(at age 25)

(Q = Question, J = Jonathan's answer)

Q: Where do you live?   J: Wisconsin

Q: How many siblings do you have?  J: 3

Q: How long have you homeschooled?

J: I was homeschooled from preschool all the way through high school (14 years)

Q: What are your hobbies/ your favorite things to do?

J: Currently, my favorite activities are reading, swing dancing, playing basketball, playing the piano, and fellowshipping with friends (which could involve any number of additional activities).

Q: How many books do you read in a year (make a guess)?

J: It depends on the size of the book and a number of other factors. I haven’t ever tracked how many books I’ve read in a year, but at my current rate… maybe 15-20 (in addition to Scripture). That’s just a wild guess.

Q: Do you know why your parents are homeschooling you?

J: There are a lot of reasons why I was homeschooled, but the most important reason (by far) has to do with our worldview. Since we believe that God’s word (all of it, from cover to cover) influences every area of life, no training that we receive is neutral. God is the source of all truth, and you either learn that through a distinctly biblical education or you learn from an atheistic worldview by default. There was not a chance that my parents would have ever sent me to be educated by the heathen.

Q: Do you like homeschooling and why?

J: I love homeschooling – first and foremost for the reasons mentioned in my previous answer. As a result of being in a home setting, my siblings and I were able to learn together in a safe environment (spiritually and in every other way).
 
Another reason I really appreciated my homeschooling is that I learned “how to learn”. Homeschool parents are often asked whether or not they have any credentials to teach. However, I believe that such credentials can sometimes have a crippling affect on students in that it causes them to be dependent on the person that they believe is “the expert”. The main goal of my parents was to get me to the point where I could study and learn new things on my own. They checked my work and made sure that I was doing what I was supposed to be doing, but that was about as much involvement as was necessary past a certain point in my life.

Ironically, the other thing that I liked about homeschooling is the balanced “socialization” I received (I consider this ironic because many people see this as the downside to homeschooling). I was able to talk to, learn from, and respect people of various ages and walks of life (at church, around our neighborhood, through various groups we were part of and events that we attended, etc.) This in my view is far superior to the “social experiment” that you see in schools that will not be duplicated anywhere else in life. Quite frankly, I would much rather be around people that are older than myself, because there’s so much more I can learn from them (and I’ll end up getting into far less mischief).

I also appreciated the flexibility that my parents had in terms of what they taught us, how our day was scheduled, when we were able to schedule family vacations, etc.

There are numerous other reasons I appreciated my homeschooling experience, but these are just a few examples.

Q: Do you think you miss anything by not going to school like other students do?

J: Not a thing.

Q: Have you been enrolled in any school, classes, or supplemental programs to further your basic education?

J: During high school (and a little before that), I went to a few classes taught by my pastor. He taught history, economics, logic, and one or two other things from a biblical perspective. I cannot express how much I appreciated this training and how much I learned from it. History truly comes alive when you see the working of God through it all. His class in particular really taught me to recognize the cyclical nature of history and the way that God matures His church over time (as well as our constant propensity to forget Him and repeat many of the same mistakes of the past). Economics taught me to see the proper function of money as a commodity that is (like many other things) a means to an end. If it’s used responsibly, it’s an important part of a Godly society. If it’s abused, it can be a horror (as we see today). Logic taught me to see the orderly nature of the universe and the fact that only the Christian worldview makes any logical sense – because God is its source to begin with.

There were a few other courses that I participated in over the years. I remember taking a drama course of some sort from a woman that we knew in the homeschool community, and I also took a writing course through correspondence with another Christian woman.

I never really participated in anything that “replaced” my homeschool experience. The closest thing to a larger school setting that I experienced was my pastor’s tutorial, but this was still relatively small, and he knew all of us very well. We were all personally accountable in many ways that we might not have been in a regular school, and once again… the proper foundation was laid from the beginning.

I found these programs advantageous because they allowed us to learn from and interact with other people that were extremely knowledgeable and skilled in their areas of study. In the case of the drama course, I would have been able to practice certain things that would have been more difficult to accomplish at home (without other people to practice with). When it came to my pastor’s tutorial, we were blessed to learn from someone whose accumulated and systematized knowledge surpassed what I likely could have read in the same period of time reading various books and stumbling upon kernels of knowledge “here and there”.

Q: Are you involved in any other groups/activities outside the home? What do you do and how often per week?

J: I was not heavily involved with sports throughout my school years, but I did take swimming lessons every Saturday morning for a number of years. At some point, I also took tennis lessons. Both were from one of the local park and rec departments.

I took piano lessons for a good portion of my life – first from my mom and then from another teacher (my mom’s lessons were somewhat sporadic, but I started taking lessons weekly when I went to someone else). That was probably the most consistent thing I did throughout the years. In addition to that, I’ve sung in various choirs throughout the years, including my church choir.

I wasn’t really involved in any clubs or anything of that nature, although we were involved briefly in a couple homeschool organizations. My youngest brother is now involved in a homeschool sports organization and has played baseball, flag football, and soccer.

