Hey guys!
I am back with another list and this one in going to be pretty interesting!
So, most people do not know that I was a home-schooled student from 5th to 12th grade. There were periods throughout my education where I was home-schooled for one year and then went to public school for awhile, but for the most part, I was home-schooled.
Once people find out that I was home-schooled, they have TONS of questions about the process and what it is like.
So, I thought it would be cool to gather ten of the most common questions I get about my experience and answer them from my personal perspective!
1. How does homeschooling work?
Well, for every state and every family, homeschooling works differently. For me, I have lived in the state of Maryland my whole entire life and homeschooling came pretty easily. My parents were required to let the local county Board of Education know that I was no longer to be a public school student. In return, the Board of Education provided my parents with information on the ways I could still receive my education, whether through private schools, home-schooled programs online, or simply, homeschooling at home. They were given catalogs of information about curriculum programs that they could buy or participate in. It took a lot of time to decide the right one, but ultimately, my parents and I chose the Alpha and Omega Curriculum which provided all the educational programs required by the state and provided a Biblical foundation that we loved.
2). Who taught you?
Most of the time, it was my mom who taught me. Aside from working part time on her own business and being a stay at home mom, she taught me language arts and social sciences. Meanwhile, when my dad came home from work in the evenings, he would handle the sciences and math problems. However, there were times where I just understood the subject and taught myself. In those times, I would just go to my parents and ask them to check the answers, lol.
3). How did you pass from grade to grade?
Well, after I finished all my work for the year, my parents were required to create a portfolio of ALL of my work. Every project, assignment, and field trip had to be documented and graded. Once all the work was put together, my parents had to go to the Board of Education in order to submit my work and they would decide whether I would pass or not.
4). Did you miss being in public school?
At the time, I really missed public school because it was a schedule that I had become accustomed too. Although I stayed in public school from Kindergarten to 3rd grade, home-schooled for my 4th grade year, returned for half of my 5th grade year, and was home-schooled for the rest of my 5th grade year and beyond, I made connections with teachers and friends that I really missed. It was difficult to leave all of that behind and not see my friends as often as I could and I could not participate in the fun activities that happened at school like Pajama Day and having popcorn parties at the end of the year. Those first couple of years being home-schooled were extremely hard, but as time went on, I became more content and happy that I was home-schooled because I avoided a lot of the drama that middle school and high school brought.
5). Why were you home-schooled?
I was home-schooled because I encountered the most frightening experience that any child can go through: Bullying. I was bullied so bad throughout elementary school that I would have terrible nightmares, lose sleep, and have terrible anxiety about the next day. For a young girl to love learning as much as I did (and still do!), I tried to avoid school as much as possible so I wouldn't have to face my tormentors. I would be pushed, called names, yelled, and even had rocks thrown in my face when I would wear my glasses. It all became too much during my 3rd grade year that my parents pulled me out. By the time my 4th grade year came around, I was begging to go back to school. I couldn't stand being home-schooled at the time. Once I went back for my 5th grade year, the bullying picked up where it was left off. I couldn't handle it and had to be pulled of public school again.
6). Did you become socially awkward while being home-schooled?
Well, I was already a shy child, so even being in public school, it was hard to get and keep friends. I was always unsure about myself during this period of life, so it was always hard to make friends, but it did not make me any more or less socially awkward than I was, lol. It was just a matter of getting over my own personal fear of people, especially after being bullied numerous times.
7). How did you make friends?
Making new friends was pretty hard because it required me to go outside of the house to make it happen. But, seriously, being a shy kid and trying to make friends was a hard task within itself, so I typically made friends through the friends I already had. By meeting my friend's friends, it made making friends even easier.
8). What happened after you graduated High School?
Well, after I was done with 12th grade year, I just received a certificate of completion from the state of Maryland and I had to complete GED classes in order to received my High School Diploma. I know, crazy, right? But, I did what I had to do and I did it! It wasn't easy because there was a pre-test I had to complete and classes to go to for a few months because I didn't do well on the math portion. Once I took the GED, I passed all of my subjects, except math. I missed getting my diploma by the one point I missed on the math portion of the test. Yup...one point. I had to wait nearly a year to take the math portion of the test again. Yup, that is crazy too. But, I wanted it so bad! So, I did what I had to in order to get there.
9). What did you have to do in order to get into college?
Just like any other high school student, getting into college was not easy. Taking the SATs was super stressful because that was the first time I was outside of my own classroom at home. Learning about college applications, FAFSA, and other college information stressed me out even more . On top of all of that , I did not have the AP courses that colleges and universities were looking for with the SAT scores and college applications. I thought I would never be able to get into college. After talking with a recruiter from St, Mary's College of Maryland, she recommended that I attend community college first and then transfer to another college or universities. I took her advice and I graduated with my associates degree two years ago and transferred all of my credits to Notre Dame of Maryland University.
10). Would you home-school your future children?
There is a strong possibility that I will! However, I am going to allow that to be a decision for my children to make. If I see them encountering difficulty in school, like bullying or the classroom environment, I would sit and talk it over with them to see if that is an option. If it is something they want to do, I will be happy to do it! However, if it is not an option, then there will be others to consider, like helping them to work through whatever situation they are facing at school. My parents gave me the same option and I want to provide that for my kids.
