How do you keep tabs on your high schooler's work? And how involved are you?

[Aspasia]

This feels like a ridiculous question because I've been homeschooling for almost 10 years and have never had a problem knowing whether or not my kids are completing their work. For my elementary and middle schoolers, I've always done the file system (you know, where I tear apart the workbooks, print the e-books, and file into 36 folders per kid), with all their written work for the week contained in a binder, divided into five days of work. I know how much progress we're making by looking at the number on the file folder we're currently on. Plus, I'm working alongside them, so I have a good sense of where they are and how they're doing. Super easy. 

But now my oldest is in 9th grade and she's juggling a lot of textbooks and other materials, plus she does some of her work on her computer, none of which lends itself to my trusty file system. She's also working very independently. I've helped her break down how much of each thing she needs to do each week, and she made her own schedule for how she wants to accomplish that. I check in with her occasionally and look over her materials, and I do work with her on her writing assignments and things. But if I'm being honest, I'm probably not as hands-on with her as I should be, and I'm not as on top of her progress through her materials as I am with my younger kids. 

What is your organizational system for your high schooler? How involved are you every day? Do you use an online planner to connect and keep each other apprised of assignments and progress?

 

 

[Miss Tick]

High school is a bridge to independence, whether that is college or something else. It is a good time for teenagers to start experimenting with sorting things out increasingly on their own. This has turned out to be a good time to make mistakes and then recover. Sigh. My recommendation would be to

10 minutes ago, Aspasia said:

What is your organizational system for your high schooler? How involved are you every day? Do you use an online planner to connect and keep each other apprised of assignments and progress?

My organization and every day involvement pretty much start and end with a proposed schedule I put together for all four of us. For my two high schoolers the schedule is a just a suggestion. It also serves to indicate when I am not available to work with them. In 9th grade we still did a bunch of their classes together, but by junior year even the classes that aren't outsourced they do mostly independently.

One thing that has been important for my high schoolers is a Friday meeting. This is where they walk through each of their subjects and tell me how things are going and what needs to be done over the weekend. We talk about what assignments they have to do over the weekend and exactly when they plan to do them. Generally speaking, one of my high schoolers really appreciates this regular review of what is going on and the other would prefer that I stay out of everything. The thing is, they have both demonstrated on occasion that they REALLY need the accountability. So we will continue doing it. At the moment I'm resigned to Friday afternoon check-in calls even once they are in college.

In your situation I might set up a semester or year-long syllabus for whichever classes it makes sense, and then she can check her progress against your plan on a weekly basis.

[Clemsondana]

Some of this will depend on the kid.  Having taught bio at a co-op for a decade, mostly to 9th and 10th graders...some kids are completely independent, with parents who just check the grades online periodically, while other families sit down and work through everything together.  I'm pretty sure that I'll handle things differently with my younger than I do with my current high schooler, who is very organized and motivated.  It also depends on whether you're doing the class at home or outsourcing.  Any class that we've outsourced has an online platform, so I just check on kid's grade periodically.  Some parents need to physically check themselves because their kid may stretch the truth a bit, or a lot (I've had parents contact me at the end of the semester, shocked at how their student was doing), while other parents can just ask and their kid will tell them. 

For classes that we do at home, the level of check-in varies.  For math, kiddo brings me and answer key and we go over it orally, so I know what is being done each day and whether they understand it and can help troubleshoot anything that they missed the first time around.  For some things, like when they self-studied for AP chem at home, I help set up a schedule and we set aside time to do the labs and we went over the problem sets together and would discuss anything confusing - sometimes I knew the answer, and other times I'd find them videos or other explanations to help.  Some courses have discussion a couple of days a week (Bible, some parts of our home-done Government class).  Sometimes I'm quite hands-off - for the drawing component of fine arts, student just records the hours until they meet the required number and they sometimes show me what they've drawn based on using lessons from a 'how to draw' book.     

[Roadrunner]

Mine now does things independently. However, I check through his websites for outsourced courses if he has completed work. Usually it’s not a problem, but sometimes, I end up being useful, like the week he forgot he had a class called economics. 
What I have done is kept a notebook with his deadlines and exams marked in it, so we at least won’t miss those. I don’t tell him what to do. I only mention them when obviously he has forgotten something.  
I think unlike public school where courses meet in person, a lot of work is done in class, and all online components are on one portal, homeschooling can be trickier. Many take outsourced courses from all sorts of different providers, so kids are juggling different portals, different schedules (some live, some completely independent), and there is no daily live class to go in and be reminded what you need to do. I think it takes a lot more effort to stay on top of homeschooling deadlines. 

