I was homeschooled in kindergarten, fourth grade, eighth grade, and tenth through twelfth grade.
My mom told me she wanted me to go to school for my senior year of high school. I fought her on it, but eventually wound up at public school for all of a week. I was then put in Christian school and ended up missing a lot of the first semester because I had a mono relapse. Don't worry, this story is going somewhere. After fighting with the school, who was insisting I needed to repeat the grade despite my 4.0 GPA, my parents pulled me and agreed to let me finish my senior year through homeschooling.
Now, here's the thing, most people assume that homeschoolers sit around all day in their pajamas, do chores for a home ec credit, babysit their thirty siblings, and maybe read one or two books. I am here to gladly tell you, I was not one of those students. Well, I still did my schoolwork in pajamas, but that's besides the point.
I didn't go to a fancy prep school, but I still had a world class education. My mom did her research and found the best possible curriculum for me to use. I was trained in critical thinking skills. I was taught to write papers. I learned test taking skills. I had homework. I had projects. I had, and people think this a myth for homeschoolers so wait for it, DUE DATES. I was allowed to take math slower because I struggled with it, but I still had things due by certain dates.
I still took the SAT and actually scored pretty decently on it. Sure, I didn't have ivy league accepting scores, but they were still pretty darn good.
I didn't just read literature that was accepted in the conservative Christian community. I read books that were important for me to learn to critically evaluate a novel for its content and style. I wasn't taught "Look for these Christian principles." I was taught "Look for the overarching theme and evaluate it."
I took physics. I took chemistry. I took biology and advanced biology. I'll never be a rocket scientist, but there are principles that I learned through my science classes that I still use. I understand chemistry jokes that I see online, and that's all I really care about, because, again I won't be any type of scientist or doctor.
What about the stigma that all homeschoolers are socially inept and only watch G-rated movies? Yes, I am socially awkward, but it's more from the fact that sometimes I have really bad social anxiety which comes from a myriad of bad experiences with people at church. No, I'm not bashing church, no I'm not blaming church for my social anxiety. Sometimes people are jerks and the innocent party unfortunately has to pay the price. But that's not the point here. My being homeschooled has nothing to do with the fact that I get nervous around people. My being homeschooled has nothing to do with how introverted I am.
My first semester of college was admittedly difficult. I didn't want to leave my room for the first weekend, and I ate a lot of ramen. Sitting through a lecture was a new experience for me because most of my learning had been through reading and not direct lecture.
Here's the thing, though. I wouldn't change having been homeschooled for anything. I loved it. I loved being able to fly through the subject I was understanding, and be able to slow down and take the more difficult subjects slowly. I loved how I had more opportunities to go places that associated with what I was learning. And I felt safe being homeschooled. I didn't have to be subject to the drugs and fighting that occured in my local high school.
I loved being homeschooled. Plain and simple. I don't feel like I missed out on anything. I feel like I was given more tools for success than I would have anywhere else.
