Why Homeschooling isn't Just for Kids

     She approached the problem similarly to the way I did in 1984.  She even kept the same pros and cons list about methods of schooling that I did.  I could tell from her letters that her heart was if full gear trying to convince her brain that giving her baby to well meaning strangers was wrong for her child and her family.

   Anotherthing she had to consider was herself.  Homeschooling is not just a method of education.  It is a lifestyle.  To choose to homeschool is to make a life altering decision.  I began thinking of how homeschooling has effected me personally and how it has enriched my life.

     Molly's letter touched me and made me realize one reason I love to homeschool is I love to learn.  Homeschooling has provided me with the opportunity to be a life-long learner.  Not only have I been introduced to things that I had never explored, but I am always finding things that I simply skipped. 

     I had a great childhood, and supportive parents; but there wasn't enough time to do, or learn it all. 

     The reason I have never used a packaged curriculum for my child is, it wouldn't challenge ME! 

     Since I started homeschooling, I have learned much that I didn't cover in my formal education.  If I am excited about something, then my enthusiasm rubs off on my child and vice-a-versa.  Some of the things that we do are because of my interests, some because of my child's, and some just happen. 

     Here are a few examples of things I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have learned, done, or done to the extent I did, had I not been homeschooling: 

     I got the chance to read delightful children's books and classic literature that I don't think I would have ever picked up if I hadn't been sharing them with my child.

     I can find much to be excited about in an art museum, science museum, history center, nature center, aquarium, etc., that I wouldn't find in a text designed for a child.  With our differing knowledge base and past experiences, we each have an unique view of the same event and benefit in different ways.  Therefore, we have been to many museums, and we also try to add them to our vacations.  It is strange, as much as I enjoy these kinds of things, I don't think I would do them by myself or for myself. 

     When my child was small we went to the same zoo every week for about two years.   The first time we went we wanted to see everything.  After that we would spend a long time at an exhibit and really experience the animals not just the zoo. 

     Because I wanted my child to be comfortable with writing, I had him keep a daily journal.  I wanted to set a good example and I started keeping a daily journal. 

     I wrote my very first, short stories, because my child was writing and he made it look like fun. 

     My child wanted to make a webpage so we both made our own and shared what we had learned with each other. 

     If I hadn't been homeschooling, I'm pretty sure I would never have had the chance to choreograph some dance numbers for children.  Which is something I enjoy but hadn't done since college. 

     I had only played soccer for one year in high school but found my self coaching, refereeing and then teaching teens how to coach.  I had to take coach, referee, and sport-safety workshops.  Note:  before the baby, I occasionally had a chance to play soccer with the homeschool teens.  I wouldn't want to be on a team because, as it was when I was young, there isn't enough time to do all the things I want or need to do. 

     I had a son but felt that the girls in the small suburb, to which we had moved, were under represented.  I got on the local youth-sports board and directed a one-woman campaign to get girls playing sports.  We went from having a couple of girls in our whole league to having at least one girl's team at each age level within a year.  I learned a lot about sexism and about politics that year. 

     I had wanted to play baseball when I was little but there were no opportunities for girls.  I learned along with my child.  It resulted with me coaching a little league team.  I played my first real game in a benefit, softball tournament when I was 33 years old. 

     I've gone to "star parties" with my child and learned to identify some constellations. 

     In preparation for our vacations (we call them field trips), I have learned about sea shells, fossils, rocks, plants, indigenous people, battles, history, etc.  Some of the things I had known and had forgotten, some things I had never known. 

     While trying to find information, I have found wonderful resource guides that I didn't know existed.  I also found I love doing research. 

     Lately, I have learned a little about bagpipes, swing dancing, and fencing while setting in on my son's lessons. 

     I have learned all sorts of new vocabulary words, one of them being autodidactic.

     Molly wrote, "I believe that if more children were given the kind of pre-birth, birth, and early childhood loving environment our son has had, that huge numbers more would be in the gifted
category, if not nearly all.  (I haven't educated myself about giftedness yet, so this is just my solitary opinion.)  Yet, the reality today is, that's not what happens to most children." 

     I feel the same way. 

     Molly wrote, "Nevertheless, I want my son to have access to whatever he wants/needs that we can make possible.  Not to be damped down.  I'm committed to his being all that he already is and all that he wants to be." 

     This sounds just like what I wrote when he was five and was making all the pro and con lists of educational choices when my son was five. 

Engela E. 
homeschoolkids@geocities.com