Pluses and Minuses of Homeschooling for 2010 Graduate

 Stephany from Denver, Colorado USA writes about the advantages and challenges of homeschooling in her last monthly report before graduating. Here are her comments:

"I feel I have learned a lot of good stuff by being homeschooled. I learned about life and family, received a good education and I also really enjoyed being homeschooled. Like any school it was tough at times.  The good thing is we were able to find some homeschool programs and a gym program for home schoolers.  I am not sure that it would have been that much fun being home schooled without other homeschoolers for friends. I'm also glad I was in Girl Scouts and Westernaires.  In these outside programs I was able to make many friends. People need friends, and I'm grateful that God brought me these things. I learned that it takes much more effort and discipline to be homeschooled. I also got to have a closer educational and personal relationship with God as a homeschooler. I also didn't have to stress out with homework, peer pressure or the drug scene as a homeschooler. One fun thing is that I got to sleep in and do school in my pjs.  However, homeschool isn't all fun and games, it is hard in many ways. For instance, if I wasn't in Girl Scouts or Westernaires, I wouldn't have all the friends I do now. Life isn't fun when you’re a teen or kid without friends, and some homeschoolers have to work hard to find friends.  Another hard thing is the responsibility was mine to prepare myself for college and my future.  It is always a temptation when you have a TV and computers in your reach not to do school and watch TV or play on the computer instead. Trying to do school can also be a pain in the neck when your siblings are in the same classroom.  However, homeschooling has taught me to be more patient than some teens I know, especially with younger siblings. I think I have a pretty good social life for being homeschooled. I really think highly of homeschooling no matter what non-homeschoolers may say. I love how everyone I know that isn't home schooled is very interested in my homeschool life. I have also learned that a lot of people out there would love to be homeschooled. But even though my school years have the normal ups and downs, I still feel it is a great way to be educated and a lot better than public schools. I wouldn‘t change it or my life in anyway."