You Know You’re Homeschooling a Teen When…

Because laughter is the best balm for a soul…. Here are ten signs that you’re homeschooling a teenager!

You have an intimate relationship with YouTube.

Gone are the days of stepping on Legos and math manipulatives.  These days, if you want to help your teen figure out how to solve a math problem, you have to YouTube how to do it and hope that it rings even the teensiest of bells from your own schooling so that you can help your teen…or just let them watch and explain it to you.  Check out – Should You be YouTube Schooling?

Your children have turned into Hobbits.

They require second breakfast and Elevensies.  They have their days and nights mixed up.  Granted, some kids start this as early as birth, but it becomes a real issue when they’re teens.  Maybe they’ll work second or third shift when they graduate.  Or maybe their rhythms will even out.  Time will tell.  Got kids who love the Hobbit?  Check out The Hobbit & Writing Fantasy Fiction.

The dreaded question has changed.

Remember how often you got asked about socialization when your kids were younger?  Now you’re getting asked about things like dating, prom, and graduation.  Won’t they miss out on it?  Think back to your high school days…some folks loved those events, others tolerated them, and others skipped out.  The homeschool community has evolved such that, if you want to participate in these events, you’ll be able to find them (unless you live in a superbly remote area).  No one is missing out!

Arts and crafts are less cute and more functional.

Sure, you can’t put a dissected sheep eye on the refrigerator (and who would want to?), and it’s difficult to show off your kid’s vocational skills (which saved you quite a bit on that refrigerator repair), but just because you can’t pin these images doesn’t make them less worthy.  These life skills, fostered in their teen years, can really pay off in the long run when they help you out in the future.  Check out Career-Based Electives for Teens.

Photos become much more unique.

Whether because they’re adding stickers and emojis to digital photos, or just because they can’t seem to pose without making a face, sticking out their tongue, or putting rabbit ears behind a sibling, you haven’t had a decent photo of your kid in a couple of years.  Hold out for those holiday photos – Christmas and Mother’s Day are sacred, and you deserve a smiling photo on these.  Stay strong!

The expensive Legos have been replaced by expensive musical instruments / car parts / insert hobby or sport equipment here.

Gone are the days of kvetching over spending a hundred dollars on a Lego set.  Those are the good ol’ days.  Sporting equipment, car parts, new technology, and musical instruments….these are the things that have replaced those simple building toys.  Check out Should Your Teen Have a Job?

Read: Must-Have Supplies for Homeschooling Teens

Daily life and chores counts as an elective.

Home Economics, Homesteading (if you have a farm), Auto Mechanics, Shop…all of these are elective credits that you can give you child now that s/he is actively contributing to the household management and chores.  Cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, meal planning, and shopping all count toward Home Economics.  Check out A Self-Sufficient Life.

Field trips become a little bit scary.

It’s not so much because they’ve run off at the zoo…again…as it is because they actually drove you to the field trip.  I believe that teaching teens to drive shaves a full year or more off of parents’ lives.  Especially when they nearly miss their turn and take a 90-degree turn at 45 mph, going up on two wheels.  Not that I’m speaking from experience or anything.

The house is suddenly very quiet.

It’s not like when they were toddlers, however, and you knew the silence meant that trouble was just around the corner.  Which is not to say that there isn’t trouble around the corner, but it’s most likely happening outside of your home where you won’t know until later.  But then the house is loud at night when everyone is together for dinner again.  Think of this as a transition period for when you become an empty nester.

You become sentimental.

Suddenly you understand what people meant when they were babies and you were told, ‘The days are long, but the years are short.’  We only get eighteen summers, and then they spread their wings and fly.  Savor these four years of high school.  Transition your relationship from parent-child to more of a mentorship, and know that there may be bumps along the path to independence, but you’re supporting them, love them, and will miss them dearly once they graduate.  (Even if they don’t realize it.)

Fun Field Trips for Teens

Field trips are just as important now that your students are teens as they were back in elementary school.  There’s no need to stop taking them, but you’ll want to change how you approach them…and you can do some pretty interesting things!

Here are some field trip ideas for middle and high school students.  There are both local and travel options, ranging from free to need-to-plan-ahead.  What are your teens favorite places to visit, and would you add to this list?

Here are some FREE, local field trip options:

  • Local historic architecture
  • Air Shows
  • Historic Re-enactments
  • Climb Rocks
  • Historic Museums (some are free)
  • Pick-Your-Own Farm Visit
  • Rivers & Lakes
  • Zoo (only free on certain days, or with a pass)
  • Local Newspaper
  • Factory Tours (some are free)
  • Visit the Beach
  • Visit the local Airport

Around Town

  • Most of the free trips listed above are in-town
  • Lots of hospitals offer presentations, and these could count toward a health credit
  • