From Homeschool to University: Learning and Adjusting

Editor's note: Today's article is compiled from Home School Heartbeat transcripts, originally published on HSLDA. Used with permission.

Prepare for Adjustment

If your high schooler is college bound, you’ve probably considered academic preparation. But have you thought about how to get him or her spiritually and emotionally ready for leaving home? Today on Home School Heartbeat with host Mike Farris, one homeschool graduate considers several habits that helped her adjust to college.

Mike Farris: Sarah Stockman is my guest today. Sarah graduated from homeschooling where she was in high school as her parents were missionaries in Kenya, Africa. She left Africa to come to Pensacola Christian College. Sarah, welcome to the program!

Sarah Stockman: Thank you very much for having me!

Mike: Sarah, being so far away from your family, what prepared you to deal with the spiritual and emotional strains of being away at college?

Sarah: Well, I think one of the biggest things that helped prepare me was to already have the habit of having personal devotions in my own life. I know college is a big stress as most young people have never been away from home before, so to have already that habit was a solid foundation that I could rely on as I was so far away from home, so I think that was the biggest thing for me. Now something else was just to keep busy at college. That’s just a practical thing—to keep busy and not to have too much time to sit around. And when parents encourage their kids to keep busy, they help them not to be homesick, and also to get all kinds of good, broad horizons.

Mike: Sarah, that all sounds really good for just about anyone. Is there any special thing that applies to just missionary kids?

Sarah: Well, I think a big thing was to just enjoy being wherever you are, wherever the Lord has you. As a missionary child you get used to being in multiple different places, but to be comfortable in each place—that’s something special the Lord taught me as a missionary kid.

Learning to Learn

Your high schooler may be learning his subjects—but is he learning to learn? Today on Home School Heartbeat with host Mike Farris, one graduate considers how getting more out of high school could have helped him in college.

Mike Farris: Daniel Beasley, who's a homeschool graduate and a current law student with Oak Brook School of Law, is with me today. Dan, welcome!

Daniel Beasley: Thanks! It’s an honor to be here.

Mike: Dan, you took some classes at a community college and now you’re in a correspondence program with Oak Brook School of Law, that’s out of California. How did your homeschool experience prepare you to continue your education? Is there anything you wish you’d done any differently in your high school years?

Dan: Well, being educated at home specifically prepared me for college by teaching me self-discipline and motivation. Since I’m now enrolled in a distance learning law school the ability to learn on my own and motivate myself to accomplish academic tasks are irreplaceable.

While in high school, I do think I would have benefited from paying closer attention to how I learn, be it through audio or visual aids, or outlining. Balancing a full-time job with law school and other activities make it essential to get the most bang for the buck, so to speak, in studying.

I also think having a more focused vision would have better prepared me for college. Looking back, I feel many of my school days were spent learning the materials as fast as possible so that I could get on to other things that were more fun than school. Taking a little more time to read and digest what I learned would have been helpful.

Mike: What interested you in being a lawyer?

Dan: I enjoy seeing justice done, and I enjoy persuading people to what I, to what I feel is right.

Mike: Well, you’ll have lots of opportunities to do that as a lawyer, Dan. Thanks for joining me today. I’m Mike Farris.

Courtesy HSLDA. Used with permission.

Since founding HSLDA in 1983, Michael Farris has used his extensive experience in both politics and appellate litigation to defend parental rights and help grow the organization to over 80,000 member families. He is also the founding president and current Chancellor of Patrick Henry College, a Christian institution with the mission of training students through a classical liberal arts curriculum and apprenticeship methodology to impact the world “for Christ and for Liberty.”

Farris has written over a dozen books, including three novels, a constitutional law textbook, and works on marriage, parenting, homeschooling, political advocacy, and religious liberty. His daily radio program, Home School Heartbeat, airs on several hundred stations nationwide.

In recognition of his work in home education, Education Week has named Farris one of the “Top 100 Faces in Education of the 20th Century.” Heritage Foundation awarded him its Salvatori Award for American Citizenship in 2002.

Mike and Vickie Farris live in Purcellville, Virginia, and have 10 children and 10 grandchildren.

Home School Legal Defense Association is a nonprofit advocacy organization established to defend and advance the constitutional right of parents to direct the education of their children and to protect family freedoms. Through annual memberships, HSLDA is tens of thousands of families united in service together, providing a strong voice when and where needed.

Publication date: August 22, 2012