10 Things I Never Expected When I Started Homeschooling

Learning How to Learn

While I obviously expected to “learn,” I

didn’t realize that the homeschool

experience would equip me with the

tools to learn how to learn. With those

tools, I can learn anything - and for the

rest of my life.

Self-DisciplineI never expected that homeschooling

would teach me to become a self-

disciplined person. My parents put a lot

of my school responsibilities on me as I

grew older, and that forced me to not

only plan ahead, but to schedule (and

adhere to my schedule) to finish my

lessons. How fast or slow I made it

through the school years depended on

how willing I was to do the work. That

experience has molded me into a very

self-disciplined person today.

Life SkillsWhen we began homeschooling, I

expected pajama days, sleeping in, and

movies. While we did have those, the

homeschooling experience mainly taught

me life skills. Such as, cooking for a family

of seven (Home-Ec!), yard work (mixing

cement, laying concrete, assembling a

sprinkler system, building sheds),

managing laundry for the said large family,

coupon shopping, price checking,

swimming, and lots of animal care - just to

name a few.

Homeschool Friends

I never, ever, expected to meet so many

other homeschoolers - and to realize that

they are so much FUN! I was amazed by

how quickly other homeschoolers took

me in and became friends with me. I

have formed the absolute best

friendships over the years with other

homeschoolers.

Becoming a Nerd

While I loved books even before being

homeschooled, I didn’t expect to develop such a

strong passion for learning. My homeschool

experience cultivated that passion - which

undoubtedly transformed me into a huge nerd -

and I love it! The term nerd no longer has a

negative connotation to me - it means one who

desires to learn, to read, to excel. How could

that be a bad thing?

Flexibility

When we started homeschooling, I expected

some flexibility - after all, we were home.

However, I didn’t realize that, if we wanted,

we could take a day just sitting in our living

room watching LOTR and feasting on junk

food. Why not? We could always make our

school up later! Perks of being a

homeschooler: schedule flexibility.

Hard Work

One thing I certainly didn’t expect (but soon

learned) was that homeschoolers work

really hard! Good grades certainly do not

come easy. Before we began

homeschooling, I didn’t realize

homeschoolers had to work very much at

all. That certainly is one homeschooler

myth that isn’t true. Homeschoolers work

hard!

Strict Parents

This goes hand-in-hand with the previous slide.

I never expected my parents to be heavy with

the red pen when it came to grading my work.

They were my parents after all - until that

point, they had helped me with my school - not

graded it. Getting marked down by mom and

dad was certainly something I hadn’t expected.

However, I’m glad they did mark me down -

how else could I learn?

Pursuing My Interests

In homeschool, I was often able to learn

what I wanted to learn. For example, my

parents would give me a choice of curricula,

and I could choose which one I would like to

study. Taking part in choosing my textbooks

definitely deepened my determination to do

well. (Also, if I ended up not liking the

curriculum, my parents could always remind

me, “You picked it!”)

Grading My Own WOrk

Typically, when you hear about a student grading

their own work, it sounds like a cop-out. If they’re

grading themselves, surely they can’t be honest.

Well...my parents changed that. I never would

have expected to honestly grade my own work,

but it’s something I learned to do over the years,

and it is definitely an invaluable skill. I learned to

honestly evaluate myself, and it has helped in so

many other areas of my life.

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