[8filltheheart]

My kids have daily planners where I write down everything they are expected to do for our at home classes every day.  I grade work every day as close to as when finished as possible.  We do a lot of discussions every day.  For classes where I have outsourced (a small number in our homeschool), I ask if they are staying on top of their assignments, but I don't check to make sure they are.  (Pretty much know that they do.)  But, my kids always do school out in our main living area and I can monitor what is going on by simply glancing around.  

[katilac]

2 hours ago, Aspasia said:

I've helped her break down how much of each thing she needs to do each week, and she made her own schedule for how she wants to accomplish that. I check in with her occasionally

How often is "occasionally?"

I'm a firm believer in at least brief daily check-ins, which can be somewhat random. What are you working on this afternoon? or, Is there anything you want to work on together today? or, How's that history project coming along? 

Not that I think you aren't speaking to your daughter each day, lol, but school-specific daily check-ins help keep them focused and also serve as a way to keep the lines of communication open and the teen feeling like part of the group, even though they are often working alone. Because teen-agers, and they want to work independently but also often feel offended or hurt when they see a disparity between siblings and themselves. So they might routinely decline offers of help or roll their eyes at check-ins, but do them anyway. 

Work progress should be checked in depth every single week. It is simply too overwhelming in high school to get more than a week behind. This means eyes on work, not a verbal assurance that progress is being made. Make sure it is matching the planned schedule. If it doesn't, you both need to sit down and work through it again. This might be brief - she is a couple of days behind, but she has a couple of catch-up days built in. If she is more days behind than she has catch-up days, it will be a bit more involved. But put in the time to rework the schedule, "oh, I'll catch up" is not a plan. 

Also, you should be seeing almost all of her work that she does every week, because you should be grading it. Actually grading it for things like math, and giving feedback for other things if that's more your style. 

I've seen so many parents accept verbal assurances that all is fine and they are caught up on work. That's the easiest thing for the teen to say, especially if they have given in to temptation to play around instead of work that week, especially if they feel like the answer should be or is expected to be that everything is fine. That doesn't mean a parent has made them feel like they have to do it on their own, it often just means that teens are easily embarrassed and overly optimistic about their ability to catch up. 

Good kids do this. Responsible kids do this. Kids who love academics do this. And it cannot be said too much: it is really hard and frustrating and often depressing for a teen to have to catch up weeks of high school work. 

An online planner is only going to show that she checked this off or that off. You said she's worked out a schedule, so simply use a copy of that and compare it to actual work that you see with your own eyes. Or have her submit assignments, that's not a bad habit to get into. If it's on the computer, she can submit electronically.  

[The Governess]

In 9th, I sat down with my dd every Sunday evening and we looked at her work for the week. She parceled out her work for each day and filled in her planner and I approved it or offered suggestions if I thought an assignment was going to take longer than she expected, etc. At this point she was mainly taking outsourced classes (mix of online and community college classes) with only 1-2 subjects that I was actually “teaching.” So we would also check each of her classes and the grades she received and look at teacher feedback on any bigger assignments like tests or essays, etc. I’d also check in with her each school day for a briefer progress check and to offer feedback and guidance as needed, and just generally discuss what she was working on that day.

Both of my girls are pretty independent and we didn’t have issues of work not getting done (besides an occasional forgotten or late assignment). 

[Miss Tick]

44 minutes ago, katilac said:

Good kids do this. Responsible kids do this. Kids who love academics do this. And it cannot be said too much: it is really hard and frustrating and often depressing for a teen to have to catch up weeks of high school work. 

Yes to this. Both my teens have gone through phases of being totally on the ball and scoffing! at the idea of procrastination and then, 6 months later we are having the catch-up talk. Inconveniently, they do not notify me of when they are switching their life approach! It is normal, and good to learn these coping skills. 

