When I tell people that I am homeschooled, their general reaction is an interested "Oh."  There's a short pause, and then they ask, "Do you like it?"  Sometimes it is hard to keep a straight face and reply positively because many of my publicly-schooled peers do not expect that staying at home and doing schoolwork is pleasant.  Imagine being stuck at the dining room table with your mom and annoying little siblings, and being expected to study!  In reality, that is a common misconception.  Most of the homeschoolers I know have their own desks or work places, often in separate rooms.    If you do it the right way, homeschooling can be an enjoyable, enriching, and fruitful experience.

            Homeschooling is a lot of fun.  One objection to homeschooling is that children will not get enough socialization.  When I hear that protest, it makes me want to laugh.  First of all, I have many friends with whom I love to spend my time.  Most of these friends are homeschooled. When I get together with my homeschooled friends, we often share the same values such as modesty, respectfulness, and following Christ, so we do not usually have to worry about clashing ideas.  Since most of my friends write stories or poems, we enjoy sharing them with each other, and editing one another’s stories.  Also, I get to be with my family all the time.  This may sound funny because brothers and sisters are not generally known to be the best of friends all the time.  I know that I am not always a good friend to my siblings, but I am very glad that my parents decided to homeschool me so that I can be with my family all the time.  If I went to public school, I would be separate from them for most of the day, only seeing them when I returned home from school.  We have lots of fun playing games, making up our own stories, and working on projects together.  One of my favorite worthwhile projects that we did was building a fence for our backyard with my two brothers and my grandpa.  Because homeschooling allows our schedule to be flexible, we did this for a whole week during April.  Even though we had fun, we learned a lot about fencing and mixing cement!  Mom said it was our school for the week.  Also, we get to go on occasional field trips to places like the Science Center, Creation Museum, Zoo, or Museum of Flight.  Going to the Museum of Flight is a special treat because my father knows a lot about airplanes as he works as an engineer at Boeing.  He can explain about most of the fascinating details of the airplanes there, and even some things in the Space exhibit.  Doesn’t everyone want their own private museum guide?

            Homeschooling can also be more educational than public schools are.  This is the most common reason why more people have been homeschooling recently.  The increase in the homeschooling rate of all students (from 1.7 \% in 1999 to 2.9 \% in 2007) represents a 74 \% relative increase over the 8-year period.  That’s about 1.5 million homeschoolers!  In public school, there is usually only one teacher for twenty to thirty students.  Yet for homeschool, there is one teacher for only a few students..  Public school students have definite deadlines and everyone has to move up together.  In my experience, homeschoolers go at their own pace, moving on only when they have grasped the subject completely.  Also homeschoolers are pretty flexible.  We can take days off, provided we make up for the missed days.  Deadlines can occasionally be extended, as long as parents know the circumstances and agree to extend them.  Teaching and learning are not limited to school hours.  Just the other night, we were sitting at the dinner table talking about why there was hostility between the Japanese and Koreans.  My mother, who is Japanese, started telling us about the events leading up to World War II, and the Japanese lust for power.  It was very interesting, and I left the table with a better understanding of it.

            Finally, homeschooling can help families spiritually.  First, we develop close relationships with our families.  It is always our custom, as a family, to gather in the morning for a time of devotionals by singing hymns of praise to God and reading the Bible.  This brings us closer to God, and in the process, closer to each other.  This would be nearly impossible in a public school.  Teachers are not supposed to mention Christianity, and students are ridiculed if they bring it up.  Homeschooling often results in good values, such as respect, modesty, serving, and in Christian families, defending their faith.  There are exceptions of course.  However, I think the only way to truly succeed in homeschooling is to have a God-centered attitude.   I think homeschoolers strive to serve as a family.  When people can observe others obeying God’s will and serving as a family, it makes them want to know more about their belief, because in our society nowadays, families do not always work together to serve a common purpose.      

            I strongly suggest that everyone in the nation should homeschool their children. Homeschooling is the way to go for everyone who wants good education for their children, lasting values, and fun experiences into the bargain.  I can never thank my parents enough for homeschooling me, making sure that I have the right worldview, teaching and disciplining me with incredible patience, and showing me how to honor God with my life.