Any other homeschoolers?

heartcross
Thu, 17 Mar 2005 19:07:41 +0000

I’m glad to hear you had such a good high school experience. I think my older ones (the others aren’t in high school yet) would tell you that they’ve had a good experience too. It’s probably been different than yours, but I’m sure MY high school experience was different than yours, too!

Let’s see–field trips–do two trips to Europe count? Wish I’d gotten to do those, but didn’t…but my 16yo has. The reason she’s been able to do these trips is because she has her own sheep business that’s paid for it. She’d not be able to do that without being home. Prom, yeah, my dd did that. Yawn! Can’t say it was the highlight of her high school experience, but it was fun. Civil Air Patrol–the closest one here is over 3 hours away, so not an opportunity for anyone–homeschooled, private schooled or public schooled–wish there was, but, we’ve traded for great skiing instead!

State cross-country championships?–yeah, done that too. Plus, state swimming finals…and All-State Orchestra, Chamber Singers, Western States Honor Orchestra, kayaking finals, musicals, national dressage finals, etc. Those have been great experiences and we’re grateful that the girls have been able to do them. They’ve really had the best of both worlds–high school friends and activities PLUS their college buddies and activities. One of the experiences that my 16yo has most enjoyed is her time spent training with the fire department for swift water rescue. I’m grateful that she’s able to juggle her classes, time at home, jobs, sheep, etc. to do these sorts of things. She’d not be able to do all she does if she was gone all day. So, don’t assume that home schoolers are missing out–we’re not! Why do we home school? Well, one main reason is to HAVE those experiences.

How do home schoolers get a diploma? Well, my oldest has a very nice hand-painted one that we commissioned from an artist friend. We gave it to her the day she did her senior recital at the college and then had a big whoop-de-do party at the ranch. And she even had Pomp and Circumstance–played on the violin by her orchestra director whilst he was grilling shrimp. Her violin smelled like bar-be-que for weeks. A grand time was had by all… My next one will actually have a diploma from an accredited school in Maine, as the CGA requires it. No big deal–they review her work, look at her college transcripts and award credit.

So, as you see, there are as many different ways to learn as there are learners. Probably some day, you’ll end up serving with, or living next door to some home schoolers and you’ll have a grand time exchanging stories of those long-ago high school days–and find that they are happy too.