4Real Forums: decisions to hschool highschool

Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.

Active Topics || Favorites || Member List || Search || About Us || Help || Register || Login

High School Years and Beyond ( Forum Locked)
4Real Forums : High School Years and Beyond

Topic: decisions to hschool highschool

Author

Message

<< Prev Topic | Next Topic >>

StacyLynn
Forum Rookie

Joined: Oct 16 2006
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 86

Posted: May 19 2009 at 9:08am \| IP Logged

I have started getting pressure from our extended family about high school. We have two years to go until we start high school and it has already begun....so I imagine it will get worse over time.

My husband and I still discuss our plan and I want to know:

1) what your thoughts were in making the decision
2) a great way to respond to family
3) did your children want to be homeschooled for highschool?
4) how to respond to the notion (stated by my mom) "you are depriving them of dances and boys and real friends" (a kind response-not my typical emotional frustrated one. i bit my tongue this morning.)

I appreciate any words of wisdom....and i am keeping my sense of humor. We knew this was not the easy path when we started!

Blessins,

__________________
Blessings,
StacyLynn
homeschooling mom of 3

guitarnan
Forum Moderator

Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Maryland
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 10883

Posted: May 19 2009 at 9:49am \| IP Logged

My son wanted to be homeschooled for high school. He has not felt deprived of dances - he has several friends who are girls but he isn't dating yet - so that was no loss. We knew he would have friends via Boy Scouts and (later) our homeschool co-op and this has indeed been the case.

Our public school isn't that great (lots of drugs, etc. and we have gangs in our county) and Catholic high school is an unaffordable $10K per year. Sending ds to Catholic school would have driven me back into the full time workforce, and we've seen so many good things happen for our children since I gave up outside-the-home work.

One great code word to use is "outsourcing" - that is the word we used to describe how we planned to handle lab science and other high-tech subjects. (So far we have outsourced only one thing, computer repair.)

Perhaps you could casually mention some of the recent news reports about teens, cell phone cameras and the effects of peer pressure...that should silence some of your detractors! (No, it's not gentle, I admit.)

__________________
Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.

Barb.b
Forum All-Star

Joined: June 22 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 748

Posted: May 19 2009 at 10:14am \| IP Logged

1. Like you, we wieghed are options and homeschool was the best choice.

2. Sometimes a simple response is better. If they don't accept that then explain the benifits of homeschooling. Also, describe what you do in a typical day (sometimes negative family response is because they really have no idea what homeschooling is like). Above all, in reposding don't get defensive. They need extended family needs to realize that they have not been asked to help in this decision.

3. Yes my son wanted to continue homeschooling.

4. As far as dating- we wouldn't allow it no matter where our kids were educated. Dances - this just shows your mom is out of touch with what schools are like these days. I really don't invision some innocent, fun dance like the 1940's here. More like drugs . . . As far as real friends - lasting real friends are found in a variety of places, not just school. As my kids get nearer to highschool age - I see more reasons to homeschool due to the NEGATIVE social impact of high school. It is such a great opportunity to still be the main influence of their life during a very crucial time in their development. Also, my son isn't deprived socially. He is part of a Civil Air patrol group, play baseball and is part of a civics minded homeschool group that meets once per month. If your kids have friends now, there tell your mom they will certainly still have friends in high school.

Also, my kids are closer then I see kids of families who attend school. I came into the family room the other day to find my 16 year old son snuggling on the couch with my 6 year old son!

Barb

Sorry, you cannot post a reply to this topic.
This forum has been locked by a forum administrator.

[Add this topic to My Favorites]

Printable version

Forum Jump

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot create polls in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

Hosting and Support provided by theNetSmith.com