When homeschooling high school, keep in mind the freedom you have to use what works and to change what doesn't work. Another major theme: You don’t have to teach. They just need to learn. You don’t necessarily have to teach ANYTHING in high school. At a certain point, they should be able to teach themselves. This is a good thing. Your job is to make sure they learn it. I didn’t know the answers to problems in the advanced math or science courses (and you would think I would, because I’m a nurse!) I completely lost it with math about a month into Algebra 2. Everyone loses it in high school math – everyone. My kids did chemistry and physics completely alone. They did Algebra 2, pre-calculus and calculus completely alone. I only gave them the tests, and had to look up the answers. By the time we got to calculus, I didn’t even know what the symbols meant anymore. I only knew that the answer had to look like the answer in the book. Oftentimes, homeschool kids will grow to be better writers than their parents. If that happens, celebrate! It would appear that homeschooling is working? They ARE succeeding. Once you get into high school, writing is mostly about practice. Edit the papers for spelling and grammar, yes, but it’s mostly just having them practice, practice, practice. I couldn’t keep up with my kids reading either. I didn’t do “literature analysis” with my kids. I just asked them if they liked the book (to which they usually said “yes” and not much more.) They have grown up and done fabulously with the honors literature courses in college, so I know they weren’t damaged by my weaknesses. They were reading thousands of books for fun, and I didn’t stress out about reading those books ahead of them. So why did I stress out about reading their school books ahead of them? I don’t know! Consider public school for a moment. Would the teacher pre-read every book? No, just the one or two they used in a year. Would the teacher be able to help with writing more than you? No, likely it would be just grammar and spelling. What about science? I didn’t help my kids at science at all, but both got straight-As in college science after homeschooling, so I know that it works. My concern with the comments like “homeschool isn’t working” is that people forget the alternative. Homeschooling may be hard (OK, it absolutely IS hard) but it can be much more effective than a public or private school. It is the 1 to 1 tutoring, the mastery before moving on, the absolute love for the student that make homeschoolers succeed. None of those things are available at a public or private school. There are lots of resources for homeschoolers. Online courses, tutors, co-ops, video programs, and curricula for every learning style. You may need help, but that doesn’t mean that homeschooling isn’t working OR that putting your child into school is THE one and only answer to problems. Keep moving forward. Homeschooling high school is the best preparation you can give your children for college and for life.
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Lee Binz, The HomeScholar, teaches parents about homeschooling high school. Her boys earned full-tuition scholarships at their first choice university. Her Total Transcript Solution will help you create amazing homeschool transcripts that will impress the colleges! Learn more on www.TheHomeScholar.com