It's Not the Teachers. It's the System. Why This Principal Now Homeschools.

I used to be a principal. Now I homeschool my kids. This is the whole story of how that happened, including the parts that aren't flattering. I was the kid who played school with her dolls and had the binders and clipboards. I started college as an elementary education major, got scared and switched to communications and sociology, and then ended up in education anyway through Teach For America. My first year I taught self contained special education at twenty one years old. My first observation was bad enough that my coach said she needed time to come up with a plan. I worked hard, got good results by the end of the year, and moved to fifth grade math and science, where I became grade level chair as a second year teacher. From there: a co-director role opening a new school in DC, a stretch as a math coach where our third grade math scores were the highest in the district, and then three years as principal after the CEO took a leave of absence. I'll be honest about that part. The school was already struggling academically and culturally, and I did not turn it around. I worked constantly, I cared enormously, and it still didn't work. That experience is what started my real questions about school. Here's where I landed. When educators say the problem is leadership, I think the problem is the system. Almost everyone in a school is a good person trying hard for not enough money. But asking one adult to meet the individual needs of twenty five kids and get every one of them to grade level or above, every year, isn't realistic. I didn't want to gamble on whether my son got a great teacher. I wanted him to be able to move fast when he's ready and slow down when he needs to. I wanted room for him to get obsessed with Spider-Man and spider webs and go check out a library book about it. I don't think most schools have space for that anymore. Then my son was born, COVID hit, I moved to a remote project management role, we had a preschool experience that settled it, and when kindergarten came around, we homeschooled. Chapters 0:00 Principal to homeschool mom 0:32 Playing school with my dolls 1:11 Teach For America and my first classroom 1:44 The observation that went badly 3:03 Moving to fifth grade math and science 3:42 Co-director of a brand new school 4:53 Becoming a math coach 5:23 How I ended up as principal 5:51 Three honest years 7:06 The questions it left me with 8:37 What led me to homeschool 9:20 Realizing I couldn't keep the pace 10:28 Why it wasn't for me 10:58 It's not the leadership, it's the system 11:39 What we ask one teacher to do 12:50 Why I wanted something different for my kids 13:58 Teachers who became homeschoolers If you were a teacher, a coach, or a principal before you homeschooled, I want to hear your version. There are so many of us. Come find me Free weekly planning checklist: https://www.theorganizedhomeschool.co... Free part 1 of The Mom Plan: https://www.theorganizedhomeschool.co... Notion Homeschool Planner: https://www.theorganizedhomeschool.co... The Organized Homeschool community: https://www.theorganizedhomeschool.co... Podcast, Voice Notes from The Organized Homeschool: https://substack.com/@theorganizedhom... Instagram:   / theorganizedhomeschool   TikTok:   / theorganizedhomeschool   Were you an educator before you homeschooled? Tell me your story in the comments. I can't wait to hear from you. #homeschoolmom #formerteacher #whyihomeschool #teachforamerica #homeschooling