Home Sweet School

How Homeschooling Has Changed My Life

by Melissa Howland

School for seven hours. Then four to eight hours of homework after that. Doesn’t sound very appealing, does it? So what would you say if I told you that I now “do school” every waking moment of every day and love it?

I was homeschooled from kindergarten through second grade. Then for seven years I went to a private, Christian school. In ninth grade, I really did have the schedule I mentioned in the first paragraph. I was one sleep-deprived girl.

My family knew that we didn’t have enough money for me to continue at that school. So throughout most of ninth grade, I had the mindset that I would be going to public school for the rest of high school. Then one spring day that year, out of the blue, a homeschool catalog arrived in our mailbox. Maybe God put us on the company’s mailing list, I don’t know . . . but I do know that if that catalog hadn’t opened up a new option to me, I would probably be practically wasting three years of my life in public high school.

So how has homeschooling changed my life? Let me count the ways…

Do you have any idea what it is like for a teenage girl to constantly, continually be around other teenage girls? Even if she is exceptionally beautiful, she will always have at least one part of her body she hates. Naturally, being around other girls day in and day out, she will compare herself to them, and most likely have a very damaged body image. And if she is not athletic, P.E. is a nightmare. Guess what? I no longer think I am worthless because I don’t have a sixteen-inch waist and cannot run a five-minute mile.

And do you know how beautiful God’s handiwork is? I didn’t, until this year. Now I have time to stop and smell (and pick and arrange) the roses. I also have time to cook, bake, sew, crochet, cross-stitch, write, garden, clean, read the “classics,” sing, play piano, and more. Best of all, I don’t have to work in fifty-minute segments.

Ah, socialization. The homeschool buzzword. Let me tell you, I have much better people skills this year than ever before. Why? Because I have time to care about others! Instead of having only friends my own age, my friends now range between age two and eighty-four. I have time to do little things for my family members, with whom I now enjoy better and deeper relationships.

I am much more flexible now that I am homeschooling. I don’t stress out over every detail of life. Last year, I had stress-related breathing problems, which have now totally disappeared. People have said to me, “You know what I like about you? You’re always smiling.”

Last year, half of my geometry class was failing the course. I asked the teacher if we could just slow down a bit, and he said, “No. There are still a few students in the class who understand everything, and it wouldn’t be fair to them to dumb the course down for the slower ones.” Now, if I don’t understand a concept, I can take all the time I need to fully grasp it. If I don’t think I need to memorize how many sons and daughters each of the biblical judges had, I can express my opinion and be listened to. I learn now because I want to, not because I’m terrified of failing a test.

I have tried so many new things this year that I am no longer easily intimidated. I have had time to learn about myself. I know my weaknesses, and I’m working on them. I know my strengths, and I’m using them. I know what I believe, and I’m not afraid to be different.

Most importantly, I have time for God. I read His Word because I want to, not because a chapter a day is assigned in Bible class. My prayers are genuine instead of rote. I have time to look out a window at all of God’s Creation and say, “God, You’re really awesome.”

Homeschooling has changed every aspect of my life for the better, and I wouldn’t go back to a “real” school even if I could.

Melissa Howland, age 16, is a Christian homeschooler who likes to read, write, sing, cross-stitch, cook/bake, crochet, and work with children. She wrote this essay in early 1999. Her E-mail address is mjhowland7@hotmail.com, and her website, Following Our Shepherd, can be found at http://followingourshepherd.tripod.com.