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Angel
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| Posted: March 12 2010 at 1:45pm | IP Logged
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I've seen this statement made in various places. Is this true? How many hours a day (roughly) do your high schoolers spend working on coursework? How do they manage to fit in extracurricular activities, chores (particularly if you have a large family or farm or both), paid or volunteer work, too?
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: March 12 2010 at 2:38pm | IP Logged
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I don't think I'd characterize it that way at all. But then again, we are different than most folks, so keep that in mind.
When my son volunteers at the raptor center, aquarium, or hatchery, I consider him to have done *at least* his science for the day. And depending on how long he works, that may be about all he does. I consider his work at these places to be as educational as anything I can hand him, so I have no problem letting that be school for the day.
Since he usually only volunteers until lunch time, he often comes home and does his math and some reading (whatever classic novel or history he has going at the time), perhaps some art, etc.
On days he is not volunteering, in addition to his reading and math, we do some more formal science together, he writes, and he also works on whatever current project he has going (right now he is working his way through a computer programming book).
All in all it is very casual and relaxed, with some subjects bleeding over into the evening (reading and writing in particular often do this) by his own choice (he loves to read and write late at night).
Most often, though, he is done easily by 2-3 and this is when he does not get started until 10 or so, if that early.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Barb.b
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| Posted: March 23 2010 at 11:46am | IP Logged
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Well, ds does school about the same time that others are in a traditional school. That said - we have more time during our day for stuff they won't get to in a brick and morter school. For instance, ds wants to build/make an electric guitar. So this morning he spent some time researching this and working with templates. As with Theresa's son - this is definitly eduactional and worthwhile. I would say that the rest of the day (8:30 - 3:30/4:00) is very traditional looking around here with Catechism, history, english, science, Math and spanish. As far as extracurriculars, most of these are after 4;00 or on the weekends so as with public/private school kids he has time for them. Actually, he has more time for them because rarely does he need to spend evenings doing school work. 2 activities he does that are after 4 are civil air patrol and a praise band at church.
I forgot one biggie - he is getting his pilot license and so he has flown with his instructor once or twice during the week this year (except now he is studying for a test). This is what is great about homeschooling - you actually can fit more cool stuff in. I honestly don't know if he was in a public/private school he could have been in all of these: civil air patrol, praise band and getting a pitol's license.
Barb
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Barb.b
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| Posted: March 23 2010 at 2:44pm | IP Logged
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Of course I did think the full time job also refers to me! With 3 kids to homeschool and one in high school - I am busy during the day, and at night going over high school books like physics, math and literature!
Barb
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10 Bright Stars
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| Posted: Aug 03 2010 at 1:52pm | IP Logged
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I feel so depressed sometimes when I read all the cool things homeschool kids get to do. We don't have a very mature homeschool group around here. In fact, the kids are all mainly 12 and below. This really leaves my 10th grader lonely feeling most days since the public school kids he knows at church aren't really availible for schoolish" activities which makes him keep saying he wants to go to public school since those are the only kids he knows his age. Also, I must not be aware of local opportunities for teens to volunteer at etc. Where do you all usually find things like this out? So sad of a question probably!  But seriously, I spend my whole day either doing school or cleaning up or spending time with the littles. We don't get out that much and I often feel badly for the older kids because we are sort of trapped at home due to the number and ages of the younger kids, plus it seems I am always pregnant and sick with morning sickness. Does anyone else have this problem and how do you deal with it? (i.e. making sure your older teens get to get out of the house for enrichment activities and where do you even find out about these opportunities? Is this something that only works for unschoolers and not for folks who use a more traditional approach? ) Can we not do it both ways?
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Kim married to Bob (22y)
Mom of 11 blessings:
Bobby 19, David 17, Noah 14,
Mary 12, Gracie 10,
Isabelle and Sophia 8,
Gabrielle 6,
William Anthony 4, Joseph 3 and Luisa Marie - born in M
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Aug 03 2010 at 4:09pm | IP Logged
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That's a tough situation to be in, your older son with no same-age homeschooled peers. It is how we have always been, unfortunately.
I have to make sure ds gets his socialization through boy scouts and church youth group activities, karate, etc.
As far as volunteerism, we just went to places that ds was interested in (Raptor Rehab, aquarium, hatchery)and asked them. Told them ds was a hard worker and would do whatever they needed done. Most folks were eager for the help. At first they put him on mindless labor (cleaning fish tanks,hauling and burning brush, painting trim, etc.), but once he proved himself smart and reliable he was gradually given more and more interesting things to do like building nest boxes, feeding and caring for animals, collecting and measuring salmon fry (little hatchlings)and assisting with classes.
Although we unschool a lot, I feel that anyone can include volunteerism in their days. It may have to be after school if you run a more traditional homeschool, but that is fine, too.
My ds learned so much through his volunteerism last year. It was well worth his time and effort. He enjoyed doing new and different things, working with people who are passionate about what they do, and just getting out of the house by himself (without the littles tagging along for once) was a treat for him!LOL! I highly recommend giving it a try if you can.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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jennthmg
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| Posted: Aug 03 2010 at 4:21pm | IP Logged
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I have 1 day per week that we're "out." I focus on the needs of the oldest and work my way down from there. I feel like if we're home 4 days, I can get school done at home. I would even drive an hour one way once a week to get my teen involved with other homeschoolers, Catholic or not. (That's a long way for me since everything in our town is only ever 20 minutes away from everything else.)
When I'm sick and pregnant, our "out" day is "in." Part of the understanding of me organizing things for other people's kids is that when I can't, someone will.
When I'm sick, the parents of my kids' friends will either pick a kid up for an activity or come to my house and do the activity here. When I'm sick my house is trashed and everyone (including me) has to be ok with that. I have to be generous and welcoming and at peace. I lay on the couch and let someone else take over. So far, it's worked wonderful. I prayed for about 6 years to find wonderful friends for my oldest and God brought friends for her that we already knew, but weren't very close with.
How do I find opportunities for my teen? I use the phone and call EVERYONE. I shake every bush. I ask every priest I meet about youth groups, other homeschoolers, people he knows that may be willing to mentor a teen in areas the teen is interested in, etc. I call businesses and ask if they need teen volunteers during the day, and I chase down opportunities.
What specific things does your teen want to do that's not available right now?
Edited to add : Presently the high schooler is enrolled with Kolbe. We are more like tightly wound classical schoolers than unschoolers.
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Angel
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| Posted: Aug 03 2010 at 6:41pm | IP Logged
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I don't think you need to be an unschooler to take advantage of volunteer opportunities; like Theresa says, you may just need to find opportunities that revolve around traditional school hours. My dd was involved in a volunteer program run by the Little Sisters of the Poor in one of their nursing homes. It was about an hour away. I found out about it through another family in our homeschool group, whose teenage daughter had been heavily involved in it. The program lasted for 3 hours, 1 Saturday a month, for girls ages 10-18, plus extra opportunities for further work. Most of the families whose children participated in the program homeschool using Seton.
My ds does Boy Scouts; my dh takes care of that. Not during school hours.
A nearby museum has a volunteer program for ages 13-16, and paid employment opportunities for ages 16 and above. The 13-16 yo volunteers do living history in period dress. They have to fill out an application and write an essay. It's a summertime position.
I know what you mean about being depressed when you hear about all the stuff other hs'ers do, though... Since I have lots of little ones, too, we have to stay home more than families whose children are all, say, older than 5. That was why I asked my original question; I couldn't (can't) quite fathom how to get my ds to do 30-40 hours of schoolwork a week!!!
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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4Real Forums : High School Years and Beyond
Topic: "High school is a full time job"
