Anyone have any experience with homeschooling HIGH SCHOOL?

[bisous]

This is long so apologies! DS2 is not happy in HS. He LOVED remote learning. I'm considering that maybe he could be better served in a non-traditional path?

He's a good student but I wouldn't say he's amazing or a prodigy. He suffers from OVERconfidence if anything. He tends to rush through his work so he can have more free time. He's also capable of getting more in a day than anyone I know. He loves to read and loves to learn. He hates the length of the school day and feels like it wastes a lot of time. He has a cadre of really good friends. They're super supportive and kind to each other. He doesn't seem interested in "normal" teenaged stuff. He's not interested in going to football games or school rallies or various other things (that I loved when I was in HS). He likes science and video games and hiking and scouts.

I think without some guardrails he could spend all his time pursuing his own entertainment OR he could achieve amazing things. I think I could give him that structure to make him successful.

DS1 wasn't a great fit in high school or really any school but I really felt like he NEEDED that kind of struggle to be set up for success in college and life. I don't know that DS2 really needs that kind of struggle. He's already more capable in many respects than his older brother. (DS1 is a better scholar, DS2 is more practically capable) DS2 is the kid you could drop off in the woods and he would find his way home safely. He could hold down a job or run a project.

Don't get me wrong, he has A LOT to learn. He's a freshman and he's a YOUNG freshman. I just wonder what else might be out there? I feel like he MIGHT find great success in less structured schooling.

Would love to hear your thoughts!

[gatorsmom]

We know several families that homeschooled their high schoolers. They all learned via different routes. I think junior and senior year though they used an online school with live classes. At that point, they also incorporated classes at the technical school in too. With Covid happening, I haven’t seen these families much so I don’t know how or what they are doing now.

Before Covid, a couple of the kids were unhappy and ended up going to the local diocesan Catholic high school (all of these families are Catholic). Most of the ones I knew graduated h.s. and went to college. Three for computers, two for elementary education, one business, and one undecided, the others I can remember. One of the kids is studying a trade, not sure which one. I know of another family whose high schooler went to the Airforce Academy but I don’t know them well. So homeschooling can definitely be a successful and rewarding for the right kid.

I’d get in touch with other families who homeschool. They are usually a tight-knit group and with a lot of knowledge of available resources.

[bisous]

Thanks Gatorsmom! I dabbled in homeschooling with DS1 years ago (MANY years ago!). I will see what I groups I can find from my prior connections. I feel like maybe DS2 might be that kid that is successful wherever he goes. That's not the case for most of my kids and that presents an interesting conundrum of sorts. How much do I let him choose about his education?

[KpbS]

Me!!
My homeschooled high schooler is a junior and DS2 will be a freshman next year. Feel free to PM me

[bisous]

Me!!
My homeschooled high schooler is a junior and DS2 will be a freshman next year. Feel free to PM me

Will do!

[ang79]

My kids are currently in public school, though my 7th grader dreads school due to the early wake-up time for MS. She also thrived with virtual classes last year but the way our MS and HS does it is dreadful so she is back in the building this year. I work for a home school academy though that offers accreditation and transcripts. I only work with Pre-K to 8th grade but we have a variety of high school programs as well. We were actually talking about dual enrollment today in a meeting and how our Academy offers it less expensively than other places and the kids are able to work towards getting their freshman and sophomore college classes out of the way while in high school! PM me if you would like more info.

[Kestrel]

THere are options out there. Homeschooling can be great, but would not work in our house. We enrolled DS in the neighboring district's online public school. They offer live online classes, do at your own pace classes, and inperson classes through the alternitive school, in whatever combo works for your child. We love it. He has a live online teacher for math (which I both hate math and suck at) and at your own pace history and english, where I can help him as needed.
There are also sudents that go to the regular high school in the morning, but do online school in the afternoon. Or go to online school in the morning, and go to the community college in the afternoon or evening.
Just wanted to throw it out there - there are different paths for success. You'll have to look and find one that works for you.

[California]

Is this something your DS had mentioned? He’s old enough to look into it for himself, too. One of my DCs friends took the California High School Profiency Exam and started at community college. She came up with that plan herself. Another one did her own research on how to graduate high school early, took online units in addition to her regular courses, and will be finishing this year. Her plan is to get a specific certification through community college, then switch to a four year college, and graduate with work experience in her field.

[hbridge]

There are so many options for High School... Online school, traditional home school (there are groups around us)... Then there are alternative high schools: Tech schools, agricultural schools... Then there is the private school route with different specializations. For high school, have your DC do the research and figure out what he wants...

My child goes to an alternative high school and is now taking classes at the local community college. If we had looked into it earlier, DC would probably be graduating early, but needs one more class .

[SnuggleBuggles]

"He doesn't seem interested in "normal" teenaged stuff. He's not interested in going to football games or school rallies or various other things (that I loved when I was in HS). He likes science and video games and hiking and scouts."

Has he had a chance to do the normal high school things? Is he in any extracurriculars? If I remember right, your school isn't close to home so I could see how there is no real community spirit nor opportunity to really get involved. I know I've said it before but watching ds1 bloom in high school through all of his extracurriculars was so awesome. We made him do some activities freshman year (swimming, stage crew for the musical- which is a huge deal at our school). From there he wound up playing multiple sports and doing more activities than I could really count. I could never have guessed that the freshman would mature the way he did. If you can homeschool and provide excellent opportunities to engage in activities, great! But, it doesn't sound like homeschooling is the obvious solution here. Getting more involved in school might be though. Do they have science clubs? robotics? video game design classes?