Pros and Cons of Homeschooling High School

[Jean in Newcastle]

Really the title says it all.  I need to look at things as objectively as possible. 

[Joshin]

I'm 2 years in with my eldest.

 

Pros:

-We can focus on where he needs to focus. No worrying about basic gen ed requirements he already has down to fill up a "schedule."

-Plenty of free time for outside activities without being out of the house from dawn until well after dark.

-Little work for me beyond the initial planning stage, just weekly meetings and occasional help with things that stump him.

-More opportunities at his age plus he can seek them out on his own. I feel he has more experience moving in the adult world because he is homeschooled and was given more responsibility from a young age. He turns 16 in a couple of weeks and already has several job offers -- in a town notorious for not giving work opportunities to teens.

-Dual enrollment. As a homeschooler he doesn't have to take any high school classes once he is 16 or a junior, instead he can attend college full time and the state lotto funds pay for the first two years (public schoolers can only attend part time unless they get special permission from their counselor). His program and school of choice offers a 3 year bachelor. He already has a one year scholarship on top of dual enrollment. College is paid for except for books and lab fees.

 

Cons:

-Social stuff was tricky at first. It's been easier this second year because he took the initiative and he became comfortable with using a bus pass.

-Some things need a group setting, like music, and there always seems to be fewer choices for homeschoolers the older they get. Fortunately we have access to all public school electives through a special "parent cooperative" campus, but I have to jump through several hoops and reeducate the staff on homeschool laws every year to prevent them from trying to press him into a full time schedule.

-Constant worry that we are forgetting something vital even though his PSATs and college entrance exams were awesome. I know he hates science labs, but I still feel like we failed by not having a hardcore chemistry lab.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Two of the biggest pros are we can focus heavily on interests and my rising high schooler wants to homeschool.  Probably the biggest con for me is wondering if I can pull this off.  I have to pull it off and I will, but I'm anticipating it'll be a lot of work and vigilance on my part because I want to have a good outcome!

[Jean in Newcastle]

Two of the biggest pros are we can focus heavily on interests and my rising high schooler wants to homeschool.  Probably the biggest con for me is wondering if I can pull this off.  I have to pull it off and I will, but I'm anticipating it'll be a lot of work and vigilance on my part because I want to have a good outcome!

 

I have to note that I have pulled it off once.  Ds will be entering college this fall.  His sister is a completely different student and has thrown me into a panic again!  ;)

[GinaPagnato]

Since you've already BTDT, just think of this as going through labor. You did it once, it was probably really rough at times, but you stuck with it, and now you've kind of forgotten how it all goes down.

 

You wonder if you can do it again. You can. See, just like labor.  :D

[Hilltopmom]

I agree with all the pluses already mentioned here:)

 

Adding- ability to set own schedule & not be on school bus at 7:00 AM.

 

Our only con so far- is costs. Public school would've been mostly free with almost free DE classes. Homeschooling we are paying for DE full price & paying for online high school classes (math & physics).

 

Oh wait, also- the driving, oh, the driving! (Rural area, no public transportation, no extra car).

[Lang Syne Boardie]

The only con I've found is that I can't be working, or resting, or volunteering, or cleaning the house the way I'd like, during these years. Homeschooling has always been intense at our house, but homeschooling high school is very intense. (We have accelerated academics, discussion-heavy curriculum, and too many outside activities!) It's just a full-time job, and sometimes I regret that, especially when I consider our financial situation. According to the books, I should be working.

 

But the benefits to the children are too great to forego. I don't think they could go to high school locally, after the pre-K to 8th grade education they received at home. Not in a school district that is rated "failing academically" by the state. It would be such a poor fit. And finishing the course at home has meant that the transition into honors college programs was seamless -- classical homeschooling at the rhetoric level more than prepared them for college!

On the social side, my late bloomers tend to need a little more time than is typical to be very comfortable and competent socially, but they seem to experience a sudden maturing at around age 16, and can function at the adult level in every way by 18. Ninth grade at public school would have been too overwhelming, with too little gained to justify the angst.

 

So. No cons for them, only for me, and I really just need to be patient and finish the course.

Edited August 3, 2016 by Tibbie Dunbar

[SparklyUnicorn]

I have to note that I have pulled it off once.  Ds will be entering college this fall.  His sister is a completely different student and has thrown me into a panic again!  ;)

 

My two are completely different so no happy dance that I've learned something helpful along the way with the first that I can use with the second!

[SkateLeft]

It was way easier for me after the first time through.

 

The only con for us was that our first kid was pretty serious and introverted, so helping her find her tribe was hard.In contrast, #2 is a social butterfly who played sports at the local public high school and makes friends easily everywhere she goes.

 

Other than that, there really weren't any cons for us.

[Bluegoat]

I've don't have any kids that age, but I know from local homeschoolers that at least here, scholarships for university can be easier to deal with for kids coming out of ps grade 12 - a lot of the local universities automatically look at kids with a certain GPA or even just award them some funding, but for homeschooled kids they need to make more effort, write essays and provide outside test score, and so on.

[regentrude]

One graduated, one rising senior here.

Pros:

Ability to tailor education to student's needs. For highly ambitious academically inclined student that meant university courses beginning at age 13; for competetive athlete that means structuring the schedule so that he has enough time for training. 

 

Cons:

Parent take sole responsibility for education and college readiness. That can be a burden sometimes.

[bethben]

Along with what others have said...

 

Pros - Our main goal for homeschooling was to give our children a Christian Worldview.  Public school will not give that.  Also, my son thinks that having to listen to a teacher every.single.day would drive him bonkers.  

 

Cons - There is a reason high school teachers tend to (not always) major in college in the field their teaching.  I feel like high school needs teachers who love their subject and are good at teaching it.  i can't be passionate about every subject and can't be an expert on every subject.  I don't know how to motivate or even know what is appropriate for grading and requirements.  This is my big one---my son does MUCH better with outside teachers.  He works harder and actually works to get a good grade.  With me, he puts in half the effort and I am also mindful of relationship with him.  

 

Our solution - he will be doing all online classes this year.  So, it's our best way to give him the Christian worldview we desire him to have when he graduates and still afford what I consider to be a private education.

 

[hornblower]

con - social stuff. Harder to meet people in our community. 

pro - don't have to deal with social stuff! 

con - lack of access to some really super facilities (top notch labs and metal working and robotic etc at one school almost pulled us in) [We have no DE options here]
pro- tailored, individual, private education; ability to schedule how we like, what we like & to set our own curriculum. The hoop jumping in our system is insanely stupid & we all appreciate being able to just avoid that. 


PRO - you really get to know these young adults. This is the real magic imo. The hours on discussion or just hanging out or just talking pay off. You get to build a relationship that simply would not have been possible with 8-12h out of the house day in/day out. 

[Joshin]

 

con - lack of access to some really super facilities (top notch labs and metal working and robotic etc at one school almost pulled us in) [We have no DE options here]

Ack! This is where we are at with my rising 6th grader. He's accelerated already, although unlike his brother, we aren't allowing him to grade progress too much due to just not being mature enough for it yet. Yet, when we look ahead to high school we know he will be missing SO MANY opportunities at the local science-focused high school. Benefits we can't really take advantage of unless we enrolled him. That may be counteracted if he matures enough for early college admission. We are already brainstorming this issue -- part of the reason we are planning to move in two years to our dream retirement location. It is also near many top notch opportunities for homeschoolers that would appeal to younger son's goals and passions.

 

 

 

Edited August 3, 2016 by Joshin

[G5052]

One in college and one 12th grader. TOTALLY different kids.

 

My pro list:

 

Ability to choose their peers and teachers carefully (we outsource some)

Somewhat flexible scheduling

Customization of subjects and levels

Family time

 

My con list:

 

The struggle of mom versus teacher

Hormones  :huh: .

 

No regrets. I'm more convinced than ever that mine would have been miserable at the public high school.

[Garga]

I'm just starting 9th grade in a few weeks, but I already have a pro.

 

My son is very sensitive to sad books.  I won't give details because it's his private business, but I have to be careful with what he reads.  I've had my MIL tell me, "oh, he needs to just get over it," but when I described the reaction he has, she immediately changed her tune.  I'm not just coddling him.  I absolutely must take care with what he reads.  

 

We wanted to study World History this year and World Literature.  I have had a BEAR of a time trying to find World Lit books that won't affect him too deeply.  But I found them!  His World Lit class won't look exactly like everyone else's, but he will read books from authors of different countries from many different time periods that deal with serious issues, but won't scar him.  This is a HUGE pro for us.

