Homeschool Senior Year

I’m sitting here wondering where the time went. So cliché, right?

My little guy - who I’ve homeschooled since the very beginning - will be graduated next year at this time.

I never expected the range of emotions that go along with the completion of this journey… the emotional roller coaster is real.

Another post will have to be dedicated to all of the emotional things, but in this post I’d like to be very practical and share our homeschool plan for 12th grade.

(If you’re interested, this was our plan for the 11th grade.)

The Integrity of a High School Education

The integrity of my children’s education has always come first in high school. That might sound a bit obvious, but many homeschool parents are tempted to dual enroll their children to knock out as many college credits as possible to save money.

I get it. That, however, hasn’t been our philosophy for high school.

Looking back with both of my children I can clearly see the goals we set have been accomplished:

• Communication (writing and speaking)

• Personal Finance

• Personal Responsibility/Work Experience/Life Skills

• Interest-Led Learning

• Truth, Beauty & Goodness - everything taught with God as the center!

Yes, we have to meet the requirements of our state for a high school diploma. But, there is a lot of flexibility in that. So, while my son is taking the required math, science, history, English, etc… we are also trying to keep our big goals in mind.

Think about your own life. What are the skills you value the most? As homeschoolers, we have the opportunity to teach our children these things through their high school years.

What I have learned along this journey is that homeschooling high school is about helping your child reach their God-given potential. It is NOT about imposing your educational will on them or preparing them for the best university. If we want our children to be lifelong learners we need to gently guide them through high school - while listening and facilitating along the way.

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12th Grade Curriculum Choices

Math: Statistics

Last year Grant completed Pre-Calculus with Mr. D Math. As we looked at senior year, the logical progression would be Calculus. My son doesn’t desire to go into a math-related career, so we decided to look at math credits that might benefit him.

He’s always had a passion for sports - any and all stats related to a variety of sports. We were fortunate to find a Statistics course through High School Math Live.

Science: Human Anatomy & Physiology

Excelsior Classes has been a favorite of ours for several years. Their classes are led by excellent teachers and I can honestly say we’ve never had a bad experience.

Last year Grant took Chemistry with Excelsior. The logical progression for a science and math-minded student would be to take Physics in their senior year. Because this isn’t Grant’s trajectory, he decided on Anatomy & Physiology again with Excelsior.

Literature/History/Writing: Modern US and World History

I did a lot of research for these areas, because I didn’t want Grant to take an intensive writing class again. He took AP Language and Composition last year, which was a WONDERFUL course - between this and his writing instruction in Challenge I and II of Classical Conversations in 9th and 10th grade, I feel like his writing is solid.

When I found Beautiful Feet Books and their beautiful curriculum for Modern US and World History I was sold!

This curriculum includes so many beautiful living books and a guide for us to go through these books together. The curriculum is flexible, so I can assign him narrations, essays, or we can simply discuss as he reads. Choosing this curriculum also allows us to work through things TOGETHER, which I will be savoring during this last year of homeschool.

The very first book is Uncle Tom’s Cabin - I finished reading it this summer and was incredibly moved. There are many parallels to today’s society. Another selection is Red Scarf Girl (which I also previewed) - such a good book.

Interest Led: Drawing

Last year Grant took Visual Design and Photoshop courses through Excelsior Classes. His teacher suggested he take Drawing for Everyone this fall - and when I suggested it to Grant he agreed right away!

This is a .5 credit course that is one semester long, so not terribly taxing on his schedule. It is also something he will ENJOY and that I can see him using with his love of design.

Family Requirement: Piano

My kids have played piano since elementary school. It is something I feel strongly about and a non-negotiable in our house.

My daughter gave it up her junior year and pursued the guitar instead - which was fine with me. Grant wanted to keep going with piano (he has a FABULOUS teacher!) and I was happy to oblige. We agreed that he will only be required to participate in the recitals this year and not any competitions (his choice).

