homeschooling high school

Well, that’s a big question.  Have had two of those so far here.  🙂  If he needs a challenge, then enlist his help.  What is he interested in?  Where does he envision himself in a few years, and what does he need to get there?  Grades are the easy part.  I simply keep a sheet of paper for each class and write down what we do, and when I evaluate it, write down my evaluation, then assign a grade at the end for classes that need it.  I don’t assign a grade for every class.

Sonlight can have some useful info, and so does Apologia.  I use Apologia in high school myself.  About being together–well, there are real benefits to doing some things together.  BUT there is only so much that a 5yo and a 15yo can meaningfully do together.  Artist study, maybe, religion, a history read aloud  But how are you going to do biology dissections with a 5yo?  Or algebra?  Or a meaningful history essay?  Your time with this one is the shortest.  I found it helpful to focus on exactly what my teen needs for his future, which is approaching at warp speed at this age.  

I think you’ll get better application from him if he feels ownership if his material, if he has a hand in selecting what he does and how he does it, if he sees the relevance to his future. Guys like that.  🙂  Must be that dominion thing.  🙂  Also he needs opportunities to be with kids his own age as appropriate for your family, and I personally think teen boys need plenty of outside time, activity time, and service time.  They also really like it if somehow something involving moving vehicles can come into the program.  LOL 

I used Sonlight for many years and really appreciated their book selections, however when I began adding in more children at different levels it did become more difficult to continue with Sonlight, as Gina points out.  Currently, I’m homeschooling my youngest five children, ages 8-15 and the only subjects we can all do together are history, Bible and what I would call the fine arts subjects — poetry, artist and composer studies, some writing.  

What time periods have you already covered for history?  Which ones do you want to make sure you cover before your oldest graduates?