If you could do YOUR own education over, what would you change?

[Michelle in MO]

And, how has this influenced the way that you've tried to educate your own children?

 

Percytruffle said under Jane's thread something which I've often said: Education sometimes seems wasted on the young. At least, in my case, I didn't appreciate at the time the value or necessity of what I was being taught, or I missed opportunities I should have grabbed onto, but because of my own immaturity or whatever I failed to do so.

 

I'll start. My elementary and junior high education were fine---we lived in Minnesota, in a fairly decent school system.

 

My parents were divorced when I was in high school, so that definitely colored my choices for the next 8-10 years. I was a good student--but didn't work as hard as I could have. I wish I had paid better attention in my math classes and in physics. I learned math well enough to get A's and B's, but not well enough to really understand it, kwim? (That reminds me of an article by Jeff Baldwin, but that would be a digression.) I thought physics was dumb, and only now do I appreciate it---mostly through biographies of famous scientists. When I read why they enjoy physics or biology or whatever field they're in, I catch a glimpse of the passion they have for the subject, so I appreciate it more!

 

I hated P.E. in high school, and a combination of that loathing, plus the fact that my dear father (with whom I was somewhat estranged from at the time) wanted me to attend St. Olaf College, made me choose a large university---the University of Minnesota. They didn't have a P.E. requirement. (Only an immature 18-year-old, like I was, would think that way!) Now I wish I'd gone to St. Olaf. It's a great school (don't get me wrong---the U of M is, too, for different things!) and they have a wonderful choir. Had I made it in their choir, that would have been a great experience!

 

I wish I'd studied Latin when I was younger---the verbs and their conjugations and various permutations would have been so much easier to remember!

 

I wish I'd gone to grad. school earlier, which was urged on me several times when I was in school.

 

Above all, I guess I've hoped to pass along to my girls more of an appreciation for subjects that they don't enjoy---be it P.E. or math or science or whatever---and I hope especially that they don't make some of the same mistakes that I did! Perhaps that's unrealistic, though. We're all going to make mistakes, and we do learn a lot from those mistakes. I hope for them, though, that they're not afraid to embrace the opportunities that come their way, and that they're able to recognize their own unique gifts and talents and pursue them with some passion.

[Julie Herbster]

I was educated (K-12) in a very strict private Christian school with high academic standards. In elementary school we recited and memorized everything: phonics charts, long Scripture passages, math tables, important American speeches and documents, every English word list imaginable (I can still recite most of these things; they are so ingrained in my mind). We even learned Greek and Latin roots! A Beka was the curriculum used most.

 

I feel like I received a quality education in jr. high and high school. If the school was weak anywhere, it was probably in science. My biology class was a joke, but physics, anatomy and physiology, and chemistry were fine. I learned to write well and developed a broad range of interests (probably due more to my parents' encouragement than to the school). I participated in varsity sports, drama, and music (band, choir, vocal ensemble) and had opportunity to compete in several state and national contests.

 

Upon graduation, I attended Bob Jones University, where I was challenged academically. There, I honed my writing skills and developed interests in history and literature. I received my bachelor of science degree in elementary education, with a minor in music. I got married two weeks after graduation. Since I had already secured a job teaching, I did not go to grad school (no regrets there).

 

My own experiences have had a huge impact on how I educate my kids; I actually try to model what we do after how I was educated. I would never be comfortable "unschooling." The more I look back on my education, the more I realize that the process loosely followed the trivium, progressing from grammar (memorizing facts) to logic (junior high and HS math) to rhetoric (speech and writing courses). I wish history had been presented differently, but in general I have no complaints.

[8filltheheart]

It is amazing, but I received a great education from a small county public school in the middle of tobacco country in NC. Kids literally missed school b/c they were helping pick tobacco.

 

My teachers really taught. My English teacher was tough. We read about 20 novels a yr, wrote essays constantly, and at least 1 or 2 research papers/yr. When I went to college......I thought it was easy after my high school!!

 

In all honesty, I have tried to duplicate the quality (not the form) of my high school experience for my kids.