Health

We will be using AOP Christian Homeschooling High School Health.

Health is a requirement for graduation in our state - and most homeschool parents I know groan at this requirement. I think, however, that this curriculum looks good, so we’re going to give it a go.

I’ll keep you posted!

Extras

One thing that will take up a lot of my son’s time - and it’s a valuable experience - is his job at the Atlanta Brick Co. He’s been working there for over a year and loves his job. This work experience has helped him manage his time and save money. Another wonderful byproduct has been how much the job has fostered people skills! I’ve watched my son become great with people because he is answering questions at work so often!

He’s always had an obsession with LEGO, so this job is right up his alley.

He also plays basketball at a local Christian school, which takes up a lot of his time during basketball season.

As you can see, it’s going to be a busy senior year. As far as plans for after that? We’re not so sure just yet.

There are a few colleges he will be visiting, along with the option of possibly going to a local university and continuing his job after graduation. My views about college have changed quite a bit since I attended - but that’s another blog post, too.

I’m so excited for him, but at the same time I mourn this stage of life - I know there are good things to come, and I am beyond thankful to have almost completed this homeschool journey with my last child!

Questions? Comments?

Leave me a note below. I’d love to chat with you!

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Why Homeschooling is a Necessity and Not a Choice!

When our family began homeschooling in 2008 I considered us fortunate to have a CHOICE in my children’s education. Had we left our then 8-year-old in her current school I think things would have been fine - not great, but fine.

Our reasons for abandoning the ideal of public school were many, but we didn’t feel an URGENCY to leave her current elementary school. In fact, we had waffled back and forth with our decision for over a year.

In the nearly fifteen years that have passed since then so much has changed in our world, and so much of what has been going on in public schools for many years is beginning to make its way onto the radar of the average American parent.

Parents - homeschooling is no longer an option, I believe it is a NECESSITY.

Some of you don’t want to hear this.

Some of you believe you have bought a home in the best school district and this protects your children. It doesn’t.

Some of you send your children to a “Christian” school and believe this protects your children. It doesn’t.

Some of you may find it easier to tell yourself “not at my child’s school”.

In truth, there are no guarantees when it comes to our children’s education.

And I know many of you will say “Well, not everyone can homeschool and not everyone SHOULD homeschool, either.” I don’t debate this statement. I’m not advocating for abolishing public schools or forcing people to homeschool, but I will ALWAYS advocate for those who are willing and able (which is many more people than you would think) to home-educate their children.

If you get anything out of this post, let it be this:

THE ONE WAY to control your children’s education and the influences they have in their formative years is to bring them home and educate them yourself! Stop complaining about your schools or turning your back on what is going on in them; educate your children yourself!

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Schools Are NOT Built for Children

Schools are not built for the children who attend them. They are built for the adults who work in them. This is a simple fact I learned when I was working on my Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership and Administration. My favorite professor told us this often.

It’s sad, isn’t it?

This single fact should be enough to make you homeschool your children.

Schools are controlled by teachers’ unions, textbook companies, bureaucrats in state capitals who are far removed from the classroom, and a host of other entities.

Even your beloved private school has controlling interests - board politics, church politics, and more.

If you really look at them, schools are a sterile, unnatural place for any age child. Looking more like prisons than inspiring places of learning, it’s all about how we can move the most children as quietly and efficiently as possible throughout a system that cares NOTHING for them.

There is no better way to beat a love of learning and individuality out of a child than to stick them in a building, force them all to work towards the same objectives and underpay the well-meaning teachers who are supposed to make sense of the mess.

If 2020 taught working adults anything it was that they liked working at home! Don’t you think children would thrive better at home, too?

Parents, Put Your Children FIRST

Here’s something else you don’t want to hear: parents need to start putting their children first. It is NOT the government’s job to provide your children with an education. You did not give birth to a ward of the state.

