5 on the Fifth - May 2015 (Homeschooling High School)

I love our local homeschool group!  It is beautifully created by an amazing group of families.  Each family is unique and special and fabulous all in its own right, and it's what each family brings to the group that makes it so magnificent.  On the third Tuesday of each month we hold a support group meeting that is open to everyone, members and non-members alike.  You just never know what you'll learn or what you'll be able to share just by being present.  Last month our topic was Homeschooling High School.  I have to say that it was by far my most favorite meeting of the year.  The conversation was amazing, and I do believe it could have gone on all night had we not been constricted by the time frame imposed by our meeting location.

We strayed from our normal meeting format in that this meeting was done in a panel fashion.  Those of us that are homeschooling veterans, meaning that we've graduated one or more child from high school, sat on the panel.  We used a list of prompts and opened ourselves up to questions from those that are currently traveling this homeschooling journey with a high school student, or they will be in the future.  It was amazingly interesting.  I didn't expect to learn too much, or really even take away any real encouragement.  It has after all been five years since I last taught homeschool high school, and I've got a good four years or so before the next one enters into the high school years.  Why does that seem so far away until I type it here?  You know as well as I do it will go by in a flash.  What was I thinking!?

Anyway, my contribution to the evening was to prepare the devotional.  Sometimes I write my own, and sometimes I share what others have written.  I prayed about this a lot, and on my journey I discovered a lot of wonderful resources.  I collected so many that I began a board on Pinterest just for Homeschooling High School resources and information.  You can visit it by clicking here.  For now, here are my five most favorite posts from my research:

Heather at Spirittibee nails it with this devotional, A Homeschool Mom Devotional: Being Broken.  That is why this is what I shared with the ladies to encourage them on their journey.  Her devotional written directly to the homeschool mom points us directly where our brokenness should be leading us.

Let me just say that I love Lee Binz.  It's no surprise to me that one of her posts made it into my top five.  I discovered Lee years ago, and she is a wonderful resource for anyone currently, or preparing to in the future, homeschooling high school.  How to Cope: Lack of Motivation in Teens effectively addresses an issue a lot of, if not all of us, will face somewhere in the journey.  I just keep reminding myself to enjoy the extra sleep teens need, and see it as a bonus.  Right now, I would give almost anything for my kids to sleep more!  LOL

I love this guest post by Gina Glenn on the blog Ben and Me.  It's refreshing to have a positive perspective laid out for us on areas where we may otherwise be inclined to impose negative thinking.  We're our own worst critic, and Gina does a wonderful job clearing up our focus with her post, 10 Things I Did Right Homeschooling High School.

I'm, eh-hem, 44 years old, and I still think about what I'd like to do when I grow up.  My paternal grandfather had the awesome blessing of knowing what he wanted to do when he was eight-years-old, going for it, and being a smashing success at it to boot.  Our oldest son is in the process of realizing his dream that he's held since age four, and he's doing quite well at it.  Me, well, I like a lot of things, and knowing what I wanted to do for THE REST OF MY LIFE at the age of 18 was not something I could achieve.  That's why I really like this post by Vicki Tillman.  With 10 Ideas for Career Exploration in High School Vicki does a wonderful job of equipping us with some tools for guiding our teens through this process of discovery.

Since my hubby and I seem to be on a quest to see just how long we can raise children, I think it's our full-time career by now, this post at The Relaxed Homeschool hits the nail on the head for me.  As you may know, we will be "older" when this batch of children is ready to fly the coop.  With that in mind, it has become more important to me now more than ever before to fully equip them to be independent and self-sufficient.  They must know how to care for themselves and witness to others.  We will not be here in the winter, and maybe even autumn, of their lives.  For me, Set Your Teens FREE! builds solidly on that foundation we are actively laying with our current brood.

If you learn nothing else from these posts, it is my prayer that you would leave here knowing full well that...

YOU CAN HOMESCHOOL HIGH SCHOOL!