Homeschool High School Panic…or Not

From 2011

I think the homeschool high school panic has begun.  My oldest is finishing up her 8th grade year this spring and all I can think of is “aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!”  Not that I’m concerned about her educational progress, because she’s done (and is doing) rather well.  But what gets my attention is the fact that I only have several more years with her until she’s winging it pretty much on her own.

Today I looked at all of the schoolbooks and was a little (ok, a lot…) dissatisfied.  We’ve been mixing textbooks with literature books, but today I felt a bit discouraged.  There are SO many more books I want her to read before she leaves home!  I began to ponder chucking the textbooks completely so that she could just read-read-read, and NOT have to fill in the blanks, answer questions, or take exams.  Of course she would still be writing, practicing music and taking math….but can’t she just READ historical novels and READ scientific biographies and READ more devotionals and READ more classic literature?

Furthermore, now that I’ve been thinking about it, I have a LOAD of books I want to read aloud to all of the kids, too.  I’m just pondering what our day would look like if what we mostly did was read, play outside, and practice our handwork and projects while listening to audio books.  What if they produced one finished composition a week, did several hours of math and music practice, and spent more time outside picking up rocks to watch the bugs.

Maybe you’re thinking, “it’s just the typical ‘I’m not doing enough!’ homeschool-mom-syndrome.”

Believe me, it’s not.  I was a public school student.  Then, I was a public school teacher.  I worked in the system.  I remember well the time wasted, the kids just passed on through…I wish I could go back and apologize to every student I ever had for not encouraging their parents to keep them home to be educated…

Today

I found the previous draft in my blog folder. What angst I had. And what a turn of events, also. I had no idea that during those years, my concerns about proper textbooks would seem puny compared to downsizing and welcoming more babies into our family, including our second with Down syndrome. I had no idea a massive tree would fall onto our van (obviously, we were spared), or that our sweet companion animals would die or that we would undertake yet another move two years after the first one. In other words, plans are one thing, but how it shakes out are another.

Two years ago, we graduated our first child, the one I wrote about above. And last weekend, we graduated our second child, even though we never got around to listening to audio books while working on hand crafts for either one. I still love the romantic notion of that, and the sweet social media pictures portraying it, but it’s not a reality for us: too many busy toddlers, for one. And, as mentioned, too many life upheavals.

But here we are at graduation, still. For our family, homeschooling has meant far more than academics, which are important, to be sure. It has in addition meant growing into adulthood with godly character. It has meant having the opportunity and privlege to cultivate a lasting influence upon them, and for them to likewise instill a lasting influence upon their siblings (and us!). It has meant allowing them the freedom to pursue their own interests, whether it be flying airplanes, playing in orchestras, or learning American Sign Language. To graduate a homeschooler from our home, there must be more than boxes checked off for composition, math, and science; there must be an outward maturity, a readiness for adulthood proved by their attitudes and responsibilities thus far.

It would be lovely to give you the rest of the story, of how our slow schooling pans out, of how happy and prosperous and (fill in the blank hopes) our children have achieved in life. Our older children are trying their wings, and we don’t feel compelled to shove them out of the nest (yet). Instead, it’s a nudge here and a nudge there, waiting and encouraging and supporting them, offering counsel and giving them options, pointing out opportunities and setting down reasonable expectations.

All I know for sure at this point is this. God is bigger than any of our plans, and I have no regrets homeschooling and homeliving with these children. It’s an honor and  joy, and I know they will be a blessing to our community, economy, and country too. I believe they already are!

Keep going, Mama. The high school years aren’t scary; they are exciting. Map out your academics, but remember life is bigger than textbooks, and that God is good, all the time. I’ll let you know how it goes, another seven years from now 😉

Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.  James 4:13-15

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