Massachusetts passed the first compulsory school laws in 1852. New York followed the next year, and by 1918, all American children were required to attend at least elementary school. That means we are only ONE HUNDRED YEARS into this public education experiment, and it is NOT going well.

I recently created an Instagram reel - 4 things people assume about me as a homeschooling mom. It was quite popular because so many homeschool parents could relate. Current homeschooling parents aren’t superheroes, we aren’t independently wealthy, we aren’t gifted with tons of patience, and we don’t come with an encyclopedic knowledge of every single thing our children need to know.

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A post shared by Homegrown Learners (@homegrown_learners)

What we DO have is a fervent desire to make our children’s education MATTER - and we’ve all decided to make the necessary sacrifices. We have found that by putting our children FIRST - and not considering them as a distraction or detour from our dreams or career - we are reaping a harvest and experiencing blessings beyond our wildest dreams.

We are living in an entitled world that wants to tell people (women especially!) that they can have it ALL - but I am here to tell you that our society is suffering because of that lie that has been perpetuated since the feminist movement took hold in our country.

Do You Want Conformists or World-Changers?

Home education is necessary because we need radical change.

Because of our reliance on public education, we are now seeing a society of people who are unable to think for themselves. We see people who can repost others’ opinions and who can support the latest causes without knowing how to articulate their OWN thoughts about them.

When I witnessed my daughter being “standardized” in the third grade I asked myself if that was all I wanted for her. Would my husband and I accept standards for her that were below her level of capability? Would it be best for her to go along with the masses through high school?

Or, did we want to educate her ourselves and nurture things like compassion, generosity, and selflessness - things that all run COUNTER to what traditional schools are about.

As we’ve watched both of our children move through their education at home, I can see young people that don’t care what others think of them, and young people who are willing to think FAR outside the box. They aren’t perfect, but at the end of the day, I can say that my husband and I did our level best to equip them for life.

We Must Fight For Beauty

Our children deserve a BEAUTIFUL education.
They deserve nature walks, slow mornings with beautiful books being read aloud to them, time to listen to and savor beautiful music and art, and abundant time and space to be immersed in the Word of God.

There is so much beauty in our world - beauty that is increasingly under attack. Or, beauty that goes unrecognized because so much time is spent focusing on evil.

“Children are often called our greatest resources as if they were deposits of tin. But a child is not (just as an adult is not) a level in an economic machine, a vehicle for commerce, a revenue source for the all-powerful state. He is a human being, made in the image and likeness of God - made, that is, for goodness and truth and beauty.” ~ Anthony Esolen

There simply isn’t the time to cultivate beauty in a traditional school environment. Cultivation of beauty requires relationship, time, and most importantly - faith in God who is the source of all beauty. God is under attack in our public schools.

Why in the world would we - as Christians, send our children into an institution that is fighting to EXCLUDE HIM?

Our Children Deserve to Be Safe

As saddened as I was by the recent school shooting in Texas, I wasn’t surprised. Unfortunately, schools have become targets in our fallen world.

I had just begun my teaching career when the Columbine shooting occurred - and it has seemed to escalate since then. One day in 2005 (the year we pulled my daughter out of public school) I was driving home from taking her to school. I was stopped by police at a roadblock in our area - they were searching for a fugitive on the loose. They had also locked down my daughter’s school for the remainder of the day.

I got home and wondered why in the WORLD I wasn’t homeschooling her? She could have been home with me. Safe. Learning.

If you feel like the public schools aren’t a safe place for your children I urge you to TAKE THEM OUT. Your children are only young once, and they don’t have time to wait for the adults “in charge” to fix the school safety problem.

Parents, don’t let fear, peer pressure, family pressure, or any other reason deter you from homeschooling your children. You know them the best. You love them the most. You will find abundant resources for home educating your children and while it won’t always be perfect, it will always be YOUR choice for YOUR children.

I would love to have a respectful conversation about this article in the comments.

Do you think homeschooling is more of a NECESSITY now? Why or why not?

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