Grownup Homeschoolers: Are They Succeeding?

Adults who were homeschooled as children have a fairly high success rate. There are many lists of famous people who were homeschooled and they include people ranging from Abraham Lincoln and Margaret Mead to Gloria Steinem and Thomas Edison. There is little reason to doubt that homeschooling can provide a solid foundation to build a successful life as an adult. While definitions of success varies dramatically for each of us, there is enough variation in the paths taken by homeschoolers to indicate that they are able to adapt to different settings of success.

Homeschoolers, because of flexibilities in their study schedule, seem to find the chance to explore their subjects of interest in greater depth at a fairly young age. There is anecdotal evidence of those who enjoy theater, film directing, sewing, running scientific experiments and building video games while very young. Often, there being out of the structured learning environment of a school, seems to give homeschoolers the time to follow-up on whimsical ideas. The ideal homeschooling environment is one which uses teachers' resources and worksheets but with a heavy dose of imagination and creativity. While getting their basics in reading, writing and arithmetic, homeschooled children have a unique opportunity to also learn at length about more esoteric subjects such as seismology or calligraphy or medieval warfare. A teacher in a traditional classroom setting may not have the time or resources to allow each child to work at length on their favorite topic and there is the unspoken need to cater to the lowest common denominator. However, these conditions mean that a child may not get to explore too many topics in detail whereas a homeschooled student has the option of doing so. This luxury of sticking to a subject means that they get to follow through on ideas and learn in depth and these are characteristics that stand them in good stead as adults.

One of the popular issues raised by those who are skeptical about homeschooling is the social reserve or ineptness of homeschooled children. This can potentially impact their success in structured corporations. It is worth noting that there is no overwhelming evidence indicating that people from regular schools do not face social adjustment problems. This aspect of creating successful working and personal relationships is a path that many navigate in adulthood and homeschoolers do not stand out as having more problems than others.

There are homeschoolers who build on academic excellence and get into good universities as full-tile students. There are those who believe that they thrive best in unstructured learning environments and opt to continue education on their own while trying out business ventures. There are others who see life as one long educational journey and use the time to learn different vocations or to travel around the world. There are homeschoolers who have established themselves as successful corporate executives and others who have spearheaded artistic movements. The passion instilled in them while young for learning takes them in diverse directions depending on their personal aptitude. Emphasis on academic excellence and the close knit family ties that serve as a boost to self-confidence are two big assets to any homeschooler setting out into the real world. Many grownup homeschoolers offer evidence that these two characteristics are a big advantage when one is setting out to create a successful life.