“Sooo… how long do you plan to do that? I mean, you’re going to put them in for high school, right?”

(We now revisit the inquirer’s eyebrows, but this time one is up and one is scrunched down, like a sumo wrestler waiting to lunge.)

And quit when it starts to get easier?! No way!

Why go through all that grueling work in the early education years, fostering independent learners and flexible schedules, just to yield at the gates of the promised land? High school homeschool should be the crown jewel of freedom, flexibility and flying from the nest.

By this time, they should be fully vested in their own continuing education including the pursuit of mini internships and extracurricular activities that Mom and Dad didn’t introduce. Most of us would agree that it’s the upper grades where the system truly shows it’s shortcomings. We would do better to put our kids in public school for grades K-5 and homeschool them from grade six through graduation rather than drop them into the system when they hit middle and high school.

We chose to homeschool for the freedom of the future.

When the kids hit middle school or early high school we plan to put them through mini apprenticeships among our friends, family and their extended circles- a rainbow of career flavors. The hope is to let them experience many different industries and then allow them to evaluate each experience: What did you like? Dislike? Do you want to go back? Did it give you ideas or just bore you to death? What would you change or improve about this industry? And so on.

We believe college is not for everyone.

A university degree is not a required achievement, although it’s not a bad one. It truly depends on the end goal. Entrepreneur? Not necessary. Helpful, but your time and money may be better spent seeding businesses and learning from their successes and failures. Doctor? Archaeologist? Sorry, kid, you’re likely going to need a few degrees. There’s also the vastly untapped world of skilled trade schools. 

The point is, if we believe the world is their oyster then we’d better be ok with a variety of career pathways, unconventional or not. If we also believe that college is largely for cubicle farm cultivation, then we have to educate our future adults on how to develop a great career without it (if it is an unnecessary step).

Regardless of what our kids choose, mooching and loafing and apron-stringing is not in the list of options. Just because a kids doesn’t choose college, doesn’t mean he is a loser. There is a big world out there. A big, full world of opportunity and it doesn’t always need a degree to unlock the door. 

We want to find out what moves them to action and then help them choose a direction to foster that.

With proper planning they can graduate homeschool high school with an AA. This puts them two steps ahead of the game both in years and in potential educational debt if they choose a career that requires one or more degrees.   

The point is, missing traditional high school isn’t what you think. Imagine instead what homeschooled kids would miss out on by diving backwards into a system they are set free from.

These kids aren’t isolated, friendless hermits. They have and will have friends, dates (NOOOO!!!!), social events, sports, youth group trips, and all the fun that holds hands with those teenage years.

Sure, they might miss the opportunity to pay hundreds of dollars to socialize at dances, high five their peers in the hallway, eat under par cafeteria food and put up with at least a few teachers who cling more tightly to their tenure status than their conviction to educate the masses, but can I get a show of hands from all those who hated high school? (Full disclosure: I LOVED it. But I was in the vast minority at my house.)

So, no, we are not going to put them in for high school. It’s not inherently a bad choice, but why foster independent self-education only to put the breaks on at the last second? We all know the best plans can change, but for now our family is walking a very non-traditional path… and enjoying it.

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So there you have it, folks. Our real answers to some of the most commonly asked questions my family is asked about homeschooling. We are only one family. There can be a colorful garden of answers depending on who you ask. If you have any other home education curiosities you’d like insight on, I’m an open book… as long as you keep your eyebrows at a normal level and your hand off your hip. 😉