How to Homeschool High School: Part 2
Welcome back to TEA of Life Podcast. Thank you so much for joining me in this episode journey of homeschooling through high school.
I was excited to log into my website today and find that I have quite a few new email subscribers. If you are listening, and you are one of those new subscribers, welcome! If you are not a new subscriber, and you are wondering what the heck I am talking about right now, on my website, you have an option to subscribe, and every time I post something on my website, you will immediately be notified. Whether it’s a new podcast episode or a life article, or anything else that I decide to post on my website. You will be the first to know! So, if you’d like to also be one of my subscribers, go to teaoflifepodcast.com, then click on CONTACT at the very top of the page. At the top right of the contact page, you will see “Never miss an episode or life article.” That’s where you will put in your name and email, and that’ll allow you to be the first to know when something is posted. Please know that I will NEVER share your name or email with anyone!
So… in the last episode, I shared with you a bit of our homeschooling journey, but if you’d like to hear more about that, you can go back and listen to episode 4. If you want to get to that episode quickly, you can visit my website at teaoflifepodcast.com. Click on this episode, and you’ll find a link to episode 4 there in the show notes.
Also, If you have any questions or comments about anything that I share on my podcasts, you can send them to tiffany@teaoflifepodcast.com. I will try my best to answer them for you and for my listeners. You never know when the answer to your question could be life-changing for someone else. There are no stupid questions…only stupid answers, and I will try my best not to give a stupid answer.
So now… I’d like to give my number one “how to” when it comes to homeschooling….and pretty much anything else in life, especially when you feel overwhelmed or start something new.
And, that is…
#1. RELAX, TAKE A BREAK, and BREATHE! I know that that’s easy for me to say; especially if you’re just starting out, AND maybe your kid is already in high school.
You’re afraid that if you miss a moment in education, your child will fall drastically behind, and you won’t be able to catch back up. Your kid will fail. You will fail if you take a break.
Well, I want to encourage you that that is absolutely NOT true! I can promise you that that is NOT true at all! If anything, you will gain traction and refocus. You will be able to refresh yourself.
I’ve heard it said that sometimes, in order to move forward, you must first take a step backward to get better traction.
So, take a step backward. Take a breather. Take a break. Gain better traction. I promise that the universe will continue and the world will not stop spinning if you just take a stinkin’ break. I promise that your kid will get into college (if that’s the goal). I promise that you will not screw up your kid just from taking a break. I promise that you will not be a bad parent if you just take a break. In fact, some of you will instantly become better parents if you just take a break!
Some of you have never taken a break. Some of you have never taken a break from school and the chaos that it can add to our family life. Some of you didn’t even know you could choose to take a break, and others of you are just looking for permission to take a break.
Well, here’s your permission! DO IT! Take a freaking break!
Depending on where you live, taking that break may be easier or harder. During this break, I encourage you to relax, maybe get outside into nature, get quiet, listen, meditate.
If you have never meditated, maybe now is the time to learn to do that. I was brought up that meditation was bad…kinda new age-y and that somehow demons were summoned when I meditated, but that can’t be farther from the truth, and I’m gonna leave that for a discussion in a different episode; however, now that I am older and, eh-hem, somewhat wiser, I believe that meditation is a MUST for anyone and everyone!
One of the best books I’ve read is called 10% Happier by Dan Harris. It was great! I can’t say that it was completely life-changing for me, but it was pretty close. I’ll put the link to that book in my show notes and also make a note to talk about that book later and how it helped me.
So, on to number two…
#2. Find someone who is already doing what you want to do, and take them to lunch or coffee. Ask them A LOT of questions. Find and talk to someone who is already homeschooling in high school, even if their homeschooling looks different than what you desire yours to look like. It doesn’t matter. You can’t figure out what you need to do until you figure out what you don’t want to do. It’ll allow you to narrow it down.
Also, you need community. You need to find others who have gone before you and can lead (or pull) you along. You need to have others there who can help you when you lose vision of your “why.”
Seek out other homeschooling families in your area. There are PLENTY of Facebook groups that are local to communities and those centered on your particular state. There are also national Facebook groups, and one Facebook group that I am currently in is called It’s Not That Hard to Homeschool Highschool. I will post a link to that group in my show notes, but seriously, y’all! It’s right there in the name! This is a national FB group that allows questions and gives encouragement to anyone who is homeschooling in high school. I am also involved in local groups to GA and co-ops in my community who give support when we (or I) need it.
#3. Talk about or make a list of what your goals are for homeschooling. I’ve talked a lot on this podcast about finding your “why.” This is one area where you will definitely want to know your “why.” If you don’t know AND state your “why,” it will be harder to accomplish your goals, and in the not-so-distant future, when you feel like everything is going crazy (and you will feel this way, and chances are things WILL be going crazy!), and you’ve lost track and have no idea what’s going on, you can look back at your “why” and bring it all back home.
Over the years, the reasons that we homeschool have somewhat changed, but our “why” has stayed the same. Reasons and whys are similar but are not the same. A reason is a cause and a why stems from the reason, so a cause creates a reason which then forms a why. Haha! Clear as mud?
For example, due to some reasons, we decided early on that our WHY for homeschooling is to build a strong character by ALLOWING THEM TO ENJOY LIFE AND FIND THEIR OWN WAY; TO NOT GET LOST IN THE SOCIAL NORM; TO CREATE THEIR OWN PATH. We wanted them to find a life of their own…allowing them to figure out who they are and what they want out of life without feeling the pressures of others telling them who they are and trying to make them someone they aren’t and weren’t created to be. We didn’t want our kids to get caught up in what I refer to as “conveyor belt society.”
