4 Reasons I've Loved Homeschooling through High School

As I begin planning (despite my mother's insistence that it's too early in the summer) my senior year of high school, I'm realizing how glad I am that I am homeschooling through high school. Here are four reasons why.

1. You can choose what to learn. 

Sure, it's the USA and you need certain high school credits to graduate, but hey, this isn't middle school anymore! Your mother (despite what many non-homeschooled students think) is no longer teaching you out of a book. Even in schools high-schoolers get a lot more flexibility in what classes they take when. And homeschooling just takes that to the next level. For instance, I want to be an author. So my mom and I found out about several online courses on fiction writing being offered by a published author. And I took them, and they were some amazing classes. And I also happen to love history and theology. So we found an online course on the Protestant Reformation. One of the best classes I've ever taken. I'm not very good with math and I don't plan to go into anything STEM-related. So for high school physics Mom pulled our "Conceptual Physics" textbook and I did that in sophomore year. In eighth grade, I was already taking mostly high school classes, including Government, Biology, Literature, and French 1. I have an affinity for Latin, so I went to the local Catholic high school for Latin 1, 2, and 3, plus AP Latin from 7th to 10th grade. As a homeschooler, I have that kind of flexibility and the ability to shape my education based on my learning preferences and career goals.

2. You have free time.

"Free time" is rather a foreign word to most high-schoolers. My little sister could tell you that. But when eight hours of your day aren't ruled by an electronic bell (which, for the record, sounds nothing like a bell), you find that you can make time for things that matter to you as an individual. I'm a musician: I take piano lessons and voice lessons, sing in choir, and play a little organ. Because I'm homeschooled, I have the time to go to concert choir at the public school every day, play piano at nursing homes, participate in church choir, and learn piano and voice duets with my sisters and friends. I'm a writer: anyone who reads this blog knows that. Homeschooling allows me to set aside an hour every day to work on my current novel or short story, and gives me the opportunity to realistically participate in things such as NaNoWriMo. Actually, since I finished AP Latin last year, I've found I have even more free time, since I don't have to spend an hour every day translating Julius Caesar or Vergil. I have time to take tea breaks during math, go on walks while memorizing Shakespeare, read a chapter of a book during breakfast, and go to Eucharistic Adoration and daily Mass.

3. You can learn about colleges firsthand. 

This is related to reason number 2 above. I'm exciting for senior year because based on the number of high school credits I still need (which is technically zero), I can make time this year for college visits. I'm already planning road-trips to the closer colleges, and finding good dates to visit some of the further ones. This summer I'm going to the Thomas Aquinas College summer program (among other things) instead of working a summer job. I also hope to return to a couple of the convents I visited on the Nun Run last summer, and maybe go on retreats to a few other ones, too. Homeschooling allows me to actually make all this happen.

4. Family life is good practice.

By the time you enter high school, chances are your parents are viewing you more as a responsible individual and you have more responsibilities. This time of growing up and being able to get to know your parents as peers, or friends, with whom you can have real, meaningful conversations and experiences, is priceless. Homeschooling offers 24/7 access to at least one parent, so you can learn together. Since I entered high school, my mom and I have been home alone together for countless hours. And we've gotten to know each other so much better and she has taught me so much, that I couldn't have wished it any other way. We have conversations about theology or history while making dinner and listen to classics while knitting and drinking tea. Dad and I love going to classical music concerts together and listening to lectures while he drives me around. There's so much to learn from your parents, even just by being in their presence. And spending most of your day at home really ingrains in you the give-and-take of family life. Which is useful in college communities, religious communities, work communities...basically anywhere.

Those are the top four reasons I've absolutely loved being homeschooled through high school. Are there any other awesome aspects of homeschooling I missed?