Lee, do you have any advice for a public-schooled high school junior considering homeschooling for her senior year? She lacks only 3 classes and doesn’t want to waste a year on busywork classes.
~ Mary Jo
My best advice is this; “Know your child and trust yourself.” If you know that homeschooling is the best for your child, then trust yourself and do it. Don’t avoid homeschooling because of fear.
To homeschool high school for only senior year, record keeping is very important. Make a homeschool transcript that will reflect all classes from 9th through 12th grades, both at home and at school. Write course descriptions of all courses taught at home, so colleges are convinced there was no couch-potato academy. They are aware that seniors tend to slack off some, so you want to avoid the appearance of senioritis.
In the application to colleges, the parent may want to write a homeschool statement that explains why they made the decision to homeschool, and describe the positive results. Finally, when communicating with colleges, be very clear about your intent to homeschool and explain your reasons in a positive light.
I hope that helps!
The HomeScholar Gold Care Club will give you the comprehensive help you need tohomeschool high school.
I was consulting with a homeschool parent about the age-old question, “How do you know it’s high school level?” She asked me how to tell whether “Movies as Literature” was a high school course. The more we talked about it, the more confident she became. Meanwhile, I was getting more and more excited about the curriculum she was asking about. Learning literature through watching movies??? How cool is that!
When I was looking it up online, I noticed that the description of the curriculum answered her question with ease. It says, “This complete, one-year high school English course uses classic movies on video to introduce and study the elements of literary analysis.”
That’s the easy way to tell if it is high school level – it tells you! And that’s the easy way to tell if it is a whole credit (whole year) course – it tells you!
I haven’t seen this product with my own eyes, but it looks like fun to me! If you haven’t seen it before, check it out!
I did regular homeschooling 4 days a week. The 5th day was for delight directed learning, and my children did things for fun. It kept us focused, and helped us all enjoy homeschooling. But what does that look like in real life?
Lee
My boys have suggested to do core subjects 4 days a week and one day for what I believe you would call “Delight directed learning”. I was wondering what did your boys do on that day. I want to make sure it is not just a free for all because I know that my younger boy would play games on the computer all day.
~ Karen
Hi Karen,
First they did their school work, before anything else
Usually the day was completely filled with activities. That was the day I planned all of our out-of-the-home fun things. It wasn’t really an empty day, it was almost a “too full” day, because it included all our actiivities. Piano lessons, art lessons, field trips, skating and PE, perhaps a community class on history. Everything had to fit into that “free day” or we didn’t do it (with very few exceptions.) Because the day was filled with running around and stuff, there wasn’t much down time. I did make sure to have interesting things for them to do while we were running around. Alex brought economics or music courses from the Teaching Company with us while we waiting at Starbuck’s for Kevin to teach chess. Kevin brought courses on Russian History or read books about chess while I was driving to the different events and opportunities.
To prevent a wasted day, we had some fairly strict guidelines: no computer at all, not TV at all (unless it was a video lesson.)
This policy of one day out of the house was part of why we could accomplish so much in a year. When you spend a lot of time coordinating and going to activities, it’s difficult to actually spend time homeschooling. By combining all our activities into one day only, the other four days were actually devoted to JUST doing school each day. On those “school days” we almost never left until school was done for the day – again, with very few exceptions.
When Alex started working at the Think Tank, he had to leave for work at about 9:00am and got home about 5:00pm on Wednesdays. I didn’t have him do math or foreign language at that point – I didn’t even have him work on anything in the car! We just talked about what he had done during the day while we were driving. When Kevin started driving himself to his chess teaching jobs, he still had time to get his math done before he left.
One of the reasons we decided to homeschool our children was to avoid the
“one size fits all” education available in our school district. Both of our
boys didn’t fit neatly into the mold and would not have achieved what they
have if we had force fit them in. One of the strengths of homeschooling is
exactly what you describe as the cultivation of “a diversity of talents and
develops ‘unique niche talents.’” They were able to identify and pursue
their passionate interests at an early age and that allowed them to go much
further than they ever could have in a classroom setting.
We did the standardized tests only because they were required by law. We
“studied” for them only to the extent that we studied reading, writing, math
and science. In order to play the game demanded by the universities, we
also made sure our kids were very comfortable in pressurized test
situations. These two steps allowed them to score very well on the SAT
without it becoming a dominant component of their education. Testing was a
necessary evil that contributed nothing to their actual education.
Today is my birthday, and I’m turning 49 – for the FIRST time!
I’m sure that it will become easier and easier each time I turn 49. In four years, I’ll probably be thinking, “49? What a breeze! Such a great age!” And at some point I’ll long for the “good old days” of being 49 again. I’ll remember how young and spry I felt, LOL!
Homeschooling high school is the same. You may be homeschooling high school – for the FIRST time. But each year it will get easier. By the time you’ve finished your first four years of high school it will feel like old hat. You’ll remember how fun freshman year was. You’ll remember the freedom. You may even remember how sweet and compliant your children were! Ha! You probably won’t remember too many of the struggles. Four years from now is a long time away, and those memories do fade, you know.
You’re homeschooling high school for the first time. I’m turning 49 for the first time. Years from now we’ll both be old pros!
My son, Alex is getting his degree in Political Economy, and he gave me the “thumbs up” on Economics in a Box . It does look like a LOT of reading, so I don’t think it would be a good fit if your child doesn’t like reading or hates economics. It’s also coming from a distinctly free market perspective, which tends to be more conservative. It doesn’t include a Biblical component, as well. You might want to look at Jay Richard’s book, Money, Greed, and God, for which Alex earned a mention in the Forward!.