I also learned not to accept vague statements like, "I think I'm all caught up." Uh-uh! I've been burned, not falling for the vaguely positive response trick again! 😂

[SeaConquest]

3 hours ago, katilac said:

Work progress should be checked in depth every single week. It is simply too overwhelming in high school to get more than a week behind. This means eyes on work, not a verbal assurance that progress is being made. Make sure it is matching the planned schedule. If it doesn't, you both need to sit down and work through it again. This might be brief - she is a couple of days behind, but she has a couple of catch-up days built in. If she is more days behind than she has catch-up days, it will be a bit more involved. But put in the time to rework the schedule, "oh, I'll catch up" is not a plan. 

Also, you should be seeing almost all of her work that she does every week, because you should be grading it. Actually grading it for things like math, and giving feedback for other things if that's more your style. 

I've seen so many parents accept verbal assurances that all is fine and they are caught up on work. That's the easiest thing for the teen to say, especially if they have given in to temptation to play around instead of work that week, especially if they feel like the answer should be or is expected to be that everything is fine. That doesn't mean a parent has made them feel like they have to do it on their own, it often just means that teens are easily embarrassed and overly optimistic about their ability to catch up. 

Good kids do this. Responsible kids do this. Kids who love academics do this. And it cannot be said too much: it is really hard and frustrating and often depressing for a teen to have to catch up weeks of high school work. 

Omg yes. BTDT.

[Zoo Keeper]

4 hours ago, katilac said:

...

Work progress should be checked in depth every single week. It is simply too overwhelming in high school to get more than a week behind. This means eyes on work, not a verbal assurance that progress is being made. Make sure it is matching the planned schedule. If it doesn't, you both need to sit down and work through it again. This might be brief - she is a couple of days behind, but she has a couple of catch-up days built in. If she is more days behind than she has catch-up days, it will be a bit more involved. But put in the time to rework the schedule, "oh, I'll catch up" is not a plan. 

Also, you should be seeing almost all of her work that she does every week, because you should be grading it. Actually grading it for things like math, and giving feedback for other things if that's more your style. 

I've seen so many parents accept verbal assurances that all is fine and they are caught up on work. That's the easiest thing for the teen to say, especially if they have given in to temptation to play around instead of work that week, especially if they feel like the answer should be or is expected to be that everything is fine. That doesn't mean a parent has made them feel like they have to do it on their own, it often just means that teens are easily embarrassed and overly optimistic about their ability to catch up. 

Good kids do this. Responsible kids do this. Kids who love academics do this. And it cannot be said too much: it is really hard and frustrating and often depressing for a teen to have to catch up weeks of high school work. 

An online planner is only going to show that she checked this off or that off. You said she's worked out a schedule, so simply use a copy of that and compare it to actual work that you see with your own eyes. Or have her submit assignments, that's not a bad habit to get into. If it's on the computer, she can submit electronically.  

^Had to quote all this because it is so true, so very, very, true. 

 

...and I'll mention the sad but true fact that catching up on weeks of grading is no picnic for the parent, either. BTDT.  More than once. 

Edited January 31, 2022 by Zoo Keeper

[Eos]

17 hours ago, Roadrunner said:

he forgot he had a class called economics. 

LOL

[Farrar]

So, I second everything Katilac was saying. But also, I think by the end of high school, it's okay if you've moved beyond the closer work checks. What you're describing is very much what was necessary for my kids in 9th grade. We were still using daily planners that I was the one mostly organizing. At this point, with Mushroom, I never check his work. Not ever. We do a verbal check in often - even daily. But he's proven himself over time and I have no doubt that he keeps up with all his work. The only subject I'm teaching for senior year is health. Basically, it can evolve.

[JennyD]

I meet with my 10th grader every Saturday night to discuss the plan for the week, and then we touch base every morning to confer on the day's plan.

As for the work itself, for the classes that we are doing at home I schedule 1-2 meetings per week to discuss, go over material, give feedback, etc.   It's not unusual for this to spill over into other informal conversations during the week but I like to have time blocked out on the calendar where DS gets my undivided attention.

We haven't outsourced much but for those classes I just check in periodically.  I also insist on being kept abreast of any upcoming deadlines or exams in outsourced classes.  

[.Howard Thomas Wilkinson]

I am a retired high school teacher who is looking into home schooling in a village up in the mountains where I am living now.  One of students I have been teaching is moving to California with his family, particular Bakersfield. 

