What is homeschooling teens like?

[Jenny in GA]

Someone put this on another thread, and I found it intriguing, but asking about it seemed OT for the original thread:

 

 

***Now my kids are middle- and high-school age. Home schooling older kids is VERY hard WORK. It is a full-time job, much more involved than what we did that first year of home schooling. But it's worth it.***

 

 

My oldest is eight, and this surprised me. Isn't most of a high schooler's work done independently? I would think the opposite would be true -- that it would be less work when they get older!

 

The homeschooled teens I know sound like they're mostly self-sufficient when they talk about their schoolwork: They say they watch the MUS lesson and then do their lessons. For History, they read the text and answer the questions. Another subject, they do on-line. It sounds like all the parents do is tell them what to do and check their work periodically.

 

But obviously, I've never done it, so I don't know.

 

What is it like homeschooling a teenager?

[dragons in the flower bed]

What is it like homeschooling a teenager?

 

Does 12 count?

 

He's very independent in most of his daily work, but I have to check that work. To check the work, I have to know the answers. Since I'm practicing making a transcript, I have to set up a grading scale for each subject, enter all that data on my forms. I have to keep in touch with the local schools to be sure I know when they schedule tests and when my child can take them. The guidance counselor part is hard.

 

So far I haven't done much studying ahead so I can discuss great books and history with him, but the sight of it coming scares me enough to get me cracking the books NOW.

[Laura Corin]

Laura

Edited January 6, 2010 by Laura Corin

[Laura Corin]

 

The homeschooled teens I know sound like they're mostly self-sufficient when they talk about their schoolwork: They say they watch the MUS lesson and then do their lessons. For History, they read the text and answer the questions. Another subject, they do on-line. It sounds like all the parents do is tell them what to do and check their work periodically.

 

But obviously, I've never done it, so I don't know.

 

What is it like homeschooling a teenager?

 

I only have a new teen. I find that, more and more, he thrives on interaction: he wants to bounce ideas off someone else, develop his skills of argument (!) I could have him do almost all his work independently - he certainly can work well on his own. I find that he is developing best through spending more time with me, however.

 

ETA: I forgot - I also find that it is hard to keep up with my reading. Calvin reads an assigned novel a week - I try to keep up so that I can know what he is reading and discuss it - sometimes formally, sometimes casually. It takes a lot of time.

 

I also forgot to mention the joy and terror of researching and teaching for public exams. Calvin took one exam (roughly equivalent to a SAT subject test) last year and will take two this summer. A very intense experience all round.

 

Laura

Edited January 6, 2010 by Laura Corin

[Starr]

 

What is homeschooling teens like?

:lol:

[fivetails]

Depends - are you talking about *high school* level, or just 'teens' in general?

 

Our daughter just turned 13 yesterday ~ and she is still very 'hands on', meaning she doesn't just go off and 'watch a video' or 'read the text' .. she sometimes needs help interpreting what she's reading [and would rather read to her brother & I ~ or the cats!], wants to do a lot of projects, hates working "alone" and so forth .. I do push some independent work, but she's just very 'connected' and social and wants/needs that level of involvement. She's energetic, talkative, etc - "go read this alone in your room & answer the questions" is right up there with "Here, have some asparagus & ketchup!" :laugh:

 

Her brother is 11 and we do a lot of stuff together anyway ~ they work at a level appropriate for their skill/ability, but often on the same topics, know what I mean? A lot of geography, history, science, read alouds, home ec, etc activities - done together.

 

[we don't do any online courses - I don't actually know anyone IRL who does. Dd13 would hate that, staring at the computer all day. She doesn't want to do chemistry online - she wants to explode colourful things in my kitchen. :tongue_smilie: ]

[txbloobonnet]

I have 3 teens (13,14,17) and a 20 year old all of whom I have homeschooled. the 20 year old is in college now. For me, I really have enjoyed the teen years and think in the schooling sense they have been easier. Each year I have had them be more and more independent of me. I really wanted them to know how to be self learners with guidance, of course.

 

The biggest thing I do is holding everyone accountable and I am not always as good at that as I want to be. My girls are hard workers and get satisfaction at doing their work. My boys (14 and 20) have needed more accountability and they did not like doing their work as much. There were just so many other things to do and math just isn't that important in their eyes. So....finding the balance between staying on them and making sure they do what they should all while respecting them and treating them like the men they want to be. Tricky stuff, that.

