Homeschooling Through the Eyes of a High Schooler
Since I have a teen in my house for the first time, who is taking us through the high school years for our first time, I decided to give you a look at homeschooling through the eyes of a high schooler.
We are going to do it as much “in real time” today as we can. The plan is to have her snap cell phone photos (because that is how this teen sees her life – through a cell phone) throughout her day today! I will post them first to social media, and then on here with a little more text detail!
So stop in and see what my teens homeschool day looks like.
Chloe rises before I do to get her most hated subject –MATH– out of the way! Yes it is dark in her room. She insists on killing her eyes in the early morning by doing her math in the dark.
If you want to hear more about our math journey, or Teaching Textbooks, here are a couple of places to do that:
- Article in The Old Schoolhouse – Math! You Can Hate It and Still Be Good At It!
- 5+ Reasons Teaching Textbooks Works for Struggling Math Students
- How I Teach Homeschool High School Math
You might start to see a theme in the “academic” photos she shares. Most of her formal work is done at her desk with her computer in front of her. It allows me to be more hands off and her to get solid teaching for high school.
Science occupies 3-4 days of her week depending on how much reading from the textbook is assigned for that lesson. We are using DIVE Science for high school. If you want to hear more you can check out How I Teach Homeschool High School Science.
Now onto one of her more recent endeavors….CLEP testing. Now many of you are asking the question, “What is a CLEP Exam?”
CLEP Exams are one path we have talked about for multiple reasons:
Not only does she have to learn to test (that is just a hoop the world sets out for us), but it could earn her college credit (depending on the college of choice and degree path), and passing tests like these give more credibility in the eyes of the state to the depth and quality of our homeschooling as it becomes not just my word, but an actual grade from an acknowledged testing source.
Here you can read more about other ways to Earn College Credit in High School.
She is using a program called Dual Credit at Home. It is a program set up to walk you through preparing for and studying for various CLEP exams. She is currently working on the United States History I and Analyzing and Interpreting Literature.
Mid morning brings Chloe out of the house to take care of our neighbor’s dog. It is a job that offers her the chance to have money in her pocket (of which she spends most of on the paying of her own cell bill), as well as the opportunity to gain a sense of responsibility and pride in her work.
After taking care of Shea comes lunch. Chloe eats earlier than my other two, sometimes as early as 10:30 am but usually around 11:30 am. All of the kids are old enough that for the most part they make their own breakfast and lunch, and especially Chloe because she doesn’t eat at the same time the rest of us do. Today was Caesar salad (not pictured because she ate it too quickly) and Bagel Bites.
Homeschooling has offered us a freedom with our schedule that I would never want to trade! Today is a great example of that. Chloe’s room is a pigsty, and that is a severe understatement! I often have battles with her over cleaning her room, picking up the dishes, food wrappers, tag scraps, clutter and more! Most of the time it falls on deaf ears and she does a little surface cleaning to appease me.
Today on the other hand I suddenly found her digging things out from under her bed, throwing things away, sorting out drawers, etc. Thus I have let her run with it as I am so thrilled to be seeing her do such a thorough job of her own accord, happy and on her terms. 🙂
In true teen style, her is a panoramic she took on her iPhone of her room in the middle of her cleaning process.
Chloe is a competitive gymnast so most of her afternoons and evenings are at the gym either coaching, practicing, or both. So she is off for the rest of the day to gymnastics!
For more “Homeschooling Through the Eyes of” head over and see what other iHomeschoolNetwork bloggers are sharing:
May 5, 2014 @ 11:24 pm
Awesome post, love it!
May 6, 2014 @ 9:10 am
Thank you Meredith! It turned out to be more fun than I thought it was going to be and I think we all like to “peek in” and see how it looks for others. 🙂
May 11, 2014 @ 12:17 pm
Are you sure you weren’t writing about my teen daughter?? She keeps a dark room. She has a room you have to dig your way through just to find a place to sit!! She doesn’t eat at the same time as we do! She fixes her own food (usually even dinner)! LOL
We mostly unschool, but we do use Time4Learning’s high school courses too. She talked about going to college and then decided she really wanted to go to art college. Lately, she has decided she doesn’t want the debt associated with college and will instead focus on her photography business, which she just started. I am proud of her taking charge.
