I joined Toastmasters and have to do an icebreaker speech. I thought I would talk about why home schooling has benefited me.
“My sister home schools her children and that is something I would never do. Her children will never get socialization.” That’s what I used to say about home schooling. Now, after eight years of home schooling my three sons, ages 12, 9, and 6, I can say it was the best decision my husband and I have ever made.
I am not here to sell you on the idea of home schooling. Nor will I talk to you about the pros and cons of home school versus other schools. I am here to tell you about what I have learned as a result of being my children’s teacher. Hopefully, my sons will benefit as much from the experience as I have.
The first thing I have learned is that God is faithful. I used to pray daily, “Dear Lord, please help my children attend the school of your choice and let us be able to afford it.” I couldn’t believe it when He chose me for the awesome task of educating my children. It all started because my five year old son begged to be home schooled. At the time, my sister and I had just taken him and his cousins on some field trips. I had tried to convince him that every day would not be a field trip, but he was insistent. I had decided the litmus test was whether his father agreed he should be home schooled. He did and I was shocked!
From the beginning, God has provided all the home school resources that we ever needed. I admit I have bought a number of resources along the way, but they have never been as useful as the ones I have been given. Since my sister has twins a year older than my son, she provides me with our curriculum each year. A kind friend has left all kinds of books and resources at my back door, just when I need them most. My mother has gifted us with some wonderful resources, such as laptop computers and trips. She invited us to Jamestown and Williamsburg when were studying Colonial America, Epcot Center when we were studying inventions, and to Greece when we were studying ancient times.
Our homeschool days usually flow in a way that can only be Divine. When I begin each morning, I have no idea which direction it will go. Of course, I have certain books I use daily, but the way the events of the day line up to reinforce lessons learned is amazing. As long as the grace is there to home school, I will continue doing it.
The second thing I learned is that I have a gift for teaching that I never really knew I had. Years before, I had substituted in the school system for a year, but the discipline problems were tiring and I had decided I didn’t want to be a teacher after all. Besides teaching my own children, I have the opportunity to teach others, which I enjoy doing very much.
Our homeschool group has a coop where mothers and local teachers offer classes for our children. For the past five years, I have taught several classes each semester. I get to decide what I want to teach and how I will write up my curriculum and offer it to the students. I have a lot of fun with it.
Once, I taught chemistry in a class called Spy Kids. I told the children I had tricked them into my class by giving it that catchy name, but they didn’t seem to care. While the class was centered around forensic science and how to be a detective, we actually performed every experiment in the chemistry book I used.
In a class about dinosaurs, I taught the difference between creation science and evolution so children could decide for themselves which they believed. In creative writing class, the students wrote a small book and on the last day of class, they had a book signing party. They handed out copies of their new release and autographed them for each other and the parents who attended.
In inventions class, students learned about the history of inventors and how to invent something themselves. On the last day of class, they presented their prototypes. The kids were quite creative and had some marketable inventions.
Currently, I am teaching a language arts/survival skills class, based on the book My Side of the Mountain. Last week, I taught the students about what plants they could eat in the wild, but warned them not to experiment. “I’d hate for a fun guy to be poisoned by a fungi,” I told them. This semester, I am also teaching a class called “How to be a Super Star Student,” a class on how to be a successful student in high school and college.
The third thing I have learned from home schooling is how to motivate children to have a love of learning and to look forward to their future. God planted a seed of destiny is each of us before we were born. It is usually what captivates a person the most. Helping others to find their unique purpose and encouraging them to fulfill their dreams has become the desire of my heart. I have been writing on this subject now for about four years and have written a number of manuscripts, which I hope to have published soon.
The fourth thing I have learned from my teaching experience is that I have a love for learning, too, and I get as much or more joy than my children to learn something new. My children are bright, inquisitive and eager to learn, so it has been a joy to help them discover new things, to see the light bulbs light up, and to catch the contagion of a subject or a new author. I would never trade the joy I have had at doing this together with my children. I’m too old to have any more, so I want to enjoy every moment I have with these precious gifts God has given me.
I cannot even begin to list the time management, household management, motivational, presentation skills that have been honed because I chose to home school. In conclusion, I do not believe home schooling is for everyone, but I am grateful God chose me to be my children’s teacher. The next time you hear someone say they home school their children, maybe their socialization won’t be the first thing that comes to your mind. Maybe you will think about how many benefits the mother will receive from the experience. | 
