Secrets from my Past 3

It seems like a lot of other bloggers are homeschooled. Every time I see this, I smile a little. Although it seems like a very long time ago, I was once homeschooled too. Okay, so it wasn't THAT long ago - I graduated in 2010. It seems like a lot has happened since then though. I have a bachelor's degree. I have more friends. I've grown up a lot. Things are changing. Some good changes, and perhaps some that I don't like as much. But I just want to encourage all you fellow homeschoolers out there to keep it up.

There were some times as I was growing up that I wished that I wasn't homeschooled, but for the most part I enjoyed it. Once I graduated, I really appreciated it. So just in case you aren't convinced that homeschooling is the absolute best, here are 10 reasons why I think it is:

1. You can learn at your own pace. If I excelled at a subject and really enjoyed it, I would find additional ways to challenge myself and learn it better. If there was a subject that I struggled with more, I could take the additional time to learn it better without getting behind in a classroom.
2. You learn how to be self-motivated. My mom always made us be at our desks by 8:00 am sharp. If we weren't, there were penalties such as extra chores. I also learned how to be self-motivated at my schoolwork and get things done before they were due.
3. You learn how to study on your own. As a homeschooler, I didn't have a group of friends all learning the same thing as me. I had to study on my own, and I figured out ways that worked for me and ways that didn't long before college.
4. You learn how to interact with people that aren't your age. Who says that socializing with 100 kids the same age as you makes you socialized? By being around my family all day, I got lots of practice interacting with people older and younger than me. When you are around the same people for that long, you are forced to learn good communication skills and how to get along with people that may have very different personalities than you. When I tell people now that I was homeschooled, most of them are very surprised and comment on how normal I am (well I don't consider myself normal, but seriously - what type of horrible stereotypes are going around about homeschoolers?! Don't listen to them!).
5. You learn life skills. If mom needs help cooking, you get a half an hour break from school to help get lunch ready. If a little brother needs help with his math homework, you sit down and help him. If there is a storm coming and things outside need put away, you get a 10 minute exercise break to help out.
6. You can fit almost anything into your education.I was able to take art lessons from a local artist, take piano lessons, and every couple weeks we would get together with other homeschoolers to learn about special topics more in depth and hands on - such as soybeans or insects. When we went to Chicago for vacation, we took a field trip to the board of trade and watched all the craziness of stock trade. My family also did hundreds of projects in 4-H - I learned how to do everything from baking bread, to sewing a dress, to making a cedar chest, to overhauling a snowmobile engine.
7. You have a flexible schedule. If something important like a funeral came up, we could easily put school on pause for the day and pick up the next day without having to play catch up. This is also great if you have the opportunity to go on a mission trip during the school year.
8. You are smart. Getting into college was no problem. I received the top academic scholarships at all the schools I applied to; and freshman year was a breeze. It was so much easier than my curriculum of homeschooling that I didn't study at all my first year. Work hard now, and you can do anything you set your mind to.
9. You don't have to worry as much about crazy people. Be it a school bully or a mass shooter, you are pretty safe at home with your family. You also don't have to deal with all the drama of teen dating and pregnancies and cliques, you name it.
10. And most of all, you can learn about God. You don't have to worry about stopping to pray before taking an exam or reading your daily devotions and discussing them at lunch. In fact, that was encouraged! And that my friends, is the most important thing you will ever learn about in life. 

What do you enjoy most about homeschooling? 

PS - read part 1 and part 2 as well.