Home Schooling

By Jenn Waterman

Originally published in Youth Allied By CFIDS, Fall 1995

When I first tell people that I am home schooled, they often give me the same look that people give when you first tell them you have CFIDS. (You know, the look that makes you want to check the nearest mirror and see what your second head looks like.) They have all kinds of questions about this strange and mysterious way of getting an education: What kind of social life do I have? Don’t I miss being with other kids? Do I cheat on tests? Just how does this thing called home schooling really work?

I can understand where these questions come from because when my parents first began researching the option of home schooling, I found it just as mysterious and unusual as everyone else does. I was concerned about making the break from school (ironically enough, the same school that gave me endless grief about CFIDS). It was not a rational feeling—just the idea that my name would no longer be called at the beginning of class and I would no longer have that last link to my peers. In the end, the obvious benefits outweighed the negative and we went for it.

Since we began home schooling in February 1994, I can honestly say that my life and my quality of life have improved. The home school program works out better for me than any other option that we found. My school, The Seton Study, sends us all the books, workbooks, answer keys and tests at the start of the school year. From there, I wade through the work at my own pace, returning completed tests and worksheets to the school when I complete a quarter’s work. I can make my own schedule—sometimes working at midnight when insomnia hits, and I am allowed the time that my brain needs to truly learn the information. I am no longer being shoved through a system that cannot understand my illness. I am an individual and am treated as such. I receive encouragement and understanding from the home school. My energy is no longer directed toward getting up and out to class. I now have some left over to improve my social life—it has not been this good since before CFIDS. Now I can spend time with friends as well as spending time on school.

Home school is not for everyone, and after my explanations many people still cannot understand (remind you of anything else?). But it works for me.

And, by the way, of course I don’t cheat on tests!