I was eight years old when I first asked my mom about why some kids had to ride the bus to school every day and I didn’t. “Not everyone goes to school from home like you,” she smiled. “A lot of kids go to traditional school, learning with teachers for hours out of the day, and that’s how they learn.” I was curious. I remember my next question being, “Do they like it?”
The only thing “traditional” about my schooling was my time in front of the whiteboard, where I practiced vocabulary and math problems. I spent most of my days taking trips to local libraries and museums, studying online, having hands-on experiences, journaling, and designing a schedule that worked for me. By the time high school hit, self-directed education was my main mode of learning, and I spent my time building businesses, volunteering, doing independent research, learning skills like coding and animation, working on short documentaries, and taking AP and college courses when conventional classes got too easy. Anything was possible, and as a neurodivergent learner, that made all the difference in the world.
You could easily think I “missed out” on some valuable experiences that most children in America grow up having in public school. But between the four-hour school days and being grades ahead in certain subjects by the time I hit middle school, I don’t think I missed out on too much. In fact, I’d argue that the way I was educated taught me an important lesson about the value of education.
I graduated from my homeschool program in 2020, meaning I was just finishing high school by the time most of the world started to see homeschooling as anything more than a novelty or fringe movement during the pandemic. For me, homeschooling was simply a way of living, my life, and I couldn’t understand until later on in my teen years how much of a privilege that was.
My parents were both educators, and they raised me and my brother with the understanding that the right to learn and feel capable had to be fought for, and it was up to us to carry on that legacy bravely. It was my parents who instilled in us the desire to learn for the sake of learning, finding joy in our interests and investing in ourselves to grow and achieve. From an early age, I learned that a good education breeds self-sufficiency and success, and my high school years were especially formative to character-building, career development, and goal-setting. I would have never understood the power of unconventional education or become an advocate for it without being homeschooled K through 12. Homeschooling during the high school years is not only possible; it can be extremely influential and life-changing. Entrepreneur-In-Residence Kym Kent’s latest FEE publication, Homeschooling to College and Career, showcased similar themes.
This is also why I recently authored/edited a book for FEE called Generation HomeschoolED: A Collection of Essays from Unconventionally Schooled Learners and Alumni Across the Country, in which I and twelve other homeschooled students and alumni discuss the impact homeschooling has had on our lives. I encourage you to read it and see all of the amazing stories of young people whose education challenged the norms of society and helped them become powerful emerging leaders, innovators, and educators.
In the US, unconventional education has long been a part of our past, shaping presidents and building the leaders of the future. Now, it’s becoming an even bigger part of our future, changing the way we see education and learning. Homeschooling through high school is possible, and now, more than ever, I realize how powerful it can truly be.
This article originally appeared on FEE’s Education Entrepreneurship Lab website.
The post Empowered Learning: How Homeschooling Through High School Helped Me Thrive was first published by the Foundation for Economic Education, and is republished here with permission. Please support their efforts.