I am trying to help the family out, hope you can  give me some advice,  The parents have been looking forward to this move; they would like to know in advance  what textbooks are required.

Hope to hear from your staff soon.

H. T. Wilkinson

[TheAttachedMama]

How I give assignments:

I use a program called Homeschool Planet to keep our family organized.  I input assignments from all of their classes into one place.   I use this for online classes that I have "out sourced" and classes I am teaching myself.   I also use it to keep tabs on all of the other things my teens do in a day...from chores to reminders to prepare for events/appointments.  (Example:  Lay out your suit for debate and iron your shirt might appear on it!).   It links automatically to our families digital calendar so I can see everything we have going on in the day--which also helps my kids and I to visually plan our time/cut things when we have appointments outside of the house.

It does take some initial work to set up, but then it gives me ONE place where I can look to see that ALL of my kids have done all that I have told them to.   It is actually really nice.   If my kid says, "I am done with school can I do X or Y?" I can quickly pull up their checklist and verify.  🙂. Easy!

I can also easily take days off (and the schedule adjusts), carry over assignments to the next week and shift the schedule -or- double up if we choose, work ahead, move assignment to days that were previously scheduled off  (and see what that does to the rest of our year), etc.  

How I keep my teens accountable:

Of course, a digital checklist only works if students are honest about checking things off.   So if a student "says" they have finished math and checks off their little box, as an example, you still have to make sure they really DID finish math.  Right?  You can't just assume that a child is going to be honest all of the time about that stuff.  And you have to make sure that a certain level of work is maintained.   So, I've had to let them know that IF they tell me something is finished and "check" their box on homeschool, they had better be telling the truth.  Otherwise there will be pretty strict consequences.   

I've also built in lot of parental verification into their checklist, but I shift the burden of getting this done over to them.  I have way too many "plates spinning" and if we have to rely on my memory alone, things are going to get messed up. 😉 Especially when I don't necessarily micromanage their time.

Some example of how I shift the burden over to them:

The math assignment doesn't just say:  "Do math problems X-Z on pg. 123".   It says, "Do math problems X-Z on pg. 123.  Check using the key in the back of the book.  Correct problems you have missed and ask for help on anything you don't understand.   You can check this off when I have signed and dated the page."   (A little copy and past when I entering in math assignments makes all of these reminders easy! 

SO--the student is not able to mark this complete on homeschool planet until they have brought it to me (with a pen even) and showed me their completed work and I have signed it.  Again, if they check it off before I looked at it, there are consequences....and I have proof with my signature (or lack of signature) that I didn't put eyes on it that day.   I will often be teaching another child, and they will just come and show me their work and I will sign and date it. I will occasionally do a spot check too.    

As another example with a class I am not teaching, their Latin teacher tells them to practice their quizlet flashcards each day.   So their checklist does not just say "Study Latin vocabulary."   It says: "Practice Latin flashcards on quizlet.   Send me a screen shot when you are finished."  This literally takes them 5 seconds to send to me.  On their laptop, phone or tablet, they will quickly capture the screen and press share button.  So even if I am busy with another child, they can work on this and get it "verified" when they want.   

ETA:  On stuff that I need to actually grade and review, I have a time scheduled each day with each child.  Their homeschool planet checklist reminds them about their "meeting" time and it might say, "Bring your final draft to me at 1PM on Tuesday Feb. 1". I grade or review the stuff RIGHT then because I have found that timely feedback is important.  (I used to have a grading basket, and that didn't work out well because I would get too far behind for real education to happen!). 

AND....for all tests and quizzes (even for online classes), their homeschool planet checklist always says, "Take text 1.  Your desk must be cleared and this must be proctored to count."  

