This post is sponsored by Midwest Parent Educators in Kansas City.
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| Me, 20 years ago! |
Once upon a time, there was a 14 year old girl who was going down the wrong path. She was interested in friends, boys, and having fun. She wasn’t really caring too much about what the Lord’s plans were for her life. She was just worried about being accepted by her peers. Then, one day, her parents became very worried about her and decided to homeschool her! It was the beginning of her 10th grade year and she was madder than mad. After all, how can she hang out with her friends and have as much fun as possible when she’s home all the time with her parents? Well, it turns out, that one decision made by her parents, was THE BEST decision. While not everything was picture perfect and she did eventually rebel against her parents again for a time, that short amount of time of being homeschooled allowed her to develop a good foundation for who she was to become.
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Yes, that girl, was me. I was homeschooled from 10th grade through 12th grade. I spent K-2nd grade in a private Christian school and the second half of 2nd grade through 9th grade in public school. While all of the different places I was educated definitely played a part in who I am today, homeschooling made the biggest impact on my life.
- Being homeschooled allowed me to develop into my own person without worrying about what the popular girls were thinking.
- Being homeschooled allowed me to develop a better relationship with my parents. While it was probably slow going at first, it ended up being fun and we enjoyed each other’s company most of the time and we still have a good relationship to this day.
- Being homeschooled allowed me time to focus on God’s word. We spent those few years memorizing Scripture, dissecting it and really figuring out what God was saying to us in his Word, the Bible. That left me the study skills that I need as an adult.
- I get to spend all my time with my children. I am the one who gets to watch them learn to read, learn to write and I don’t have to miss out on a thing.
- I can tailor their education. If they’re a quick learner in math, we can speed it up. If they’re slow in another area, I can slow down until they get it.
- They have the perfect type of socialization. Yes, we get out and do things within our homeschool group and others in the community. They are exposed to all sorts of different ages and can talk to all of those ages just as easily. This includes kids of all ages and adults of all ages.
- We can learn each subject from a Biblical perspective. This includes the amazing discoveries in science and the miracles in History. We are allowed to say that God is our maker and that He is the reason all these cool things happened! We can teach them that there is no such thing as the Big Bang Theory and Evolution and exactly why we know that to be true. We can pray whenever we want to, even in the middle of science class!
- I want my children to enjoy learning! I remember just cramming and dumping while in public school and I don’t remember very much of it. You should see how much I’ve learned though since I’ve been homeschooling my own kids. I feel so smart! LOL.
- By being with them most of the time, I’m able to nip any sinful attitudes in the bud as they’re happening. If they were away from me during the day, they would not learn from those wrong attitudes, words and deeds that they may or may not be having throughout the day. I’m truly shaping their character as they grow. I want to be able to do that and don’t want that left to teachers and other students.
shelly says
Can anyone help me as to where I even begin finding out about homeschooling for my soon to be 10th grader at park hill high school? Every place I go to it's a tuition based where I have to pay so much for each class. Can anyone help me?
Jenni says
I was homeschooled as well and loved it! Thanks for linking up to Mommy Monday. 🙂
Jill says
My question is that I'd love more details on is just how you socialize your kids. And I dont' mean just having good manners. ____An upside to traditional school is that kids learn that life is full of hierarchy (popular kids vs. unpopular kids, smarter kids vs. not so smart kids). Life is full of negativeity (the bullies, the snobs). There are social classes (rich, middle class, poor). There are different racial ethnicities, different religious viewpoints, people with handicaps or mental illness, and so on.____How do you help your child socialize if they aren't in a school where they're exposed to all these types of people? This is my husbands biggest sticking piont – he doesn't want our kids to be "sheltered" from people who aren't like us. Thansk so much for this post!
martianne says
I, too, homeschool for many of the reasons you do. Keep it up! Both the homeschooling and the encouraing of others.
Sidetracked Sarah says
I totally agree Linda! Thanks for stopping in! Good to finally "see" you again, too. Any plans to attend the Retreat this year?
hsmominmo says
Wonderful testimonial, Sarah.
It's been a privilege, a pleasure, a blessing, plenty of hard work but absolutely worth it to be able to homeschool our children since the oldest first started his 'formal' schooling. 21 years ago!
How blessed you are to have parents who cared so much for yo that they made the hard choices.
Sidetracked Sarah says
How exciting Shari! Maybe I'll see you at the conference! Be sure to say hello if you recognize me. 😉
Sidetracked Sarah says
I understand Jessica. It can be overwhelming to me at times and I've been doing it for 9 years. I have 6 kids, too and boy do I understand how life can get hectic (although yours are definitely closer spaced than mine, so you are probably feeling the chaos more than me). If you decide you want to give it a try or want to talk it out with someone, email me. I'd be happy to be there to bounce ideas off of. It may not be what God has in store for your family, but if it is, it's a fun journey! My email address is sidetrackedsarah @ gmail dot com
Sidetracked Sarah says
LOL Natalie, that IS such a funny response. It's like the expect you to be a weirdo misfit or something. Yes, it is a challenge with a toddler and a baby, I completely agree! I wouldn't change it for anything and I'm sure you feel the same way!
Shari says
I didn't enter because I get to attend free since my kids are all preschool or younger. But, since we live in MO we are going to be there and I'm very excited to attend my first homeschool conference as the mom instead of as the student (my mom went to one in NC several times while I was being homeschooled). We are going to begin a layed back preschool with my oldest (4 in April) this fall and, of course, Kindergarten will be fall of '13. I'm so excited to begin with him!
Jessica C. says
I would LOVE to homeschool!!! What's holding me back? The feeling that I can't! With six kids: 9, 7, 7, 5, 2 1/2, and 10 months, I just don't even know where to start. I have been thinking about it more and more, and my hubby is starting to be a little more open to it:) We will see what the future holds!
Natalie says
*always …. one-handed typing typo above…. 😉
Natalie says
Great post! Those are the same reasons we homeschool our children… and my husband and I were both homeschooled from K-12 before going to our respective universities and doing extremely well, both academically and socially. 🙂 He's in the military now and when people happen to find out he was homeschooled, they say, "Really? I never would have guessed!!" (LOL – that one alwasy cracks me up…!) So – we didn't have too many qualms about homeschooling our own kids! 🙂 It's definitely a challenge, especially with a toddler and a baby, but I know it is so worth it. 🙂
Courtney says
Love this! I feel you could've written this about me ,and why I homeschool. I think in my heart I knew all these reasons, but I'm still finding it hard to express this all to others sometimes when they ask me why i've chosen it. Thanks for writing this. Def makes me want to share more and stand up for me and my kids more instead of caring so much if others will be offended when their kids are in public school! Love you. I remember you looking exactly like that picture. I think i even remember that shirt:)) love you