The First of the Last (My Top 10 Favorite things about Home Schooling)

Today is the first day of our last year of home schooling. This year will complete 29 years of home educating my offspring.

When I started, I had four kids. My oldest was 5 years old, my youngest 8 months. I started our home school in 1987, a time when not that many people were home schooling. We got a lot of questions if we were out during the day. I welcomed every question and was happy to answer them because I felt very privileged to be able to home school.

Learning came naturally to all my kids, which made home schooling one of the easiest things I've ever done. I learned early on that each one of the kids learned best at their own pace and this took all the pressure off to meet some criteria set by the world. I let them learn their way whenever I could. They naturally fell into a learning routine that really set the pace for all the kids as they came along and grew.

Learning became part of life, not limited to school hours. We learned how to incorporate official learning into everything we did, giving credit-worthy validity to every day. On trips, they learned to read a map and navigate. They learned to observe as we played games on the road with the landscape around us, along with other cars and road signs. They learned harmony as we sang on road trips.

In light of all this, and in light of the blog post I wrote a few years ago about 25 things I learned in 25 years of home schooling, I want to share my top ten favorite things about home schooling:

1. I got to spend all day every day with my kids, my favorite people on the planet.

2. My kids learned to be independent thinkers, not ones that go along with the herd. I think this is one major key to anyone's success.

3. We loved not being bound by a school schedule. We could vacation while the rest of the world went to school.

4. Learning is a lifestyle, not at all limited to the formal class room.

5. No homework, ever.

6. We got to teach theology with no restrictions.

7. The kids got to interact more with adults than with kids their own age. This is a huge benefit to home schooling.

8. The kids were able to pursue their own interests and I could tailor their curriculum to meet their individual needs.

9. The kids got school credit for making dinner or baking cookies.

10. No school on birthdays.

There you have it, my top 10 favorite things about home schooling.
As I made this list, I had to force myself to keep the list to 10 things because there are many, many more things I love about home schooling.
Next September, it will be very odd for me to not be starting classes yet again.
So, this last year of our home school, I will savor every moment, as I've tried to do for the past 28 years.
If you're thinking about home schooling, by all means, do it.
~Tricia

Flexibility - the Name of the Game

Flexibility is one of my favorite things about home schooling. Over the years, we've been able to schedule vacations after the crowds have gone back to school, we've been able to attend family events when others have had to be in school, and we've been able to schedule school around life instead of scheduling life around school.

In our home school, "school" is just part of life. It's not something we do separately from life; it's just part of our natural learning in life. It's just naturally flexible and that works well for our family.

As our home school has progressed over the years, I have become more relaxed about my approach and how I set up the expectations and academic goals I have for the kids.  This has paid off. This year, my 16-year-old entered college and his course counselor said he had a real advantage because he was home schooled.  That's what every home school mom wants to hear! Even his college classes fit into the flexible mode I've created because they are all online.

Our flexible home school has been especially helpful given my husband's profession. He's a pastor. People have needs. Sometimes, I need to be with him to help meet some of these people needs. Flexibility in our home school has allowed me to do just that.

Flexibility is more than just a wonderful luxury. It has given my kids a more independent spirit; they simply don't go with the flow. They are not used to being herded with a crowd, so they don't go along with a crowd.  They do not have a crowd mentality. They participate with youth group activities, but never blindly, always with forethought.

This is highly due to flexibility.  We do not have to educate the way the world does. We do not have to fall into the patterns of education we see around us. We are free to learn on our own terms, in our own timing and on our own turf.  Flexibility has given us freedom in learning and while that is against the grain of the world, it's favorable to Godly living.  My kids are less likely to be victims of abuse because they think independently, not as the crowd, and that's key to avoiding abuse.

Flexibility. I like it.
~Tricia