How do I work towards independence:

I stay hands-on in the beginning, and then SLOWLY....very SLOWLY, shift responsibility for things over to them as they prove they are ready for the responsibility.   As an example, my 9th grader is taking AP Gov't with AIM Academy.  So, I am not even teaching the class and assignments are given through canvas.   I might be tempted to just say..."Go learn Gov't!  Good luck!"  But I dont' do that.  At first, I will shadow the class (watch with them in the background) and get a feel for how the class will be taught and structured.   I will even copy over their canvas assignments into homeschool planet in the beginning so they are reminded about what they have to do.  And I will help the student to figure out how to plan their week and their time.  (It takes a certain learning curve every year with every teacher and every new class or curriculum.). I keep close tabs to see how they are doing on due dates, grades, keeping up with their study.   And then, *SLOWLY* as they show they are ready, I become less and less involved until it is mostly them.  By October or November (typically) their homeschool planet checklist went from listing all things in AP Gov't  with lots of checks to saying, "Go to canvas and complete assignments."     I still monitor grades and due dates, but I only check once a week.  If I notice there is any type of problem (ex. I noticed my daughter wasn't doing well on her physics tests), I know they need some help.   So, with the physics example, I will show her how to better prepare and, for just awhile, add in reminders to help her review:  "Rework odd homeswork problems as a review for exam." or   "Review your class notes from yesterday in preparation for the exam".  I stay involved until she starts to learn to do this on her own.   

I also work towards independence with planning their time. 🙂

 

Edited February 1, 2022 by TheAttachedMama

[fourisenough]

You’ve received very good responses upthread so I won’t repeat, except to share my mantra for this:

Inspect what you expect (at least daily at first, less frequently if/when trust is established, but always at least weekly).

My senior works entirely independently, but I monitor the grade book for her outsourced classes closely. With my youngest, I anticipate working closely with her at least through early high school— she’s just less independent and less driven than my older kids. Different needs for different students.

[Clemsondana]

One other thought that I had as I've read the responses is that this will also depend on how you did middle school.  With my kids, they've had a checklist that they could do independently since early elementary.  I don't mean that they did all of their work independently, but we worked together to make a generic weekly schedule (handwriting M, T, and W, math every day, spelling M, T, and F, Bible on T and F, etc) so that they usually knew what they had to do.  If I was delayed - on a phone call or something - then they would get started on something that they could do on their own like handwriting and they'd save things that we did together (math if it was a new concept, MCT language arts, perhaps discussion in history or a science project) until I was available.  When they were little I'd write the exact pages or project in their agenda each day after it was done.  As they got older, sometime in middle school, they started writing what they had done in their agenda on their own even as we still did many subjects together.  This has not been an equally smooth transition for each kid, but it seems to be good prep for how older is doing high school. 

I've also had to let go of any preconceived ideas I had about scheduling.  Kid prefers to do subjects with problems (math, chemistry) daily, it seems, but likes to do outsourced classes (with work due on Thursday or Friday) all at once so that there is no last-minute stress around due dates...so kid focuses on those certain days of the week and then does big bursts of certain home-grown classes on Tuesday and Wednesday...and sometimes kid likes to work at odd hours in the evening...but as long as it's getting done it's fine.  I am also finding that the amount of check-in that I'd need to do varies by how much the kid comes to me talking about stuff.  With younger, I have to ask 'What did you read in history today?  And what was interesting about it?'. With older...several times a day kid comes to me and says 'I can't belive that X happened' or 'So...where does that first electron in photosynthesis come from?' or 'I think that I can get that English paper written before lunch so I have time to do my math before ball practice' so I have no doubt that the work is getting done every day and have a decent idea of what they are doing before it's time for me to check their work or grade.  

[Aspasia]

On 2/1/2022 at 9:58 AM, Clemsondana said:

One other thought that I had as I've read the responses is that this will also depend on how you did middle school.  With my kids, they've had a checklist that they could do independently since early elementary.  

 

Yes! We actually have always done this, too. The Checklist is a guiding principle in our school and our lives generally. My high schooler does still have a checklist, but because I'm less involved in her work, I'm trying to figure out how to keep tabs on all of it.

 

On 2/1/2022 at 7:15 AM, TheAttachedMama said:

How I give assignments:

I use a program called Homeschool Planet to keep our family organized.  I input assignments from all of their classes into one place.   I use this for online classes that I have "out sourced" and classes I am teaching myself.   I also use it to keep tabs on all of the other things my teens do in a day...from chores to reminders to prepare for events/appointments.  (Example:  Lay out your suit for debate and iron your shirt might appear on it!).   It links automatically to our families digital calendar so I can see everything we have going on in the day--which also helps my kids and I to visually plan our time/cut things when we have appointments outside of the house.

