I hesitated to start because I didn’t want to be over-protective.
My younger son is anaphylactic to peanuts. He is one of those children you read about that could die if exposed to the smallest, microscopic speck of peanut. I didn’t want to over-protect my children, and it was very difficult to balance protecting him from a life-threatening allergy and over-protecting him so he didn’t know how to care for his own life-long condition.
I hesitated to start because I was overwhelmed by my children’s academic needs.
Both of my children are highly gifted, and it was extremely challenging to homeschool them. I was always unsure, always anxious about how to keep them challenged without exposing them to things beyond their maturity level. In the beginning, it was a concern about making their reading challenging but appropriate for their age. Later on I had concerns about dual enrollment in community college, and whether that might be a good fit for them.
I continued because homeschooling was awesome!
Once we began homeschooling, it was such a perfect fit for my family that I never seriously considered quitting. I did have times of extreme anxiety. It seemed like sometimes I could barely sleep! And I worried! I worried that my children would suddenly rebel, or misbehave somehow, and I wouldn’t be able to teach them.
Back-to-school Nerves
Each fall we started our academic school year on Labor Day. I wanted my husband to be at home and help me through the first day of school. Nothing bad ever happened, but I was still anxious and my husband was happy to be available just to calm my nerves. Yup. Nervous Nellie! That was me!
How about you?
Everyone makes the decision to homeschool for their own reason. My job is to make sure you don’t make a decision based on fear – so you can listen to your heart. I don’t know what is right for your family, but you do. If you decide to homeschool through high school, there is a LOT of support available. I’m here to help you finish the job, and finish strong!
Why did you decide to homeschool high school?
Because God called us to continue down His path for our family, and He put people in my path–including you, Lee–to be sure I’d have the tools to do it.
I tell you what…all it takes for me to be glad that my daughter is not in the public high school….
We pick her boyfriend up from the high school every day and we just watch the droves of kids coming out.
It takes all kinds, I do realize this, and all kinds is just what we see.
Most of them I can’t imagine why their parents let them walk out of the house looking that way…or why the high school allows them to come to school that way!
Pink hair, purple hair, no hair, mohawks, numerous piercings. Baggy pants, chains…just to name a few things. It turns my stomach.
You can’t wear Christian t-shirts etc to school, but the Pagans (I think they are called) can wear their pentagrams. Another thing that so confuses me!
Plus, the police have to monitor the hallways.
Ok…enough said!
Ditto what Kristine said… 🙂
I first became interested in homeschooling before I ever had children. I saw a news clip about a kid who was spending his senior year of high school sailing around the world with his family. I thought, “Now THAT is an education!”
Since then, I have become convinced that homeschooling is the biblical model for training children. In my mind, the elementary years have been just a prelude to the launching-pad of homeschool high school.
I decided to home school high school because we’d been doing it so many years, what’s 4 more years? My child was doing well keeping on top of the portion she does independently, so I knew we could handle high school quite easily.
Not to mention, I have watched The Home Scholar grow her business from day one and have always known she’ll be there whenever I need to yell for help (thanks, Lee!)
Thanks ladies, for the extra encouragement today!
Blessings,
Lee
We have a year before high school, but I am already shaking in my boots..