My husband and I have always been a bit of a rebel when it comes to doing things just because that’s how we’re told it should be done or because that’s how everyone else is doing it. We’ve never quite fit in with the normal ways of living life, and if you knew our goals and dreams, you’d probably agree. We do things a little differently and take risks that others may be afraid of taking.
We like to think of ourselves as pioneers instead of rebels though. Because we tend to do things way before they are considered the social norm. And, usually when others are like, “Hey! Look at this new idea!” We’re like, “Yeah… we did that years ago, or yeah, we’re already doing that.” However, at the time we started it, people thought we were crazy! Kinda like when we started our homeschooling journey.
So, back to character-building. Our reason for choosing that is because we were drawn to the character that we saw in other homeschooling kids and families, and we were concerned about the lack of character we saw in others. (And, no! If you’re listening to this, I’m obviously not talking about YOUR kid. Wink! Wink!) But, make no mistake about it, homeschooling doesn’t only create character in our kids. It also creates character in us!
Your reason or cause can be vastly different than ours or even vastly different from your best friend’s reason for homeschooling. That’s ok and totally great! Your why needs to be uniquely your own, or it’ll never stick, and you will grow tired of it very quickly and lose traction, focus, and motivation.
So, on to number 4…
#4. You’re gonna want to find out what your state laws are requiring homeschooling. How strict or lenient are they? This will also be important when implementing step #5. You are going to want to make sure you are following your state’s guidelines for homeschooling while also taking into account that you are not trying to make your homeschool look like a public or traditional private school. You want to make it your own…different…I mean, that’s why you’re doing this, right? Because you want things to be different… Basically, I look at this as “how far can I go with this and it still be in the confines of our state’s homeschooling rules?” Finding out your state’s laws and how you should abide by them will also help in making your homeschool unique and all about your particular family. I look at the law for what it literally says and don’t add or take away from its wording. It can be tricky, but reading it in its actual wording and not assuming it’s saying something it isn’t could make a big difference in your level of success, stress, or even failure in your family’s homeschool experience.
#5. Take some time to figure out how your child learns best. This will go a long way when it comes to finding a curriculum for your child. Are they more apt to learn by listening, seeing, feeling, moving, being around other people, or being alone, or by communicating verbally? This will also play a big part in choosing your curriculum AND how you teach your curriculum. Actually, everything I am talking about here will play a huge part in choosing your curriculum.
Also, don’t think that the curriculum that you choose today will be the final above-all-end-all curriculum that you use from here on out. It won’t! Needs change, and sometimes the changes come frequently and abruptly. In episode 4, when I talked about how I started homeschooling, I mentioned that we used a particular box curriculum when we started, then we moved on to more of an eclectic style, and then, after a few years of that, we had started using a K12 curriculum provided by our state and at that time, we loved it. Well, very soon after that episode released, things changed, and they changed big-time, and we no longer loved that curriculum. In fact, their way of doing school at home no longer lined up with my family’s values for homeschooling or our “why,” and we immediately pulled out of the program. It was back to a traditional eclectic-style homeschool for us and right in the middle of high school too. However…we did it! We figured out what our kids needed, and my husband and I supplied it for them, and nobody suffered. My son was still able to dual-enroll in our local college, graduate high school, and still get accepted into college with my homemade transcripts. Now, his little brother is on his way to doing the same.
So, be prepared to be extremely flexible when choosing your curriculum. Again, I will talk more about this later, so make sure you check back for other episodes.
#6. Think about what you want your homeschool experience, space, and day to look like. Remember! You are more than likely homeschooling because you want something different than what the public school system or even the private school system has to offer, so don’t try to mimic them! One of the biggest mistakes that new homeschooling families make is trying to bring the previous school schedule and routine home. You are not trying to mimic the school system that has possibly failed you, hence possibly the reason you’re now homeschooling. Make it different! Make it fun! Make it unique! Make it your own, but most of all…make it WORK for YOU and YOUR kiddos!
Now, we mainly homeschool in a particular space, but before we settled into this particular space, our kids would homeschool in their room, in the kitchen, in the living room, outside, and sometimes even on our hammock or trampoline or at the park. I have friends who do a lot of traveling and they homeschool in an RV, and some who are just involved in a lot of different activities around town, so, they do some of their homeschooling in a minivan. They actually have a specific curriculum and particular items they purchase just for their van ride, and this works for them.
Let’s quickly go over the 6 things again…
- Relax, Take a Break, Breathe
- Find someone who is already doing what you want to do, and ask them lots of questions.
- Figure out your homeschooling goals.
- Research your state laws.
- Learn your child’s learning styles.
- Think about how you want your homeschool experience to look.
So, how do you feel now? Does this make you feel better, worse, or even more overwhelmed, or do you feel a bit of relief? I really hope that you feel some relief because that was my goal.
Maybe you have even more questions now that you’ve listened to this episode. I plan on expanding more in later episodes on some of the points in this chat, so if you have any questions you’d like answered regarding these points or anything else regarding homeschooling, please feel free to leave me a comment under this episode on my website or send me an email to tiffany@teaoflifepodcast.com.
I really hope this makes you feel at least a little better and put a couple of things into perspective. If you’re a listmaker like me and/or a visual learner…also like me, hopefully, this will help you put a few things in order and see what you need to accomplish before or while making that leap into traditional homeschooling.
So…congratulations! Just by listening to this episode, you are now a bit closer to starting your new homeschooling adventure. My goal is to encourage you and to make things feel a little easier for you, so stay tuned for more episodes and information to come.