It does take some initial work to set up, but then it gives me ONE place where I can look to see that ALL of my kids have done all that I have told them to.   It is actually really nice.   If my kid says, "I am done with school can I do X or Y?" I can quickly pull up their checklist and verify.  🙂. Easy!

I can also easily take days off (and the schedule adjusts), carry over assignments to the next week and shift the schedule -or- double up if we choose, work ahead, move assignment to days that were previously scheduled off  (and see what that does to the rest of our year), etc.  

How I keep my teens accountable:

Of course, a digital checklist only works if students are honest about checking things off.   So if a student "says" they have finished math and checks off their little box, as an example, you still have to make sure they really DID finish math.  Right?  You can't just assume that a child is going to be honest all of the time about that stuff.  And you have to make sure that a certain level of work is maintained.   So, I've had to let them know that IF they tell me something is finished and "check" their box on homeschool, they had better be telling the truth.  Otherwise there will be pretty strict consequences.   

I've also built in lot of parental verification into their checklist, but I shift the burden of getting this done over to them.  I have way too many "plates spinning" and if we have to rely on my memory alone, things are going to get messed up. 😉 Especially when I don't necessarily micromanage their time.

Some example of how I shift the burden over to them:

The math assignment doesn't just say:  "Do math problems X-Z on pg. 123".   It says, "Do math problems X-Z on pg. 123.  Check using the key in the back of the book.  Correct problems you have missed and ask for help on anything you don't understand.   You can check this off when I have signed and dated the page."   (A little copy and past when I entering in math assignments makes all of these reminders easy! 

SO--the student is not able to mark this complete on homeschool planet until they have brought it to me (with a pen even) and showed me their completed work and I have signed it.  Again, if they check it off before I looked at it, there are consequences....and I have proof with my signature (or lack of signature) that I didn't put eyes on it that day.   I will often be teaching another child, and they will just come and show me their work and I will sign and date it. I will occasionally do a spot check too.    

As another example with a class I am not teaching, their Latin teacher tells them to practice their quizlet flashcards each day.   So their checklist does not just say "Study Latin vocabulary."   It says: "Practice Latin flashcards on quizlet.   Send me a screen shot when you are finished."  This literally takes them 5 seconds to send to me.  On their laptop, phone or tablet, they will quickly capture the screen and press share button.  So even if I am busy with another child, they can work on this and get it "verified" when they want.   

ETA:  On stuff that I need to actually grade and review, I have a time scheduled each day with each child.  Their homeschool planet checklist reminds them about their "meeting" time and it might say, "Bring your final draft to me at 1PM on Tuesday Feb. 1". I grade or review the stuff RIGHT then because I have found that timely feedback is important.  (I used to have a grading basket, and that didn't work out well because I would get too far behind for real education to happen!). 

AND....for all tests and quizzes (even for online classes), their homeschool planet checklist always says, "Take text 1.  Your desk must be cleared and this must be proctored to count."  

How do I work towards independence:

I stay hands-on in the beginning, and then SLOWLY....very SLOWLY, shift responsibility for things over to them as they prove they are ready for the responsibility.   As an example, my 9th grader is taking AP Gov't with AIM Academy.  So, I am not even teaching the class and assignments are given through canvas.   I might be tempted to just say..."Go learn Gov't!  Good luck!"  But I dont' do that.  At first, I will shadow the class (watch with them in the background) and get a feel for how the class will be taught and structured.   I will even copy over their canvas assignments into homeschool planet in the beginning so they are reminded about what they have to do.  And I will help the student to figure out how to plan their week and their time.  (It takes a certain learning curve every year with every teacher and every new class or curriculum.). I keep close tabs to see how they are doing on due dates, grades, keeping up with their study.   And then, *SLOWLY* as they show they are ready, I become less and less involved until it is mostly them.  By October or November (typically) their homeschool planet checklist went from listing all things in AP Gov't  with lots of checks to saying, "Go to canvas and complete assignments."     I still monitor grades and due dates, but I only check once a week.  If I notice there is any type of problem (ex. I noticed my daughter wasn't doing well on her physics tests), I know they need some help.   So, with the physics example, I will show her how to better prepare and, for just awhile, add in reminders to help her review:  "Rework odd homeswork problems as a review for exam." or   "Review your class notes from yesterday in preparation for the exam".  I stay involved until she starts to learn to do this on her own.   