 

Now emotionally and all the "grown up" things they start to deal with is more intense and this is where I think our homeschooling reaps benefits even though these are not always directly school issues. There are a lot of hard calls...when to let go, when not to, when to say yes or when to say no, when to push them a little and when to take up the slack for them...all these things are really where the real work is. And then there are heart breaks, disappointments, car wrecks, financial issues, stupid ideas and regrets......the stuff of life.

[cathmom]

It's still work. It still takes as much time. My oldest was even calling me from college for help with German. IMO homeschooling doesn't end; you just do it at midnight on the phone!

[Laurie4b]

Someone put this on another thread, and I found it intriguing, but asking about it seemed OT for the original thread:

 

 

***Now my kids are middle- and high-school age. Home schooling older kids is VERY hard WORK. It is a full-time job, much more involved than what we did that first year of home schooling. But it's worth it.***

 

 

My oldest is eight, and this surprised me. Isn't most of a high schooler's work done independently? I would think the opposite would be true -- that it would be less work when they get older!

 

The homeschooled teens I know sound like they're mostly self-sufficient when they talk about their schoolwork: They say they watch the MUS lesson and then do their lessons. For History, they read the text and answer the questions. Another subject, they do on-line. It sounds like all the parents do is tell them what to do and check their work periodically.

 

But obviously, I've never done it, so I don't know.

 

What is it like homeschooling a teenager?

 

I think homeschooling in high school is very hard work and I experience it as a huge responsibility. For me, the younger years were more fun and relaxed. Once they get to high school, everything "counts." I and my friends who homeschool in high school are often second-guessing ourselves and we feel the weight of whether we've provided them with what they need. Though I am now more of a "general contractor" rather than the direct provider of schooling, it still weighs heavily.

 

I don't know if this is more of an issue with boys and moms than with girls (most of my hsing friends have boys), but I find that it is tricky to navigate the mother-son, teacher-student relationships.

 

The younger years were much easier for me.

[TxMama]

Homeschooling teens can be self-sufficient but sometimes they can be teens and slack if you let them have too much freedom with school. It is important that you don't over emphasize the independant part!

 

I'd say the my time involvement stayed about the same. I spent less time instructing them how to do stuff and more time reading and discussing with them. Their hours didn't always match my hours and it wasn't uncommon for them to seek help with Chemistry at 9pm.:001_huh: If you add in the amount of time that I spent driving them places for various activities then I spent more time hsing highschool than I do hsing the younger grades. :lol:

 

Yes it is hard work and a full time job. Hour per hour I spent far more time with my highschoolers than I do a preschooler and 2nd grader.

 

I graduated teen #2 in August and I'm really at a lost what to do with all my free time!

[tex-mex]

I have 3 teens (13,14,17) and a 20 year old all of whom I have homeschooled. the 20 year old is in college now. For me, I really have enjoyed the teen years and think in the schooling sense they have been easier. Each year I have had them be more and more independent of me. I really wanted them to know how to be self learners with guidance, of course.

 

The biggest thing I do is holding everyone accountable and I am not always as good at that as I want to be. My girls are hard workers and get satisfaction at doing their work. My boys (14 and 20) have needed more accountability and they did not like doing their work as much. There were just so many other things to do and math just isn't that important in their eyes. So....finding the balance between staying on them and making sure they do what they should all while respecting them and treating them like the men they want to be. Tricky stuff, that.

 

Now emotionally and all the "grown up" things they start to deal with is more intense and this is where I think our homeschooling reaps benefits even though these are not always directly school issues. There are a lot of hard calls...when to let go, when not to, when to say yes or when to say no, when to push them a little and when to take up the slack for them...all these things are really where the real work is. And then there are heart breaks, disappointments, car wrecks, financial issues, stupid ideas and regrets......the stuff of life.

 

:iagree: It makes hsing in the elementary years seem easy. It is a lot of work but well worth it!!

[Jill- OK]

...it does depend on how you want to do it.

 

Doing things the semi-WTM-way, like we do, here, means interacting about things. Yes, they're independent in many areas/ways...but they need to be guided.