 

I would not say I regret not going to graduate school......we started our family shortly after college grad. It is a life I would not change. I have been blessed with a great family. :)

 

My biggest regret is not having called a couple of my high school teachers and telling them thank you before they passed away. I know now that they were gems. They enabled me to reach my goals.

[Plaid Dad]

In an ideal world would have been classically homeschooled - Latin from an early age, Greek a bit later. Which probably answers your other question. ;)

[Susan in IL]

I started school when I was 4 so I was one of the young ones. The cutoff date back then was Dec. 1. Academically I was ready but I might have done better if I had waited.

 

I went to one of the best school systems in the state. I was a slacker, I did just enough to get by, paying more attention to the social aspect than the academics. I took the strong college prep track of classes. They taught along the traditional, classical lines, and Latin was offered in high school (I didn't take it). We were taught to read using phonics, knew geography of the world in grade school, did timed math drills constantly, we diagrammed sentences in jr. high, Dolciani were the books used in math, my US history class used what is now a standard AP text, we had a computer in our high school (this was in the late 60's-early 70's when they took up whole rooms) and computer classes. Teachers were tough and had high expectations, the grading scale was 93+ was an A, 88-92=B, and anything under 75=F.

 

I do think that going to a large univiersity was not a good fit for me. I went because of the cost.

 

Hindsight is 20-20 and if I could do it over, I would have worked harder in K-12 and then gone to a small LAC.

 

My education has influenced my hsing and afterschooling. I thought all schools taught what and how I was taught - HA HA!!!

[Myrtle]

Do I get to redo my whole life of just the education part? :D

 

I'd opt for a career path rather than liberal arts (which was not really true liberal arts nor a career choice)

 

I'd go for something like bilingual ed and math, save up enough to buy a 40 foot blue water cruiser, move to Argentina, Spain, or islands in the Pacific, teach there and spend my summers sailing and learning what I want to learn.

[mommaduck]

I'd be the perfect student just to get through and have earned a scholarship to a university FAR, FAR away from my family.

[Peela]

I went to a good private girl's school with a classical bent (eg we had to do a year of Latin) for much of my childhood and in many ways it was a great education.....for my mind...but not for my heart. I was not reached as a person at that school. I am fairly bohemian naturally, i think, because I always remember being like this :), but I felt completely like a fish out of water at that school. I had friends, but i felt my whole education was a waste of time, and I just wanted to grow up and be free of it all. All the constraints, other people telling me what to do. I have always had a strong sense of inner guidance, and disliked outer authority.

 

I would have loved homeschooling, and probably being a natural learner to some extent, with some structure. I would have enjoyed putting my teenage years to more practical use, and I would have thrived if I had been allowed and encouraged to be creative.

The academic stuff was all fine...we read great books (The Hobbit, The Crystal Cave, The Odyssey)...but it wasn't a balanced thing. I wasnt treated as a whole person in a wholesome way, and I really had to repress myself, who I really was, to survive in that environment where everyone seemed to have different goals to me. The kids, too.

 

I probably would have been better off in an alternative school like a Waldorf school where individuals are more catered to, and a "head, heart, hands" approach is taken.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[RoughCollie]

I would love a do-over.

 

Except for lab sciences, I would spend my high school years doing guided independent study, similar to honors classes in college, at a private school.

 

I would major in biology and minor in English in undergraduate school.

 

I would go to an Ivy League medical school and become a surgeon.

 

I wish I'd had the choices and guidance to be able to do this when I was younger. I would still get married, have kids, and homeschool, but I would work part-time while doing so at a career I love.

[Jackie in NE]

My education was your basic public school in a small town education. The actual teaching was good some years, and bad in others. I still fondly remember the "good" teachers.

 

As I answer this question, I am struck by how enmeshed are the areas of parenting and education in my mind. My parents were working so hard that they rarely took notice of what was going on with me. I was smart, and a good student, and still fell in with the "wrong crowd". It was a coach who took notice of my abiilities; and her attention and encouragement shaped my life for years to come.

 

School became secondary to sports. But I knew I had to go to college and get a good job, so I did. Nobody helped me to shape my college choice. I was in a hurry to get done and get out so that I could start making money.