 

 

Since we haven't started yet, that's all I'll post.  I have some fears about how I'll find enough hours in the day to teach my two kids (my sons are not independent---I cannot hand my 9th grader his books and check in with him each week.  I have to actively sit side-by-side with him for many things still.) 

 

 

I thought of another pro:  Since I am the sole teacher, I can balance out his workload.  We're going to take a lot of time on World History and Biology and try for the SAT subject tests.  This means that I can balance out the other subjects to be a little lighter.  Not too light, of course, but balanced.

 

Edited August 3, 2016 by Garga

[G5052]

I've don't have any kids that age, but I know from local homeschoolers that at least here, scholarships for university can be easier to deal with for kids coming out of ps grade 12 - a lot of the local universities automatically look at kids with a certain GPA or even just award them some funding, but for homeschooled kids they need to make more effort, write essays and provide outside test score, and so on.

 

FWIW, that really varies.

 

We have a wide circle of friends in public, private, and home schools. Other than a few scholarships that require that you attend a particular high school, I'm not aware of any difference here. The merit scholarships in my state are based on SAT/ACT, activities, and recommendations for everyone. 

[8filltheheart]

I love homeschooling for high school.  My kids have been able to really blossom and grow into who they are.  They could never have developed the skills and talents they have graduated with if they had been attending a traditional school.  (I wont even go into the fact that I completely disagree with the focus on knowledge level learning that I believe dominates ps methodologies.)

 

I have had kids graduate from high school with 10 math credits and 11 science credits.  My current 12th grader will have 15 foreign language credits.  They have been the ones controlling those choices and it has allowed them to delve into areas of exploration that they absolutely love.

 

 

I've don't have any kids that age, but I know from local homeschoolers that at least here, scholarships for university can be easier to deal with for kids coming out of ps grade 12 - a lot of the local universities automatically look at kids with a certain GPA or even just award them some funding, but for homeschooled kids they need to make more effort, write essays and provide outside test score, and so on.

 

While this applies to individual schools here, it is definitely not a blanket reality.  (Our experience is that the number that discriminate against homeschoolers is much smaller than the number of schools that don't.)

 

Fwiw, I have a student on full ride scholarship.  He didn't have to anything additional b/c he was homeschooled.  He did exactly what any student would have had to have done.

[lllll]

nm 

 

Edited November 9, 2016 by cathey

[daijobu]

Yes! You can do it! And yes, it will be a lot of work!  :lol:

 

Weirdly, for me homeschooling high school was actually less work.   More of the teaching was outsourced when dd reached high school.  

[Grantmom]

I have worried and doubted and worried and doubted, but I can honestly say, now, two years into high school, that I am so glad we are still homeschooling!  There are so many pros:

-- being able to explore interests and completely choose your own schedule

-- can take classes from almost anywhere with the explosion of online offerings

-- better schedule for extracurricular activities they enjoy, and real-world learning, like internships and volunteering

-- more time for family relationships

-- spending more time in the real world, interacting with people of various ages and backgrounds, in real situations

-- having great discussions and conversations that are relevant in that moment

 

I think the cons are not something I would really even call cons, maybe just things that are challenging, but not in a bad way.  It does take more time from me, but I am glad to have the opportunity to do that.  We live in a smaller area, and I am sometimes jealous of larger cities where they have a lot of homeschooled high schoolers, with teen activities and social opportunities that we just don't have around here.

 

 

 

 

[GoodGrief]

Pro: DEFINITELY scheduling flexibility. Even if you incorporate dual enrollment, you have more choices. There's more time to pursue extracurriculars. You can tailor curric to the learning style, and no worries about who the teacher might be or if a particular class will be available.

 

Con: High quality foreign language instruction is much more difficult to come by in a homeschool situation (though one may have more flexibility to pursue immersion opportunities.) Group activities like orchestra, choir, school plays are trickier to arrange. Not all states/communities allow access to school sports opportunities to homeschoolers. Arranging for PSAT and AP testing is a hassle!! And they do miss out on being part of a traditional peer group in the school setting; this will be a pro for some and a con for others.

 

The homeschool thing can be a pro or a con for college admissions. Totally depends on the school and the app reader.

