Guest Blog Post For The World Is Their Classroom Blog

To Home Educate Or Not To Home Educate...That Is The Question

The common misconception for people who are/were home educated (HE) is that they must be socially awkward super geniuses. Here’s the truth: the socially awkward part is incorrect.

I am kidding (kind of).

In reality, there are more ways for people who are HE to have social interaction than there are in a regular school setting. When in public school, are students able to take a dive with sea life and their friends for biology class or go on hikes to learn about the earth while having picnics?

No? I didn’t think so.

(but if they can, please let me know what school your children go to because WOW).

Let me be real, I’m not saying that I personally did those activities while being home educated.

What I’m saying is that the possibilities for the different ways to educate students and have social interactions are endless.

Home education is not as uncommon as you may think. Many child celebrities get their

education at home due to their crazy schedule. Though I am no child celebrity, nor do I have a busy schedule, I was home educated for my first two years of high school.

My story:

My mother snatched me out of the public-school system after noticing my lack of emotional and educational growth. She wanted to raise a child who was able to think for themselves and loved learning. Unfortunately, my internal glow for learning was slowly being drained away due to the constraints that public education placed upon me. Being the caring and wonderful mother she was (and still is, love you mom), she enrolled me in a school known as Laurel Springs for a year and later moved me to Connections Academy International. It’s safe to say that becoming HE changed my life drastically (in a good way). I was able to create my own school routine, learn what I wanted to learn (within boundaries of course), figure out which learning style I was, and most importantly it built my confidence in myself and my abilities.

A normal day of home education went like this:

1. Wake up around 7:30am-8:00am (finally I understood what it meant to get a full night of sleep).

2. Eat breakfast and do my morning routine.

3. Go to the “office” and start working on any school assignments.

4. Lunch around 12:00pm-2:00pm.

5. Finish for the day around 5pm.

6. Chill out for the rest of the day (which included me reading books or playing guitar).

You may be thinking, why would I have my child go to school for 10 hours a day?

Let me tell you, there’s a difference between going to school and getting an education. Going to school is the mundane task of cycling through a bunch of classes mindlessly wishing you could be anywhere else (at least that’s my definition). Getting an education is when someone is actively learning about a subject, taking that material and applying it to the real world.

When you enjoy what you are learning, 10 hours flies by.

Now don’t get the wrong here, there were classes that I didn’t like and struggled trying to keep my interest alive (like earth science). However, there were also classes that I wouldn’t have been able to take in a public high school (like criminology). These classes helped me figure out what I would major in for college.

All in all, becoming home educated changed my life.

Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I hadn’t been home educated versus being home

educated.

So, I drew up a timeline to see.

My life if I hadn’t been home educated:

2013: Continue to go through public education and lose my joy for learning.

2017: Enter university, not knowing what I will major in, and spend a long time figuring out

what I will do.

2017-2018: Possibly struggle my first few years in university because I’m only going due to society pressures.

2021: Graduate after 4-5 years at age 23 and get a job.

Being home educated:

2013: Enter home education and learn that learning can still be fun.

a. Get an idea for what I would enjoy doing in college.

2015: Leave home education and enter an early college program.

2017: Graduate with my Associates degree before I get my high school diploma at 18 years old.

2018/2019: Graduate from university at 20 years old.

2019: Enter a doctorate program at 21 years old.

Forever onward: Enjoy learning and helping people for the rest of my life.

As you can see, my life would be drastically different if I hadn’t gone through HE. I know this list

is biased (because I’m writing from the perspective of already being home educated).

I’m not here as an advocate for HE. I’m here to tell you my story and share my achievements.

It’s up to you to decide if HE is right for you and your family.

(In my opinion it’s definitely worth trying out!)