I participated at church in various ways. We never believed in “youth group” type activities (we considered it, like an organized school setting, to be “a bunch of kids of the same age getting together and sharing their ignorance”). However, we did have a Sunday school program, and I was catechized for a number of years before being confirmed. In addition to that, I was usually eager to participate whenever there was an opportunity to help someone less fortunate (or elderly) in the church with various things that needed to be done.

Q: What do your relatives (grandparents, aunts and uncles) think about you being homeschooled?

J: My relatives on my dad’s side (pretty much all of them) were supportive, because they held a Christian worldview, and they understood our convictions (even if they didn’t always share them themselves).

My mom’s parents were rather concerned when we started homeschooling that we wouldn’t get a quality education. At some point, they decided that we would be just fine after all… but only because my mom was doing a good job “teaching” us (the assumption being that many other parents wouldn’t be able to do as good a job). They never really understood the concept of homeschooling and its advantages, mostly because it was something that was unfamiliar to them and they didn’t have the biblical worldview that allowed them to make sense of it.

The rest of my mom’s family were curious and wanted to hear about what we were doing, but they never really expressed any firm conviction one way or the other (whether they formed one in private is unknown to me). I’m sure they just saw it as a personal choice that we made that had little impact on them.

Q: Do you think that your education is as good as that of other students and what makes you think so?

J: I would consider it far better. First of all, I learned all of what I learned based on a biblical worldview. Not acknowledging this reality (or at least this possibility) actually impedes progress in number of areas (science is the first that comes to mind). Many of my peers that I’ve observed since I’ve finished school are in many ways confused about life because they lack a proper foundation for understanding it. As I’ve heard it put in the past, 2+2 is an eternal mystery if you reject 4 as the answer.

In addition, my parents maintained a certain standard of excellence that even exceeded their level of education. In fact, it was their goal for us to surpass them in knowledge. Thus, they wouldn’t settle for mediocrity.

These “theories” (if you wish to see them that way) have been proven over and over again, both statistically and by personal experience. I attended more than one college, one of which was an offshoot of the University of Wisconsin system. I can tell you first hand that most of my peers lacked the educational advantage that I have been blessed with. There were numerous classes that I participated in where I was bored to tears while most of the other students struggled for survival. One secular ethics course that I took was a particularly enlightening experience – most of the students had no idea what the instructor was talking about, while I not only knew what he was trying to say but was actually able to argue effectively against his theories.

I don’t say all this because I’m some sort of prodigy (quite the contrary… I know quite a few homeschoolers that make me look like I’m still in grade school) but because public education standards are so incredibly low.

Q: What do you think are the greatest advantages of homeschooling?

J: I already stated a number of them in #2, but I’ll expand on a comment that I made toward the end of that answer when it comes to flexibility.

One of the many things that are beneficial about homeschooling is the ability to work one on one with individual students and customize their education to be as beneficial as possible for each of them. In terms of scheduling, you’re able to take longer periods of time to focus on certain subjects rather than taking an hour of one subject and then completely shifting gears to something completely different. When it comes to what each child learns, you’re able to determine the strengths, weaknesses, and interests of each child. If a child is weak in an area that’s of the utmost importance, you can give them more practice so that they improve in that area. In areas that are slightly more “optional”, you can cater to and further develop the natural talents that God has given them. If a child is a slow learner overall, you can slow things down a bit. On the other hand, if a child things up more quickly, he/she doesn’t have to wait for “the rest of the class” to progress before learning more.

Q: What are the greatest challenges in homeschooling?

J: The biggest challenge that my mom faced in facilitating our education was her ability to check our work and stay on top of what she was expecting us to do in some of the more advanced subjects during high school. Math in particular became difficult, because the answers often came in multiple forms (all of which were correct), and she at some point lost her ability to be able to tell when we had the right answer. In our family, this challenge was overcome by the involvement of my dad, who majored in math in college. However, one does not necessarily need to have a math expert “in house” as we did… specific tutorials are often available for certain subjects, sometimes older kids can help teach the younger ones, and there are a number of other alternatives that homeschoolers have employed throughout the years.

Q: Do you find it easy or hard to learn at home and what would you want to change to make it better?

J: I think one of the biggest factors that determine how easy or hard it is to learn (whether you’re at home or in a school away from home) is what kind of discipline is provided by your parents, your teachers, and yourself. I was able to gain some additional perspective on this in college when it came to distance learning courses as opposed to a classroom setting. Some of the distance learning courses that I took employed a “work at your own pace” concept, which was naturally more difficult because it required enough self-discipline to do a certain amount every day. However, home education really has the advantage in this area, because parents are able to give their children more or less freedom over time and eventually wean them off of the mandatory structure that’s important earlier in life (the goal being for them to become more self-disciplined and self-sufficient). I think that this individual attention made things easier for me when I was at home, because my parents were there to make sure I stayed on track and yet knew when and how to let me go so that I could become more responsible on my own.