 

And the subjects are more challenging. :-/ You actually need to fire up the ol' brain to help them grapple with issues and ideas that YOU may not have figured out completely, yourself. It's not like explaining what a fable is, or helping them understand multiplication.

 

There's also the pressure; college is looming. Career paths are being discussed. You can only repeat algebra so many times before it's time to get through geometry, and take the PSAT, blah, blah, blah...

 

I'd say it's challenging to homeschool teens, but very rewarding. And fun. :D

[Nestof3]

Aaron schooled himself almost entirely on his own in highschool. It was much less time-intensive for me. I still checked all of his work and was there if he had a question. He set his alarm for 7 am and regulated himself for the day. Had he been a faster worker, he could have slept in more, but he was a slow worker.

[FloridaLisa]

Isn't most of a high schooler's work done independently? I would think the opposite would be true -- that it would be less work when they get older!But obviously, I've never done it, so I don't know.

I found this to be a huge myth! I had heard from so many speakers that we are "working ourselves out of a job" and that by the high school years, our children should essentially be teaching themselves.

 

Not.

 

Especially not with 14-year-old boys. :001_smile:

 

It is true that teens don't require the same intensity that an emerging reader requires. Much of the teen's work can be done independently. But, I've foudn there is still a great deal of work for me!

 

The grading alone is a huge task. For elementary, I could quickly glance over the math or grammar and correct. Now, I have to grade the Algebra II against the answer key, analyze the child's work, figure out what they didn't figure out and then spend time with them re-teaching or correcting. I've tried having mine correct their own math, but that was a big flop. They need my accountability and I need to stay on top of where they are and how they're doing. And I know lots of situations in which the child ended up using the answer key to limp through math.

 

In addition to grading, I spend time lots of time reading what my highschoolers are reading. If we're going to discuss Rhetoric, I have to keep up with the text. If we're going to discuss lit, I have to read the novels (and the study guides). If we're going to do serious Bible study, I need to dig deep as well.

 

And there's a lot of car time. Driving to outsourced classes, driving to volunteer work, driving to extracurricular activities.

 

Finally, there's a lot of record keeping. There's a whole new learning curve for the high school years so that takes a lot of research and reading. Finding out all the high school curricula is an ongoing research project. Additionally, there are APs/CLEPs/dual-enrollment, the PSAT, SAT and ACT, scholarship requirements, graduation requirements, college entrance requirements, foreign language requirements, etc! As the homeschooling parent, you will be the guidance counselor through all those high school hoops.

 

And, while you only asked about the time it takes to school a teen, a whole 'nother post could be written about the time invested in parenting a teen.

 

Great question. When my oldest was 8, I figured I'd be eating chocolate and reading my favorite novels while my teens worked away. :001_smile:

 

Lisa

[Renee in NC]

Aaron schooled himself almost entirely on his own in highschool. It was much less time-intensive for me. I still checked all of his work and was there if he had a question. He set his alarm for 7 am and regulated himself for the day. Had he been a faster worker, he could have slept in more, but he was a slow worker.

 

Did he follow TWTM or a more traditional route?

[Nestof3]

[ATTACH]1981[/ATTACH]

Did he follow TWTM or a more traditional route?

 

I hadn't even heard of the WTM until he was in high school, so I suppose it was a more traditional route, though it felt very untraditional to me. I used study guides for literature -- some were free from high school teacher websites and such (many are listed on my blog), and we also used Progeny Press.

 

I didn't do a great job with his writing instruction which is why I've already started using Writing with Ease with our younger ones. Though it may shock many on the board, I knew he was not going to be the English major/writer-type, so though he did literature, grammar and some writing every year, I definitely didn't structure it like SWB would.

 

I also allowed his own interests to guide some of his high school years. For example, he has always been passionate about history, so his senior year, I designed a course titled Military History.

 

He stopped at Algebra II/Trig and took Business Math his senior year. He considered being self-employed like my husband. He also considered going to college and joining the Army, but now he is working on a degree in Criminal Justice. He wants to join law enforcement.

 

We had planned on him going to a local community college and then transferring to a local 4-year school. Since he is paying for college himself, and because he wanted to be able to work with his dad from time to time, it made more sense. He also wanted to keep as much of the money he had saved for a down-payment on a house once he completes college and enters his career.

