What happens when homeschoolers grow up?
Because of homeschooling's unique ability to tailor a child’s education, everyone's homeschool experience is different. Talk to my siblings and they each have their own unique journey with education, and a different story than I do. As a homeschool alum from the 2000’s it’s exciting to see the growth and opportunities that continue to emerge within the sphere of homeschooling, both for parents and their students. No longer are the four walls of a classroom required for children to receive a stellar education, with the many resource available to tailor each individual students education. I never stepped foot in a traditional classroom from kindergarten through college.
Here’s a list of 5 benefits I’ve personally experienced in my life from being a homeschool student!
1. I had the ability from a young age to focus on my passions and learn life skills.
One of those skills that I got to invest time into was learning how to make art quilts. Not only was I able to gain skills in sewing, that I use to this day, I was able to embrace my artistic side and make beautiful and unique art quilts. Another hobby I was able to try out was raising chicken on my family's five acres. At one point we had 120 laying hens and raised several meat birds each summer. Not only did I get to learn how to raise chickens, we had an egg cart where we sold our excess eggs and we sold meat birds locally to cover the costs of our chicken operation. Through this experience I gained skills and began to foster a love for entrepreneurship. And yes, I grew up to be a crazy chicken lady and can’t wait to be in a place to build a flock of chickens again!
2. I gained hands on training and work skills at an early age.
Because I wasn’t tied to a traditional school schedule or the perspective that my learning was confined to a school, at the age of 16 I pursued my passion to become a birth doula and began attending births and workshops to get certified. Before I graduated high school I would begin an apprenticeship with a home birth midwife, who I worked for through college as a midwife assistant. Because of my flexible schedule and my eagerness to learn I gained skills in a field that I was then able to use to work my way through college debt free.
3. I didn’t approach college from a conventional perspective and was able to pursue my passions, work through college, and graduated debt free.
While pursuing my passion for birth work and midwifery, I utilized tests taken at my community college called the College Level Examination Program (CLEP exams) to transform my homeschool high school credits into 2 years worth of college credit. I was then able to transfer to an accredited university and earn a bachelors degree with that credit. Doing this I was able to finish my degree online for a fraction of the cost of a traditional university and with a flexible schedule that allowed me to pursue an apprenticeship in midwifery at the same time.
Because of my homeschool background I was comfortable being self-motivated, learning on my own, gathering the resources I needed to study and come up with a game plan to master the knowledge needed to gain college credit on my own, without the assistance of a classroom or professor. Now with the online landscape of education, the resources to customize your college education are endless. If you have a high school student on track to go to college I would highly recommend utilizing resources such as CLEP exams to accelerate their education.
4. Homeschooling fostered a love of learning and entrepreneurship in me from a young age.
From my first entrepreneurship endeavor of selling eggs, to working as birth doula, I’ve never had a traditional 9 to 5 job. Now, as a stay at home mom I’m pursing my love of entrepreneurship and learning new skills, with an online boutique and apparel business where I make t-shirt for other homesteading and ranching women called, Old-Fashioned Girls!
With a small business I not only have a means to help contribute to my household financially, I also have a creative outlet where I get to serve other women in similar stages of life! How cool is that?! While being a small business owner has it’s challenges, I love how I’m continually forced to learn and step outside of my comfort zone!
5. Having never approached education from a traditional perspective, I’m excited to tailor my children's education to their own unique needs and passions.
With the ability to homeschool, duel enroll, utilize charter schools, and online education there is no right way to educate a child. As my children get older, I look forward to being able to customize their educations to their individual needs. The resources now available to families and students are no longer limited to just public, private or traditional homeschooling. With online education and endless resources and curriculums available the ability to customize your child's education is exciting and nearly limitless. Because I was homeschooled, I’m excited to approach my children's education from a unique perspective, and a comfort with learning and educating untraditionally!
I truly believe homeschooling has impacted my life in innumerable positive ways! As an adult I am grateful for the opportunities and unconventional perspective it has given me. In many ways it has shaped me and set a foundation for my life that I continue to be grateful for, especially as I raise a family of my own. While every family and child is unique, I love challenging parents to explore the many options available to them and their children when it comes to education. There is no one right way to educate a child and with the ability to homeschool within the modern online landscape, the opportunities to tailor a child's education to their individual needs are endless. And the positive impact this can have on their lives can impact them for years to come into their adulthood, like it has for me!
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