What I Liked about My Homeschool Experience

Last updated on: May 12, 2013 at 11:17 am by Libby Anne

What I Liked about My Homeschool Experience 2013-05-12T11:17:14-04:00 Libby Anne

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

My parents were the kind of people that were always learning. My mother was very crafty and was always tackling a new sewing project and my father was always reading and always ready to take the time to teach us children things about nature or science. They modeled this for us and taught us to love learning as well. It was about discovery, and tackling new things, and about always seeing life as an adventure. Dad designed playground equipment and we children helped him build it, and mom taught us girls how to sew so that we could make clothes for our dolls. There were always new recipes to try and new games to play, and there always seemed to be time to sit around and look at the stars (and learn their names while we were at it!).

There was a white board on the wall in our kitchen, and family supper time inevitably turned into learning time. Dad would get up and outline scientific concepts or draw mathematical graphs. On our table there were maps and posters of the elements, and we were constantly quizzing and drilling each other, yelling out questions and answers across the table, eager to top each other. Supper time was also when dad asked us what we learned today, and when we asked dad in turn what he’d done today, and then listened with puzzlement, trying to understand the inner details of his career.

Because we were homeschooled, we went on all sorts of vacations at all sorts of times of the year. We all piled into the 15 passenger vans and watched while passers by tried to count how many of us there were (we often held up our fingers to aid in the counting, that is, until we ran out of fingers!). Once we reached the campsite or historical location, we children piled out and breathed deeply of the fresh air, eager to explore our new surroundings. We visited battlefields and national parks, museums and historical reenactments. Over the course of my childhood, we visited nearly every single state, our fifteen passenger van holding up even as its mileage numbers skyrocketed. During those long, long drives we sang, we argued, and we laughed.

And then there were family nights. My mom read to us during school hours, but it was in the evening that dad took his turn. He read us the Chronicles of Narnia and G. A. Henty books while we played with legos or knitted. Sometimes we would pop a big bowl of popcorn and watch a family movie together, laughing uproariously if it was a comedy. Other nights we broke out the board games and played Risk. Sometimes we ganged up on my dad, and sometimes someone would lose and leave crying, but we were always up for another go. Mom would make us snacks as the night got late, or stand at the counter rolling out cookies while we played.

The outdoors was our play place, and we spent a great deal of time with dirt between our toes. We ran in the cornfields and looked for field mice or crawdads. We got our feet in the mud and hung a fishing pole off the dock of the nearby pond. We chased the geese off the pond when they became obnoxious and we tried to trap rabbits with carrots and boxes and sticks. We built huts out of bricks and planted new trees and embarked on historical adventures. We searched for four leaf clovers and cooked food outside over fires and wished the pond would freeze over each winter so that we could go out sliding on it. I will always think fondly of growing up in a cornfield, the warm breeze in my hair and the sun on my back.

Because I could go at my own pace in my studies, I frequently got up early in an effort to finish my work before breakfast so that I could spend the rest of the day reading. I always finished by lunch at the latest, and I loved that I could choose what order to tackle my subjects. I sometimes did a week’s worth of math in one day so that I wouldn’t have to worry about it for the rest of the week, and once I got so annoyed with my grammar book that I decided to just finish the whole thing in March so that it would be over and done with. Once my core subjects—science, math, languages, and grammar—were out of the way, I could turn to the things I wanted to be doing. I read scads of historical fiction and learned about edible plants and medicinal herbs. I sewed historical costumes and knitted scarves for all of my siblings. I sat outside and enjoyed the feel of the grass between my toes.

Of course, all of these wonderful memories exist in the shadow of all of the problematic influences homeschooling brought into my family’s life. Further, when I think about everything I loved about my homeschool experience, it’s hard to separate things out. How many of these things simply had to do with having parents who loved learning? How much of it was simply a product of growing up in the country, with land and fields and things to explore? Some of it obviously did flow directly from homeschooling—the flexibility that my homeschooling schedule offered, for instance—but how much of it would have been very little changed, if at all, had I gone to public school? I can’t answer that, and whatever the answer is it doesn’t change that there were some very beautiful things about my childhood, things I will always appreciate and things I will work to replicate them as I raise my own children, family nights, camping trips, adventures in the great out doors and all.

Family

Homeschool

Previous Post

May 11, 2013

"One More Never Made a Difference"

Next Post

May 12, 2013 Guest Post: On Fundamental Rights, HSLDA, and Homeschooling

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Atheism Evangelicalism/Fundamentalism Family Feminism Homeschool Meta Parenting Patriarchy Politics Purity Quiverfull Social Justice Uncategorized Worthwhile reads

Select a Month February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does Paul tell Titus that the grace of God teaches us to do?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Spread the gospel Obey the authorities Say no to ungodliness and live self-controlled, upright and godly lives Love one another