 

Looking back, I wish that someone might have helped me to form a love of learning for the sake of learning. I was an avid reader and writer, but neither of those were encouraged or valued in my home. Only work was valued (and my Mom is a UC Berkeley grad!!). Go figure.

 

So I guess I'm doing a 180 with my own dc. We read for the love of it. I try to provide opportunities for them that I never had. For example my dd and I will be going on the VP scholars online field trip later this month to Washington DC, and Pennsylvania. I hope that things like that will broaden my dc's horizons.

 

We live in a very rural area. (Our local library doesn't even have "The Screwtape Letters!!) It is a constant challenge to find opportunities for enrichment here. I just want my dc to be able to love learning, and to appreciate other cultures. I want them to be able to look at the world and say "Oh, how interesting! I want to try that." Or "Oh, I want to go there and experience that place or that country." I want them to slow down and live, not just exist, as I did.

 

And yes, those goals DO tie in to strong Latin, math, English grammar, and writing skills ;).

 

Thanks for the post. It has been good food for thought.

 

Jackie

[Nan in Mass]

My math was great. I suspect it was the Dolciani people rave over. Science was a waste of time. I wish I'd had Natural History, Conceptual Physics, and some sort of practical, applied chem, and THEN had my college physics and chem. I wish I'd been allowed to read more and talk less in English. It would have been nice if I'd been taught how to write, I suppose, but it was much more fun not knowing; it let me do my expository papers creatively. I wish in college that I'd had time to take lots of extra things, like cryptology, astronomy, lots more anthropology, languages, that Chinese calligraphy class and the natural history one that were 6 credits each and wouldn't fit, artificial intelligence, more computer graphics, more art, and lots and lots of music. You definately can see elements of all this in how i've structured the children's schooling GRIN.

-Nan

[Happy]

What a great question.

 

I enjoyed the academics of school but hated the social aspect. I'd love to have been homeschooled. I became a photographer in junior high and went on to become a self-taught professional as an adult. What fun it would have been to be able to follow that passion through an apprenticeship of some sort.

 

I think I would have loved a unit study approach. That's how I approach my learning these days. I absorb all I can as fast as I can so I can do something with the knowledge...photography, writing, gardening...I would have loved to study history in a similar fashion to what we do here today using Trisms. Taking in the wide sweep of history over several years, enjoying the arts and humanities of a culture or time period, instead of only bits and pieces of a timeline or who fought what wars. I never studied the medieval times or ancient times except for Rome. How can you call a person educated who knows nothing of the Renaissance????

 

My focus would have been on art, history, and language. I loved biology and despised chemistry. What a joy it would have been to wallow in biology until I saw a need for chemistry.

 

I wish I had been less of a number or part of the faceless crowd and more noticed and appreciated. There were 600 people in my graduating class. More coached in my specific skills and talents. My parents were enthusiastic and dedicated, but unaware of some opportunities available. I was the first one in my family to go to college.

 

As it is, I'm delighted that I had a decent education and went to college. If I really had a shot at a do-over, I'd choose to be more focused on my career in the seven years of marriage before children came along. If I'd invested a portion of those earnings so many years ago......wait, we were talking about education, right?

 

I'm grateful that I discovered a passion (photography) that encouraged me to learn, thereby becoming a life-long learner. That's been a huge blessing in my life.

[Michelle in MO]

added here. It seems that in many respects we're all trying to give our kids things that we missed, or else duplicate for them the things that worked.

 

I thought of one more thing to add: I would not have quit piano lessons when I was in high school. I got so busy accompanying school musicals that I called my teacher one day and said, "I quit! I'm just too busy!" She was appalled and very sad! How I wish now that I had at least continued with piano through high school.

 

We all make choices we regret, or else have experienced situations we wish we could have changed. It seems like everyone that's responded, though, is able to see the flaws without huge regrets, which is good. Having regrets in life doesn't always help us to move on and forward into our futures.

[mariah m]

That's easy...I wish I had finished high school! There are many things I'd change if I could about my younger years but I know that God has redeemed the mistakes I made.

 

That's why I'm so dedicated to my kid's education, I guess. I'm grateful for the freedom we have in homeschooling!

