High School Homeschool Question - Part One

wow - thanks just for asking this. I'd always been interested in homeschooling, but thought I'd have to sacrifice my career.

You've given me a lot to think about, so thanks! :)

Isn't part of the idea behind home schooling to be able to modify the schedule to fit the family's needs?

I have a friend who has a very self-directed and motivated son. Both parents work full time. The boy has set his own schedule for getting the work done and so far it seems to work well for him.

The one "con" they have found is he gets lonely during the day since all his friends are in school.

I'm not a homeschooler, so I don't have experience in this. However, your daughter is old enough to use online homeschooling. If there is a community college nearby, you can check with them to see what courses they allow homeschooling students to attend.

Make sure that you get your ducks in a row BEFORE you start. It's not long before the end of the year. If I were you, I'd tell your daughter that homeschooling will start in the summer. It's important that she know that homeschooling isn't an easier road to learning than going to school. Most homeschoolers don't take the summer off, by the way. You spend less hours per day teaching, but she has to learn a lot. Find out what state tests she has to pass. If she wants to go to college, look into how homeschoolers take AP level or honors classes.

I have a friend who has homeschooled her kids all the way through from kinder to high school. They are even on a swim team. The daughter now, as a high schooler, spends a lot of time taking online classes and going to the community college, as well as doing sports. Her mom, my friend, manages the process. I recommend that you do this because teaching her is probably not really feasible. Unless you are a trained highschool teacher in ALL of the courses (who is?), you need resources.

Dawn

i worked when homeschooling 2 kids. it was a busy time of my life, but totally do-able.
that being said, i worked part-time and with a flexible schedule, but what we did would have worked regardless.
by the time my kids were in middle school they were self-disciplined enough to do 70-80% of their homeschooling on their own. i provided textbooks, videos, study groups, homeschool co-ops, and any materials they needed. they figured out when and how to do the work and they actually really did it. i'd check their work on the weekends, and on sunday nights i'd set up an outline of what i wanted done in the coming week. the calendar would include any co-ops, study groups, field trips and so forth, which i worked out with my wonderful extensive supportive homeschool community.
sometimes they'd struggle (math was the only big stumbling block.) then my husband or i would make extra time to work it through with them, or we'd find mentors in our community willing to spend an afternoon helping them out.
i'd pay this back by offering classes in classical literature, shakespeare and ancient greek culture for free in my home every couple of months. my living room would be packed with teenagers (and their parents and siblings), and afterwards there would be incredible talk/hangout/play sessions. this was wildly popular. i miss those electric idea afternoons.
first of all, let your daughter have some de-school time. don't fuss too much if she doesn't get much done. this can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to several months. it's hard to take, but it's well worth it in the long run.
you'll be amazed what a great motivator a little boredom can be<G>.
your most essential component to success in this wonderful adventure you're embarking on is to develop a great community. find homeschool groups in your area and cultivate them.
when i first started homeschooling, the only groups i could find were very, very christian, and they expected me to sign a 'statement of faith' in order for my child to participate, which i could not do. our first 6 months were painfully lonely for my kid, and that wasn't even my super-social boy. we just about gave up when i stumbled across a wonderful secular group that opened up new worlds for us, and also the doors to other groups that we hadn't even known existed.
persist in finding groups where you fit. if none exist, start one.
i started a homeschool horse group that ended up going elsewhere without me, but the core of friends i made by starting it up are friends today.
just as you work non-traditional hours, let your teenager set her own weird hours. she'll get a kick out of sleeping until noon and doing her science projects at 3 in the morning.
you are both going to LOVE this!
:) khairete
S.
ETA the statement that you have sit with them and teach them everything, that they cannot learn independently, is balls. my boys were on the deans list, honor roll and phi theta kappa in community college. they both needed 99 and 100 math classes before they could take the credit course, which i was happy to do. they were 16. so what? the best thing my kids took out of homeschooling was self-motivation. all of their accomplishments are THEIRS. all i can take credit for is strewing their paths with opportunities and staying out of their way.

Have you looked into online school options? Here in Ohio there are ways of completing your entire k-12 education online and at home as part of the public school option. Kids can work at their own pace and it's part of the public schools, so there are teachers they interact with every day.
I know you're not in Ohio, but this is what the program here looks like: http://www.ecotohio.org
Fully accredited high school, tuition free, at home. They even provide the computer.

This is Texas's version: http://www.k12.com/txva

There are lots of folks who homeschool and work full time. In fact, since your daughter is 15, she shouldn't really need much from you at all! You should be able to figure out something that will work for your family and your schedule, and since she will be at home, she will only need a few hours a day to complete her work.

I recommend finding some homeschool groups in your area. You should be able to even find a teen group that has proms, etc. They should be able to provide you with whatever advice you need.

Is there something going on with your child that you want to keep her away from public high school?

If not, under your circumstances, I think she should go to public school.

Blessings...

How are you going to sit there and keep her on track if you're asleep. A friend of mine worked full time teaching at a college level. She took 2 of her kids out of public school and did home schooling for them. She took them to work with her and put them in the office next door. She was constantly having to sit with them and go over the work, basically teach them, they are not supposed to be doing this themselves.

So she could do this successfully because she had a couple of hours teaching then had office hours. When she was working clinicals there was no use for the kids to go to campus, she was at some hospital or other teaching.

So I don't know how you'd be able to "keep regular school hours". That's impossible to me. The kids would just need to be up whenever they got up and you guys could do the school work in the evenings or late afternoons. There is no need to wake them up just so they can sit around while you go to sleep.

You do realize, don't you, about biorhythms? How your body needs consistency to be optimal? So that means that even on the days you don't work you need to keep your days and nights the same. That means every day of the week for as long as you work nights you need to sleep every day and be awake every night. That is the only way your body will be at it's best. If you get up all day and sleep all night on your days off it hurts your body and shortens your life span, life expectancy. It is horrible for your body.

One of my friends is doing this to herself. I expect she's going to be in the hospital before too long. She has an adult autistic child who needs care throughout the day. She works full time nights. Her son gets frantic if he sees her sleeping and will wake her up every time she falls asleep.

So she is getting maybe 2-4 hours of sleep per day. Because she is basically working 2 full time jobs she is tearing her body apart. She is getting sick more often, she is losing her stamina and ability to process simple thoughts, she is a lot more irritable, etc....you have to sleep during the day, every day.

So I think if you are willing to understand that you'll have to let the kids adjust their daytime schedule to more like yours so they are awake and ready to be taught then you'll do just fine.

They need to have you teach them, they won't be sitting down at their little desks doing their work all day while you sleep. You have to be there teaching them.

I believe it will be up to your daughter. Is she a self motivator. Will she work 6 hours straight to learn and do the job well? If she is a self motivator and you do not need follow after her then go for it.