I am 27 and was homeschooled all but 3rd-5th grade. My dad and I opened a business earlier this year teaching kids how to cook. I own my own business keeping track of databases for a local political campaign. I cantor Gregorian Chant at Mass, am part of the leadership group for the diocesan young adults group, belong to a local NFP group in which we will give talks for marriage prep about the positive impact NFP has made in our marriage.
Because I was homeschooled, I was exempt from child-labor laws and was able to get a job at the local CiCi's pizza at 14 years old. My boss owned the franchise and taught me how to be a good boss. I had that job for 3 years. I started my first business at the age of 20, as a sound and light board operator and equipment technician for local area rock bands. I worked 6 nights a week for about $25 per hour. I was completely freelance.
When I was homeschooled, it was illegal in the state of Texas. Our next door neighbors, and lifelong friends of my parents, homeschooled as well and encouraged my parents to do the same.
Since homeschooling has been legalized nationwide, more and more families have come to the realization that it is a far superior alternative to public and even most private schools. Homeschooled children no longer need to worry about a lack of socialization. My mom started a Catholic homeschool group when I was in High school, and I had plenty of friends. Now, Catholic homeschool groups are part of nearly every parish. I played sports through the YMCA with the same teams for 10 years. I joined the youth program at our parish and had plenty of friends through high school.
I'd say the one thing that differs from many public and private schoolers in my socialization is I didn't make a lot of friends with public schoolers. Even in high school, they liked to drink on the weekends, if they weren't politically or religiously apathetic, they were liberal. They spewed socialist nonsense and political correctness that their teachers filled their heads with. I didn't feel comfortable because they generally didn't have their lives centered on anything but themselves. This is not true of all, but is, in my experience, the majority of public and private school kids mentality. They do what is expected of them by secular society. My whole life, I got along with and conversed with adults far better and more often than I did with kids my own age. I could partake in adult conversations, follow, give my own input, and be taken seriously.
The biggest educational difference I have found between homeschoolers I've met and public/private schoolers is homeschoolers are generally taught not only that something is right or wrong, but WHY it is right or wrong. Homeschoolers are trained to research, explore, and decide for themselves. Public/private schoolers are taught to regurgitate.
As a 27 year old, I have plenty of friends, and I am in a far better place spiritually than most of my friends from high school and jr. high. They're all unhappy, alcoholic, drug addicted, divorced, etc. because they still look to find happiness within themselves rather than looking to God, something my mother taught me through homeschooling and their teachers were not allowed to teach.
The most important benefit over all is the strong sense of family that is fostered through homeschooling. Mom spends all day at home and invests all the time and effort, as well as sacrificing the would-be added income if she worked. She takes more interest in her kids and works harder to ensure they get a good education and learn to glorify God. The siblings learn to help each other and be more responsible by incorporating household chores and homebuilding projects. When I was 14, my dad and I tore down our patio cover and built a new one. That was called "Shop Class". Not only do the students learn, but they bond with their parents/teachers. We ate dinner together every single night. The TV was off and in the other room. When we all still lived at home, dinner lasted 1-2 hours each night. Dad always asked what we learned that day, what projects we worked on, what we did with out friends. My parents knew all of our friends and their parents, all through high school.
While these are not all exclusive to homeschoolers, they are more regularly benefits and products of homeschooling families. Like I said before, I was homeschooled nearl my entire life, and my wife and I have already agreed that we will homeschool our children when we have them if God so chooses to bless us with children.
