Why I Love Home Schooling

The sun’s rays peek into my room, teasing my face with loving strokes. Then Dad barges in, snaps on the light, and pulls the covers off of our slumbering bodies. Bleary-eyed we walk into my parents’ room for family prayer. After that, it is time to wrestle! It is the beginning of another day of education in our home. My favorite part of home schooling is being able to enjoy my family and study hard at the same time.

   In our home we can study anywhere we want to – kitchen, basement, individual rooms, dining room, etc. We can also study alone or with other siblings. However, you will never really see anyone studying by themselves. Once, I was doing my schoolwork all by myself when I decided to go into my big sister, Lisa’s room, and do my work there because I did not like being alone. Later, when my Mom came in she found me sitting on Lisa’s shoulders studying for the science test. Some might wonder how we ever learn with such antics amidst the serious things of life, but we do learn and remember. In this particular instance, we both aced the test.

   A family that home schools with a bunch of boys carries the advantage of an interesting combination of erudition with fun and games and noise during regular school hours. In our house there are no designated break times, so when my brothers and I complete certain aspects of our daily assignments, we take breaks and play around with one another. We jump, pounce on and wrestle with each other. We have the regular wrestling that boys enjoy and our own version of sumo wrestling matches which involves bouncing around and then ramming each others’ bellies. This is very humorous and even my little sister enjoys the game. Ever since we learned about medieval times in history, we boys have sword fights with one another and envision ourselves as the heroes of ancient days. Our home will be silent for a while, but when we play Cowboys and Indians, it comes alive with our whoops and yells, drawing everyone in the house out to play like the Pied Piper of Hamlin. Sometimes, we play board games together. If the weather is pleasant we also play outside. I sometimes will go into the garage and make things out of duct tape, like wallets and flip flops, for my brothers. I also use other tools in the garage to make wooden swords, spears, and bows and arrows for them. If we were in a typical school, my brothers and I would be in different classes or maybe even different schools. We would have to wait till the end of the day to see each other and play with one another. We might also have to do a lot of homework, which would not allow us a lot of time together. Home schooling lets me spend time with my brothers and helps us bond together.

       The aspect of bonding applies to children much younger than me who may not be able to play the wild games that my brothers and I enjoy. Being home schooled, I can also play with my little siblings and take part in the funny games that they invent all throughout the day. I enjoy helping them, sometimes teaching them simple things, aiding them in everyday activities, reading to them, or just doing “big brother” kind of things for them. Being a big brother also gives me the privilege of teasing them and then getting a hug from them afterwards. I take pleasure in their funny talks and mischief. My little siblings will not remain little for long. Since I am homeschooled, I have a lot more time with them than I would if I was not homeschooled, and thus I do not miss out on the time when they are so cute and funny.

       Our entire family reads the same books and we all are interested in a lot of the same things. We converse and discuss the books, authors, story plots, and characters. Our younger siblings then get interested in the very same books and even though they are quite young, they tend to read those books and join our discussions. We have our own informal book club and every single person in the family from Mom down to my three year old sister, Joi, is a member. Joi knows all the characters and story plots of the books we read and she also takes part in our book talks. When all of us are doing our schoolwork together at a common table or room, we laugh, joke, tease and chatter with one another while we are working and still manage to complete our assigned work, for the most part, or Mama will complain. We do not really mind her complaining or her half-hearted threats because we know that she really enjoys our conversations and camaraderie during the course of the day, for there are some things that are more important than academics.

The icing on the cake that comes with home schooling is being with my mother, for I know that in a few years I will not be able to be with her as much. Big as I am, I can still get a hug from her during the day, sit on her lap and do schoolwork just for fun, and play with her hair while she explains something to me. If I was in a regular school, I would not be able to do these affectionate things as often.

       In Psalms 133, we are told: “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! For there the Lord commanded the blessing – life forevermore.” We may not always dwell in unity, but home schooling ensures that we learn to dwell with one another despite differences. We certainly enjoy one another and because of that there is much blessing in our home.  Math plus wrestling, language arts plus playing games with my brothers, science plus joking, history plus book talk, and a hug from Joi to top it all equals the best education ever.