Why Homeschooling Became Part of Our Family and Business Story

We started our final year of homeschool recently, and I have to admit, this one feels different.

Next year, my twins will head to high school, which means a chapter that has shaped so much of our family life, and honestly, so much of StereoType, is coming to an end.

I don’t really talk much about being a homeschool mom (aka the principal of our “private home school” 😆) or why homeschooling became the path I felt I needed to take.

But with this being our last year, I’ve been thinking a lot about why I chose this path in the first place.

There were a lot of factors that went into the decision, but one of the biggest was that I wanted my twins to have a solid anchor in who they are. I wanted to give them room to explore their interests, follow their curiosity, and get to know themselves without so much outside influence telling them who they should be.

To be clear, I love teachers and educators, and school is not the villain in this story. But my business is built around questioning the constructs that can keep us locked in boxes. Boys wear blue. Girls wear pink. This is for you. That isn’t.

As I was building StereoType and observing my twins’ experiences in school, I started noticing some of those same constructs in education. Their experience wasn’t negative, but I found myself wanting more room for expansion. I wanted to think about what would serve the whole child rather than just one part of them.

That was a big realization for me.

And here’s the truth: starting a business and homeschooling at the same time was straight-up looney! Knowing now how much energy it takes to split my time, I can’t imagine making that decision again. But I also don’t know what the other path would have looked like. I only have hindsight.

What I did know was that there was a throughline between the two. Building StereoType helped me see something I couldn’t unsee anymore: What are the constructs keeping us locked in a box, and how can we give ourselves permission to move beyond them?

There was another, much simpler reason I chose homeschooling too. I wanted to build this business, but I didn’t want to miss my twins’ childhood in the process.

I knew a new business would require an enormous amount of time and focus, so I wanted to find a way to be as present for them as possible. Finding an amazing tutor gave me the courage to follow the homeschooling path while giving the twins structure and giving me room to keep building StereoType.

Has running a business while also being the principal of our homeschool been difficult? Absolutely. I’m constantly moving between business owner, principal, and mom, sometimes all within the span of an hour. It’s a constant rotation of meeting the needs of the moment while continuing to move forward, even when that movement is slow.

And now we’re here. Entering six years in homeschooling and business. A parallel I could have never imagined.

My twins will enter high school next year, which makes this final year of homeschool feel especially precious. A foundation has been laid that I feel good about. One rooted in an strong sense of self, questions that have more that one answer, and the confidence to explore beyond the walls of any given room.