I also work towards independence with planning their time. 🙂

 

THANK YOU for all these details! I actually subscribed to Homeschool Planet the other day and I'm really excited about the possibilities. 

[GoodGrief3]

I am just now seeing this. I graduated two homeschoolers, who are both now college grads and in grad school. Working on my last senior.

My answer is that it depends on the student. One of mine required no oversight past selecting her courses and making sure she was set up with supplies. Another needed a fair amount of oversight, but it was tricky balancing her fierce desire for privacy/reactions to some learning challenges with responsible education. 🙂 My current student can be fairly independent but also tends to blow off work. I do a weekly "homeschool meeting" with her to see what she accomplished during the week, what her grades are in courses with outside grading, and look at what is coming up.

 

[mom2scouts]

We don't do a lot of outsourcing, so I'm still heavily involved with my 9th grader. We start out the day together watching a current events video, then she does an online, self paced math class. I stay nearby to help with any problems and to check up on how she's doing. After that I do anything else that requires my time like introducing a topic, reminding her of assignments missed or due, supervising a science experiment, or doing literature or history discussions. She has the rest of the day to work on other assignments. As she finishes assignments, I often try to review or grade them immediately so we can talk about anything she didn't understand.

With my son, there were subjects where I was very heavily involved because he struggled with the subject or had less interest and others that I knew he would do the assigned work and more without much from me. 

I use an old version of HST+ and make the assignments for the week. DD is supposed to complete all the assigned work, but sometimes assignments will take much longer than expected for some reason or we get distracted. In that case, I might move work to the following week, but I also purposely make Fridays assignments lighter so there's a day to finish up.

[cuckoomamma]

I strongly echo the need to check in with every student in depth at least weekly. My oldest was super independent and was taking an average of 4 AP classes that were outsourced each year independently. We had a terrible teacher one year and she told me she'd be better off on her own and I think it was in February that she outlined her own course, AP review and got a 5 in the class. She's about to graduate college now and the stress of being so independent all these years is showing up a bit. I think that even if the check in was just a formal chance for us to go through subject by subject and have her hear words of encouragement or confess some stress it would have been helpful. We talked ALL the time, but not a formal weekly check in subject by subject. She's way better at time management and organizational skills than I am, and I felt she didn't need my help with that, but I've found through our conversations through the college years that there are some things I've learned that are helpful to her that she didn't instinctively know and I wish I'd shared them with her earlier. 

I'm much more involved with my younger because she isn't instinctively as strong with her executive function/organizational skills. Many of her classes are outsourced, but I'm involved on a daily basis to scaffold how she estimates time necessary to complete work and how that's scheduled throughout the day. I agree with what everyone else has said about the need to check in frequently to help avoid stressful situations.

We use white boards for each day to break down the day by subject by time. Several of her classes have the work broken down by section. She marks what needs to be accomplished each day so we know if she's falling behind. She spends every afternoon and evening out of the house, so we have to be diligent in reworking the schedule if she needs more time for a subject or if something came up that requires her to miss some of the time we usually set aside for schoolwork. Having the sections labeled by day ahead of time allows me to quickly see where she is.

 

 

Edited February 13, 2022 by cuckoomamma

[pehp]

My son is 14. He has two totally outsourced classes (French and Spanish); I do absolutely nothing. He is completely in charge of these! Same with piano, actually—except that I do sometimes remind him to practice. He’s been playing for years now, so it’s not a big deal. 

For math and history, which he does on his own, we check in and discuss. Usually daily—but sometimes just a few times a week. He knows he has to do these every day. I work directly with him on literature and Biology, so I always know what’s going on there. 

He has a paper planner and is responsible for filling it out and checking things off. I definitely ask if I think he hasn’t done something, but otherwise I do not create a schedule. He’s in charge of the work and figuring out when to do it, but I’ll give him guidance if he asks. The exception is that I call the shots on when we sit down to do Biology or literature together, because I’m very busy and he can work around me!

Next year we are outsourcing more, and I fully expect him to be responsible for those classes. He’s done great with the outsourced ones so far (much better than he does for anything I am “teaching,” ha). It’s a process, but he’s learning the consequences of procrastination and the benefits of getting after things. ✅