Review: TOS Help, Lord, I'm Getting Ready to Start Homeschooling My High Schooler Ebook

Here is a review for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's ebook Help, Lord, I'm Getting Ready to Start Homeschooling My High Schooler! Appropriately titled, this ebook is written for homeschooling parents that are getting ready for the high school years with their homeschooled children. This can be found at the TOS Store for $12.45

Are you ready to homeschool your high schooler? I'm not! Honestly, I have only been thinking randomly and in brief moments that I will have a high school student very soon. It seems so daunting that I think I have put it in that place in my mind where things aren't allowed to be thought about unless I specifically (or unexpectedly!) am wanting to think about them. And then I received this great gem to review.

The page count totals 122 (including cover, front matter and back cover). With homeschooling and attending college part time, I was a little worried I would not find the time to read it. I am glad I made the time. Homeschooling veterans have taken the time to write to us that are approaching high school years to offer encouragement through writing about their experiences. They give us insights into things that worked and things that didn't. There are also contributions from those who were homeschooled and now homeschool their children. With an introduction from Amanda Bennett and closing by Deborah Wuehler, this ebook is good, from start to finish.

An important recurring theme that I noticed is the reliance on God for directing the path of these homeschoolers. Every one of these authors talks about their experiences and not one says it was all peaches and cream. I especially appreciated Christie Inocencio's remark that many homeschoolers who send their children to public school during junior and high school years do so because they do not feel qualified to teach their children. But as can be seen by the many parents who have relied on God to direct them perhaps did not feel qualified either. We have these testimonies, however, to show that it is possible. We can turn first to God, then to other sources for those subjects or skills that we do not feel able to teach. It can be done. As Lynn Fote states, "real life experiences and responsibilities are the best instructors."

Another recurring point I have gathered from each of the writers is the fact that each child is different. It would seem we would know this, homeschooling our children, being with them almost constantly. We would realize they have different styles of learning and personalities. But I also think it is very easy to fall into the habit of comparing how one child did something and thinking the same will work for the other. In some cases, yes, this is true. But not always. I really appreciated Ladonna Beals accounts of her children's learning, not just in high school but before as well. Also, Regenia Spoerndle helps point this out when she talks about the difference between her two daughters; they are as different as night and day. PeggySue Wells helps us focus on these differences and how our children aren't little gingerbread men pressed from the same cookie cutter. As homeschoolers we get to choose what we use for our curriculum because what works for one child may not work for another.

I found this ebook to be very very encouraging. I am coming up on the high school years very quickly and like many in my place, I am a little worried that I cannot do it. Included at the end of this ebook is a very helpful section on recommended resources from the contributing authors and also TOS' resource list with a lot of wonderful websites. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that is contemplating continuing homeschooling in the high school years. You will be encouraged and enlightened.