[mcconnellboys]

My school system was pretty basic and high school was sub-par. I had a few teachers along the way who were more exceptional in what they offered, but not that many. While I would have liked to have homeschooled, I would not have wanted to do that with either of my parents, sigh, so I guess it's just as well that never came up.....

 

I wish I had been spurred, somehow, to read more good books as I was growing up. I wish that the sorts of children's books we have now had been available to us then. I'm thankful for the good books I did get an opportunity to read along the way. I just saw and thanked my local librarian from my youth, who obtained all the great mythology from around the world that she could put her hands on for me.

 

I wish I'd been given better guidance, or any guidance at all, toward my college path - by either parents or teachers/counselors, but that didn't happen. I'm thankful that the state university I attended, which was the only option ever really held out to me (as my mother attended there and determined that's where I'd go, too) did at least allow me to take honors and higher level classes pretty much as I chose from the beginning, even though I was afraid to join their official honors program. I'm thankful that I happened upon the gentleman who took me under wing and became my major professor, even though he, too, could have been more helpful. I think it was due to him that I was allowed such free reign with my classes. I was also allowed to participate in graduate level research work and given the run of my entire department for most of the time I was there (through the magic skeleton key). I graduated with honors in three years and immediately began my graduate level work.

 

Due to personal difficulties, I was not able to concentrate on that much higher level of work at that time. I'm still sorta sorry that I was never able to accomplish that, but if I had gone on to graduate school, I would probably not now be married with my children, so it's hard to be too sorry about that.

 

The good and bad really do pretty much balance out over time, don't they?

[summer]

I would probably graduate earlier and go to college early. But my situation was different. I believe I had an excellent high school, but my mother had had a brain aneurysm followed by stroke earlier that left her hospitalized for 2 yrs and disabled leaving me to raise myself from that point on. As long as I was on my own anyway, I probably would have been better off going to college while I was still excited about it. But after spending my senior year working 30-40 hrs per week to pay rent and bills and food and starving much of the time, while attending high school full time (taking college level courses in high school), I was too burned out to go off to college the next year. I went, I just did not do as well as I could have. I took all AP level courses in my senior year of high school anyway.

[elegantlion]

I was a smart student, but not very wise. I hated the whole social scene and actually graduated a semester early just to get out of there. I don't think I cracked a book my entire senior year. Part of it was mourning for my AFS friends (foreign exchange) that I had my junior year, and part of it was total apathy for what I was learning.

 

I knew I wasn't going to college and I never bothered to take any upper level courses. My highest science was astronomy, No lit classes. I did take every history class, creative writing, art, 4 years of Spanish, and managed Algebra II (it was a Dolciani text).

 

I would go back and have a mentor. I met my guidance counselor once, to drop a class. It was a large suburban high school and if you didn't seek help, there was no one to offer it.

 

I wish someone could have showed me it was okay to love learning just to learn, not because you were going to college. I would have loved being tutored and allowing my interests to be taken seriously. I was (am) very artistic and that was never considered a career choice in my family.

 

I started a self education when I was a kid. My dad bought old books at auctions and I would grab all the educational ones. I learned negative numbers from an antique book while sitting in the basement. I wish I knew where some of those were now!

 

I started seriously back into my self-education last fall. It's not just to stay ahead of my son, but it is because I've discovered I still want to learn academic things. I enjoy the quote, "It's never too late to be what you might have been."

[Michelle in MO]

I wish I'd been given better guidance, or any guidance at all, toward my college path - by either parents or teachers/counselors, but that didn't happen.

 

and here, too!

 

Due to personal difficulties, I was not able to concentrate on that much higher level of work at that time. I'm still sorta sorry that I was never able to accomplish that, but if I had gone on to graduate school, I would probably not now be married with my children, so it's hard to be too sorry about that.

 

The good and bad really do pretty much balance out over time, don't they?

 

Yes, I think those things do balance out over time---they have in my life. Sometimes, either through homeschooling or other situations, we do get a chance to do some things over! College was not a picnic for me, either, because of family problems at the time. And, I might have been in the same situation---had I gone on to graduate school right away, perhaps so many things would have played out differently.

