The Benefits of Homeschooling go far Beyond Academics

Throughout the time that we homeschooled our daughter Katie all the way from first to twelfth grade, I was thankful for the privilege of homeschooling--giving thanks for that was a regular and conscious part of my prayers. Some of the time I was of the opinion that every Christian, given any opportunity to do so, should homeschool; some of the time I was just glad that my life circumstances allowed me to do so and I didn't care so much about where others stood on it. But until recently I have never been so absolutely certain that no matter whether I did a really great job or a quite mediocre job, it still was the best thing for Katie and perhaps for any child.
It wasn't the content of the academics that retrospectively became the most significant part of the advantage that homeschooling provided; it was the character, the values, the family strength, the communication, the intimate knowledge we have of one another that ended up being even more the reason I am so glad we kept her at home.
The schooling itself was not lacking, either. There were years and months and seasons and moments that wavered between being excellent and even dismal; some segments of time I really couldn't say that it would have stood up as a quality education. Still, I think that by the grace of God, and by the time advantages she had with homeschooling, she was able to absorb an incredible amount of learning over that time.
Katie preferred to do her homeschooling as slowly as possible over the day. Sometimes she was so still I wondered whether she was accomplishing anything. But she was reading for hours, writing, processing information, and the end result has been that she has a very thorough understanding of those things she studied. In her first term college classes she is having much success, and in Biology the other students are asking her for help and for answers because they realize she understands the material while many of them do not.
Another benefit has been the social aspect. I know that comment might give many readers pause. During her school years, she was not really a very social creature, in that she wasn't often getting together with friends or going for outings or to parties. Still, now that she is 19 and out of the high school ministry in our church, she's among the adult women in Bible study, choir and church and is connecting with them in a way she never was able with her peers. She relates to adults, and I think that is to her credit and in large part due to her homeschooling and the relative isolation she experienced. She was raised not to be a teen, not to think that the world revolved around her, but to be an adult woman, whose life revolves around Christ and reaches out to others.