For those who do not know, I have been public schooled most of my life. I was public schooled K-6th grade but then half way through 6th my mother pulled me out and home schooled me(I did K12 which is more like an online public school). Then half way through 7th grade my mother put me back into public school because it seemed that I never wanted to do my work(that seems pretty normal for all youngsters especially) and when I went back to public school I was afraid that it was going to be difficult but in reality it was easier and I liked it because it was easy, and being the "new" girl I made more friends because people welcomed me which was pretty nice. I had a pretty good time in Junior High school, but the real "boom" happened when I hit High School.
In High School I had some good friends and I made new friends to start the year, but I also struggled with other things. I struggled with relationships and all this other stuff that a teenager my age should not even need to be worried about. At one point I became depressed and it was pretty bad. My parents did not trust me and I had lost all my friends for the most part and I did not know why. They just left me and then I was lonely...
During my Summer after my first year of High School, I thought about all sorts of things. I was actually excited because my family had thought we would be moving away somewhere else and I figured that if that happened then it would be like starting a new life for myself and that is what I truly wanted. I felt that I needed to seek better people to be around and try to improve my way of living. Then, later in the Summer my mom decides that she is going to home school my sister again(and my sister has home schooled a little longer than I have) and she was also going to home school my brother. The more that sunk in the more I thought about home schooling.
During my thinking process of deciding to home school, I thought about what I would be missing in public school such as the proms, homecomings, football games, etc. I realized I would be missing all that fun, but I felt that home schooling would lead me to a better life for myself. I found out that home schoolers can also have such events or they can even still attend the public school events. I was sucked more into homeschooling thinking I would be going to a bunch of school events with old friends, but as I started homeschooling I noticed that not many of my friends really talked to me anymore. Were these really friends? I don't know and perhaps I never will, but of course I do still have a few people from public school that bother to communicate to me. Anyway what did that give me? It gave me the knowledge to know who really seemed to care about me. That is sure an upside. Yes, I lost friends, but it does not matter. I've met even more amazing friends through homeschooling and I am very blessed for it.
You may wonder how I can meet friends when I am home schooled, but it is really not that difficult...okay I'm joking, it is difficult! But the thing about it is that it pushes you get out more in order to make friends. In order to make friends you have to become more involved with activities and things outside your home and that also enables us home schoolers to experience more things in life. In order to meet someone you don't even have to be at some kind of event or party, you can meet someone at the park, coffee shop, book store, etc. In public schools kids are mainly just meeting with the kids in their classes and yeah, you can make friends that way, but you can meet even more people by having the capability of being able to go out often.
How are our social lives kept up with? Well, for one we can make friends as I have just mentioned, and then we talk to those friends. Duh! Another popular thing with home schoolers is that some may have the ability to talk online like maybe their "school" has a message board like mine did. That is one way I met a ton of really great friends, although I am still working on meeting them all in person....yeah....I have A LOT of home school friends online...and ALL of them are wonderful! In my opinion at least.
Thought this would be fun to share and all in all it sums up everyones stereotypes for home schoolers and seems pretty accurate to me. Lol.
As a home schooled student I have learned to be more independent. I make my own schedules and have to time everything myself in order to make sure I'm getting enough done within a certain time. It can be tiring sometimes. Whew! And a homeschooler's biggest weakness is probably procrastination. Yes, we've all probably heard the term. We get distracted by the internet most of the time and we just do not want to do our schoolwork. Then after that we just get stressed about it because we are behind in school but then we are so depressed that we don't have the energy to fight it and so we just get stuck in this big hole...well, not all of us end up like that, but it CAN happen and you just need to be aware.
In order for us to avoid falling into a big hole of darkness that seems impossible to get out of, we have to push ourselves everyday. We MUST motivate ourselves otherwise nothing will be done. It is tough, but it's also possible.
Another good thing to know is that if you are new to homeschooling then you WILL have to adjust to it. Some people might start off well right off the bat, but most people are going to struggle especially if they are used to a public school.
A few reasons why:
- Homeschooling is done ALL on your own. You'll need to learn how to schedule and make things fit with your time.
- Must be motivated. In public school you have teachers who have certain due dates for things and consequences if the times are not reached. With homeschooling it's all just you so you need to find ways to stay motivated about your work.
- Homeschooling normally has more difficult work than a public school. In public schools the 12th grade is usually only at a 10th grade level so the 12th grade in public school is like 10th grade for home school. Impressed? Well that's what they say!
So, do you prefer home school or private/public school?? Leave comments or any questions you may have below. If you want anymore advice then feel free to ask me for some because I might be able to help.
Ta ta my lovelys! Have a fantastic day and hope your school year is the best it can be! :D
