photo: brody4/ BY-NC-SA

By Zahur McCoy

I have been home schooled for two years now through a program called Hickman. It’s very interesting, because of all the organized events can be counted as a class, I can get up late, and have access too my computer. My teacher is my mother which is good and can be bad. At times it’s bad because she can grade papers pretty harshly; good because she’s not afraid to admit that’s she’s wrong and can except critics from me. I have home school friend who come over and we all do work on certain subjects; like math and science. The good part about working with a group is that we can revise each others work and give feed back. The bad part is that some people in the group think they’re always right and won’t except that they can be wrong at times. Even with working in my group I like this system of learning because Hickman provides you with the recourses you need along with lists of extracurricular activities. To prove that you have done your work you must come in every 6 weeks and show your work to you educational coordinator. Educational coordinators are people you meet with every six weeks to review your work and set your goals for the year.

Like regular school you have to go to classes that are required to pass to go to the next grade. Some classes you take because your teacher does not know the subject or does not have the resources to teach it. The greatest thing about home schooling is that you can go at your own pace without being rushed or heeled back like at regular school. Students are forced to work at the schools pace and dead lines. This can be bad because a student might not learn what they need to know in that period of time and everyone learns differently. Also, schools don’t take in consideration that some students need more attention than others. The horrible part of Home schooling is there are no school dances, sports teams, and I can only see my friends who are Home schooled on the days when there are classes that people have to take. Even with these flaws of Home schooling I don’t feel left out in any way. My friend who go to regular school are confined to a class form 8:00 to 3:30 while I can go any where I want to during the day. Home schooling is not for every one, but for me working at my own pace helps me understand what I’m learning.