I wrote a blog post on economics for beginners here:
Most high school economics classes are 1/2 credit. Since American government is usually 1/2 credit as well, they are sometimes done in the same year. You can do anything you want, but I didn’t want you to think economics had to be a whole credit.
The HomeScholar Gold Care Club will give you the comprehensive help you need tohomeschool high school.
Some people experience the panic before they begin homeschooling high school. When they first come to grips with this prospect, they cry out, “Me? Homeschool High School? No Way!” Have you ever thought you weren’t qualified? Perhaps you don’t have a college education. You may not even have a degree in classroom instruction! And yet God, in his infinite wisdom and humor, has chosen YOU to do this crazy thing.
Moses knows just how you feel. He was called on to approach a ruler and demand the freedom of the slaves in Egypt. How did he respond to this task? He panicked! “Me? No Way!” He had some great excuses too!
Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD ? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” But Moses said,
“O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”
~ Exodus 4:10-13
Moses thought that his slow speech would make him incapable of the task. But the task isn’t dependent on skill, it’s dependent on obedience. Look at it this way; if God called you to homeschool high school, He WILL give you the skills you need for the job based on your obedience.
Don’t feel like you aren’t qualified. Moses proved that he didn’t need to be a smooth-talker in order to get his job done. You don’t have to achieve a high degree of education to be successful either. Whether you graduated college or not, it’s the love of your child that will ensure success. In fact, check out the statistics on page 2 of this brochure: Homeschool Achievement Statistics
When you feel like quitting, you may call out, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.” Moses said it himself, and the Lord still seemed fond of Moses! Don’t beat yourself up about panic, just remember that the Lord has always been faithful, and He always WILL be faithful. You can do it!
How do you teach State History so it’s not boring? And do successful homeschoolers ever completely flop teaching something?
Hi Lee, I would like to know if you can give any information on teaching Washington State History without making it boring. I have a book and an old version of switched on school house that isn’t up to date, because it for 2000-01 school year. I want to make the study interesting not boring.
~Homeschool Mom
Hi there,
I completely failed at teaching State History. Really. I never made it into something that wasn’t boring.
Did you know that State history is NOT a requirement for homeschoolers in Washington State? You don’t have to cover that at all…. boy, I wish I would have known that!
If you want to cover Washington State history anyway, you can do as little as just a research report or a mapping project. As far as Switched on Schoolhouse goes, I don’t think it matters what year it was created, because you’re looking more at the history and geography of the state, rather than current events.
But all in all, I’m completely NO HELP here, except to say you don’t have to teach it I’m pretty sure my readers will have some ideas though.
EVERYONE: Can you please help us struggling homeschoolers with some interesting ways to teach State History?
Isn’t it wonderful that I’m willing to admit my failures, though? LOL!
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Homeschoolers should keep high school records. We know that. Still, for parents who have never kept records before, change is hard. How do you change your own behavior, and begin keeping good records? The secret is the same for ALL kinds of change.
Do one simple thing differently. Take just one thing and make a change, and slowly change behavior one task at a time. They say it takes 6 weeks to make a habit. Take one simple thing and do it differently. In 6 weeks, try changing another simple thing. A starting place may be to keep a tub for papers, and throw in some papers, tests, quizzes, or daily work each day.
As they say, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Don’t do the same thing, and keep your sanity. Create an environment that will help you meet your goals. Put a tub for your records in a clearly visible place, as a reminder to put something in it. The first step of record keeping is simply KEEPING something from which you can make your records.
Instead of feeling discouraged about records, take one small step and do something different today.
Sitting there getting my hair cut, I overheard a conversation between two mothers of high school teens. They were talking about how they had moved their children from public schools and private schools, searching for a quality education and yet unable to find it. “They just don’t teach the basics of reading, writing and math anymore!” one mother moaned. The other mom said, “And my child is getting completely lost in the system!”
She went on to describe how her child completed Algebra 1 with difficulty. The following year, the guidance counselor signed her child up for the wrong class. This poor student was sitting in a calculus class for TWO WEEKS before anyone figured out that he wasn’t supposed to be in that class!
I realize that homeschoolers sometimes feel insecure about their ability to advise their children in high school. You have to admit, however, that a homeschooler would NEVER stick their child in a Calculus class after having difficulty with Algebra 1! We may not be perfect high school advisors, but we do truly KNOW our child, and that’s what makes us successful!
Sitting there getting my hair cut, I over-heard a conversation between two
mothers of high school teens. They were talking about how they had moved
their children from public schools and private schools, searching for a
quality education and yet unable to find it. “They just don’t teach the
basics of reading, writing and math anymore!” one mother moaned. The other
mom said, “And my child is getting completely lost in the system!” She went
on to describe how her child completed algebra 1 with difficulty. The
following year, the guidance counselor signed her child up for the wrong
class. This poor student was sitting in a calculus class for TWO WEEKS
before anyone figured out that he wasn’t supposed to be in that class!
I realize that homeschoolers sometimes feel insecure about their ability to
advise their children in high school. You have to admit, however, that a
homeschooler would NEVER stick their child in a calculus class after having
difficulty with algebra 1! We may not be perfect high school advisers, but
we do truly KNOW our child, and that’s what makes us successful!
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