A New Graduate Looks Back

Every spring, schools across the country celebrate their seniors. They honor and acknowledge those that have completed mandatory education requirements and are now finished! It doesn’t matter if the student has been placed in public school, private school, or been homeschooled. Having that diploma in hand is a wonderful accomplishment and now, new horizons can be explored.

I am now one of those who can say they are finished with grades 1-12. This past August found me completing nine and a half years of homeschool. While it can be called a relief to no longer have Algebra looming over my head, graduating from the familiar is bittersweet. Like the child who is attempting to sleep without a nightlight for the first time, I now embark on my unknown paths of stay-at-home daughterhood, a few online classes of interest, and hopefully, marriage and motherhood.

Yet, one can never release the past so easily. You have so many fond memories of times gone by; you can think of nothing better than remembering them and sharing with others. My journey being educated at home has taught me four things in particular that I want to carry into my future household (for homeschooling is the only way I want to go!)

Make it Fun!

Mom always tried different and interesting ways to get across a subject to us. Often times, it involved games. In order to learn the presidents, Mom bought a Presidential Bingo game. Math facts were learned and remembered via dry erase boards and markers. Or, we did a situational math game. It was about shopping! You had to figure out sale prices, buying in bulk, and all of the other experiences associated with buying goods. As my brother and I got older, Scrabble was a good choice to practice spelling (and how to look things up in the dictionary!) There were countless others we did, like Brainquest, etc.

Watching movies is another good thing we do around my house. Now, don’t get me wrong. We do a lot of reading in our schooling; it is a basic core of how we do things. But Mom and Dad also believe that viewing classic films set in certain time periods aids in getting across historical and geographical facts in a tangible, exciting way. So, every now and then (especially when we are sick,) we get to watch things like “Mrs. Miniver,” “Stalag 17,” “The Hiding Place,” “Cromwell,” and “Mary, Queen of Scotland” among others. I must confess that many things I remember about World War II have come as a result of the movies I have watched for school.

Be Different!

My family didn’t always homeschool. For the first three years of my education, I was in private school. After my parents had a change of heart, and after my brother, Garrett, and I were been eaten alive by all the assignments and demands, we came home.

In the beginning, we continued to use the same textbooks as our previous school. Yet, over time, Mom and Dad saw that they were not working for Garrett and myself. It was discovered that we learned best with “living” things. The typical textbook learning works great for a lot of people—just not us. So, out went the Bob Jones and Saxon, and in came Total Language Plus, Beautiful Feet, and Math-U-See.

Mom and Dad also tried to cater to Garrett’s and my interests and skills. What works for me might not be what he excels at. While I was better at writing than he was, he was better at Algebra. His possible vocation might involve Geometry, so Garrett studied that. While, I, will be more suited to balancing a household budget and all things homey.

I count it a great blessing that I have gotten to use the curriculum that I have. Total Language Plus enabled me to read books like The Hiding Place, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, The Scarlet Letter, and The Scarlet Pimpernel; my vocabulary and spelling words, research projects, and several ideas to make the novels come alive were found within these pages. I cannot begin to describe how much I enjoyed each of these novels. I don’t think I can name my favorite. Though every girl loves Pride and Prejudice, I will not limit myself to that.

Beautiful Feet was a wonderful history curriculum. I had my share of “dry” books to read, though I managed to find very interesting tidbits in them. However, I loved studying the Civil War with this curriculum. I read Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Across Five Aprils, and Rifles for Watie. These books were read with much enjoyment. Yet when it came to pre and post World War II, the nonfiction books about Hiroshima, Joseph Stalin, and Adolf Hitler that I had to read made me knowledgeable about current events…and I had to answer some pretty difficult questions. Though this was more depressing, I enjoy having an opinion on things like internment camps, the atomic bomb, whether Hitler was insane, etc.

Coming to this point of doing non-traditional learning took years. It is hard to break the mold and go against what everyone is doing. But homeschooling brings freedom!

It Doesn’t Take Einstein!

Sadly, many people think they have to possess this PHD in teaching in order to home educate your children. I am here to say that it isn’t true. It doesn’t take a village to raise and teach kids. Sure, there is effort and work involved—sometimes you learn right along with the rest—but that isn’t a bad thing.

I remember when I was learning Algebra. Mom didn’t remember it too well, so she learned it right along with me. (I think we both came to the conclusion that it was rather pointless for me, but that’s beside the point =) We also make a habit of doing science and logic together.
Yet there are times when things are a bit confusing (like how in the world the math book has that particular answer.) In such cases, we turn to Dad. He helps us make sense of the wacky mortgage rate tables or the odd Algebra equation. He was a constant help when I was studying taxes; he got all the necessary forms and helped me. But it doesn’t work too well when your book is a few years old and things have changed since then.

I think that not being an absolute genius is a good thing. It makes people work together. I don’t want to be a robot, nor do I want a robot for a teacher. In life you ask questions, so schooling shouldn’t be any different.

It’s All About Who?

Despite all of the facts, dates, equations, and events that have entered my head, they are not what I am most thankful for. When it comes to what I remember most about my family and my schooling journey was the emphasis on Bible and putting God first.

We began homeschooling because that was what God wanted us to do. Going back to a public school wouldn’t have been an option: God is entirely out of that equation. So, since my parents wanted the Lord to be the essential part of our lives, how could he not be the basic core of our learning?

Mom has made it a habit to have Bible time be the first thing we do with our day. Whether it be studying the Westminster Shorter Catechism or reading through a book of the Bible—it doesn’t matter so long as we were in the Word. On days we were busy and out and about, we tried to make sure we did Bible corporately, though we had already done it individually. When Dad came home in the evenings, we did doctrinal studies or the catechism again right after dinner.

I don’t want to paint the picture that my family had everything together when it came to matters of faith and putting it first. Some days we would head out the door before Bible had been done; family worship really only began a year ago. Yet our goal is to grow more and more into Christ’s likeness, to make Him a part of everything we say and do. So, we try.

Of all the lessons that really stand out, this one is the main one I want to carry over into my future. It is only by His grace that we live and move and breathe. I want my children to learn that character and convictions are of far greater worth than all the head knowledge in the world.
It is these thoughts that I really remember as I begin a new stage in life. But just as all the math, language, and history lessons I have learned will stay with me, so will these things. I am endlessly thankful to my parents who taught them to me…and to my God who allowed them to be taught!