Changing Seasons of the homeschool life: Elementary to High School

I wish I would have had a heads up about the progression that would occur in our homeschool journey from elementary, to middle school, to high school. I am sure that there was at least one, veteran Mom that shared this reality with me either at a homeschool conventation talk, at a co-op class, or even over a lunch date or something! If they did, I must not have been listening well. 　

Somehow this change slowly crept into my home and one day, "boo!", it woke me up and shook me into a reality that the way that my 8th grader is now doing school is vastly different from when she was in 2nd or 4th grade. I'm not sure that I have time to pinpoint and highlight every single little detail of the changes because they are subtle, but very noticeable. 


If I could put the change into a few words, here's how I'd describe it,

"The younger the homeschooler is, the more hands-on I need to be. The older the homeschooler gets, the less they will rely on me."

For a while I think that I was in denial that my two oldest weren't needing me that much and my feelings wavered between, "Should I be doing more?" and "Should I let them figure this out on their own or step in and show them how this needs to be done?"

The beauty of homeschooling is the opportunity the child has to learn with direct, one-on-one help and attention from the parent who guides them in their learning. It's like having a tutor 24/7, though the beauty in it for the parent is that you don't have to have the answer to all subjects and be an expertise in every subject area in order to serve as the home educator. What I have found over the years is that as my kids tackle their curriculum day after day with me at their side, you become a "partner" with them in their learning experience and you're able to guide them, whether its a little guidance or lots of guidance. The more a child learns with having direct one-on-one guidance from a parent, with the tools of a homeschool curriculum, the homeschooled child is able to independently process and guide their own learning experience.

The things that your child may struggle with, though you may not have an immediate answer to the challenge, you find yourself working TOGETHER to discover solutions. This is where so much learning takes place for the homeschooled student as they dig and study together with their parent(s) to solve problems.

To be 100% honest, my 10th grader has matured beyond a level that my 40 year old mind wants to tackle in her Math and Science Courses. She is doing Math as a 10th grader that I didn't venture into until college. It's beautiful that within the homeschool community there are a plethora of resources available to address subjects that is above the home educator's pay grade, whether it's online courses, videos, books, or your husband that has an advanced degree in Math (though this is not a common solution, I thank God everyday that my hubby loves Math).

Many of the curriculum products that we've used to date (i.e., Saxon Homeschool Materials, Apologia Science, Sonlight, etc.), are designed in such a way that a student can read and follow the author's instructions to learn the specific material. Apologia's Science material for example is written in a conversational manner, as if the teacher was talking directly to the student to instruct them in their daily lesson. Saxon homeschool material is designed in the same manner.

This process has naturally come to fruition in our home and now that I have an kid in their elementary years, one in middle school, and the oldest in high school, there is a stark contrast in their daily schedules and my interaction with them. By the time that my oldest reached middle school, I began to take notice of her ability to guide her own self through her school schedule and then report back to me with her daily progress. She no longer found it necessary to wait on me to tell her what she needed to proceed to from one subject to the next and that left me without having to provide direct interaction and guidance in her daily work on what to do. Instead of me having to explain school work, she found it sufficient to read her curriculum herself and then come to Mom so that I could explain something that she could not understand on her own and I also have the responsibility to check their daily assignments, tests, and grade them.

As I work daily now with my 6 year old, the progression that will one day come with him saddens me a little. As a budding first grader we work together everyday in all subject areas, taking breaks when appropriate to give his little mind a chance to relax. I find myself relishing in the breaks too!

Growing up in the public school setting, this unique way of educating my children has inspired me in many ways to see how God has designed our minds to grow and mature as we learn and mature.

As we draw our seventh year of homeschooling to a close I can say with certainty that this journey has literally been a walk of faith. While there are lots of "how to homeschool" books to do this thing called home education, the most effective teacher for the homeschool parent is the Lord God Himself. In His sovereignty, He has been so faithful to guide and lead each year of our journey as we've sought Him in prayer. We will continue to walk by faith knowing that He will be our guide through all our homeschool seasons.