 

I have attached his transcript. I deleted personal info from the top.

transcript p2.PDF

transcript p2.PDF

Edited January 7, 2010 by nestof3

[Peela]

Teens are absolutely awesome, but yes, hard work. I had a reality check recently when I realised how much my teens need me to set boundaries for them. They keep wanting adult freedoms already- at 14 and 15...and they are just not ready in so many ways. They constantly test boundaries. We have just been through quite a tough and stressful time with our two...but once we got very, very clear about things- and I became willing to really be the bad guy rather than their easy going friend- everything settled down to harmony again. It actually got very tough on my marriage because dh was left feeling he had to constantly set boundaries and the kids would turn to me and I would be softer...then I saw what was happening and dh and I became united and it was peace again. Teens have stretched us as they have become more powerful people.

 

On the academic side...I dont have to jump through the hoops you guys do in the U.S. in terms of credits. I have found alternative pathways to higher education. I just move on- its just a continuation for us. Yes, my kids are both more independent...but this is our lives, now, not just a preparation for the future. They have begged me to allow us to do history together again on the couch this coming year, simply because we all just love sitting on the couches and doing it together. They swear they remember more than when they have to slog through it themselves :)

I find I need to be more involved in some ways and less in others. Their social lives are also more intense..but they have also learned to catch public transport. There's a balance, and it is bittersweet.

Dh and I have more freedom too...we are about to go for a drive together alone. We are also about to have our first holiday together without the kids. Life moves on.

[rwjx2khsmj]

My dd13 will be in 9th grade next year. I've just been reading TWTM section on The Rhetoric Stage. Frankly, it scares me to death and I find it exciting. I know it will mean MUCH more work for me to be up for the task. While she may be more independent, she's going to need me to be at least somewhat informed about what she's studying/reading. I am excited about giving myself such a wonderful education but finding the time and energy is the frightening part.

 

I suspected there was a reason I'd never taken a look at the next step and it's probably a good thing I didn't realize in full what was coming.

 

I'm sure you'll be hearing from me again with lots of questions but I'll do some more reading and thread searching before I get to them.

[abbeyej]

...it does depend on how you want to do it.

 

Doing things the semi-WTM-way, like we do, here, means interacting about things. Yes, they're independent in many areas/ways...but they need to be guided.

 

And the subjects are more challenging. :-/ You actually need to fire up the ol' brain to help them grapple with issues and ideas that YOU may not have figured out completely, yourself. It's not like explaining what a fable is, or helping them understand multiplication.

 

There's also the pressure; college is looming. Career paths are being discussed. You can only repeat algebra so many times before it's time to get through geometry, and take the PSAT, blah, blah, blah...

 

I'd say it's challenging to homeschool teens, but very rewarding. And fun. :D

 

I'm only doing 6th grade so far, and definitely see this already! Yes, my 6th grader can do a lot of his work much more independently than his 3rd grade sister, but he has to put in a lot more time, and the stuff that I do with him really requires that *my* brain be engaged. And as I look forward, I see that that's going to be *more* true, not less.

 

Yes, I know people whose main goal is to get their kids working independently. Completely. That's not my goal. Yes, it's great that I can hand ds his assignment book and he knows what has to be done this week, and he can read and write an outline for history, and draw a diagram for science, and go through (most of!) his algebra problems on his own... But I want the *depth* that comes from having discussions about those things, about picking apart an essay to make it better, to compare different approaches to an algebra problem...

 

I definitely see my days only getting longer as my kids get older.

[tex-mex]

Yes, it's great that I can hand ds his assignment book and he knows what has to be done this week, and he can read and write an outline for history, and draw a diagram for science, and go through (most of!) his algebra problems on his own... But I want the *depth* that comes from having discussions about those things, about picking apart an essay to make it better, to compare different approaches to an algebra problem...

 

I definitely see my days only getting longer as my kids get older.

 

:iagree:

[Joanne]

Wow! I would not have expected the answers in this thread.

 

My kids are: almost 15, 13 and 11.

 

My students include the above plus another 15 year old and a 12 year old.

 

It could be that I've had a hell of a 3 year period, but I do NOT find schooling teens/high schoolers harder. I find it easier and more enjoyable. First, you are teaching (or at least facilitating) real subject matter that you can discuss. Their world view, opinions and thinking emerge; I find this fascinating!