[Mom22ns]

I don't think I have anything that hasn't already been listed, but here is my list:

 

Pro's

Scheduling

Pursuing interests

Controlling course content/difficulty

Avoiding time wasting busy work - this was a big one!

Family relationships - this was big too!

 

Con's

Fewer social opportunities

Lots of work for mom

Some subjects were more challenging without an expert in house

Not having outside teachers to answer to/be inspired by (we did outsource some, but nothing that put them in contact with a teacher as much as ps high school would have)

 

I would do it again in a heartbeat, each and every time as long as the child involved was willing. It was a lot of work here, but I enjoyed it, not every minute, but the whole thing. I don't think I'd have the relationship I have with either of my kids if they'd gone to ps for high school. They are my best friends. When they were in ps before we started homeschooling, they had already started to become strangers. If they'd stayed, I feel sure they would have been friendly strangers in my home, not the deeply connected friends we are today. Homeschooling high school was the best, but I will admit to the cons.

[Bluegoat]

......

 

 

 

While this applies to individual schools here, it is definitely not a blanket reality.  (Our experience is that the number that discriminate against homeschoolers is much smaller than the number of schools that don't.)

 

Fwiw, I have a student on full ride scholarship.  He didn't have to anything additional b/c he was homeschooled.  He did exactly what any student would have had to have done.

 

I wouldn't say that universities here generally discriminate.  It's more a matter of a standard official high school transcript is simple for them to deal with, and so it's simple for the kids applying as well.  Typically homeschool grads here don't actually have an official transcript, and reasonably enough the universities don't necessarily know how to weigh the results a parent-teacher sends them.  So it becomes a matter of finding out how the university would prefer to evaluate the homeschooled student and then fulfilling those requirements. 

 

I suppose really its an aspect of high school being more complicated for many homeschooling parents from an administrative perspective.

[elegantlion]

lots of pros, echoing much of what has already been written. 

 

The big cons for us were finances: In hindsight, I should have been working at least part-time (lots of reasons why I didn't). 

 

Life falling apart:  Although I knew my life had some interesting challenges, I didn't not foresee becoming a single parent when ds was in 9th grade. I know your life is in a better place, but it only took two issues, my divorce and my dad's health crises prior to his death to derail all my best laid plans for high school. 

 

We regrouped and graduated ds a year early to take advantage of getting him into college (we qualify for need based aid and no free dual enrollment). In hindsight, that was the best decision. We had a plan for so many contingencies at that point. Ds was also very flexible about how we schooled, he didn't balk when we had to change plans so often. That might not work well for everyone. 

[Lang Syne Boardie]

 

 

We regrouped and graduated ds a year early to take advantage of getting him into college (we qualify for need based aid and no free dual enrollment). In hindsight, that was the best decision. We had a plan for so many contingencies at that point. Ds was also very flexible about how we schooled, he didn't balk when we had to change plans so often. That might not work well for everyone. 

 

I know about this. It can feel so devastating to repeatedly lose the thread of a plan ("What plan are we on? B? C?"), but what a gift for the kids if we can all get through it with relationships intact and success toward moving forward. I mean, the ability to pivot and keep together, keep learning, work toward a goal anyway...this is the kind of blessing that we would never choose but it shapes a life.

[GoVanGogh]

I know about this. It can feel so devastating to repeatedly lose the thread of a plan ("What plan are we on? B? C?"), but what a gift for the kids if we can all get through it with relationships intact and success toward moving forward. I mean, the ability to pivot and keep together, keep learning, work toward a goal anyway...this is the kind of blessing that we would never choose but it shapes a life.

 

We had a life-changing event in 6th grade.

Everything I had planned for middle school, along with our high school and college dreams, went out the window. I can look back now and say, "How wonderful that we were homescholing and managed to pull through intact."

Being able to cater our child's education to his unique needs has been such a blessing along the way and will continue to be. I am glad we have always been "out of the box" thinkers as i has been good for our child.

 

We are starting ninth grade later this month, so this thread has been very encouraging to me. Thanks!

[Jean in Newcastle]

Just spent three hours downloading stuff, uploading stuff, and sending transcripts! Next up: sending ACTs!

 

We just sent the first tuition check.  Now that makes it all real! 

[JoJosMom]

We just sent the first tuition check.  Now that makes it all real! 

