It’s been a while since I’ve been part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew Blog Cruise but I am here for this one. This time is about homeschooling in high school.
I’m not going to say, “You can homeschool your high school child!” because let’s face it, not everyone can. There are a lot of reasons that it might be better to put a teen into a public, private or other type of high school. Every family is different and I’m going to leave it at, “If you feel you can do it, go for it!”
With that said –I will homeschool my kids through high school. I will do it because I can (I’m capable and it is an option available to us). So what do I think of homeschooling through high school. I have a few thoughts, that are specific to our family and situation, that I will share here.
It will be a challenge.
- I was terrified when I first started homeschooling my kids and thought about continuing on through high school. They were in 5th and 7th grade when we started. Elementary and middle school; not as intimidating as “high school”. Now that I have a 10th grader and an 8th grader, “high school” isn’t so intimidating any longer. I’ve already survived one year of high school! It is still a challenge. The challenge comes with choosing resources that stretch my high schooler beyond the lower years and into more mature thinking. It is also a challenge because the expectations are higher with the years ‘running out’ before they are out on their own. I will be straight-out honest: I couldn’t care less if neither of my kids go to college. What I do care about is that they can take care of themselves, have respect for others, and keep their focus on where it needs to be (for our family keeping our eye on God is the best place, all the other things fall in line with this –and no, unfortunately, we aren’t perfect and we fail at this daily).
It won’t always turn out like I want.
- I love to schedule, schedule, schedule. It looks so nice to have this and that down on paper. It’s so neat to be able to say “This year my high schooler will be studying __________.” But it just doesn’t always go as planned. Also, I might know that a certain subject or set of standards needs to be put in the schedule somewhere but it might not actually get in there or it could get down on the paper but go no further. There are so many homeschoolers who have many years experience behind them reassure other homeschoolers that it’s okay if a book doesn’t get completed or a subject didn’t get studied as far as planned. I’ve even read a public school teacher say the same thing. And really, life happens, especially when school is done at home. Unexpected trips come up, family members visits, and a myriad of other factors can make it all go awry. I’ve come to terms with this. Mostly.
My kids probably won’t always be happy.
- I laugh at this one. I hated school. My kids hated school. What we didn’t hate were the times we were actually learning something and/or when we could see our friends (the second part is probably what my kids liked the most). The rest of the time spent at school was a waste. They weren’t terribly happy when they went to public school. They won’t be happy all the time doing high school at home. Perhaps it’s just human nature. But they are much happier for more of the time than when they were in public school. I’ll take that along with the unhappiness sometimes.
I must be adaptable but consistent and firm when needed.
- The first year of high school for Lee was tough. I planned for it the first two years we homeschooled. Did I mention that I was terrified of homeschooling a high schooler then? I’m pretty sure I did. So I planned and researched like crazy. I won’t say it was all unnecessary stress because we both learned a lot. But it definitely didn’t always go as planned. We dropped books like crazy and tried to pick up others midway through the term, or even 3/4 of the way through the year. That’s one of the great things about homeschooling –the flexibility that is available. You don’t like the book that’s being used for science because there are so many typos it’s distracting, the writing is difficult to take and the inaccuracies are spinning your head around? Find a different author, publisher, or focus within the same subject. Seriously. I’ve come to the conclusion that having a basic understanding of a subject is good. If it is an important subject, such as math, then carry on the best that can be, even if it isn’t ‘enjoyable’. But if the student simply doesn’t like something, don’t ditch it completely based on that! Especially math. Something I struggle with is the complaint of “it’s boring”, “it doesn’t interest me”, or “when will I even use this!?” Sometimes they just have to buck up and do it. Period. At the same time, if either of my kids have an interest in a particular subject that we aren’t studying in depth, I’ll try to find resources for them to pursue it more. I have to pick and choose my battles when it comes to homeschooling in general but even more so in high school, I think.
It will draw our family closer together rather than tear us apart.
