In hind sight, What do you wish you did differently, or wish you did, but didn't? What tips can you give for homeschooling independent high schoolers in California, or any state really?
I'm not sure what you mean by independent homeschoolers. Do you mean without using an umbrella school/and/or accredited homeschool program? I have done both. My oldest graduated using Seton home study, and my 2nd child we did on our own, with me keeping records. I am now doing that again with my next high schooler, and 4 weeks into school, I wished I had enrolled with a school. I have come across so many questions that I can't easily answer, and in my opinion, It helps kids this age to have someone besides mom to be accountable to.
My daughter hasn't graduated yet, but we are getting near the end. We are also planning on going to the end as private homeschoolers. As of now, I do not have any regrets, just lessons learned. The way I see it, in the end I will have done my best. This is all I can do and I will not kick myself for it later. I do not think a government program could do better.
California has some charter school programs for homeschoolers that allocate funding for the purchase of curriculum. Most of these programs give a lot of flexibility to parents in allowing them to purchase the curriculum of their choice. I know that this has helped some families to be able to homeschool when it would have otherwise been financially out of reach. Josh
The poster means a private homeschooler, AKA indepentent homeschoolers. CA private homeschoolers operate as private schools. Private homeschoolers are parent/guardian directed and funded. We are not part of a program.
I put my oldest in an on-line charter school her senior year so she could take free college classes through the PSEO program. If I had known about it sooner, I would have had her do that her Junior year, too. The law has recently changed in Ohio so that homeschoolers can take part in this program, without them being enrolled in a public/private option. That means my middle one will hopefully be taking free college classes next year as a homeschooler.
only regret I have is I didn't have more kids to keep homeschooling I enjoyed the time we had together, we grew together, we cried together, we laughed together, we learn together we just had so much fun and it went so fast
Kris, I hear you on that one. I know that we are getting closer to the end. We still have a bit of time, but two years will fly. I will miss homeschooling VERY MUCH.
i would recommend visiting Colleges and universities to find out which ones best suit your kids. I have two graduated and one in Jr year. This year we put him in private school run like a home school. Not sure how long he will remain there but for now hes okay with it. I am looking for a job to pay for his college education in a couple years. Though there are many out there for Home School students Scholarships take detailed study! I believe you should keep a transcript clear and percent GPA and everything to be able to send out. GPA is everything!
I agree with Jackie!!! I too didn't keep transcripts along the way and now have to start producing them. Thankfully, I have a couple years already done. They are just hidden storage somewhere among all the school stuff. I have two official graduates as of yesterday. Yah!!! Now it's time to start digging.
I think they only thing I would have changed would have been to push my youngest son a little harder to do dual enrollment in his junior year. He is doing dual enrollment this year and is loving it. It's not free here, but the community college he attends does give me the same discount that they give the state. I did do our transcripts each year. It was so much easier than waiting to do them last minute!!!
I had told my daughter to keep a list of everything she did from 9th grade on up. She had a lot of extracurriculars, awards, and volunteer work. Then when it came time to do college applications, I told her these sections were easy, just grab her list. I got the "deer in the head lights" look. She never kept the list. I had given her paper, showed her how to keep the list, and where to keep the list. But she never did it. So now, she has spent a lot of time, going through old pictures and everything else, trying to piece together everything she has done over the last few years. I know she has worked some benefit concerts, but the apps want dates too. I know did volunteer work at the junior olympics. We have had to do digging to find out when. I also keep journals myself, but with 6 kids, I have had to dig through 4 yrs of that to see what references I may have made toward her activities. And old date books. All this is a big waste of time. She should have done this in the first place. SO...I recommend not just having her keep a journal of it, but you keep the journal in a spot where YOU see it all the time. I had told her to keep it in the top center drawer of her desk, where pencils and such are kept. But then, I never checked to make sure she was doing it. Now I just remembered another activity she did....see? This is how the whole application process has gone!
