{"id":4404,"date":"2017-06-12T11:38:20","date_gmt":"2017-06-12T16:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/?p=4404"},"modified":"2017-06-12T11:38:20","modified_gmt":"2017-06-12T16:38:20","slug":"im-glad-homeschooled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2017\/06\/12\/im-glad-homeschooled\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I’m Glad I Was Homeschooled"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Savannah Cottrell<\/strong>
\n 
\nHere\u2019s a fun fact about me: I was homeschooled from kindergarten through the 8th grade.
\nMy mom homeschooled me during those younger years, and looking back, I am so, so happy she did. I truly think being homeschooled helped me become the person I am today. So, I want to talk about a couple of common myths I\u2019ve heard about homeschooling, and how my family and I handled those particular aspects of being educated at home.
\nThe one myth I probably hear the most is that homeschoolers supposedly don\u2019t get enough social interactions with kids their own age.<\/strong> I personally have had to defend this point. To explain this, I want to tell you the story of how I became a homeschooler.
\nIt all started when I was two years old. My mom became good friends with our next-door neighbor, a homeschooling mom of four exceptional children. Mom began to attend monthly homeschooling meetings with her\u2013\u2013some of which Dad attended along with Mom\u2013\u2013and based on what they learned, and on their desire to give me a Bible-based education, they decided to have my schooling be at home. It wound up being one of the best decisions they could make for me.
\nSoon after that, Mom had met some fellow homeschooling moms, and together, they created a homeschooling group to help teach the children science. The families were Christian, so we all received Bible-based education, learning about creation and refusing to even acknowledge the evolution chapter (if there even was one). Mom handled the rest of the subjects at home.
\nI was able to meet kids who were a lot more like me, and my exposure to bullying was likely a lot smaller than what I would have experienced in a public school. I was around kids my own age, but I was also around kids of varying ages and adults. I was able to have conversations with pretty much anyone at a young age because of that. So, because my family went out of their way to sign me up for the activities I truly wanted to do\u2013\u2013thus avoiding burnout\u2013\u2013and with interactions with family, friends, and church family, I was able to develop my social skills without the need of a public school.
\nAlso, even in my twenties, I have made friends with fellow homeschoolers. It’s fun finding common ground in the experiences we had receiving our education at home. I’ve also been able to connect with homeschooling families who attend my congregation.
\nAnother myth I\u2019ve heard about homeschooling is the environment can be too lax.<\/strong> The way I was homeschooled was definitely structured, but as I got older, we were able to take family vacations and do field trips whenever we were able, as opposed to abiding by the state\u2019s school calendar or policies. The field trips\u2013\u2013 taken with family or other homeschoolers\u2013\u2013helped me really learn about the world around me, and I learned to appreciate God\u2019s creation more that way.
\nThe best part about the environment I had while homeschooling is that I became so close to my family. Spending as much time with them as I did allowed my parents to really rear me in the Lord, as God told His people to do in Deuteronomy 6: \u201cHear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up\u201d (Deuteronomy 6:4-7). I learned to respect and obey my parents, and through that, I learned to respect others as well. I had my parents’ example not only of how to have good manners, but also what it means to be a married couple following the example of Christ.
\nSo, why am I glad I was homeschooled?
\nBesides the reasons mentioned above, I grew closer to God and I grew in my faith. I was exposed to denominations through co-ops I attended, and because of that, I was able through study and my parents’ guidance to become grounded in my own faith and discern the truth as given in His Word. I\u2019m also glad I was homeschooled because I was able to study His creation and how it worked unhindered by the world’s standards. My perception of history and science has for sure been illuminated by my belief that God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning (Genesis 1:1). From there, as I learned more and more of how God has blessed us in these years we’ve been on earth, my worldview was established, and I firmly believe that the foundation created by my homeschooling those years ago really helped with that.
\nSo, would I recommend homeschooling? If you can, yes. I am certainly not discounting public or private schools. In fact, I commend kids who are Christians attending these schools today because of what\u2019s out there. However, based on my experience and fond memories of homeschooling, I personally see more pros in it than in any other education outlet.
\nBefore you make a decision on how to educate your children, please do your research and pray for His guidance. And, above all else, make sure your children know who Christ is and what He did for them.
\n\u201cAnd if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord\u201d (Joshua 24:15).
\n 
\nThis article originally appeared in the March 2015 issue of Think Magazine. Print or download this article\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Savannah Cottrell   Here\u2019s a fun fact about me: I was homeschooled from kindergarten through the 8th grade. My mom homeschooled me during those younger years, and looking back, I am so, so happy she did. I truly think being homeschooled helped me become the person I am today. So, I want to talk […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[96,66],"tags":[198,596,869],"class_list":["post-4404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-think-excerpts","tag-education","tag-homeschooling","tag-not-a-statistic","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy I'm Glad I Was Homeschooled - Focus Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2017\/06\/12\/im-glad-homeschooled\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why I'm Glad I Was Homeschooled - Focus Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Savannah Cottrell   Here\u2019s a fun fact about me: I was homeschooled from kindergarten through the 8th grade. 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