Mom homeschooled me until I graduated from high school, aka Peaceful Prairie Academy. New homeschooling moms often ask about my experience. “Did you like it? Was it worth it?”
Here’s my rundown.
As a shy Kindergartener, I loved that I didn’t have to go to the enormous Christian school where my aunts and uncles went.
As a grade schooler I didn’t care and homeschooling probably made our transition moving from Florida to Kansas easier. Some of my favorite school memories were learning in grade school.
As a junior high and early high school student I resented being home because I didn’t get to see my friends as much as I wanted. I have no regrets about that now, though. I was spared a lot of peer pressure and learned a lot about God when I was lonely.
As my high school years went on, I realized what a privilege it was to tailor my education to my interests and to have so much more family time being homeschooled.
In college, looking back, I could see how having a teacher for math and science would have helped me in high school since I never did well at those until college, but in the long run it doesn’t matter since I have no desire for a career in those fields.
Homeschooling taught me to socialize well with people of all ages. I spent more time with my siblings, which meant more people training, and eventually brought us closer together. Taking every writing class I could get my hands on helped me develop my skills. Homeschooling enabled us to work more on the farm and to help our neighbors and grandparents out more.
More than all that, though, my mom, as our teacher, spoke God’s word over us throughout the day. She quoted Proverbs for almost every situation and approached rotten attitudes and quarreling children with truth from the Bible. That was invaluable to my siblings and me and we wouldn’t have received that part of our education in a public school.
If my main issue with homeschooling is that I didn’t socialize as much as I wanted to with friends, and the tradeoff was that I spent more time with my siblings who are now some of my best friends, I think it was worth it.
Thanks, Mom!