- I’ve already seen this through the few years that we have been homeschooling. I just see this continuing through high school. When the kids are away at a brick and mortar school, they are subjected to a lot of peer pressure. Even if it’s mild, it’s there. Some say that it builds character and it definitely does. But what kind? It fosters in many teenagers the mindset that parents, adults in general, are just controlling and don’t really think about what the kids feel or want. Why is that? Partially because the ratio of teens to adults is not ideal. The teens feed off each other. Most often the negative outweighs the positive. There are often a lot of outside of school activities that kids go to after the 7 hour school day. Sometimes, perhaps more often than I think, parents are involved in these activities. From my understanding and observations, though, it is more often not the case. Homeschooling in high school doesn’t take all the peer pressure away –there are various avenues for that –but it will help foster the closeness our family already has.
Opportunities will arise that otherwise would not.
- My kids both had a paper route in 2010. I saw other kids in the neighborhood also had a paper route who were public schooled. My kids were able to get it done early in the morning, when it was still somewhat cool (in the hotter months), rather than wait until after getting home from school to do it. Also my daughter has a babysitting job right now that is in the middle of a weekday. You could read that and think that it’s just distracting but honestly if she couldn’t do it then because she went to public school, she wouldn’t have the job. I’m not saying that because they are homeschooled more opportunities will be presented to them but if one should come up, they will have the option of pursuing it. Another example I have is cooking. My ds really likes to cook and does it fairly well, with ease. Lee wants to cook but it comes a little less easy for her. We have the opportunity to take the time, in the morning, the afternoon, dinner time, whenever, to work on honing both of their skills. If they were in school, well, I just don’t know when we would do those things. Dinner and weekends would possibly be the rushed extent.
I am going to learn right alongside my high school student(s).
- This might be one of my favorite thoughts about homeschooling high school. I truly enjoyed the learning part of school. I just would have liked to have been able to do it not at school. I also know that there is a lot that I missed in high school because of other distractions that I didn’t ignore. By doing high school at home, even if I weren’t planning it and scheduling it for them, I think I would be learning alongside the kids. Since I am doing the planning and scheduling, and pre-reading, I am learning right along with them. There are quite a few things that I know for a fact I was not taught while in public high school. Just one example: I recall in my biology class learning, very quickly I might add, about evolution. We didn’t discuss it in any great detail. My teacher said something like this, “I’m required by the state to tell you that evolution is the widely accepted theory of how life began on Earth. Okay, covered that. Moving on.” As for creation, nope; wasn’t even mentioned. Not even as a theory. In a way, I was jipped! For our high school, if we come across something, just because it’s controversial, doesn’t mean we are going to ignore it. And there is plenty out there that is controversial. We can choose to study it further or not.
I’m going to be so glad I did.
- I’ve thought about not homeschooling in high school and …it just leaves me empty. I really like my kids and who they are becoming. To spend time with them and learn with them is precious to me. When the time comes that our homeschooling journey is done, I think that I will be able to look back on it and have not one regret. At least that’s what I hope.
My kids will appreciate family after they are on their own.
- I am fairly close to my mom and (even though?) I was public schooled. I am getting closer to my sisters but we weren’t really close when I was younger. Looking at other homeschooling families, one being my husband’s family, all four kids homeschooled start to finish, I see how close they are as a family after the kids leave home. Having that closeness, which I believe is helped by homeschooling, throughout the high school years will be so important because life can get tough during this time. I could think that it’s because I’m such a great mom that my daughter has said that she wants to have kids and have the same kind of relationship that we have, but I’m not quite that conceited. It would be a lot different if we didn’t homeschool. Being a homeschooling family throughout the high school years will show the kids that we, as their parents, are there for them in so many ways. I like to think that we will remain close after they graduate and move out on their own. And I’d like to think they would homeschool their own children, if they have any.
And those are some of my thoughts on homeschooling in high school.
