Busting the Myths – Part 2

Myth – Because you were home schooled, you will never  be able to go to college or get a decent job.

Reality – FALSE! I am walking proof of this one folks! It frustrates me because the myth is the complete opposite. I was home schooled from mid-6th grade through 12th grade. After that, I attended college, then decided to obtain my masters (and finished a 2.5 year degree in THREE semesters). Since I have finished college, I have not given up the dream of obtaining my doctorate, but first, I need to pay down some student loans. One day, it will happen!

But let’s tackle jobs. I have a few. I teach college courses online, and have done so for the past six years. I enlisted into the Army Reserves, am currently in process of pursuing my dream of becoming an officer, and of course, you can catch me here on the blog! I can work through books helping editors find the mistakes that they might have missed the first go around (this is a great perk of being a book nerd by the way). I get FREE books out of it! Pretty awesome! I also just read and review books online for them. I now home school my children, and cannot wait to see what the future holds for them!

Home schooling can be daunting. I will not lie to you. There are days that you wonder how much of it is really going to be worth it. Not every child is cut out for college, and that is OKAY! Some work better with their hands. There is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Whether you decide that you want to make a career out of the military, do something that will take the world by storm, or just be YOU, it will all fall into place. I talk to my children now about what they might want to do when they get older. This will change 10-15 times before they finally get to the point of where they end up, however, talking to them now and pointing out the importance of certain subjects helps. I have one who wants to “fly those whirly birds” but he hates to read. He is also 7. As we were sitting there one afternoon struggling through a passage he needed to work out, I just simply let him know that if he could not read, he could not fly a helicopter.  At the end of a long day, its the little victories that bring it all home. That one word that they struggled over but can now decipher, or that math problem that had them in tears, but they got right once they calmed down and worked it out.. those are the little awesome bits that can make you smile as you tell them “YOU CAN DO THIS! I BELIEVE IN YOU!”

Not every child who is home schooled is a child prodigy,and guess what.. IT’S OKAY! We all have things we struggle with. Unfortunately, not all of us are cut out like the geniuses from television. Working through issues and finding the switch that flips that light bulb on can be a search, but once its flipped.. watch out world! They just might surprise you…..