Sasha Pieterse. Amanda Edwards/Getty Images
Sasha Pieterse is fully in her motherhood era and despite a busy schedule she plans to add homeschool teacher to her resume soon.
“Both my husband and I were homeschooled,” Pieterse, 28, revealed on the Wednesday, October 30, episode of the “Between Us Moms” podcast, referring to her spouse, Hudson Sheaffer. “We both had very different experiences with it. I truly loved it, and he did not, and I think it’s all based on your circumstance.”
Despite differing opinions on the subject, Pieterse said the couple have “multiple reasons” for homeschooling their son, Hendrix, who turns 4 on Wednesday, November 6.
“One is mainly that we travel so much,” the Pretty Little Liars alum explained. “For us, I don’t want to sacrifice his education, but I also don’t want to sacrifice not being together as a family.”
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The second reason is that Hendrix is a “visual learner” and thanks to programs like K-12, Pieterse said he can learn his way.
“They send you your science experiments, and you have a laptop. And now it’s so much better with real teachers connecting with you and helping you,” the actress said of the program. “Everything is very much geared towards visual learners, and you can go as fast or as slow as you need to go, and it’s just a really impressive company and curriculum, and they’re technically a charter school.”
She explained the K-12 program “supports the parents in a way where you do not have to be responsible for your kid’s education,” pointing out that she and her husband are “very busy.”
The couple, who tied the knot in May 2018, have their own business and Pieterse is acting, producing and writing, so she needs assistance on the school front.
Pieterse said that Hendrix’s education is “extremely important and I don’t want that to [put that] on the back burner.” That’s why she’s turned to outside resources where a teacher will “check on you every month” to make sure the learning process is going smoothly.
Pieterse noted that homeschooling is the family’s “soft plan” for now, adding that as Hendrix grows up, they may pivot to more traditional schooling.
“The older he gets he might want to be in sports or drama or gymnastics, or, like, whatever it is that might change it,” she said. “I don’t want to keep him out of sports or something that he loves just, you know, based on selfishly wanting him to be homeschooled, so we can always readjust.”
The Image of You star added, “But at least for the first couple of years, I think the homeschooling route is the way to go for us.”
While her son’s educational future may change, Pieterse told listeners that she and Sheaffer, 35, have “made the decision to be one and done” when it comes to their family.
She noted that even though many of her PLL castmates, including Troian Bellisario and Shay Mitchell have more than one kid, it’s not what she wants.
“We always thought we were gonna have more than one. I mean, I’m an only child, but my husband’s one of nine, which is just insane,” Pieterse recalled. “I always thought, you know, definitely more than one, and we were totally on the same page.”
When Hendrix was about six or seven months, Pieterse said the plan changed. “I started thinking, ‘I don’t know if I want another. I’m super content,’” she remembered. “Meanwhile, he was thinking the same thing, and I didn’t know but he thought I was definitely set on more than one, so he wasn’t saying anything.”
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The twosome eventually discussed their expansion plan and realized they were in the same boat. “We gave it I think, like, a good year and a half to really process that decision and see if that was really something that we wanted,” Pieterse said, revealing her husband got a vasectomy once they were confident in their choice.
Pieterse called the procedure the “best thing ever,” sharing that it “takes the stress off things.”
While she is happy with their family of three, Pieterse confessed, “There’s a weird part about that where you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m done having kids.’ It just kind of trips you out a little bit, or at least it did for me.”
Despite getting some backlash for their decision, Pieterse is content. “It’s perfect for us, and I think that’s the thing, right? It’s like, I don’t care about outside influences in that way,” she concluded. “I’m like, ‘No, this works for us. Our family is complete.’ … That’s a good feeling.”
