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Hi all,

 

We have one more year before my oldest starts high school (we plan to continue homeschooling). My other kids aren't far behind, so I feel like we have this one last year before things start to really "count" in terms of transcripts and staying on topic (not rabbit-trailing) and less pressure, etc ...

 

I'd love to hear from some parents of high schoolers: What are you glad you/your student did before high school? What do you wish you had done that you didn't? What did you spend more time and energy and money on that you realize now wasn't really important?

 

Any books/curriculum/focus you're particularly grateful for?

 

Any other wisdom from veterans would be appreciated! 

 

Thank you in advance!!

 

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What are you glad you/your student did before high school?

 

Interest led learning in middle grades. Lots of student input what to study, projects of their choice. Field trips to museums, science centers, live theatre, concerts, state parks - while they still enjoyed spending weekends and summers at family outings and travels and still had time for all that.

 

 What do you wish you had done that you didn't? 

 

Can't think of anything. I wish instrument lessons had been a bigger success - but we did try, for years, it just did not "take".

 

 

What did you spend more time and energy and money on that you realize now wasn't really important?

 

With my first born, I kept very meticulous records. Which was largely unnecessary, but still nice to have.

 

Any books/curriculum/focus you're particularly grateful for?

 

AoPS. The only curriculum I used for 6-7 years.

 

Any other wisdom from veterans would be appreciated! 

 

Educate the child you have, not the child you wish you had or the child a sibling was. Kids are different in their abilities, personalities, and goals. Don't compare - to siblings or other people's children. Each student has a unique path.

Edited by regentrude
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I am only one year into high school with my firstborn, so I was in your shoes only a year or two ago. 

 

I wish we would have done more interest-led learning in middle school in the content areas. I'm glad for the interest-led we DID do.

 

I am glad we focused on math and writing. We loved Systematic Mathematics. Ellen McHenry's science was also a hit. DS referred to some of the things he learned in her courses during his biology this year. 

 

I'm also glad I got him reading and enjoying classic literature.

 

Those are the things that come immediately to mind. I have limited experience in HS though, so I will be listening in and enjoying the rest of the thread.  :lurk5:

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I have a rising 10th grader. The one thing I wish I would have done differently is that I would do Earth Science (including Space) in 8th. I think it is an important topic, but now Bio, Chem, and Physics squeeze it out. And DS is not the type to take two sciences.

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I wish I would have been more open to online classes and enrolled dd in a few earlier than we did. She took a one-semester class second semester of 8th grade and it was a game changer. Enrolling in several online classes for 9th grade had a big learning curve just managing several websites, etc. I wish we would have started more gradually a couple years earlier.

 

Make the most of this time together. So many things I presumed we would do together in high school may never happen. Teens change, opportunities arise, life happens...  Make the most of the moments you have and cherish the gifts they offer!

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Educate the child you have, not the child you wish you had or the child a sibling was. Kids are different in their abilities, personalities, and goals. Don't compare - to siblings or other people's children. Each student has a unique path.

I recently attended a homeschool talk where the speaker said much the same. I cannot begin to tell you how comforting those words were to me then - and again today, reading the above.

My child is going into ninth grade this fall. Child is very bright, but works at a very slow pace due to mild cerebral palsy. My child's doctors and therapists keep telling me "slow and steady, be open to high school taking 4.5 to 5 years instead of usual four."

It is hard not to look around at my child's peers and compare what they are accomplishing and know some things just take us so much longer.

"Educate the child before me" has become my mantra for high school. Our high school plans may be quirky, but that is fine. They are uniquely ours.

 

OP, thank you so much for starting this thread.

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I'm not a veteran but just wanted to second the posters who mentioned classic literature and educating the child you have. Mine happens to be born to a mom who craved a Well Trained Mind education for him. In the end I had to accept that while my firstborn and only child will have blossomed with that approach, there are other approaches that are equally (if not more) beneficial to him, including our own strange form of outsourced unschooling (but that didn't stop me from hanging out on these boards, soaking in the wisdom and throwing some WTM-inspired materials at him :D ).

 

Good luck and glad you are in the journey with us! So far, I find my teen as wonderful and as fun to be with as when he was younger...we are learning together as always and things get tricky sometimes but we find a way to work it out and I think above everything else, it is this amazing bond homeschooling has helped us to have that I should be thankful for.

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