A homeschooler away from home: A homeschool graduate’s view

Her question hung in the air between us, her eyes holding a genuine curiosity. “What about college?” she’d asked. It’s a question I’m bound to hear when I tell people I’m homeschooling my children, right after “What about socialization” and “Don’t you want a little more time for yourself?”   I smiled, remembering the homeschooling-induced benefits of independent study and critical thinking and the confidence I had in seeking out professors as mentors. I assured my friend that my own K-12 home education had prepared me to thrive in college. “You were homeschooled?” Her incredulous response betrayed the unsaid “You seem so normal” comment that many don’t hold back. I am deeply thankful that my parents invested in my education. I’m grateful to have had an opportunity to socialize beyond my peer group and learn to work with people from a variety of ages and backgrounds. They stood me in good stead in preparing me for college and career. With my formal education behind me, I have all the medals and pieces of paper that “prove” homeschooling prepared me for higher education.  Graduating summa cum laude on full scholarship with academic medals shows that I was prepared to handle the rigors of academics. After being crowned Homecoming Queen, named “Miss Union University” and given leadership awards, it was apparent socialization was not an issue. But with my degree earned and my dream job landed, what else is there to show that homeschooling “worked?” Are those things why it was worth it?  A bigger question  I just can’t shake the feeling that the real question to ask about education, homeschool or otherwise, is not “What about college?” but “What about life?” How can you prepare someone to live life to the fullest? Keeping the end in mind The reason homeschooling is worth it to me reaches beyond the types of accomplishments I could put on a resumé.  It’s a eulogy rather than a resumé I have in mind as I think about what I want for my own children. What will I be glad I invested in? How did I pour myself out for the Kingdom? Have I been faithful to those given me? We each have to ask and answer those questions as the Lord leads. My call I am compelled to homeschool to capture the fleeting moments I have with my children. To help them understand the rescue mission of Jesus and the beauty of a life wrapped up in him, and what it means for them to live on mission wherever they are. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I am homeschooling because it helps me live the life I want to remember on my death bed. Will I want more time to myself then? Your greatest treasure and your worst enemy Time. It’s the greatest blessing and single greatest challenge in my homeschool journey. It’s the reason I want to homeschool, and on some days, the reason I’m tempted to quit. On those sleep-deprived, bleary-eyed days when it seems all I do is navigate the landmines of Legos, merely to feed and diaper in never-ending cycles, I’d often pay a pretty penny for an afternoon alone. But I only have so few years with these children that have been gifted me. My children are more than the sum of tasks it takes to care for them; they are souls, ready to be nurtured. And I’ve learned by walking alongside my own parents that anything worth doing is worth hard work. I say “yes.” The urgency of this opportunity is before me: A choice to say yes or no to this way of serving my family, of delving in deep to these relationships, knowing that I can’t reach perfection, but I can be faithful. And so I say yes to my children, yes to home, yes to being together “all the time,” yes to serving, yes to messes, yes to light bulb moments, tears over endings in stories, laughter over shared jokes, and knowing my children’s strengths and weaknesses. I embrace the beauty and messiness of life with this family of mine. A sense of wonder One of our family goals is to create an environment in our home that inspires learning. I want good books and art and music and hard questions and glimpses of big ideas and different cultures to permeate our home and beckon our children on a daily basis. I want them to build lifelong friendships with each other and use that as a model for offering grace and love to the world. I just can’t resist “Will you read one more chapter, please?” I want to be there for the reading of those first words and for the cuddling, the character training and the conversations. Any involved parent can do these things; homeschooling simply allows us more time to work out our values in our children’s lives. Homeschooling gives us the freedom to provide excellent tools. It allows us to live out the kind of life we want our children to emulate. We get to be the first and primary influence in our children’s lives. We get to shape their worldview as they engage society. Best of all, we get to keep learning right along with them! I’ll never forget the night my mom whisked all of us kids out of our beds at 3 a.m. We found ourselves wrapped in blankets in the back of our station wagon on the highest hill near our home just to get a glimpse of Halley’s comet—a once in a lifetime moment. Seeing the comet shoot across the sky was incredible, but the lasting impression wasn’t the astronomy lesson. I was in awe that a grown woman could be so excited about experiencing something new, and so willing to do something crazy to capture a learning moment. She made me want to explore boldly, dive into beauty, and find out the “why” behind things. So I’m indebted to you, Mom, for molding me into a lifelong learner. Your sense of wonder serves as my inspiration to ignite these sparks of curiosity in my own children and carry on the legacy you began. Thanks for saying “yes” to me.