Homeschooled

So today I went out with my mom, we enjoyed ourselves, even though my husband, Colin was not feeling well at home.

While we were out, a woman came up to us to sell homemade candles with a wooden wick inside. The jars were re used better homes and gardens. She was just around in the parking lot trying to sell them for $20. We told her we didn't have that, so she said she'd take $10. I asked if it was going to anything special and she mentioned that she is trying to buy supplies for her kids because she is home schooling them. Her and her kids made them together.

I bought one for $10.

I was a home schooled kid, my mom took me out of school after 6th grade. When I have kids, I plan on doing the same. Back then, there wasn't alot of stuff one could do for homeschooling so my mom did what she thought was best. We would often drive 3 hours to the closest Barnes and Nobles and she would look for educational stuff for me, her friend helped me with science and art, my dad tried to help me with math and PE. When we moved to NC in 2003, she attempted to find homeschooling programs for me. She found a few, but each was a bust and the kids were mean.

We traveled alot for business, so I learned how to read maps, she showed me what signs were what, I learned how to handle money, and that when we sold things to shops, I learned business.

On the business trips, my mom would take us to a museum or battle fields or aquariums and such and she would send me in with assignments. What to look for, what to write an essay on, what I learned. I would take notes and later take photos of the experience. 

Our business was that we were in the gem and mineral business, so I learned alot about minerals, we had a quartz crystal mine, so I learned about mine safety and first aid at the age of 11.

When I was also 11, she taught me a few cooking basics, so later on, I was always testing something in the kitchen on my own, however my mom was always near if I had a question. I was doing my own personal home ec class. I learned how to hand sew, even though the sewing machine hates me, and my dad taught me how to take things apart and put them back together. He showed me computers and how to fix them and put new stuff in it as a new harddrive and routine cleaning. He also showed me how to install things on the computer and how to de-bug it and go into the system manually use codes to fix things. I've used this skill ALOT, people come to me to fix their stuff and I get calls on what to do.

I had a garden and attempted to grow my own stuff. I loved herbs the most as they were easiest, peppers were fun, I didn't like tomatoes then, so I didn't try to grow them. Flowers and salad greens hated me. I'm alot better at growing, but salad greens I just can't grow, but I can grow kale!

I had a fish tank and learned about the fish and their habitat, my dad and brother taught me how to clean it out, about water PH and such.

Later, my mom's friend who taught me art opened a coffee shop and I learned new system computers, how to balance things and money, she even helped teach me how to drive.

I learned horse back riding and my dad was also a jeweler would show me how facet and cut stones.

To many I seemed like I did nothing, I slept in, sometimes because at night my dad and I were outside and he was showing me the stars, what they were, and such, and we would go fishing and he would also teach me about bugs and animals and the woods. I wasn't much for hiking and he thought it would be cool to stay hidden while I felt lost for 2 hours. He said he never left me though, he wanted to see if I could do anything he had taught me. I got home and then cried to mom how he left me, even though he was right behind me.

My mom's friend also taught me how to make candles, as well, as much as this woman selling candles.

Later when I got my first real job, many told me to get on food stamps, my mom at first was against it, I only had that job few a months, but she wanted me to learn how much food costs were and how much my clothes were and things I wanted, so when I would run out of a paycheck, she would give me values and learn to send things on what I need and not what I want, but to also learn to put away some rainy day money to get something special for myself.

I later got my GED, learned everything about math I could learn, I finished the first 4 tests with a breeze, but math had me stay for almost two years, because I wanted to catch up on everything I hated and learn more. I later grew to love it and do math at home for fun.

So when this woman said home schooling, I was automatically for it. Luckily her kids and many others today have access to the internet and can learn so much more. But supplies and trips to museums and such still cost stuff that sometimes we can't afford.

And so many kids these days aren't being taught values and real things. One of her reasoning's was also because they took God out of schools, well okay, you are in your religious right to do that.

I'm not religious, many of the kids I met when I went to school or at home school programs, they were very religious and some kids threw stones at me, literally, I once said oh my god and one of the programs kicked me out and deemed me a defiler or a witch.  My dad is Wiccan and my mom is Spiritual even though she was raised a Catholic. I have my own values, each and all religions I treasure. My husband now is a atheist/spiritual/heathen. At the same time I talk about God or the Goddess or mother nature, I'm also talking about Arch Angel Michael, who I feel is always with me or Thor (during storms), I also have been known to talk to the universe, I think if there are that many gods and goddesses, then speaking to the universe is talking to them all. Many identify me as pagan and that's ok. I like their customs and respect and the holidays. I think learning about all the diverse religions we have is a great thing to learn, I think it teaches us respect for all, and does not make one judgmental. But so many don't think the way I do, or do they? I guess I haven't found them yet.

Anyways, do you home school and what do you do think? Were you home schooled? I wish I had alot of materials back then that we have today.  Do you think the same? Do you think its too early to introduce religion to children? I think we need to start teaching kids today what is important because alot of schools are taking that away.

While going over this post for an edits, I find that homeschooling was my favorite time and memories, I got to spend it with my family and I learned so much. I may not have had much luck with friends, and hopefully my kids in the future will have more openings in the area due to more people homeschooling.