 

I'm hoping this topic doesn't lead people to feel regretful over past situations, but to reflect on what they might have changed and how our past situation has shaped how we view education today.

 

Thank you for sharing, Regena!

[mcconnellboys]

And now that I'm back, I'll add how this has affected the way in which I've tried to educate my own children:

 

I think I've searched for that excellence and opportunity that I've always felt was missing from my own education. I know that you can lead a horse to water, but can't make him drink and that's been my approach, I guess. I've provided them with the assignments that will lead to learning; the books that are the best for any given situation, in my opinion; the experiences that I think they'll remember; and as many outside learning opportunities as I can arrange.

 

I can't be sure that they've gotten a lot out of that - yet - but I am beginning to see some revelations now that my older son is back in a private school. He regularly critiques the level of work he does now compared to all the things we've always done. He had to see for himself that all the things I've always told him were really true; that I wasn't trying to mislead him in any way in order to "control" him and keep him home, etc. He's quickly come to see that this is true. He's beginning to appreciate some of the learning experiences that he had as a homeschooler, and I hope that will increase as he gets older.

 

My younger son is more introspective than the older and better able to critique his circumstances now, without the need to distance himself from them in order to look back at them. He seems to understand much better the benefits of what we're able to accomplish and doesn't seem interested in going back into some sort of organized school at least at this point in time.

 

My husband and I are very much involved in looking at college options for our older son and discussing those with him; visiting schools; talking to him about the importance of good grades, challenging courses, and ACT/SAT prep, etc. He will not go into college unprepared as I was for that life. He will, of course, make of it what he will. We can only do so much. I'm very glad that Jane just posted that article about who should/should not attend college as this gives me something to discuss with him this weekend. I think it will help him to see why we believe that college is important for him and what he might do with that education.

 

I agree that I hope folks will not have regrets about their past in considering your question. I certainly am not sad that my life has taken the course that I now find myself upon. I am actually quite glad that I did not spend the time or money to go through law school at LSU when I got accepted there. At the time I applied, they only took through one class per year; all admitted fall semester. They were already full for the fall I got accepted and so wanted me to wait to start the next fall. That was during the same year I got my most fun job of all time with the fund, handling medical malpractice cases. I also got pregnant and bought a new, larger house during that year. With the flood of lawyers on the market today who can't find work, I'm very happy that I did not go down that road and incur debt for something I probably would not ever have ended up using.

 

I continue to learn from all the wonderful folks here, and those I know in real life, in my community. I will probably always be involved in learning in some way, whether formally or not. I am beginning to make plans for what I might be doing after my boys move on to other, bigger things!

[ncmomo3]

I was quite adept and memorizing and regurgitating for tests, so I breezed through hs and college, but not knowing anything.

I deeply regret that I wasn't engaged in what was being taught. Hs'ing my dc has shown me how much very much I missed.

[6packofun]

Honestly, if I could change anything it would be to have not moved so often because there are definite gaps in my grammar and math education that are a result of attending 4 different schools during K-6. And, in an ideal world, I wish that ALL of my teachers had loved their jobs and done it well, doing credit to the subject matter. But that's not something you can choose. LOL

 

Otherwise, I feel that I'd change my own attitude about school even when I wasn't being challenged enough. I blew it off too much and then when the harder things came in college, I wasn't used to working hard, putting a lot of time into studying, etc. AND I had never asked for assistance or tutoring before so I was too proud by the time I went to college! I think I would have done much better in higher math had I simply asked for help. :tongue_smilie:

 

I also wish that someone, anyone, including myself, had urged me on to find what I was passionate about and study it well--even on my own. A passion for learning was missing there and I was lost when I got to college. I never learned to think through my educational choices, I just went with the flow.

