Homeschooling is one of the many forms of education, and it remains a popular choice for students wanting a personalized education. Photo courtesy of freshman Zara Sedeek. 

  Lots of San Luis Obispo High School Students are curious about how homeschooling works, and why parents even homeschool their kids in the first place. Why not just send your kids to “normal” school? Expressions set out to interview previously hybrid homeschooled freshman Olivia Martinez.  

Expressions: What school did you attend before coming to SLOHS?

Freshman Olivia Martinez: I went to San Luis Obispo Classical Academy, also known as SLOCA, which is a private classical hybrid homeschool program. 

Expressions: Why did you end up enrolling there? 

Martinez: My cousins went to that school, so there were some familiar faces. And then also I had heard some really good things about it as a homeschool program. 

Expressions: What is homeschooling like? How does it work?

Martinez: Well on our home days, it usually consists of a lot of reading history books and literature that is definitely not read at other schools. We dive deep into ancient texts and have things like socratic circles to talk about what we learn. We also learned latin as our language throughout middle school, which I found to be really helpful to learn new english words. 

Expressions: What are the biggest differences between SLOCA and SLOHS?

Martinez: Well my last school was a lot smaller. It was like 200 kids. In total. (daycare-8th grade) This definitely meant that there were less class options, and a smaller campus. 

Expressions: Tell us about the campus difference?

Martinez: So at SLOCA, you went from classroom to classroom and those were like your set classes, you didn’t have a choice of what you could take. Here, there’s a lot of different buildings because there’s options for a lot of things like electives, and just different classes in general. And of course, this campus is huge because it needs to fit a huge population of students. 

Expressions: What did SLOCA have that SLOHS doesn’t? What do you miss?

Martinez: I actually really miss that tight knit group feeling, and that community because you have like 20 kids in your class. You definitely get to know all the kids well and build a connection with each of them, which is something that is harder to find here. 

Expressions: Were you excited when you found out you were going to come here?  

Martinez: Yeah, definitely. I was really excited for some new opportunities and different classes. And just meeting new people in general since I’m super social. I find people really interesting. 

So homeschooling, or hybrid homeschooling, does have its benefits, and it is perfect for any students who would rather learn at their own pace and in their own way.