Homeschool Hangout Bookstore
Rugged Gear for the Homeschool Adventure
Collin Weeks (at age 19)
Introduction
Q: How many siblings do you have?
C: Two younger sisters
Q: How long have you homeschooled?
C: All my life
Q: What are your hobbies/ your favorite things to do?
C: I love working on my car and spending time with family and friends.
Now about your homeschool experience
Q1: Do you know why your parents are homeschooling you?
C: We began homeschooling because we needed a way to keep me in school while we moved around. We continued because we felt it gave me a great chance to excel and be flexible where I needed to. Unfortunately, we are extremely saddened by the state of our public schools and refuse to allow our family to be subjected to public education. Education and values are too important to be left to chance in a public institution.
Q2. Do you like homeschooling and why?
C: I think that it has allowed me to develop more freely and to grow in many ways that my peers lack. I enjoy the time I spend on subjects that I like and I enjoy the time I spend learning how I learn best. Many people forget that most of school is to learn how to learn and keep learning throughout life.
Q3. Do you think you miss anything by not going to school like other students do?
C: Of course, I miss the bad atmosphere and the pathetic values of peer pressure. Nevertheless, that is not what you want to know. The things I missed were things such as exposure to ignorant people and the common atmosphere of peer pressure. I have spent a great part of my life completely free of peer pressure… so I had to develop more ways to gauge my success and values; this is where my family and friends come into play. They gave me the solid foundation I needed to succeed in life and the confident support of adults not peers that value the more important things in life such as honesty and hard work, not the admiration of children. The major thing I see myself lacking is the knowledge of how the majority of children see life. This may not be an inherently bad thing, yet it is something to be noted and aware of.
Q4. Have you been enrolled in any school, classes, or supplemental programs to further your basic education? (Do not talk about sports groups, music lessons or things of that nature in this question. We’ll get to that in the next question.) Describe the general nature of the program or school that you visited and make an assessment how it has complemented your education and how it compares to your homeschool experience.
C: My experiences out of the home are in homeschool groups and college classes. I did science labs with a local group and enjoyed seeing how others solved problems. A highly enriching experience that I believe every homeschooler needs. In latter high school years I went to a local college and Oglethorpe Univ. Both places I took English and greatly broadened my horizons, experience, and skill. I would highly suggest taking classes out of the home alongside of home classes.
Q5. Are you involved in any other groups/activities outside the home? What do you do and how often per week? (Talk about sports, music, church, club activities or what have you).
C: In my early high school time, I swam 6 days a week at Dynamo Swim Club. This form of physical exercise is essential to a good student because it gives the necessary physical exercise needed to be healthy both mentally and physically. I also take great enjoyment from paintball and enjoy it on the odd weekend.
Q6. What do your relatives (grandparents, aunts and uncles) think about you being homeschooled?
C: My father’s side differs form my mother’s side on their opinion of homeschooling.
My father’s side believes that a distinctly unique education is an essential part
to learning. This is in contrast to my mother’s side where they are concerned with
the exposure to the “out-
Q7. Do you think that your education is as good as that of other students and what makes you think so?
C: From what I have seen in my time in college I have got exactly what I worked for; I am good at what I put effort into and usually succeed above and beyond my peers mostly because of the subjects not taught in school like a moral foundation and effort with good study habits. The subject material that I learned is the same in principle as any other average student, however, I have the chance for greater success because I personally put effort in and made myself learn; I took responsibility for my own education. Unfortunately, that is something that many don’t do.
Q8. What do you think are the greatest advantages of homeschooling?
C: Homeschooling gives the family and the child a chance to drive their own lives in a direction that they see fits them. It is a truly custom chance to live life to its fullest and grow as needed and desired.
Q9. What are the greatest challenges in homeschooling?
C: The hardest part to homeschooling is different from family to family. For me and my family it was the human part…we had to learn how to deal with each other and had to work together to succeed at learning. The actual subjects are rarely a problem; it is an easily resolved problem with books and tutors or other teachers. For some students the problem is them, they need the motivation to succeed and learn. This can be achieved through time and personal exploration; many times all the student needs is the feeling of actual learning achievement in an area that they see useful and enjoy.
Q10. Do you find it easy or hard to learn at home and what would you want to change to make it better?
C: I see the home as a chance for personal acceptance and a safe place to learn freely. Don’t misunderstand me, the learning should not be limited to the home but should include a balance of external and internal learning.
Q11. 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?
C: I see the need for homeschooling to be ever growing as long as the public education system continues to perform antiquated teaching and “learning”. I would love to homeschool my children and would like to get more classes externally form a slightly younger age. I would start in late middle school and continue all the way through high school in tandem with continued home classes.
Q12. Do you know already how many children you would like to have one day? If you haven’t thought about it, maybe because you are still young, don’t worry about it and just write ‘I don’t know’.
C: I would love to have as many as I could provide for. The more the merrier J
Q13. 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)?
C: I would tell them that they must find it within themselves to want to better themselves. Homeschooling is a very independent education that requires great deal of personal responsibility and drive from both you and your parents. “Effort” is all I need say.
Q14. 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?
C: I desired to learn the subjects that I would need in college and in life. I believe that I have achieved this because I do not feel inadequately prepared in any way.
Q15. When do you think you’ll graduate (at what age) and what will be the deciding factor for that?
C: I graduated at 18, this is mostly because I completed all that I needed for college application and moved on to higher education.
Q16. 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?
C: I don’t even think that I had any sort of celebration… it’s just not something that I really do. If I did have the chance, I don’t think that I would really enjoy it because I am not graduating anything… I am beginning something… life and college.
Q17. 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?
C: I am currently enrolled in college at North Georgia College & State University. I also just got back form Basic and AIT at Fort Knox Armor School. I am in the armed forces so that I can pursue my goal of becoming an Army officer. My homeschooling experience has uniquely prepared me for the challenges of life ahead and I look forward to living my life at 100%.
© 2006 Homeschool Hangout Bookstores
Email Webmaster click here
If you are a homeschool student and are about to graduate or have graduated already and would like to participate in this written interview, please send us an email and we’ll forward the interview questions to you. We will read your interview and consider it for publication on our web site. However, we do not promise that we will publish the interview. That decision is at our sole discretion.
Subject: HS Interview