[Asma_08]

Honestly, if I could change anything it would be to have not moved so often because there are definite gaps in my grammar and math education that are a result of attending 4 different schools during K-6. And, in an ideal world, I wish that ALL of my teachers had loved their jobs and done it well, doing credit to the subject matter. But that's not something you can choose. LOL

 

Otherwise, I feel that I'd change my own attitude about school even when I wasn't being challenged enough. I blew it off too much and then when the harder things came in college, I wasn't used to working hard, putting a lot of time into studying, etc. AND I had never asked for assistance or tutoring before so I was too proud by the time I went to college! I think I would have done much better in higher math had I simply asked for help. :tongue_smilie:

 

I also wish that someone, anyone, including myself, had urged me on to find what I was passionate about and study it well--even on my own. A passion for learning was missing there and I was lost when I got to college. I never learned to think through my educational choices, I just went with the flow.

 

Wow, I could have written exactly what your wrote, I had such a similar experience.

 

If I could do it over there would be a strong emphasis on work ethic, learning for the sake of learning not just for a grade, finding my passion or at least a hobby, something I could master. I would have loved for my parents to be involved in my education, they were not, they just left it up to the schools. I also wish I had spent time on goal setting and envisioning what type of life I wanted to have (marriage, kids, desired income etc). If I had to do it over I would have chosen something in the medical field, pediatrics or pharmacy.

 

My kids are young but my emphasis is on establishing habits of hard work, perseverance, goal orientation. By High school I hope they will have found at least one subject that they love and will hopefully be able to master.

[Christine]

If you could do YOUR own education over, what would you change? And, how has this influenced the way that you've tried to educate your own children?

 

I wouldn't have had "American History" (consisting of Columbus, Jamestown, and the Pilgrims) for the 1st 5 years of school.

 

We studied "world cultures" in 10th grade which was my 1st and only introduction to "world history" -- but it was more their religion and way of life rather than their history.

 

I would have actually learned grammar, and parts of speech other than nouns and verbs. It would have really been nice to learn about punctuation other than those worksheets I had to do over and over (ad naseum) about where to place commas in dates. . .

 

My literature education was fair. . .but I didn't really learn to analyze literature until college (and didn't really learn how to "teach" it, till recently).

 

Personally, as far as my learning went, I didn't like being made fun of for being "smart" in grade school; to the point that I went out of my way to "be dumb". (AND THAT was REALLY DUMB. However, I saw that in my oldest too when he was in school. . .) This is actually seperate from what I was taught though, if that makes sense. Like I think what was offered as far as sciences went was quite good, but I made a point to try and not learn it. The history and English though, really didn't teach much.

 

So, I'm basically changing everything for my kiddoes compared to my education. . .

[Samuel]

-I would have learned a non western language, starting in elementary school, probably Chinese. Romance languages aren't that hard for me, and I learned my second completely in college, but I doubt I'm ever going to "pick up" something that difficult.

-I would have made my self stick with calculus rather than throwing it in the dustbin. It would have made doing stats a lot easier

 

That said, I learned how to write, how to read, and how to do research in my combination of homeschooling and classes at various places (though the last two were somewhat innate). I can't complain too much, given how many freshmen I knew who couldn't do any of these things.

[Nan in Mass]

Can I come too? I majored in compsci so I could work wherever I wanted GRIN. Definately had water in mind at the time, and staying home with my children. My life now isn't a bad compromise, but my husband and I definately feel that we could perfectly happily keep sailing indefinately. It is SO hard to come back in Sept. We really need the snow to settle us back on land.

[4wildberrys]

I wouldn't change ONE SINGLE THING!!! :D Seriously.

 

My grade schooling through private Catholic school full of mean, rich snotty brats and then on to an exclusive private college prep high school full of more rich snotty brats and teachers that played favorites prepared me extremely well to homeschool my kids!!! I got a great education academically but was socially miserable. We were also latchkey kids so mom and dad could afford those great schools----so learned to be very self reliant and independent early on. I was very adept at waiting until the last minute to study or write papers or whatever, and usually ended up passing everything. Did great on SATs and got into every single college I applied to. I happened to pick the small, exclusive college in Illinois full of-----yes, rich snotty brats once again :confused: I lasted 2 years there---burnt out on academics and was ready to really live life. I ended up getting my "MRS" degree----and have a wonderful hubby who fully supports me staying home to homeschool and raise our kids! Without all that awful life experience under my belt---I would have been clueless to what was going on with dd in the public school---and more than likely I wouldn't even have kids because I would be like all the kids I went to school with who LIKED their lives---and are still single, childless, with lots of degrees OR just starting to have their kids towards the end of the healthy biological years. SO---I would have to say all those events in my life have led me to the wonderful, beautiful, privileged place I am at right now---and I wouldn't change a thing :001_smile:

[percytruffle]

Wow, this is a tough question to answer. I could write a book!

