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Last years of High School
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Does anyone give their teens in the final two years of high school, a really flexible schedule, so that they can study to their interests – or do you keep all subjects going right to the end. I am wondering how much freedom other parents give their teens to follow their own interests instead of following a standard type of high school subject list. I am really curious about this, as I would really like to challenge my teens to follow their own dreams and passions than follow what the norm is, say in public school. I would love to hear from parents whose teens intend to go on to college and those who perhaps have other plans. Thanks for any input. Linda
Hi, Linda. My oldest will be a “junior” next year. We are sort of doing some adapting next year, to help him make time for the things he really wants. For example, he has plans to study FIVE languages next year, plus add in a college level linguistics course, but he wants to do very, very minimal history. I’m insisting on math–he needs calculus– and really, that is his schedule next year, mostly, with some LA added in. That is OK with me. For his “senior” year, the year of all the getting-ready-for-college stuff, I actually plan on letting him pick a few classes at the CC, and spend the rest of his time CLEP-ing certain subject areas, with the proviso that he needs one LA, one history, one social science, etc. and that other than that I don’t care. Then he will be responsible for getting the studying done. Best thing I can think of for preparing him for college. I plan on letting it sort of flow with each kid those last two years. They really need to be ready for what it is they are feelin called to do–although if they are like me they are going to change their minds a LOT. LOL All of my kids are planning on college definitely, and pretty sure that some sort of graduate study will be needed for all of them.
Thanks for that insight Bookworm, glad to hear that I am not alone in thinking that passions need to be encouraged, I have one child who wants as much history and government as she can, and another who does not enjoy history at all but loves writing, equestrian science and German. I want to encourage those passions and wondered if others were going that route, or if it is considered taboo. My husband is handling the math with them, as I do not have a talent in that area, and neither do the girls, though they are working hard. They do not know about college yet, they don’t want to go, unless they have a clear idea of what they want to do, and I am grateful for that. However, I want them prepared just in case. They will have 3 math and 3 science but a lot of language arts, literature, etc. They are certainly more on the liberal arts side of things – and I really want to encourage their own passions, without missing anything too important, just in case they go to college. The other thing I want to avoid if possible is remedial courses at college as that costs way too much. So I am trying to think about how best to plot the course. One daughter will most likely make her career in the equestrian field and may end up in Europe training for a while, the other has some minor disabilities, so whatever she does, she wants to stay home and do it online – because a campus would be too difficult for her. I will be very interested to hear from anyone and Michelle, let us know how your plan is working and then I can glean more ideas. We have had a year of disruption with one a death, serious illness of one daughter and the death of our dog yesterday – plus husband just retired from the Air Force and about to start his civilian job – so routine has been severely tested!! Because life happens like that and because one daughter has regular weekly medical appointments in St Louis, we need to stay flexible and go with the flow, this is why CM is such a blessing.
I have a core set of resources that I require, but we work together to plan the rest of her education at home, seeking to lean heavily toward her interests and goals. It certainly is a continuing journey of faith, isn’t it? One step at a time, seeking the Lord’s wisdom.
Thanks Sonya, it certainly is a journey of faith; the longer I live and the more problems we face in our lives, the more I see the hand of God. I see the plan that is slowly unfolding or has unfolded without my even realising it at the time – looking back I know we have to thank God for his patience with our impatience! I am so glad to hear that others feel it is ok, to loosen the grip and allow the passions and dreams of our individual teens to shine. I will always have core materials, but I have never felt the normal PS high school course was the way to go. We are after all God’s children and he gave us our own individual talents, so surely we must encourage those. I love this forum so thanks to all who add their wisdom, we are never to old to learn new things and seek new encouragement, I appreciate you all so much.
My son is a senior this year, and we wanted his last year to reflect more of his preferences. He’s doing math (freshman algebra online from the local community college) and he’s doing government-very important these days especially. Spanish 2 also-with help from a Mexican lady at church.
We’ve had him doing projects and reports for English too, but the rest of his time he’s been playing the piano to prepare for an international competition. He’s planning to go into music. He started the year taking Physics too, but found that was too much math for his comfort this year-he’s had enough high school science: chem, bio and advanced bio.
He’s playing the piano 4 hours a day right now, and he’s very excited to see how far he can go in this competition.
We feel this is part of the reason for homeschooling. We all know it doesn’t take as much time as public school takes to learn what they need. Anyway, more things are essential than what they teach at public school.
Thanks for telling me about your son, it is so helpful and interesting to hear about other peoples ideas and plans for those last few high school years. I am encouraged as I read what you all are writing, and oh by the way, both my daughters have studied government a lot, they are very interested in that and read voraciously on the subject. How fantastic that your son can spend time with his piano, obviously the mainstay of his future goals. I really do appreciate the insight into other people’s highschool experiences. Thanks
cherylramirez,
You are so thoughtful! He has to send in a DVD of himself playing 2 pieces by April 1. Then if he gets invited, he’ll be spending a week near Cleveland at the end of July. Thank you so much for your prayers.
We will also pray for his success and hope he gets the invitation to Cleveland. That must be so exciting for him, I also meant to say in my last post that it was nice to see someone following their dream and not doing a science that was too much, I feel strongly about that – the math in physics is very hard and my daughters would struggle with it, so we are no longer planning it. We are also doing a special course from Dave Ramsey on financial preparedness which we think is a must for our girls to understand money and such. It is an exciting time and I am so thankful for this forum to learn from and to get input on different ideas. Don’t forget to tell us how your son does. Thanks again. Linda
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