool. When Adelyn was ready to start kindergarten, our public school county had actually lost their accreditation. I was a programmer, not a teacher. Yet with my husband’s encouragement and knowing I couldn’t send my precious daughter to a failing school system, I hesitantly took on homeschooling. It was really such a blessing how it all later came together. The kids had just enrolled at a local karate school and there I was sitting in a chair amongst other parents watching our kids throw kicks and punches. I just happened to start chatting with a mom sitting next to me and shared with her how I was so nervous to start back homeschooling. Her eyes lit up and told me she homeschooled too and then proceeded to write down local homeschool groups, co-ops, and helpful websites on the back of a flyer I was holding. I am forever grateful to you, Elizabeth!!!!”

What type of homeschooler are you?  

“We started as traditional and have transitioned to an accredited hybrid school. When I first started, I was very hard on myself trying to recreate school at home. I beat myself up if we didn’t do every subject, every day. As we progressed, my confidence was built, I realized the entire point of homeschooling was NOT to recreate the rigid school structure at home. I went from buying expensive out of the box all-in-one curriculum kits, to piece-mealing curriculums from a variety of publishers to even making up my own curriculum. I learned to relax and follow the kids' interests. Our elementary years were filled with field trips, middle school was going down rabbit holes researching any and every topic the kids asked about. We are now wrapping up high school with our beloved school, Konos Academy.”

What is your favorite thing about homeschooling? 

“Time with my kids. My most treasured memories are all the times sitting on the couch reading books together, the light bulb moments when they figured out a new math topic, all the science experiments in the kitchen, and taking them on all the field trips to get hands on learning. The flexibility of homeschooling allowed me to have Logan “skip” kindergarten and do first grade with the twins, Matthew and Leah. For my sanity, I could easily teach all three the same curriculum. We had our own mini-class and I will always treasure our times in the “school room” together. They graduate this upcoming fall so I’m having all the feels as my homeschooling journey is coming to an end. Yep, all three graduate together this fall!”

What are/were your homeschool wins?

“How well rounded my kids are. My kids were able to grow up just being kids without the social stresses you find in public schools today. They are confident in themselves, comfortable interacting in new environments, and most of all love learning. Adelyn found her soulmate, Leah was able to nurse sick chicks back to health, Logan is literally building a wind tunnel in his room right now, and Matthew has been pivotal in supporting our family reptile breeding business. Being able to pursue passions and support each other has been a huge homeschool win.”

What would you do differently?

“Fully homeschool high school. I let the fear of managing transcripts push me into an accredited hybrid homeschool program. Knowing what I do now, I recognize it’s not as daunting as I anticipated and could have absolutely done it myself - and saved our family a lot of money! The program gave me a dedicated guidance counselor to manage and maintain transcripts, but I lost a lot of scheduling freedom and was locked into their curriculum. I wish we could have taken further advantage of Georgia’s dual-enrollment program."

Who inspires you to continue homeschooling? 

“My local homeschool community! Surrounding myself with other moms going through the same struggles, seeing moms on the other side wrapping up their journey, and being able to mentor new moms just beginning their homeschool story is what keeps me motivated to keep moving forward on this path of homeschooling. Also - my kids! Seeing them excel and find their passions is why I did it and it is incredibly inspiring.“