 

Some things off the top of my head (sorry, this seems to have developed a life of its own and turned out lengthier than I thought it might!):

 

I was a very day-dreamy kid who never "got" socialization. I never figured out how to play the social game so I was the one all through elementary school who was picked on and ostracized by her classmates. They were very cruel and I had no idea how to change the way they treated me. Teachers were zero help. They didn't even notice me. My mother told me it was my fault, "You have to be a friend to make a friend," was her stand by answer to my tears and fears. I hated that time period of school. I still feel scarred from it today. I don't know if it affected my hs'ing, I guess not since I didn't start hs'ing ds until 4th grade and dd until 7th grade. Their experience, socially, was so much better than mine. My experience has made me extremely sensitive to bullying and I am usually more keenly aware of it taking place in a group of kids than most adults are. That is a bane and a blessing for a teacher. You are able to see it and hopefully act to correct some of the behavior, but you also cannot separate yourself from it and feel the pain all over again.

 

Even though I had such a bad experience in school, that didn't keep me from learning. I never learned anything worthwhile within those walls, except some great folk songs in music and some vague indication that I was good at art, but I undertook a lot of self education outside of those cell walls. I spent a lot of my free time at the small local library. I read every book they had about astronomy and cosmology. I read through my parents Readers Digest Condensed books and our humongous unabridged dictionary with reference sections in the back. I read and read and read, and drew and painted, and did nature study all by myself. I had no idea I was "self educating." I just liked to learn. LOL

 

Middle school was the big turn around for me. Multiple schools combined, so I was in with a whole new group of kids. I loved school and learning. I had great teachers who sparked my interest. I still remember dissecting frogs and can still recite the list of prepositions and several poems I memorized for extra credit in English.

 

High school was even better. The classes were great and I could hang out with the geeky kids and feel comfortable. The class selection was awesome. I loved being able to choose Earth Science II over chemistry so I could study astronomy for half a year and geology for the other half.

 

My Lit teachers were great, but I needed much more grammar than I received. I have made sure my own kids have had grammar most if not all the way through high school. I saw value in my own study of Greek and Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes and have loved implementing that into our hs'ing as well. If I had begun hs'ing earlier I would have instituted Latin study, but we began late with dd and ds had a learning handicap to overcome as it was, dyslexia.

 

History was horrid and I know we have done a more thorough and more interesting job of history study at home. Ds may even choose to become a history teacher. It is one of the careers he is leaning toward.

 

My math teachers were awesome as were my science teachers. These classes were very strong and I know I've had confidence covering those subjects with my dc because of my own preparation.

 

The art room was of course my favorite place to be, but not by much. I really came very close to choosing astronomy as a field of study. Almost. Until I experienced discrimination. I was so shocked. I still am really. Our Earth science II class visited the city's planetarium and since it was a small class of pretty advanced students we all had a chance to meet with the planetarium director individually. It was sort of like a little interview session so see who was interested in science as a future career. Well, I was the only girl in the class and when it came time for me to "chat" with him all he had to say to me was, you're a very pretty young lady, why don't you go into something like modeling? Why would you want to go into science? I couldn't believe it, still can't. He did not take me seriously at all. I was young and very shy and still found the courage to stick up for myself. He got an earful. I was not nasty, but I was very firm. I also left there very discouraged. I didn't want to be just a pretty face. I had done some modeling, but there was soooo much more to me than that. So much more. I knew right then that I did not want to fight that kind of mentality for the rest of my life and I chose art, where I was comfortable and accepted.

 

I have made sure that my own dc are able to choose whatever their hearts desire for a career path. I do not put obstacles in their way, nor do I discourage them from trying any pursuit.