Thanks for sharing.
Joyfully,
Jackie
May 11, 2014 @ 9:48 pm
Jackie, it is so nice to hear it isn’t just my daughter! I have been finding recently that where I thought I was alone with my teen, I clearly am not! As this is my first teenage it is all new to me.
How are you liking the Time4Learning high school courses? We used Time4Learning some for our little one for 1st/2nd grade but I have been curious about the newly offered high school stuff.
May 11, 2014 @ 11:46 pm
Heidi, my daughter is an only child, so it’s all new to me too!
She used T4L when she was in elementary and junior high. Toward the end of junior high she really felt she had outgrown it. When I asked her how she liked the high school courses, she said it had a much more grown up feel to it. She also said she really liked the video lessons.
May 12, 2014 @ 1:01 pm
Jackie, my teen really likes video lessons. We have gravitated towards programs that use that as a base. Things like Teaching Textbooks, DIVE Science, and next year Visual Latin. I will have to keep Time4Learning in mind as a possibility if I need something.
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February 2, 2015 @ 8:46 am
I hopped over from Simple Homeschool. Thanks for letting us take a peek! Most of our schooling happens at the dining room table, so I didn’t even think about the condition of the bedrooms. I think it must be a universal struggle. 🙂
February 2, 2015 @ 9:17 am
I think it’s genius that she took photos with her phone. Teen’s eyes for sure! I have so enjoyed reading all of these posts. As a rookie, it’s nice to see how everyone does this homeschooling thing 🙂 I am learning so much. Thank you for sharing your day with us.
February 2, 2015 @ 9:31 am
Thanks for stopping in Meghan. We actually do all our schooling in our “homeschool room” now. There was a brief time I allowed her to be at her desk, but it was too hard for her to stay on task without me nearby. 🙂
February 2, 2015 @ 10:51 am
Yes it is so fun to see how homeschooling plays out in other homes. It can often give you great ideas for your own as well! 🙂
February 2, 2015 @ 5:16 pm
This was great! Since I also have a high-schooler, I especially enjoyed reading about Chloe’s day. Thanks so much for sharing!
February 3, 2015 @ 8:46 am
Thank you! I know sometimes it is nice to get a peek at what other’s in the same age range are doing! 🙂
January 3, 2017 @ 1:35 pm
Wow, her day is so full! That’s rather inspiring to me with how much work she gets done by early afternoon. How does she stay so motivated?? Also, I totally understand your frustration with trying to get her to clean her room. Honestly, I’m an OCD minimalist, so I’m constantly cleaning and clearing out unused or unnecessary items. I can’t stand the mess and clutter, lol!
January 3, 2017 @ 3:31 pm
Her motivation somewhat comes from within, but when you are as busy as she is you kind of have to work it out and make the most of your time!
January 13, 2017 @ 5:27 pm
I can definitely understand that! It’s still impressive, but I definitely know that you just make it work when you have so much on your plate. Moving from one thing to another without getting too distracted is just necessary sometimes. 😉
January 14, 2017 @ 9:01 am
Even now, over 2 years later, the activities are different but she is always busy. She works two jobs for a total of around 32 hours a week and is taking 2 college classes. Then she is usually babysitting one night each weekend. But you can often hear her say how much she LOVES her jobs. 🙂 <3
February 1, 2017 @ 11:22 am
I love seeing “A Day in the Life” posts, especially for homeschooling high school!
February 3, 2017 @ 5:52 pm
Wow! Honestly that sounds so exhausting, I’m amazed she gets it all done! Such energy and scheduling talent!
February 4, 2017 @ 9:51 am
She is like me in that sense. The busier we are the more efficient we become!
October 11, 2017 @ 6:37 pm
I loved that she used her cell phone to snap the pictures; that is totally teen! 🙂
October 11, 2017 @ 8:44 pm
Thank you! I too thought it was a cool perspective!