Other than that, I don’t see that it was any easier or harder to learn at home as opposed to away from home (I say this with my college experience now behind me, but with little knowledge of pre-college public or private schools). The only thing that I can say is that in college, I tended to learn less from a classroom setting than I did from a distance learning course. This is mostly because it was easy to miss things that were being said in a lecture, whereas reading allowed me to go over things a little more thoroughly. In addition, it seemed like anyone who operated a distance learning course tended to give more homework because of the fact that you weren’t spending as time listening to lectures. These latter comments likely represent an isolated experience, but that is what I found.

I can’t think of anything that I would change to make home education easier or better. Many of the principles that I’ve seen employed by my parents and others have been time-tested, and I likely wouldn’t change much. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of time to think about such things, however, as I get closer to having a family of my own.

Q: Do you think that you will homeschool your own children one day? If yes, how do you want to improve the homeschooling experience for your own children compared to your own?

J: I can’t ever see myself putting my children in a Christian school (although they have their place), and I would NEVER allow them to be placed in a public school unless I was coerced to do so (and even then I would fight tooth and nail). “Over my dead body” is the expression that comes to mind when it comes to public schools.

I haven’t put a tremendous amount of thought into ways that I might improve upon my homeschooling experience. For the most part, I would consider the way my parents carried out my education to be faithful to the biblical model. However, one thing I would seek to instill in my children a bit more is a sense of day-to-day consistency and the importance of starting off the day right. I believe that “early to bed and early to rise” is an important concept, and scheduling devotions first thing in the morning is essential. My parents greatly encouraged it, but I would seek to make it the one thing my family can’t live without.

Q: What would be some of the advice you would give other homeschoolers if they were to ask you (a neighbor kid, for example, who is considering homeschooling or a younger homeschooler)?

J: From the child’s perspective, it’s likely that many kids would crave the “socialization experience” offered by regular schools. When it comes to that, I don’t know exactly what I’d say that might sway them, mostly because that never held the same allure to me that it did to many of my peers. However, I would certainly try to get them to see the advantages of homeschooling as I see them. In particular, I would warn them about the perils of placing their minds under the tutelage of those that hate God.

In terms of actual in-school advice, I’d tell them first and foremost to get over their dislike of math (most kids don’t seem to like it, but it’s extremely important). I’d also advise them to read a LOT of their own free will, because this habit will benefit them for the rest of their lives.

Other than that, I guess it would depend on what kind of advice they’re looking for. I’d need to ask a few more questions to understand their situation and what they’re wanting to know before I’d presume to offer advice.

Q: Do you have any particular goal that you would like to accomplish in your home school? Tell us about it. What do you think your chances are of reaching that goal?

J: I’ve come to the recent conviction that if there’s anything I would want to accomplish, it would be making the study of the Bible the first priority in my home (to be done before everything else). It was always the stated priority in my home when I was a kid, but I would seek to surpass my parents’ already excellent example in this area. If I don’t accomplish this goal, I’ll run the risk of setting the opposite precedent, and it’ll be that much easier for my kids to abandon the faith when they grow older.

Beyond that, I would seek to establish a solid foundation in the basic areas of academics that every child needs – particularly “reading, writing, and arithmetic” (as the old expression goes). As offshoots of those general categories, I would also seek to develop specific disciplines that I would consider to be important for children to learn (science, economics, logic, history, and any other area that involves an application of God’s law to everyday life). It’s highly likely that my children would all learn to play the piano, since music is a blessing that God gave us all to enjoy, and the piano is one of the most fundamental instruments that teaches you how to study music. Beyond that, I would seek to discern what areas my children are particularly gifted in and develop those talents to the best of my ability.

Relying my own strength, I don’t stand a chance of succeeding in these areas as well as I would like. With God’s help, I’ll accomplish what’s required of me.

Q: When do you think you’ll graduate (at what age) and what will be the deciding factor for that?

J: This is not applicable for me – I graduated in the fall of 2007.

Q: Are you going to participate in a graduation ceremony with other homeschoolers when it’s your turn or is that going to be a celebration in your immediate family?

J: I celebrated mostly with immediate family, but we did have a graduation party and invited a number of church friends and extended family to celebrate with me as well. I understand that there are homeschool organizations that offer the full graduation “experience”, but this was not particularly important to me at the time.

Q: What do you want to do once you graduate from homeschool? Or if you have graduated already, what are you doing today and how does it relate to your homeschooling experience?

J: In a general sense, I work with computers. Specifically, I service both standalone computers as well as servers and network equipment (I maintain both software and hardware). I also do some web-based programming on the side. Computers always represented an area where I had quite a bit of interest, but much of the success that I’ve had in this field can be attributed to the solid education I received. In particular, the heavy emphasis that my parents placed on math taught me how to think and how to reason logically. This strength shows up particularly in the area of programming, which involves a lot of logical thought and problem-solving skills. I also aced any class that involved the application of math to technology (TCP/IP, computer algorithms, etc.)