My name is Hannah Barber and I am fifteen years old. This year is my first year as a homeschooler and this is the happiest I have ever been at school. I love writing and reading.
Having attended public school student from pre-school up until ninth grade, transitioning from public school to homeschool this year was a really big change for me, it was something new and something slightly scary. I didn’t know what school would be like, or how I would feel not seeing my friends every day. My mom had decided that she was going to start homeschooling my younger brothers at the start of their third and fifth grade years respectively. Although I would be going into my tenth grade year, I asked her if she would also homeschool me.
The night before the first day of our homeschool year I couldn’t sleep. I was really nervous and I kept thinking about how my friends would be going to my old high school, while I was at home getting ready for homeschool. However, once I sat down and started doing school work, I forgot about how nervous I was. As we went through that first day my brothers would tell me interesting facts about what they were learning and I would tell them facts as well. My baby sister even sat down with me and asked my mom if she could have some books and do school like me. We also had a family history lesson and we all sat together while our mom read to us. That was when I realized that I would get to spend more time with the people that mean the most: My family.
When I was in public school I didn’t get to see my family very much during the week. My brothers were both at a different school and since we had to be to school at different times, I only saw them in the late afternoons. Between school and my baby sister’s naps, I only saw her for a few hours. Although my brothers and I sometimes argue we all know that we aren’t alone and we will always have each other. Field trips have become a family affair and all of us experience new things and have so much more fun than I ever imagined. I felt like I was missing out on a lot with my family. Now, however, I see my family all day and I don’t miss out on adventures with them.
One of the field trips we went on was with our Co-op group to pumpkin patch. There was an outdoor bounce house and when I took my little sister on it she smiled so much and she laughed and told me that she was having so much fun. My brothers raced down a giant slide, and my sister and I also went down it. Our mom stood at the bottom and took pictures of the four of us kids playing together. My little sister and I went to the petting zoo and when I was telling her about the animals and when we were playing with them, she kept looking over and smiling at me. It was a really great feeling to know that I was spending time with my sister and she still talks about that day sometimes. Another trip we went on was to Petco, the employees there taught us about different animals such as a baby parrot, reptiles and a tarantula. After the lesson my siblings and I looked at all the different animals and we got to play with some of the cats. We got to learn together and make new memories as a family. Sometimes it seems like everyone is so busy that we don’t spend enough time together, but ever since we started being homeschooled we get to spend a lot of time together as a family and it is definitely my favorite part of being homeschooled.
Ever since I started homeschooling with my family this year, I have made new memories that I never would have made if I was attending public school. I get to go on field trips with my brothers and my sister, I get to learn new things with them and most importantly I get to spend time with the most important people in my life, My mom, my brother Braden, my brother Owen, and my sister Margaret.
Each month we will publish a random entry from our writing contest for your reading enjoyment. To see the winners, click here and here.
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