People often ask me how I got in to homeschooling. The answer is simple –it’s how I was raised.
My parents started their home school when I was a baby. My sisters were having difficulty in their public school settings. The two oldest were getting propositioned in the hallways, and the sister next in line was struggling so much in her third grade class, she was getting ulcers. Each day when my sisters came home from school, they were nervous wrecks, and my mom was at her wits’ end to know what to do.
She began to notice a pattern. On the weekends, the family environment was peaceful, and summers were great. But during the school year, every weekday was a challenge. My sisters were overreacting to the slightest frustration, nitpicking each other to pieces, unwilling to be cooperative. My mom wondered if there was an alternative, desperate to fix the family dynamics.
A friend called her one day and told her she was considering home school. This was over thirty years ago, when home school wasn’t nearly as popular as it is today. My mom went over to her friend’s house to look over some basic curriculum materials with her, and felt very strongly that she, too, should home school. This wasn’t at all what she was expecting, but when she came home and told my dad about it, they decided that this would be the best move for their family. She was amazed at the difference in my sisters once they were brought out of their stressful environment.
My parents eventually became very involved in the UHEA (Utah Home Educators Association) and helped countless others set up their own home schools.
Consequently, I was brought up as a homeschooler. I’ve never attended public school. I took college courses through mail, I did my driver’s ed with a private company—and it has just been second-nature for me to home school my own children as well. In fact, when my husband proposed, he asked me what I was looking for in a husband, and one of the things I listed was that I wanted a man who would support me in homeschooling. He must have been the right one, because I didn’t scare him off with that requirement.
My other sisters didn’t choose to follow in the home school tradition, but each of them can see the benefits that came into their lives as a result of their upbringing. For myself, I’m grateful that my mom listened to her gut and chose what was, at the time, a very unpopular path. I loved being taught at home, and I love teaching my own children. I love watching them learn and grow. Just like watching them take their first steps, I love watching them understand a math concept for the first time. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Related Blogs:
Are You a Reluctant Homeschooler?
Still Growing: More and More Families Homeschooling