I Was Homeschooled, So What?

When I tell people, mostly teens my age, that I've been homeschooled they usually say "I'm sorry". Why? Because they believe that I've been sheltered, protected, and treated with kid gloves my entire life, that my parents never let me make mistakes and that my education and socialization has to be sub par to what they had in public schools. Then I spend the next 20 minutes explaining how great homeschooling is, at least for me.

My mom decided to homeschool me at the very beginning because the elementary school I would attend didn't teach phonics. After I learned to read, I was supposed to go to "real" school. Well, here I am now, in my senior year of high school and I've yet to step foot in a "real" high school, not really but we'll get to that later.

To put aside many misconceptions of homeschoolers I must first add a disclaimer: there are homeschooling families that follow the stereotype of homeschooling perfectly. Their children either are unsocialized, receive a poor education, or both. Those are the stories you hear about on the news, what I'm talking about here is the majority of homeschooling families, at least in my area, who educate their children to be contributing members of society.

First off, homeschoolers everywhere form co-ops and support groups in which children are socialized with other homeschooled kids. I've been involved in a co-op since I was about 8. Moms teach classes and us kids get to pick what we want to take. This also prepares us for being in school. My area also has homeschool Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. I've been a scout since 3rd grade and have earned numerous awards, including the Girl Scout Gold Award through this group. More importantly, homeschoolers have their own sport teams. My area is very developed in the sporting arena. The only sports we AREN'T offered are football, fast pitch softball, tennis, and rugby. Many of my friends are the basketball, volleyball or soccer teams. We actually compete with small private schools and our soccer teams have gone to nationals numerous times. Most teens are concerned about school dances, or the lack thereof in homeschooling. Guess what! We have those too. In fact, last year there were 3 proms offered in my area for homeschoolers. We also attend a winter formal around Christmas. Lastly, the pinnacle of a high school career: the cap and gown. A local homeschooling group offers the chance for 80 local homeschool seniors to buy a cap and gown and actually walk across the stage to receive their diploma. There are speeches and tears, just like at any "normal" high school graduation ceremony. I would argue that the homeschool ceremony is even better because it is much more personalized and memorable. Many local churches also offer graduation ceremonies for their homeschool congregation.

Beyond socialization in the homeschool community, I’ve been luck enough to have parents who pushed me to socialize in the “real world”. I have numerous friends at the local high school and attend many school events with them. My first boyfriend went
to public school. Last year I went to all the Friday night football games and went to winter formal and prom at the high school. This year, I’m off visiting my friends who went away for college and I’m always running into people I know at the community college where I’m dual-enrolled.

Educationally, my curriculum is well above anything that is offered in the local schools. My public school friends will tell you that I am eons ahead of anything that they ever would be offered. This is partially why I like homeschooling so much. I was able to work at my own pace, which in my case was rather quickly. Beyond that, I had complete control over what classes I took. My mom had set standards: 4 years of math, science, English, art classes, PE, etc. The basis of a well-rounded education, but I was able to pick which classes I wanted to take to fulfill these requirements. It had a profound effect on the enjoyable of the school year. Furthermore, I was able to be dual-enrolled at the local community college where I completed 12 credits my junior year and currently enrolled in 7 credits. I plan on taking 9 credits in the winter semester and 4 credits during the summer. That means I’ll go to the university with 32 college credits, far above the equivalency for a college sophomore. I tested well above the national average for the ACT my junior year as well. I recently retook the ACT for more scholarship money. My favorite part of homeschooling is the flexibility in the program. If on Monday I have no where to be, I can work on school work from 8-4 and finish two or three days worth of work in some subjects so that on Wednesday when I want to go to church or a meeting, I have the give in my schedule to attend without compromising my education.

Basically, I know that homeschooling can’t work for everyone. Some kids hate their parents too much or vice versa. The truth of the matter is, homeschooling is an amazing option for everyone. It’s not just for kids
who flunk out or social outcasts. There’s a huge network of support and
the ability to reach out to public and private schooled kids. In all my ramblings above, I didn’t even mention my friends at dance, or on the many advisory councils I assist. Nor did I mention my activism on the political front and all the people and things I’ve done there. Homeschooling has allowed me much more freedom in choosing my activities then public schooling would have allowed. I don’t want to seem arrogant, but being homeschooled has been a great opportunity for me and I’ve seen more kids succeed in a homeschooling atmosphere then not.

I was homeschooled. So what? I'm still a normal teenage girl.

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