Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Day in the Life of a Homeschooled 11th Grader

A Mom's Quest to Teach logo; Day in the Life of a Homeschooled 11th Grader; background of colored pencils

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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.

weekly planning sheet filled out with course work
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.

breakfast photography from canva.comOur 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.

A Mom's Quest to Teach logo: Day in the Life of a Homeschooled 11th Grader; "flexible schedule and building family relationships; drawing of kid sitting at desk

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:

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. 

Text: They Lived for God; image of a lion

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. 





23 comments:

  1. What a wonderful post that really let's people into the world of high school and homeschooling. It is that transition that often seems to concern people. Elementary sure, middle school ok, but high school seems to be the level people struggle with and it helps to see into a world where people are doing it!!!

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  2. I love that you shared this, I love that you said how it was okay for your teen to do all his math in one day if he chooses. I can remember in college doing a bunch of assignments at once, so why do limit our children to one lesson a day. If they want more, let's provide it for them!
    I second the "not a morning" person, I would much rather ease my way into the day but my family seems to be ready from the get go.

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    1. Thank you! In the beginning I struggled a bit with letting him do all his work in one day but as long as he is completing his assignments and understands it, who am I to argue?

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  3. Hi, Kristen. I'm delighted to hear that you have enjoyed the "Exploring Government" curriculum from Notgrass! Keep up the great work. 📚

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    1. Thank you! We can't wait to dive into more resources from Notgrass.

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  4. My teen will be 15 this year and I’m so nervous about her growing up. Thanks for sharing this.

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    1. It seems like each year brings new challenges but homeschooling has been great for our son.

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  5. I loved reading this! I cannot wait for my membership to School House Teachers to kick in. It looks like tons of great classes.

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    1. If you ever have any questions about the courses, please ask! There are so many great ones - for parents, too.

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  6. That's great! It sounds like homeschooling has been a great fit for your teen!

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    1. It truly has been a good fit - something we are very happy we took a chance on.

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  7. It's wonderful that your son is getting his assignments done and also helping out the family. Teamwork is so important!

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    1. Yes! I love how homeschooling really helps us pull together as a team.

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  8. Thanks for sharing! I love hearing what homeschooling looks like for other families and other ages!

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  9. It sounds like your teen is doing really well with his home schooling. We home school too so it's really nice to read about your journey.
    Thanks so much for joining in with #MMBC. Have a great weekend!

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  10. I love this little sneak peak into a day. It's so fun to see!

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    1. Thank you! I love seeing how homeschooling works for families so I wanted to share, too.

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  11. I have open in another tab the Christian Values of JRR Tolkein course. I hadn't seen it so am interested in that. Thanks for sharing about how your student was working through his coursework last year.

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  12. it's exciting to see where their interests takes them isn't it? :)

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  13. I'm glad you've been able to use ST for most of your lad's courses.

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