Hi! I'm Jana, the Mom here!

Glad you could join us! Welcome to Pioneer Homeschool! A crazy little family doing life together!

We are a family of five who love adventure, faith, education, and everything in between. I hope that you find joy and happiness in this “mom blog”, but also a bit of humor, fun, and insight as well.

We want to share our journey with you and either inspire you or just let you have a good read or laugh. I have no intentions of swaying anyone to meander on the path we have chosen. It suits us just fine and we all have our own niches.

So, with that, let me introduce ourselves.

A Little About Me

I love teaching our kids and I’ve been homeschooling since 2010.

I did take a slight sabbatical and was a special education para-educator for a public school to a wonderful little fella. And then the pandemic happened. Not only was I stuck at home again, my two older children were too, after being in public school for that time.

I realized in those few months how much I missed homeschooling my kiddos. So, before the next school year, we decided that I’d homeschool again.

Now for a bit of a backstory. My two oldest are from my previous marriage. I homeschooled not only these two older kiddos, but my former spouse’s child as well. We started through the high school years in 2010 and saw him through graduation in 2014. That was a challenge, but I wouldn’t trade it!

I met my current husband in 2019 and in just six short months, he popped the question. Of course, I said yes! So fast forward to February of 2020, we married. (Read the whole whirlwind story in Iron & Love.)

He was intrigued by the homeschooling “thing” and was all for it. I went from being in the public education system to right back at home after eight months. I knew that was where my heart was.

I hold an (almost) bachelor’s degree in elementary education, but have not continued to pursue that degree any further. My family comes first. If one day I feel like I need to finish that degree, I will.

But as for now, life is great! My “degree” now consists of child care, education, culinary arts, chauffeur, coach, plus a few others. I’m still trying to “master” all of those, so we’ll see how that goes in later years. As for now, we’re just taking one day at a time and enjoying every second of it!

My Husband, Todd

My husband Todd is a remarkable man. He’s hard working and provides for our family like any man should. I couldn’t ask for a better dad or spouse to endure this journey with us. He sees more in me than I see in myself and for that I am grateful.

He’s free-spirited and full of life and always brings laughter and perception to this family. I always go to him with my deep questions and thoughts, and he totally elaborates and gives detailed explanations for my ponderings.

He definitely sheds light on topics for the kids when I just can’t find the words. He has good words. (Inside joke!) Always. He’s awesome like that!

Our Kiddos

Now for the fun and energetic kiddos.

Landon, our oldest, is the classic teen boy. He loves his video games, and his mama too. He’s also the kindest and funniest kid you’ll meet, that is after he’s warmed up to you.

Josie is our all-girl-kinda-tom-boy-wannabe-YouTube-Influencer-elementary-school gal. She always keeps us on our toes and has a love for animals.

Our other little blessing is the newest addition, Erik. He’s just a baby still, doing baby things, you know. That stuff.

I can’t go without mentioning another blessing I had in my life, Logan. He was just two years younger than Landon and we lost him to a battle with cancer at just 10 years old. He was full of life and a God-fearing little guy. I feel that he touched so many lives in such a short amount of time.

I’m happy and sad all at the same time, that he’s pain free, but gosh it’s still hard not having him here with us to do this crazy thing called “life” together. I know he’s here with us and that keeps me going. (I later wrote a children’s book in his memory, Logan’s Light.)

So enough on the bios. Let’s have some fun! Join us in our journey of homeschooling, faith, and all that stuff in between. Adventure awaits!