 

It could also be that I find teaching phonics, math facts and dates for history tedious. But I could talk forever about history, literature, ways to improve a composition.

 

My older students are all more mature, more focused, moving on the independent continuum. They organize their work better, organize their time better and seem to grasp the long term importance of learning and the connection to their future.

 

I feel like I am teaching soon to be adults, employees, spouses and the people who will take care of me :tongue_smilie::lol:.

 

I think teaching teens carries greater responsibility. You can catch up on phonics, spelling and math but you can't cram what I believe is needed for high school. In that way, I'd say it's more challenging but certainly not *harder*.

 

I like teaching teens.

[elegantlion]

My ds is not a very independent worker and frankly I don't think he will ever be completely there. That's fine. I'm quite excited (nervous, apprehensive, biting my fingernails) about the high school work load and having discussions and working science experiments and making sure he keeps his ducks in a row. I've always considered homeschooling a full time job (keeps me focused) and I don't foresee that letting up in high school. It will just look different and that's okay.

 

He'll be in college soon enough and then I'll be texting him about calling his mother more often.

[SonshineLearner]

My ds is not a very independent worker and frankly I don't think he will ever be completely there. That's fine. I'm quite excited (nervous, apprehensive, biting my fingernails) ....

 

My daughter is 11 and I finally accepted the fact that I need to sit with her while she does all her work. I actually go through all her math with her (Btwn 1 & 2 hrs a day) I read her other information with her... I do have her listen to her history cd and then try to go through the comprehension questions with her.

 

I have to keep on her about completing her writing.

 

I have to remember that regardless of how much time it takes use to get through the work... getting through is my job. And, her having Socratic Discussion would be hard, with her talking with herself. Of course, that's why I want some "group" experience for her.

 

I expect that in 7th-12th I'll be spending a few hours each day with her. I'm hoping to attend class with her at our local Classical Conversations group. I'm sure she'll be more independent there, but I still expect to sit through her Math DVDs and Latin class. Yes, she's right, One reason I homeschool is to become more educated myself!

 

One day, when my youngest is somewhere around Junior High/High School, I want to be involved with starting a Classical School in our area.

 

:-)

[laughing lioness]

High school is challenging. What I've found (having graduated 2 homeschoolers) is that what I'm good at, they are great at. What I struggle with/avoid, they do to. Example teaches. My dh is a scientist at heart and professionally (social sciences) and they all really get science. Math has been our achilles heel.

What we've outsourced, I've created (class days, co-ops) and that has come with the con of my investing in that vs. them personally, and there is not a CC option here. My dh has been tutoring math for a year (he has a math minor) but we've been a little busy, so that's taken a back seat. We are doing Latin on-line now (starting this semester).

All of that being said, high school is a lot of fun, and very, very rewarding. The kids know how to work, have their own thougths, ideas, hobbies, beliefs. Discussions are usually good, they are going in to the world (through camps, travel, etc) and bringing new ideas home to wrestle through. They can clean the kitchen, cook and babysit :001_smile:

They become people who oftentimes are like minded but with their own independent way of living, thinking and understanding the world.

And, bonus, what we have discovered is that our kids are not what you would call rebellious. They are respectful, kind, caring people. We get comments all the time about how mature and cool our kids are. Of course, we know them enough to know their faults, but generally they act in ways that you would expect people much older to act.

[angela in ohio]

It really, really depends on how you do it. I know many families that send their high schoolers off independently with a stack of books and a list and check in at the end of the year. That would be a lot less work.

 

I find homeschooling a teen (or many teens, in my outside classes) to be a lot more work but more enjoyable. Give me a discussion about worldview issues over listening to a preschooler sound out c-a-t for the tenth time anyday. :D Keeping up with their reading, learning ahead of them, engaging myown mind to be a better role model... those all take every minute I have.

 

Like PP have said, I want more depth for my students than a pile of work done on their own. As I've posted a few times lately, teaching them the skills necessary to learn well requires mentoring and discussion.

[Mad Jenny Flint]

I found this to be a huge myth! I had heard from so many speakers that we are "working ourselves out of a job" and that by the high school years, our children should essentially be teaching themselves.

