Two Perspectives on Teaching High School at Home

Know Your Greek

The way the world looks at it … homeschooling a kindergartner is sweet, homeschooling a third grader is ideal, homeschooling a seventh grader is noble, BUT homeschooling a high schooler is INSANE!!!

After all, how are we going to prepare them for college?!! What about calculus, transcripts, college, or graduate school?!!

Yes, homeschooling is fine to a point … but doing high school at home crosses the line.

Sadly, many homeschoolers have adopted this same thinking. Moms cruise through the early grades, but somewhere around 7th grade, doubts begin to gnaw at their game plan, and they are plagued with the idea that maybe ‘the system’ can do a better job for high school.

Well, you know the Greek word for that kind of thinking–BALONEY!!

High school is the perfect time to homeschool. My friend and Harvard graduate, Greg Sabouri, of Teaching Textbooks, is convinced that homeschooling does a better job of preparing high school students for college and careers than any other type of schooling.

I agree, plus there are a dozen other reasons for homeschooling through high school that have nothing to do with academics. So, if you agree that it’s best to homeschool through high school, then stick to your guns, plug your ears, and dare to be INSANE!!!

Be Real,

Todd

Mercy in the Morning

The summer my first child was entering ninth grade, I was more than a little nervous. I could hear loud and clear all the questions people had for me when my son was young, “What about high school? What will you do THEN?” As if high school was some magic point in time where you must stop educating and throw your kids to the wolves. When do we stop listening to the call of God for our children and our family–when society says we should?

We must admit, just hearing the words “high school” gives us the jitters. Really, high school is just like all the other years–you pray, you do your research, you pray some more. You go with your child’s interests and work his studies around that–or whatever philosophy of education you have adopted for your family. They ALL work all the way through high school.

If you are interested in how to create a high school transcript or have other questions about homeschooling through high school, here’s a good site with tons of free information: http://www.hslda.org/highschool/default.asp.

My son may be graduating from our homeschool this next year, and when I mentioned that to him, he said, “I don’t want to graduate from our school! I don’t want to go anywhere else to be educated!” Well, he’s already taken a few courses from the local junior college, but he says those don’t count because he comes right back home to study. Too funny. He considers his college courses just an extension of his home studies.

Someone asked me about all the fun they’ll miss staying home. They’re going to miss that feeling they get when the popular cheerleaders in the school assemblies encourage the whole crowd to participate in the school cheer! You might remind yourself that they’ll also be missing the reasons for the school assembly: graphic displays of safe sex practices or homosexual tolerance or any number of God-blasting philosophies.

Home is where fun should happen. Home is where education should happen. It is the starting point as well as the leaping off point for all of life.

And, we should all cheer because we are on the winning team with the Lord on our side!

“The LORD is on my side; I will not fear …” Psalm 118:6

Cheering you on,
Deborah

Biographical Information

Copyright, 2009. All rights reserved by author below. Content provided by The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC.

Todd Wilson, “The Familyman,” author of Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe, Help! I’m Married to a Homeschooling Mom, and The Official Book of Homeschooling Cartoons, is a dad, writer, conference speaker, and former pastor. Todd’s humor and gut-honest realness have made him a favorite speaker at homeschool conventions across the country and a guest on Focus on the Family. Todd and his wife Debbie homeschool their eight children in northern Indiana when they’re not traveling around the country encouraging moms and dads. You can visit Familyman Ministries at www.familymanweb.com.

Deborah Wuehler is the senior editor for The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine. She resides in Roseville, California, with her husband Richard. They are the parents of eight children: three teenagers, three elementary, a preschooler, and a baby. They have been homeschooling since the birth of their firstborn who is now graduated from high school. Many of her articles can be found on www.Crosswalk.com, and many other homeschooling sites. She is a group leader in her local homeschooling support organization and she loves digging for buried treasure in the Word, reading, writing, homeschooling, and dark chocolate! Email her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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