People often ask me if I liked my experience as a homeschooler. My answer is a resounding yes. Homeschooling had, I believe, a profound impact on who I am today and on my journey to follow the kingdom call.
One of my fondest memories of my homeschooling years was the time we did culture and country studies. This was in the years leading up to fourth grade (and in fourth grade I decided I wanted to be a missionary…maybe a connection there?). We talked about geography, people, culture, food, and more for several countries. I remember Tanzania, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Spain, and Bangladesh, though I think we did some others as well. It happened to be a time when a lot of missionaries we knew were back in the States visiting, and so we often had them come over for a celebration day at the end of a country study. I believe that because of this, foreign nations and missions became permanently linked in my mind from a young age.
Another fond homeschooling memory is all the time we spent together reading aloud. To this day if my mom is reading aloud to my sister I try to stop and listen. Some of my favorite read alouds were the missionary biographies that we often read together. These inspiring stories of heroes of the faith were formative in my own kingdom journey.
I love that homeschooled kids often are able to talk with people of all ages. They are able to relate to kids older and younger than them, and also engage in conversation with adults. I think that this skill has really helped me as I’ve gotten older. I am able to learn a lot about people from observing, and I’m able to enjoy interacting with people much older and much younger than I am. I attribute this to growing up as a homeschooler.
We were homeschooled through a Biblical worldview. Every subject was filtered through this lens. This instilled that worldview in me all through my growing up years. I am so thankful for the way this has helped me to continue to view the world this way as I’ve launched out on to my own.
I also really value the way that my relationship with my parents is still so deep because of homeschooling. I know this isn’t the case for everyone who takes this educational route, but I am so thankful that this is what happened for me. I still talk with my parents about just about everything. I still value their input into the decisions I am making. I am so blessed by my close relationship with them.
I believe that homeschooling played a key role in shaping me to be who I am today and in putting me on this journey for the kingdom. Thank you, mom and dad, for choosing this educational path for us. I love you.