Homeschooling

A lot of you may not know this, but I was homeschooled. I wanted to discuss what I got out of the experience today. Some people view homeschooling as an excuse for children to quit school, while others view it as a great alternative to the public education system. The truth is that results may very from child to child, and like with anything, it has its ups and downs.

   I’ll start with the bad things first. I was isolated to some extent, and no, I never grew into this awkward kid who hated people, but it did lead to some changes in me. I’ll never be the life of the party, and I hate talking in front of more than a few people. I’m much more reserved than the average man. In some ways, that’s a good thing, and in others, it’s not. For example, I often overthink things before I speak. This has led to me not saying anything at all in certain situations, but it has also prevented me from saying something before I thought it through. The number one mistake that people make in this world is not thinking before they speak. I don’t make that mistake often. Having said that, the number two mistake people make is not speaking up when they need to. I often find myself in that situation. For a long time, I was too shy to talk to that girl who was a little out of my league, and I didn’t have enough confidence to make a speech or anything like that. I don’t know if that was because I was isolated, but it could have been.

   Now, for the good things . . . When I was a teenager, and I was being homeschooled, I was like most boys my age. I was easily distracted, and quite honestly, I was lazy. I tried to go back to a public school in the ninth grade, but something about teachers droning on and on about things that didn’t interest me as I sat in an uncomfortable wooden desk for hours on end, made me kind of wish I was somewhere else. At that point, I decided traditional school wasn’t for me. Here’s the thing, though. I didn’t quit on life or learning. I got involved in a correspondence program called American School where I was able to get an accredited diploma. It didn’t take long to do the courses, and best of all, it left me with time to do the things I really cared about. I loved writing, sports, and yes, the same thing every teenage guy loves, videogames. I spent so much of my teen years exploring poetry, short stories, and sports that I knew exactly what I cared about by the time I was grown. I didn’t know how to apply that yet in life, but I knew who I wanted to be in life. That’s the problem with public education. They ask you what you want to do when you grow up and then they tell you the many reasons why you can or cannot accomplish your dreams. Most of those reasons don’t involve how good you actually are at doing the thing you care about - they involve what you scored on a test that usually has nothing to do with the thing you want to do. During the time I was getting my standardized education, I was also getting a different type of education. I was being educated on who I was and what I could do. I lacked for confidence, but in my heart, I knew that I was capable of a lot of things, and no amount of tests or degrees were needed for me to pursue my dreams . . . and more importantly, for me to be happy.

   To recap, homeschooling made me withdraw from people to some extent, and you might even say that it made me unfit to be the guy who stares out the window from his office all day, but it also gave me something. It allowed me to dream and develop the skills that I really care about. Along the way, I also found that I didn’t need dozens of teachers to tell me how to do English, Algebra, and Biology. I could figure that out, and when the sluggish lesson plans were taken away, I could do it in a much quicker timeframe. I think we all can because when you stop being forced to learn, and you allow yourself to learn everything you can as the desire comes to you, it’s not work, and you’re certainly not sitting in a prison masquerading as a classroom. Now, don’t get me wrong. The public education system is absolutely great for most people, but if you’re like me and walls bother you, and all you want to do is be able to dream and then work to make those dreams a reality, an A B or C grade given out by a random instructor isn’t exactly the accomplishment you’re looking for.

   Thanks for reading, and I hope you guys understand my viewpoint on the education system. In a way, I’m still learning things at my own pace, and I don’t know where that’s going to lead, but I think we should all approach education in that way because the day you aren’t schooling yourself and becoming a better rounded person is the day that you need to really be worried about where you’re going in life.