 

You know, Jean, if you're going to use language like that, you really ought to add a "trigger warning" to your thread title.  :toetap05:

[Jean in Newcastle]

You know, Jean, if you're going to use language like that, you really ought to add a "trigger warning" to your thread title.  :toetap05:

 

LOL

 

[JanetC]

We're in the midst of college app season. It would be nice to have been able to hand this all off. 

 

We outsource a lot too, so yeah, that helps. It's the college apps that are keeping me up! You'd think it would be easier with #5, but it's knowing what we're in for that makes me toss and turn at night. 

 

I'm on #2 and I'm really frustrated at how much I don't know what we are in for.

 

DD#2 gets

- a new version of the PSAT and the SAT than her sister used,

- a new application system (Coalition App, to be required by our state flagship school or we'd skip it),

- new FAFSA rules (prior-prior year)

- a new version of financial aid planning (DD#1's freshman financial aid package is the "worst first" scenario, she'll qualify for more aid as an upperclassman when sister is in school, DD#2's aid is "best case" first. I'm very worried about how to make sure she can afford to finish where she starts because her EFC will go up when her sister graduates)

- a brand new college list (her interests and needs are very different than sister's and hard to search for)

 

I've learned a ton about college apps with kid #1 (and share regularly what I've learned), but gearing up to do it all again is keeping me humble about how much I still have to learn

[JanetC]

Arg. We switched to the ACT.

Mine's sophomore year PSAT was borderline for national merit, so she's prepping to try for that this fall. Since PSAT overlaps with SAT, the ACT is second fiddle. Current plan is PSAT October, SAT November, wait for scores. Depending on scores, she may do SAT again or perhaps we should consider ACT for June?

[Sahamamama]

One of my frustrations is with our local uni. They have not entered the digital age. Dd's list is engineering schools, so they want things sent electronically. Our local uni refuses. Yesterday was not a fun day, battling with the idiot at the registrar. Since dd's college transcript is what will get her INTO said engineering schools, it HAS to get there!

 

:blink: Wow, that is ridiculous! How hard can it be to send something electronically? Amazing.

[momto2Cs]

I'm 2 years in with my eldest.

 

Pros:

-We can focus on where he needs to focus. No worrying about basic gen ed requirements he already has down to fill up a "schedule."

-Plenty of free time for outside activities without being out of the house from dawn until well after dark.

-Little work for me beyond the initial planning stage, just weekly meetings and occasional help with things that stump him.

-More opportunities at his age plus he can seek them out on his own. I feel he has more experience moving in the adult world because he is homeschooled and was given more responsibility from a young age. He turns 16 in a couple of weeks and already has several job offers -- in a town notorious for not giving work opportunities to teens.

-Dual enrollment. As a homeschooler he doesn't have to take any high school classes once he is 16 or a junior, instead he can attend college full time and the state lotto funds pay for the first two years (public schoolers can only attend part time unless they get special permission from their counselor). His program and school of choice offers a 3 year bachelor. He already has a one year scholarship on top of dual enrollment. College is paid for except for books and lab fees.

 

Cons:

-Social stuff was tricky at first. It's been easier this second year because he took the initiative and he became comfortable with using a bus pass.

-Some things need a group setting, like music, and there always seems to be fewer choices for homeschoolers the older they get. Fortunately we have access to all public school electives through a special "parent cooperative" campus, but I have to jump through several hoops and reeducate the staff on homeschool laws every year to prevent them from trying to press him into a full time schedule.

-Constant worry that we are forgetting something vital even though his PSATs and college entrance exams were awesome. I know he hates science labs, but I still feel like we failed by not having a hardcore chemistry lab.

 

:iagree: :iagree: :iagree:

 

[JanetC]

:blink: Wow, that is ridiculous! How hard can it be to send something electronically? Amazing.

It's government regulations that make it hard. They can't just randomly email a transcript. They have to have a FERPA compliant procedure to make sure that all confidential data is kept confidential.

[theelfqueen]

Margaret is your "local" Western?

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Sahamamama]

It's government regulations that make it hard. They can't just randomly email a transcript. They have to have a FERPA compliant procedure to make sure that all confidential data is kept confidential.

