Following on from last month's newsletter, Do Hard Things, in which we discussed the reasons for and against the GED, it seems only correct that we give you some ideas of how to keep the high school homeschooling years focused on your teens individual needs versus working purely for a school leaving certificate.

Just because your child hits grade 10, doesn’t mean real life learning has to stop, neither  does connecting with their delight-directed subjects. 

So whether your teen chooses to go with a formal text book approach, CAPS, GED or Cambridge there is always space for delight-directed learning, entrepreneurship and real life experiences, whether they fall into school subject categories or not.

The caveat that must be made at the beginning of this article is that typically the run up to getting a school leaving certificate is marked by relative tedium, hard work and a focus on academia that is not always fun. However, these things in themselves are valuable lessons for your older children as they hone their skills and finish off a long season of their lives as school-aged kids.

Learning to push through and complete tasks, face examinations or give up a few social events to achieve a goal is all part of the learning curve. The hum-drum of drilling facts and making notes are also skills that will stand them in good stead should they head to college.

But how do you tailor-make the high school years for your teens AND help them to stay connected with their text book studies? A few things are possible…

1. Literature is again the one answer. If your child is doing science-type matric subjects via text books you can keep the studies alive and interesting by adding biographies based on famous scientists like Albert Einstein, Copernicus or Susan Wise Bauer’s History of Western Science. If it’s history you can include many of the amazing books available for each era or personality involved. Geography or physical science allows you to stretch the boundaries into any of the amazing creation resources online like www.answersingenesis.com or www.creation.com

2. You can also schedule a reading time in their day where they can connect with the subjects they love but may not be a testable subject. If you have a child who loves horses or is fascinated with the World Wars make sure they have books and other resources that they can continue to dig into in their spare moments.

3. Real life interactions matter! Wendy’s elder daughter remained passionate about horses, motor bikes and rugby through her Cambridge years and made the time to read about these interests, attend rugby at Newlands and watch MotoGP with her dad. The rest of her time was spent pursuing her academic goals but at the end of her Grade 12 year, she was satisfied that she had given her all to her work, but had not lost herself in the process. Other kids may love cooking and baking. Make sure they get a night in the week to cook for the family and bake a cake or two for guests or family.

4. Find balance: While it can be tempting to allow the pursuit of good marks to take over your whole life, this is an imbalance as there will never be another time in your teen’s life where they will be able to blank out the rest of life and focus only on work. As a wife and mother one day your daughter may have a small business, a home to run, food to buy and cook and children to care for alongside her role as wife. As a husband and father one day, your son will have to work a long day, care for the home/car maintenance, guide and love his wife and children. Teaching your children to find balance in the heat of Grade 12 work is important but starts from young with doing chores, working well and listening to wisdom from parents. Make sure that while you will empathetically walk through the tough times, like exams and assignment deadlines, with your teen, do not take too much weight from their shoulders, they need to learn to handle stressful times as they will face them all through life. 

Here are Free Printable Chore Charts with tips for kids of all ages.

5. Stimulate thought life: Lastly, while we know a certificate is a stepping-stone to another level of education, we as homeschoolers aim to raise lifelong learners. One of the best ways to do this in the high school years is to keep children exposed to new ideas. Bringing people into your home like missionaries, college students from other countries or going to targeted outings once a month or expert talks (along with good books and lively discussion around the family dinner table) are all ways to keep your teens thought life alive.

Charlotte Mason: “Our aim in education is to give a full life. We owe it to them to initiate an immense number of interests. Life should be all living, and not merely a tedious passing of time; not all doing or all feeling or all thinking - the strain would be too great - but, all living; that is to say, we should be in touch wherever we go, whatever we hear, whatever we see, with some manner of vital interest.”