What About High School?
And prom?
And graduation?
And scholarships?
And transcripts?
And college applications?
High school scared me a bit. The highest grade I ever taught as a public school teacher was 4th grade. I remember when my oldest daughter began 5th grade, telling her, "We are both in uncharted water now!" I began preparing for her high school years when she was in 8th grade, but I began worrying much sooner than that.
But don't you worry about high school. It's just one grade higher than the grade they were in before. Yes, there's more to it than teaching 2nd grade, for sure. But it can be done and there is loads of support and assistance out there.
First of all, will your child be missing out on major life milestones if you homeschool them through high school? Not really. There are homeschool proms. And homeschool dances. There are homeschool graduations--really nice ones, actually! We did our daughter's graduation on our own rather than with a group. She chose blue to be her cap and gown colors and we had a very nice graduation and reception for her.
Some parents do choose to homeschool their children during the younger years and then transition them to public school before the high school years hit. In our family, I knew I was all in. I was doing this for the long-haul. But if you know that homeschooling will be temporary and they will be returning to public school at some point, be sure to keep up with what credits are necessary for graduation. That information can be found online and your high school's guidance counselor may be of some assistance as well if you are simply pulling them out for a year or so.
One perk about homeschooling high school is that, if you student is ready, they can do dual credit classes and graduate high school with an associate's degree or at least most of one. There is no reason to take high school American History and then college level American History if you can just roll them into one. It's something that is worth looking into. Dual credit college classes are less expensive in some cases.
Homeschooling high school also allows you the freedom to take unique electives. Does your son love working on tractors? Is your daughter spending the year taking photographs? Does your daughter love to bake and wants to take a crack at owning her own baking business? These things can be made into electives quite easily. This allows you to use your child's interests on their transcript instead of having them stop doing what they enjoy to take an elective they don't care about in public school. Just a thought.
Whether you choose to homeschool high school or send your child to public or private school is up to you. Each child is unique and you will need to weigh their interests, their motivation, their initiative, their abilities, their future plans, and your local schools in your decision.
As far as homeschooling high school goes, there is no greater source that I know of than Lee Binz--The Home Scholar. She can help you with making a transcript, grade keeping and record keeping, college applications and more. Spend some time on her website and then see what you think.
Homeschooling high school is do-able. And you don't have to miss out on anything. Will it be different? Sure. But that different may prove to be just right for your family.