 

Ah, I see. Well, that's not the first or last time that government regulations make something difficult, right? But, on the other hand, I like my private information to stay private, so I can see the point of it.

[Sahamamama]

Two of the biggest pros are we can focus heavily on interests and my rising high schooler wants to homeschool.  Probably the biggest con for me is wondering if I can pull this off.  I have to pull it off and I will, but I'm anticipating it'll be a lot of work and vigilance on my part because I want to have a good outcome!

 

My oldest is starting 6th grade in a week or two, and I'm already wondering! I feel the same way -- I have to pull it off and we want to have a good outcome. Whether or not I (we) can do it, that's another story.

 

So... you mean that concern doesn't go away? Just gets worse? :sad:

 

[Miss Tick]

My next was able to earn all 135 merit badges. And so on...

Margaret, I composed a pm to you about this, but your inbox is full. Can you or your ds pass on any advice to a first-year scout that might be interested in what it takes to accomplish this? My ds has mentioned this as a possibility.

 

Sorry for the derail.

[MerryAtHope]

My oldest is starting 6th grade in a week or two, and I'm already wondering! I feel the same way -- I have to pull it off and we want to have a good outcome. Whether or not I (we) can do it, that's another story.

 

So... you mean that concern doesn't go away? Just gets worse? :sad:

 

 

For me the progression has roughly been....

 

(before) Can I do this well?

(during) Am I doing this well?

(after) Did I do this well?

 

LOL! Fear (and insecurity) is kind of like a dog, and you have to make sure it knows it's place (it's not the alpha dog!). Don't let it make decisions or determine your course for you.

 

OTOH, I would also say there were equally (and at some moments stronger) times of confidence and reassurance (having a college student tell you he's eternally grateful you homeschooled--priceless!). I'll have to think through pros and cons later, but for us, despite some of the struggles, the journey was definitely worth it and I'm so glad for the time we had together. 

[Sahamamama]

Since you've already BTDT, just think of this as going through labor. You did it once, it was probably really rough at times, but you stuck with it, and now you've kind of forgotten how it all goes down.

 

You wonder if you can do it again. You can. See, just like labor.  :D

 

:svengo:

 

Okay, now I want to hide under a rock until 2025, when it will all be over. I remember when I was pregnant with the first child, thinking, "Only one way out of this fix and that is through."

 

My next pregnancy was with twins -- two months of bed rest (while somehow raising a toddler), after having had thyroid surgery and cancer treatment the previous year, and a second C-section to get out yet another foot-first baby. I only had 1 out of 3 realize her head was supposed to be down. The other two liked kicking my bladder and sciatic nerve for four months straight.

 

Piece. of. cake.

 

I don't know.... equating high school-level homeschooling to labor.... somehow.... :leaving:

 

 

 

[Sahamamama]

I have to note that I have pulled it off once.  Ds will be entering college this fall.  His sister is a completely different student and has thrown me into a panic again!  ;)

 

Thought A:

 

Your #1 reason to homeschool, perhaps? Jean, I have watched as, time and time again, you and your daughter have found a path to learning and growth, doing whatever it takes to meet her where she is and finding ways to make it work. And, IMO, you have done this while prioritizing both the joy of learning and your mother-daughter relationship. You haven't (from what I've read of your posts on the AT threads) ;) sacrificed those precious things for the sake of checking off the "right" boxes.

 

I think you have what it takes. My two cents.

 

*************************

Thought B:

 

I haven't done this yet, of course, hence my own personal, occasional panic. We will take it a year at a time, a child at a time, and see where we end up when we get there.

 

But when I think about it, if I'm honest about my own public high school experience, one of the top motivations I have to (hopefully) homeschool the girls through high school is that I had so many seriously poor teachers throughout those years. And I think that, going through it at the time, I knew that they were poor teachers, that I was stuck with them, and that they weren't really capable of teaching me anything. They were truly terrible at teaching! Overall, they were essentially mediocre, bored, boring, bureaucratic, dull, lazy, and profoundly uninspiring. Sure, they put in the time, they showed up most days, but I can't think of a single teacher I had in those years who communicated in any way that learning was a wonderful, beautiful gift to be sought after and treasured. No, school was about "putting in the time."

