X-post Homeschooling High School and DH

[kewb]

When we started homeschooling 3 years ago it was in our heads that ds would go back to school for high school. He is now in 7th grade and I am thinking perhaps not. I now feel confident enough to know that if keeping him home is the right thing that I could do it. Dh, on the other hand, thinks he needs to go back to school for high school. He does not think I am incapable of teaching high school. I think it has more to do with the social aspect of things and his nostalgia over his best friends and high school experience.

 

I don't think schools are an evil institution out to ruin society by creating office drones. I do think there is a lot of things broken with the public school model. As each year passes and the schools keep having to cut programs due to lack of funding I am questioning if this is the place for our children. I mentioned my concerns to dh last night. His response-there is always private school.

 

To make my long story longer I need to start doing the research so that I dh can be on board with homeschooling high school being an option. Does anyone know of any current reads that would help me along? Homeschool high school success stories, etc.

[Nan in Mass]

Do you have a community college nearby? Perhaps a good compromise would be to homeschool 9th and 10th and then go to CC for 11th and 12th. All the men I have spoken to have been been very enthusiastic about the idea of graduating from high school with an associate's degree. (They haven't really thought about it. It has its disadvantages. They just think it sounds great.) There may even be money for tuition available in your state. I have found that the mention of CC instantly calms most homeschool-for-high-school doubters.

-Nan

[laughing lioness]

Homeschooling for Excellence by David and Micki Colfax.

The TeenAge Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewelleyn

No Regrets by Alexandra Swann

Hothouse Transplants by Matt Duffy.

 

Also want to add that Joshua Cockcroft and Jenna Haggar, both homeschool grads and in their 20's, won thier races as State Reps (Josh in OK and Jenna in SD) last Tuesday.

Edited November 8, 2010 by laughing lioness

[Mom22ns]

This is the page on the HSLDA website that has links to all their research.

http://www.hslda.org/research/default.asp

[Vanna]

:) If the results from research doesn't get dh "on board" maybe the "success stories" of people you know will. (Just a thought.)

 

Seems like your hubby is interested in both the academic and social aspect of traditional high school. Do you have options (such as group activities in a homeschool group) that would give your son some alternatives for "nostalgic" aspects of high school?

[Julie in MN]

I think the schools may have changed more than your dh realizes. If you go to homeschool events like Vanna suggested, then also go to public and private schools, especially during the school day. Of course nothing's perfect, but we definitely had a feeling of "I want my kids to be like this" - or not.

 

Julie

[Jennifer in MI]

We decided that we owed it to ourselves last year to thoroughly examine ALL our options. We met with the local private schools, public schools, and community colleges. My ds was VERY involved in this decision. I recommend this. It made us absolutely certain that we were doing the best thing for our ds.

 

Without going in to all the details, in the end, we chose homeschool with CC classes. Ds is very involved in other activities (karate, baseball, running), so he has a LOT of friends. I have the feeling he'll be asked to dances and prom in the next couple of years. So, he definitely gets to take part in the social aspects of the local high school. He also attends the football/basketball games with his friends.

 

He is doing very well in his CC classes too! He took a college algebra class last semester and averaged 100!! He got a letter from the dean of students congratulating him for that! This semester he's taking chemistry and averaging 104! I'm SO glad we went this route!!!!

 

Good luck with your decision!

[Vanna]

 

...Also want to add that Joshua Cockcroft and Jenna Haggar, both homeschool grads and in their 20's, won thier races as State Reps (Josh in OK and Jenna in SD) last Tuesday.

:party: Wow!!!! We met Joshua Cockcroft at TeenPact in RI in 2009! He's such a tremendous young man! Thanks for sharing the news!

[kewb]

Thank you everyone for your input. Plenty of food for thought here.

 

:) If the results from research doesn't get dh "on board" maybe the "success stories" of people you know will. (Just a thought.)

Unfortunately, we don't know anyone in real life who has done it through high school.

 

Seems like your hubby is interested in both the academic and social aspect of traditional high school. Do you have options (such as group activities in a homeschool group) that would give your son some alternatives for "nostalgic" aspects of high school?

 

My kids are definitely out there doing group trips and activities. Ds is on the swim team this year. The past couple of years both kids have done track and field in the Spring. We have a core group of homeschooling friends who we do things with. A bi-weekly discussion group and a bi-weekly philosophy class.

 

To be totally honest, the man waffles one month to the next. The waffle usually occurs after spending time with his parents. A big part of the challenge is nostalgia. He is still best friends with his friends from middle school. He knows how school has changed since we were in it (over 2 decades ago) and not for the better, he knows ds has a temperment more like mine (satisfied with a core group-he does not need to be everyones best friend the way dh does), but I think he fears that ds will miss out on something. I think he struggles with going against the mainstream. It is not an easy thing to do,

[Vanna]

...To be totally honest, the man waffles one month to the next. The waffle usually occurs after spending time with his parents. A big part of the challenge is nostalgia. He is still best friends with his friends from middle school. He knows how school has changed since we were in it (over 2 decades ago) and not for the better, he knows ds has a temperment more like mine (satisfied with a core group-he does not need to be everyones best friend the way dh does), but I think he fears that ds will miss out on something. I think he struggles with going against the mainstream. It is not an easy thing to do,

I hear ya, Kathy. I understand your dh's point of view as well (like you said, going against the mainstream is hard to do). He had a positive school experience and he wants that for his son as well. This will be a challenge to get him completely "on board" going into "unchartered waters" in homeschooling. He might not be on board until he sees the success after your son graduates from "homeschool high" (if he continues at home) and you might have to wait for years for your dh to say, "You were right..." :)