 

 

Great question. When my oldest was 8, I figured I'd be eating chocolate and reading my favorite novels while my teens worked away. :001_smile:

 

Lisa

 

Loved this, Lisa. This has been exactly my experience, complete with everything else from your post which I did not quote directly. It is a lot of work. I find that I have to choose between sitting, learning, and discussing on the front end for a class, or reading, researching, and correcting on the back end to give the quality of education that I want to give my son. I also find that we are both happier when I choose to work on the front end.

 

We started out 9th grade this year with him working more independently and me trying to hang with course material in my own time. We have moved to snuggling on the sofa and going through material together... maybe slower in some ways, but a deeper, more enriching and generally more satisfying way to go for us. I will have him read some of his biology independently, but I find that I have to backtrack and read a lot of it myself in order to help him with chapter review/quizzes.

 

Last year for Algebra I, we used Lial and I was sitting with him, learning, correcting, teaching and correcting again. It was tedious. This year we are using CD Geometry and he is completely independent. However, there is a financial cost to this and I would NEVER allow him to be completely independent in a subject if I didn't know there was another real, live adult that he could appeal to in a pinch for help. If he asked me a geometry question at this point, I may very well be lost and unable to help him because I have been hands-off. I would never want to risk that without a tutor or online instructor on hand.

 

Math is the only completely independent subject for him. Everything else is done together, and I am straining my brain cells to keep up enough so that I can perform my function as a guide through his course material.

 

The guidance counselor/administrative part has also been a huge challenge. I got my school accredited last year and, while it helped provide me accountability and kept me on task with records, etc., that accountability can be a blessing and a curse. I am dreading PSAT, SAT, SAT II, college applications, and all associated with it but I am trudging along by helping him through an SAT study guide this year. One thing at a time.

[cathmom]

Wow! I would not have expected the answers in this thread.

 

 

 

I like teaching teens.

 

I didn't notice anybody saying they didn't like it. Just that it's still work.

[ereks mom]

 

Short answer: I find that the older the kids get, the more difficult the homeschooling becomes.

 

Long answer: Yes, they become more independent in that you don't have to sit right next to them and show them how to trace the letter "W" like you did in kindergarten. But there is MUCH more planning and prep work that goes into middle school and high school.

 

 

:iagree:

[ereks mom]

I think homeschooling in high school is very hard work and I experience it as a huge responsibility. For me, the younger years were more fun and relaxed. Once they get to high school, everything "counts." ...

 

:iagree: :iagree: :iagree:

 

...I don't know if this is more of an issue with boys and moms than with girls (most of my hsing friends have boys), but I find that it is tricky to navigate the mother-son, teacher-student relationships.

 

 

 

I have a boy (ER graduated in 2008) and a girl (EK is in 9th grade this school year), and I think I do feel a bit more relaxed doing high school with EK than I did with ER. I'm not sure if that's because he's male & she's female OR if it's because he was my 1st and she's my 2nd. I think it's a bit of both.

[Jill- OK]

I didn't notice anybody saying they didn't like it. Just that it's still work.

 

:confused:

 

I wouldn't say that it's MORE work, as the OP related someone else had said, just that it's still a challenge...just in a different way.

 

I thought I saw others saying the same thing...?

 

But I also don't subscribe to the way of doing things that the OP referred to, either. I do give my kids checklists, they do read/work independently...but it's by no means a "see you at the end of the semester" type deal, lol.

 

I wouldn't call it a full-time job (per the OP's question), at all. But I wouldn't call homeschooling Littles a full-time job, either. It's not part of my philosophy or ideal to have kids (or me) working on academics all day.

Edited January 7, 2010 by Jill, OK

[Jill- OK]

The guidance counselor/administrative part has...been a huge challenge.

 

Hoo...boy.

 

We've weathered the PLAN test, and their first crack at the PSAT, and that was stressful enough. I'm not looking forward to college apps, etc., and cobbling this transcript is enough to turn me into a nail-chewer, lol. ;)

 

Some of that is probably personality; I'm not excited about cold-calling high schools and setting up appointments, etc. I worry about missing opportunities because of things I didn't realize, and there's simply not much time for gathering info and basically conducting (and simultaneously taking) a crash course in How to Be a High School Homeschooling Mom.

 

I'm grateful to have a best friend that's a high school teacher. She's been a good source of info, and I'll probably rely on her more during these last two years of high school. (::Gulp::...I still find it hard to believe we're closing up our second year of high school!!)

