The flexibility of homeschooling is probably one of my favorite and most challenging aspects of homeschooling. I have mentioned before that I am a type “A” personality. I like a schedule and I want to stick to it but sometimes that isn’t what is best for your children. My oldest has launched us into the adventure of homeschooling high school. Some aspects of homeschooling become easier with high school and other things have become more challenging. I thought that it would be easier because he would have more independence but along with that independence came ideas from my son of a high school education that doesn’t quite match what I had in mind when we decided we were going to homeschool our children through high school.
My son is quite talented at music and has a love for it. His wish would be to have 24 credits of fine arts and not have to take anything else. I love that he is in love with music and the fine arts but I also felt it was important for him to have regular classes in case he wanted to go to college. I spent all summer planning this “perfect” high school plan for his education and found out that I needed to adjust that plan quite a bit to give my son the education that he needed.
One of the ways that his classes were changed which worked out amazing was that he developed a love for debate. Debate this year is based on economics, so we decided to help him debate better, he would take a course on economics. He ended up loving economics and it helped his debate at the same time. This replaced his history for this year and debate was an elective that can be used for English and it wasn’t fine arts. My son was more open to taking the regular subjects when we mixed it up with things that motivated him. One thing I learned so far in homeschooling high school is that you need to be in communication with your student on what is working and what is not. My son still has to take a couple of classes that he would prefer to skip but he is also enjoying many classes that he excels in. My idea of a “perfect” high school education was not what fit his personality. I love that homeschool allows this flexibility and that we can change things up even in the middle of the school year to help your child become the person God has designed them to be. So, I received a lesson in flexibility and my son and I were able to come up with a high school plan that he is going to enjoy much more.
Living the Adventure 