Day in the Life of a Homeschooled 11th Grader

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Our teenage son joined our homeschooling journey when he was in the 10th grade. So for most of his schooling career, he has been attending public school. After much discussion and soul-seeking, he decided to join his younger brother and sister in our homeschooling quest.

For the majority of his homeschooling classes, we use SchoolhouseTeachers.com plus other materials that we were blessed with through the Homeschool Review Crew. Then there are a few pieces that we have added ourselves like Exploring Government after purchasing the books from Timberdoodle.

Preparing The Homeschool Work 

Each Sunday night, I go through our teen's homeschool bag, pull out completed work to be graded, and replace that with his new assignments for the week. This year, I am using folders for all of this work plus keeping his schedule in one folder. I also sometimes email him the necessary files and links he needs.

I love that I can type our 11th grader's work right into the planner. 

So, while I create a weekly schedule with assignments listed on certain days, in general, we let our homeschooled 11th grader decide his own pace and schedule for the week. If he wants to complete all his math lessons on one day, I am usually okay with that decision. For me, the most important thing is that he completes assignments by the end of the week including any tests or quizzes.

Our son usually starts his day with getting breakfast for his younger brother and sister. This is especially helpful as they are morning people and I am not. I am very glad that he is able to help support his family in this small way. And since we don't have to rush off to school, everyone can enjoy a leisurely start to the day.

After breakfast, our teen either goes back to sleep or starts working on his homeschooling. He usually breaks for a late lunch and then will finish up work before dinner time. On occasion, I will ask him to help out by making lunch for his siblings or keeping them entertained and busy while I have meetings. We are very blessed to be able to pull together as a family to get our daily tasks completed.

And in some instances, my husband will help our teen with an assignment in the evening or we will work on a project over the weekend as a family. I love that homeschooling our 11th grader allows us the flexibility to homeschool when it is right for our schedule and not someone else's.

What Courses Is Our 11th Grader Taking? 

In addition to physical education and health, our son has a full academic schedule of seven courses including:

• English - Christian Values in J.R.R. Tolkien from SchoolhouseTeachers.com 
• Algebra II courtesy of CTCMath.com 
• World History using my materials from when I taught World History 
• Photography from SchoolhouseTeachers.com 
• Friendly Chemistry and now Botany (both from SchoolhouseTeachers.com) 
• Exploring Government text published by Notgrass 
• Religious Studies - A Study of Extraordinary Women in the Bible and They Lived for God 

We will also be reading a play by William Shakespeare and completing some other projects and reading assignments as the homeschool year progresses. Our son also read Britfield & the Lost Crown before he started reading about Middle Earth this homeschool year. So as you can see, he has a busy 11th grade homeschool year. 

How Homeschooling Works in Our Family

I found many new subjects to study while homeschooling our 11th grader. I think I have enjoyed reading through the Exploring Government text the most so far this homeschool year. I love the way in which it is presented as well as the fact that it is giving our 11th grader a firm understanding of how the United States of America is governed. And I am also looking forward to taking the course A Study of Extraordinary Women in the Bible myself this winter so we can discuss the topics together as a family. 

Our 11th grader said, "Homeschooling allows me to work on my own time, and I can make up work whenever I need. It also allows me to spend more time with my family, and help my step-mom with my siblings."

My husband said, "Knowing that what we believe will not be impugned as our children learn is a relief after my own public school experiences as both student and parent. Being able to work as a team with my family in our children's learning is a blessing that cannot be matched. I enjoy seeing what my wife and kids have been doing for school while I was at work and then helping out when needed."

Finishing Up His High School Career

I can hardly believe that soon my teen will be preparing for his final homeschool year. He will then have to decide if the courses he has taken in image editing and photography will be put to use if he starts his own photography business, or if he moves into other field of work. I am excited to sit down with him this summer to plan out his final year.