 

But I love parenting my teens (they're awesome--in fact, they just gave me a pep talk to end all pep talks the other night, to encourage me to keep homeschooling them and their younger siblings)...and so that's probably why I like homeschooling them. :D (I also like parenting/homeschooling Littles, though. It's just different as the years go by. I wouldn't say that one is any more difficult than the other...I think it's a challenge/blessing no matter what the kids' ages.)

[Mrs Mungo]

I agree with Kinsa. Planning and prep work has taken up a lot more time with my teen than it did when my kids were young.

[G5052]

Mostly he works independently, but when there are questions they require a lot more of my time and sometimes research. This morning I did three algebra problems because I couldn't figure out why the answer key did them the way they did. Yesterday we were discussing a novel that he read for school in preparation for writing an essay about it, and we came up with several terms and aspects of the story that we both didn't understand, so we went online and looked that up.

 

I also find that gathering the materials is harder. There are fewer available on the used market, and my budget is such that usually the best I can do is to watch for quite awhile or wait for a good sale. So that takes some time.

 

And school takes most of the day. I can do other things, but I need to be available.

[abbeyej]

...

I wouldn't say that it's MORE work, as the OP related someone else had said, just that it's still a challenge...just in a different way.

 

See, lol, I'd say *more*work*. (And I'm only doing 6th grade!) Even if I have to be 100% engaged one-on-one with a preK-3rd grader, it's still at *most* a couple of hours a day. Algebra? Real Latin translation? (As opposed to practicing basic grammar and vocabulary...) Discussing Tom Sawyer? Trying to figure out why a science lab didn't work and balancing equations? Editing papers?...

 

I'm totally thinking it's more and harder work. ;)

 

More engaging than doing 3rd grade most of the time too. ;)

 

 

I wouldn't call it a full-time job (per the OP's question), at all. But I wouldn't call homeschooling Littles a full-time job, either.

 

I'd say it's a lot closer to a "full-time job" than home schooling Littles. (Which isn't to say that *parenting* Littles isn't sometimes an exhausting job of its own sort.)

 

But I never said I didn't *like* it and wasn't looking forward to the *next* six years! (Or nine, if you count my younger one...)

[Heather in WI]

Here is an awesome related thread on the high school board:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134979

[Nestof3]

Just responding some of the other posts in this thread.

 

Yes, record-keeping was more intensive for me because I don't really keep records and I keep no grades for 1st-8th grades. I do NOT miss that at all. I've always done a lot of planning and compiling of resources, so this doesn't change much. The community college asked for absolutely nothing from him, so I have this great transcript that I was never allowed to submit. ;)

 

For me, one of the reasons it was easier wasn't because I sent him to his room with a stack to just do alone but because he could do so much of the work alone while I was tending to the little ones, to domestic things, to business paperwork etc. Then, when I was discussing literature with him or anything else (history, science, politics), I hadn't spent hours with him already so I felt more refreshed. So much of our discussion took place during "after-schooling" hours. I read some of the books he read but not all of them. We had some great discussions about them, particularly ones like Animal Farm. We still discuss so much together -- his college courses, politics and religion.

 

He didn't need me at all for grammar, math, science (except lab), and many of the elective courses. We enjoyed Koine Greek together.

 

I would say chemistry was the most time-consuming for me. He did his biology labs for the most part alone. He had zero passion for biology. He did very well in the course, but it was really just a "do this because you have to sort of thing." He enjoyed learning about leaves the most. He has done well in his college biology as well. I think our high school biology did a good job of preparing him to enjoy college biology even more. There have been many times during the last two semesters that he would discuss interesting things he learned when he came home.

 

There are definitely things I would have done differently. I would have continued with Koine Greek. He did fine with college Spanish, but he is not a language person and has no desire to learn another. That's fine with me. He worked a lot because we felt it was a great opportunity to spend a lot of time with his dad, to save up money, and to have a skill to fall back on.

 

We are just a family that converses and debates a lot, so we naturally spend a lot of time doing just this.

[Jane in NC]

Here is an awesome related thread on the high school board:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134979

 

Heather,

 

Thanks for reminding me of that thread. It was good to read through it again!

 

Jane