How to Homeschool High school with Confidence
Have you been toying with the idea of homeschooling your children for high school., but are worried you aren’t equipped to do it? Are you worried you will miss something important? Do you think you just aren’t smart enough? As someone who is homeschooling high school for one child, and a second one about to join us, I am here to tell you it’s possible to do.
Here’s the thing – back in the day, long before kids I swore I would never homeschool. But as my first born approached school age, God started calling me to homeschooling.
And that was fine. I was okay to homeschool the early years. But my husband and I both planned to put the kids in school for high school.
But not long before my first child was ready to start high school the world rapidly changed. While the world is always changing, it seemed to suddenly be changing at a speed we’ve never seen. And we no longer felt that sending our kids to high school was the right plan for our family.
So we decided to keep homeschooling. And I’m not going to lie, I was a bit panicky about it. What if I messed it all up and my child can’t get into college and she can’t get a job and she can’t support herself in the future? Okay, so maybe I’m a bit extreme in worrying about all the “what-ifs.” (All my friends are nodding their heads in agreement right now.)
BUT – my point is, homeschooling high school can be downright scary. Our goal as mothers should be to raise our children into capable adults, and the last thing we want to do is mess up our role.
My daughter is in the middle of her second year of high school, and we have learned a few things. I’ve also learned not to be so fearful about what we are doing. I’ll talk more of that in a minute. My hope is that in today’s post you’ll find some encouragement if you are worried that you aren’t equipped for homeschooling high school.
I was talking to a mom the other day who is fairly new to homeschooling. Her kids are 5 and 8. She said, “I can homeschool now, but I doubt I can go beyond grade 6. I just won’t be able to teach them anything at that point. I don’t trust my abilities.”
That’s when I interjected and told her that if she was willing and wanted to, you can definitely homeschool beyond grade 6, and no, you don’t need to be a genius to do it. There are so many resources out there to help homeschool families these days. Homeschooling is no longer rare. Many families are doing it, and it seems to increase each year.
I worried about those things too. And then I put my daughter in a Christian private school for the eighth grade. She pulled in top marks and I realized all my years of worrying was for nothing. I didn’t need to be a genius, or have a teacher’s degree to make sure my child would succeed academically.
And in recent years I’ve discovered I didn’t have to worry about my kids socially either. They chat with people of all ages. They go to summer camp. My oldest bakes and sews with ladies from our church. They help in various ministries at the church. They go to a kids Bible study. When people come over they are wonderful hosts to kids of all ages.
When they were younger I was nervous that I wouldn’t see that come to fruition. There were negative voices telling me homeschooling was detrimental to their success in the future. But these comments often come from a lack of knowledge or understanding of homeschooling. So, please, let me encourage you – that you can feel confident in your ability to homeschool your children all the way through. You may not feel confident right now, and you may be overwhelmed by fears of the future, but more you can let those fears and anxieties go because your children are going to most likely be okay.
Pick the curriculum that’s right for YOUR family.
This has been my biggest challenge. I was so scared I’d mess up my child’s future – her ability to get into college, or get a future job, or just adjust to real life when she moves on, that I started her on courses that weren’t the right fit for us.
I attempted to do what the school system was doing – but at home. That’s not why we homeschool and after really disliking the content of the courses she was doing, along with feeling like we were wasting time when we could be doing other things, we decided it was time to stop being afraid and to do what we WANTED to do.
Yes, there might be some boxes you need to check as you pick high school courses. Depending on where you live you might have a different set of rules and requirements you need to meet. But outside of what is required for your state, province, or country, give yourself the freedom to homeschool the way you want to.
Learning is so much more than just textbooks, and we’ll talk about that in a few minutes.
Contact the colleges or universities your child is interested in.
When we were in the throws of doing courses that we really disliked but felt like we HAD to do them, I decided to contact a few colleges my daughter is interested in to see what their requirements were for homeschooled kids.
I discovered it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it might be for her to apply and most likely get in. It calmed my fears and allowed me to change our plan without worrying that she’d be missing what she would need to get into post-secondary school.
Look at other options.
By contacting the colleges my daughter is interested in I also discovered there’s more than one way to get into post-secondary school in Canada. While the traditional route in Ontario where I am from is to get your OSSD (Ontario Secondary School Diploma) that’s not the only way.
You can take a test called your GED when you reach 19. You can also do a year at a community college before applying to your area of interest. Some post-secondary schools only want to see 6 credits from grade 11 and 12 courses. Some schools want portfolios.
Bottom line, there’s more than one way to get into post secondary school and unless you look into it you may not know this. Check out the various ways your child can get into the schools that interest them.
Explore learning outside a textbook.
My daughter has had many opportunities to learn away from a textbook. Right now she is meeting with a few ladies from our church to learn how to sew and how to cook.
She’s also joined a Bible quizzing team where they memorize scripture and will attend an event where they are quizzed on the chapter they are learning. She is volunteering for various programs run for children.
These are all learning opportunities for her and none of them require her to sit in front of a textbook. I’m a firm believer that the work outside of the textbook is what is going to prepare them for the real world.
In the fall we want to raise rabbits to teach our children animal husbandry for a high school course. My husband is going to teach my children some carpentry as well as that’s his trade. These are all useful for their future.
Trust the Lord in what He has called you to.
If God calls you to homeschool your child than you can trust that He’s in control. God equips those He has called. Therefore you don’t need to worry that you aren’t smart enough, or organized enough, or creative enough. If He wants you to homeschool your child He is going to help you along the way.
There are days that will be hard and you may wonder if you have what it takes. Cling to the Lord on those days and more than likely those feelings will pass. Rest in the knowledge that you have a good and faithful heavenly Father who will keep you in His hand as you homeschool your children.
Some of my favorite curriculum for high school so far
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Teaching Textbooks for Math
Visits to Asia by Simply Charlotte Mason for Geography (You’ll need two books with this – Hungry Planet, and Material world. These books are gorgeous!
Highschool Language Arts by the Good and the Beautiful
Picture Study Portfolios by Simply Charlotte Mason
Schoolhouse Teachers – This platform as access to a variety of subjects for a great price. If you are looking for access to multiple subjects in one easy location, this might work for you.
