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Welcome to the 5 Days of Homeschool Blog Hop! My fellow Crew members and I have been looking forward to sharing all kinds of ideas, encouragement and advice about so many different aspects of homeschooling, and we hope you enjoy visiting all the participating bloggers and get to know us a little better. For this round of the Blog Hop, I decided to talk about the rewards of homeschooling teens all the way through high school. We all know there are challenges to the task, and that parenting teens can be a challenge all on its own. We can find lots of how-to information about choosing curriculum and coursework for high schoolers. I've written some of that kind of thing myself! But this week, I'd really like to focus on some of the rewarding aspects that make this homeschooling high school gig worth the work. The payoffs and dividends along the way, not just in the long-term.
I'd originally intended to do this in a different order, but life happened at our house last week, and I decided to start with
The Reward of Family Time.
Spending more time together as a family is a benefit we recognize for homeschooling kids of any age, of course. Strengthening the family ties when kids are little will pay off big time as they get older, and having your teens learning at home makes a positive difference in family life for everyone. Now don't misunderstand - it's still highly likely that teens will push back against some discipline and boundaries, and will challenge your authority; and it's still highly likely that there will be sibling squabbles. But homeschooled teens have far less exposure to the disrespectful and condescending attitudes towards parents (and adults in general) that are prevalent among their public school counterparts. Homeschooled teens have learned to get along with their parents and their siblings, for the most part, and are generally more respectful and *gasp* may actually look forward to spending time with their family!
When teens are being educated at home, they are able to spend time with extended family too. When grandparents or aunts and uncles came to visit, my teens were to enjoy time with them and give those family relationships priority over schoolwork. Not that we didn't do school during those visits! But just being able to sit down to lunch at home with Gramma and Papa after working on history all morning; or visiting with them in the car as they came along for the drive to gym class were blessings for all of us. If we lived closer to family so that we could get my kids together with their cousins, I know that would have worked out great as well.
And now let's be really practical for a moment! When teens are doing schoolwork at home, they are available in practical ways to help out in the family. Once my oldest kid was a teen, he could be trusted to look after younger siblings if I needed to be out during the school day. Or to watch over the youngest for me so that I could give my full attention to another sibling that needed help with spelling. And even more practical - having teens at home during the day means they can be available to help out around the house. They can mow the lawn on Thursday morning and then start school. They're home to help out getting dinner ready, or to give a hand with the dishes or vacuuming for a few minutes here and there.
Which brings me to my reason for talking about the rewards of homeschooling teens today, to start the series, instead of waiting till the end of the week. Last Tuesday, I woke up with an inexplicable inability to move my right shoulder - and with awful pain when I tried. I struggled through the day, hoping it wouldn't last. But overall, it sort of got worse, until I made the hubster take me to urgent care on Saturday. So apparently, I might have 'frozen shoulder' and it's possible that I could be dealing with pain and limits on what I can do for many weeks or even months. Already today, I am realizing the rewards of having a homeschooled teen, because she will be available to help me with all kinds of things that I would normally do without a second thought. I won't be at all surprised if requests for help are met with reluctance and some complaints if this goes on for some time, but even so, the kids are around to do what needs to be done! Now that's a really practical reward!
I'd originally intended to do this in a different order, but life happened at our house last week, and I decided to start with
The Reward of Family Time.
Spending more time together as a family is a benefit we recognize for homeschooling kids of any age, of course. Strengthening the family ties when kids are little will pay off big time as they get older, and having your teens learning at home makes a positive difference in family life for everyone. Now don't misunderstand - it's still highly likely that teens will push back against some discipline and boundaries, and will challenge your authority; and it's still highly likely that there will be sibling squabbles. But homeschooled teens have far less exposure to the disrespectful and condescending attitudes towards parents (and adults in general) that are prevalent among their public school counterparts. Homeschooled teens have learned to get along with their parents and their siblings, for the most part, and are generally more respectful and *gasp* may actually look forward to spending time with their family!
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| Auntie Kennady was able to meet her newborn niece right away! |
When teens are being educated at home, they are able to spend time with extended family too. When grandparents or aunts and uncles came to visit, my teens were to enjoy time with them and give those family relationships priority over schoolwork. Not that we didn't do school during those visits! But just being able to sit down to lunch at home with Gramma and Papa after working on history all morning; or visiting with them in the car as they came along for the drive to gym class were blessings for all of us. If we lived closer to family so that we could get my kids together with their cousins, I know that would have worked out great as well.
 |
| Landon with Gramma and Papa at Christmas |
And now let's be really practical for a moment! When teens are doing schoolwork at home, they are available in practical ways to help out in the family. Once my oldest kid was a teen, he could be trusted to look after younger siblings if I needed to be out during the school day. Or to watch over the youngest for me so that I could give my full attention to another sibling that needed help with spelling. And even more practical - having teens at home during the day means they can be available to help out around the house. They can mow the lawn on Thursday morning and then start school. They're home to help out getting dinner ready, or to give a hand with the dishes or vacuuming for a few minutes here and there.
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| getting the yard work done during school hours |
Which brings me to my reason for talking about the rewards of homeschooling teens today, to start the series, instead of waiting till the end of the week. Last Tuesday, I woke up with an inexplicable inability to move my right shoulder - and with awful pain when I tried. I struggled through the day, hoping it wouldn't last. But overall, it sort of got worse, until I made the hubster take me to urgent care on Saturday. So apparently, I might have 'frozen shoulder' and it's possible that I could be dealing with pain and limits on what I can do for many weeks or even months. Already today, I am realizing the rewards of having a homeschooled teen, because she will be available to help me with all kinds of things that I would normally do without a second thought. I won't be at all surprised if requests for help are met with reluctance and some complaints if this goes on for some time, but even so, the kids are around to do what needs to be done! Now that's a really practical reward!
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6 comments:
Sorry to hear about the shoulder but I agree that the help of teens (and tweens) around the house can be invaluable even during school hours. :)
That is a most excellent reward... It's a good one with middle schoolers too. :) Helping me with my gardening when sometimes the work is too heavy to do on my own.
I would love to homeschool through high school! But we're taking it a year at a time; my kids are still 1st and 4th. And so far, there is less sibling squabbles, and yes, they still want to spend time with us. I hope that continues until their teens.
Hoping your shoulder mends quickly!
We love being at home together! This was perfect when daddy was an over the road driver and home at odd times and now that he is home recovering, he has 5 "nurses" as he needs them!
I love how effectively and eloquently you described the blessings of family time!
Homeschooling in middle school and high school seems to be the most important time to help stay away from unwanted influences. Great post!
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