 

I contrast this to myself, quite frankly. I do, because I know that, whatever else my failings, whatever my weaknesses may be, I am not a fire already put out. I am not sure how all the logistics will work, but I know that I do have passion -- passion for Christ, passion for my good husband, passion for lifelong learning, passion for people, passion for my sweet daughters, passion for health & wellness, passion for the brokenhearted, passion for global missions, and passion for proper punctuation! :)

 

Will I send my girls to our public high school so they can soak in a "qualified" teacher's Pool of Lethargy and Apathy? If there are teachers on fire, I never met any until my last two years of college, and thank God I did then! They redeemed the gift of education for me, and I am grateful to them. And so, I would like to retain the autonomy to line up teachers who inspire, who are on fire, who do more than show up. Whether this means myself or someone else, having the freedom to choose "good teachers" is so important to me. Otherwise, our kids are stuck in the Pool. HTH.

[JanetC]

I have to note that I have pulled it off once.  Ds will be entering college this fall.  His sister is a completely different student and has thrown me into a panic again!  ;)

 

Yeah, I hear ya. I'm not panicking switching from kid #1 to very different kid #2, but the sharp turn is tricky. I wish the kids were just a smidge further apart, so I could catch more of a break!

[Carrie12345]

The only con I've found is that I can't be working, or resting, or volunteering, or cleaning the house the way I'd like, during these years. Homeschooling has always been intense at our house, but homeschooling high school is very intense. (We have accelerated academics, discussion-heavy curriculum, and too many outside activities!) It's just a full-time job, and sometimes I regret that, especially when I consider our financial situation. According to the books, I should be working.

 

But the benefits to the children are too great to forego. I don't think they could go to high school locally, after the pre-K to 8th grade education they received at home. Not in a school district that is rated "failing academically" by the state. It would be such a poor fit. And finishing the course at home has meant that the transition into honors college programs was seamless -- classical homeschooling at the rhetoric level more than prepared them for college!

 

On the social side, my late bloomers tend to need a little more time than is typical to be very comfortable and competent socially, but they seem to experience a sudden maturing at around age 16, and can function at the adult level in every way by 18. Ninth grade at public school would have been too overwhelming, with too little gained to justify the angst.

 

So. No cons for them, only for me, and I really just need to be patient and finish the course.

 

This is so much how I'm feeling right now, as we embark on 9th grade.  I can't say we have *accelerated* academics, but my kids are carrying heavy, eclectic course loads, which feels pretty intense (to me, at least!)

 

I do think most of the cons are on me.  Big picture, I don't see much con for them.  Perhaps if they were more Ivy-oriented, I wouldn't be the best education coordinator for them, but that doesn't seem to be their bag(s).  If my younger kids come to this point with different skill sets and interests, I may very well have to reevaluate.  In that case, we'd probably still choose homeschooling, but with a lot more outside help.

 

My young teens still have this fascinating blend of unabashedly childlike play and responsible adult behaviors (depending on the circumstance) that's not only fun to watch, but makes me confident that they're going to get to where I want them to be without sacrificing their childhoods.  I don't think my oldest, who wasn't homeschooled for high school, felt the freedom to have that overlap.

[Alice]

I have no advice to give since my oldest is only going into 8th grade. I just wanted to say how much I appreciate these kinds of threads: encouraging but also honest. It really helps to hear from people who tell you it can be great but also acknowledge the problems. In real life it seems I only meet people who think I'm nuts to even consider homeschooling high school or I meet people who tell me it's a piece of cake with no problems at all. 

 

This seems to be the summer where everyone I meet is asking about high school and incredulous that we are planning on homeschooling my oldest. It's his choice and I feel excited about it but it's the first time that I have felt really defensive about our choice. 

[daijobu]

We're in the midst of college app season. It would be nice to have been able to hand this all off. 

 

We outsource a lot too, so yeah, that helps. It's the college apps that are keeping me up! You'd think it would be easier with #5, but it's knowing what we're in for that makes me toss and turn at night. 

 

Agreed, I wrote too soon, as my dd only just finished freshman year, when she was taking more classes online.  I expect that to be the case for her sophomore year as well when I'll only be teaching math.  (In middle school I was teaching nearly all subjects.)  So while I'm coasting now through homeschooling, you are correct to remind me that my workload will increase in another year or so.  Until then I'm reading these boards avidly and already getting started on my counselor letter and school profile and whatever else I can finish in advance.