Aloha, I’m Anela
I didn’t think much about homeschooling when I was younger, even though I knew a few kids who were homeschooled. It wasn’t until my friend Wesley began homeschooling that I became curious. After talking to her, doing my own research, and following my gut, I decided to homeschool my girls.
At first, it was tough. I was so conditioned to think that traditional school was the only option for my kids. But the more I learned, the more homeschooling seemed like the perfect fit—more fun, more flexible, and much more freeing. Now that we’ve been homeschooling for a while, I’m incredibly grateful for the extra time I get to spend with my girls. Time is precious to me, and I didn’t want to miss out on these moments.
Another reason I chose this path is that I felt schools weren’t fully preparing kids for life’s challenges. It’s not the teachers—I have so much love and respect for them—but the education system itself. Since it hasn’t changed yet, I decided to make the change for my daughters. We get to travel without asking for permission, they don’t need to stress over memorizing for tests, and I can focus on teaching them life skills that I wasn’t prepared for growing up.
Homeschooling has given us the freedom to learn, grow, and explore together, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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Makanalei
What I love most about homeschooling is the freedom—sometimes I even get to sleep in! The best part is that my mom is my teacher, so we get to spend a lot of time together. I’m super interested in learning about the Titanic and how the systems of the body work. Those are my favorite things to study right now.
I also love that I get to spend more time with my family. We’ll go to lunch with them or head to the beach. One of my favorite experiences was visiting a bee farm with the 808 Viral team and learning all about bees! I’ve also been lucky enough to take trips to the Big Island and Kaua'i, where I got to explore, try new foods, and go on new adventures.
Another thing I really like about homeschooling is that my mom teaches me about emotions, and that’s been super helpful for me in understanding how I feel and how to manage those feelings better.
hilina’i
What I love most about homeschooling is all the traveling we get to do and the chance to meet new people. I also love trying different foods from different cultures—it’s so fun to experience new flavors! My favorite subject is science, especially when we do fun experiments. I also really enjoy paddling in my free time.
One of the best things about homeschooling is that I’m not stuck at a desk all day having to be quiet. I have the freedom to learn about things that interest me, and my mom makes everything super fun and creative. We also learn things that aren’t usually taught in school, which I think is really cool. I feel like all the skills I’m learning are helping to prepare me for being an adult.
What I love most is that instead of just reading about something in a book, I get to experience it in real life and make memories with my mom. It’s an awesome way to learn!