Homeschooling High School? Try these 4 things for smooth days
Homeschooling High School? This post will help you with four things you’ll want to consider for smooth days, all learned from experience by a homeschool mom.
Homeschooling Teens
Life homeschooling two high schoolers is very different from my early homeschooling days with four children six and under. Those were hectic days. Now, two of my kids have graduated, the other two are ninth graders this year, and our days are pretty routine and run smoothly. Much of that is because there are things that I’ve consistently done in our homeschool from the very beginning that make for a smooth routine now. There are habits we’ve established over the years that are now carrying over making our days easier and allowing me to be more hands-off.
Homeschooling a teenager is different than homeschooling little ones. If you’re homeschooling high school, these tips should help.
Although no homeschool day is exactly like another- at least in our homeschool where we’re fairly flexible — there is a routine to our days. And these four things help our days run smoothly most of the time.
We start around the same time every day.
I am not a morning person. So starting at the same time each day doesn’t mean starting early. Our day begins between 8:30 and 9am. I get up and get the girls moving, and our goal is to start the work we do together by 10am. One of my girls is easy to wake up. The other — not so much. I usually have to call her multiple times. And it doesn’t help that the dog likes to go snuggle in her bed in the mornings.
On Friday mornings my oldest daughter (who is a biology major in college) does the biology labs with my two high school girls who are taking biology this year. She tries to start around ten as well so that we stay consistent. Although we don’t need to leave the house most mornings, I think that having this fairly consistent start time helps us to get going with the day.
We alternate work we do together with work the girls do independently.
My goal throughout homeschooling has been to have the kids work more and more independently so that by high school they are primarily responsible for all of their own work. My two graduates, who are both in college now, have said that this is one of the best things that I did in homeschooling them. They don’t struggle to manage their schedules and complete their work, while some other students seem totally overwhelmed by this.
My two high school students now do most of their work independently. There are some subjects that we read together briefly. We begin the day with these at our 10am start. We’re usually done with any of this around 11am, and then the girls are on their own. Although they share a room, one works in our schoolroom/dining room, and the other works in the bedroom. This dividing up seems to help both focus and get more done.
Read more: Is your teen having trouble working independently? You’ll want to listen to this podcast episode at It’s Not That Hard to Homeschool High School, When Your Teen Cannot Learn Independently.
We stick to routines.
I’ve never been a strict, structured schedule person. Instead, I’ve always used routines to keep our days flowing smoothly. When the kids were younger, I really stressed sticking to the routine — starting schoolwork at a particular time, doing specific subjects in the same order each day, stopping around the same time for lunch every day. Now that I have two high schoolers, they set their own routines because they’re in the habit of following a routine.
I keep us in the routine of starting at the same time and doing together work first. The girls follow their own routines for what order they work on their subjects, what time they stop for lunch, and how much of a break they take in the middle of the day. Because we have these set routines, we can function on “autopilot” on days when one or more of us is having trouble getting motivated.
I have the job of mentoring and holding kids accountable for their own learning.
Even though my high schoolers can work independently, I keep the responsibility of mentoring — being there to answer questions, to bounce ideas off of, to discuss topics for papers, etc — and of checking up on their work. Each day, I check up on work completed that day with just a quick, “Did you finish what you needed to today?” Then we meet at the end of the week for me to check what they’ve completed for the week, to grade any work that needs to be graded, and to discuss progress in general.
If you have more than one child, you know that all kids are unique and learn differently. I have one high schooler this year who has needed me to be a little more hands-on, to check more often, and to help her stay organized and on task. The beauty of homeschooling is that I can adapt and do what she needs me to do to help her be successful.
Don’t get me wrong. Every day isn’t perfect. We have days when one or more of us just aren’t motivated and it seems to be difficult to actually accomplish anything. But these four things typically help make our days run more smoothly and make our normal homeschooling high school days more consistent and productive.
Other posts you might enjoy:
5 WAYS TO TURN YOUR CHILD’S INTERESTS INTO HIGH SCHOOL ELECTIVES
HIGH SCHOOL ELECTIVES BEYOND ART AND MUSIC
DELIGHT-DIRECTED HOMESCHOOLING FOR HIGH SCHOOL
FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU HOMESCHOOL THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL
PLANNING TO HOMESCHOOL THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL
STUDYING AMERICAN LITERATURE FOR HIGH SCHOOL
HOMESCHOOLING THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL: A TYPICAL WEEK
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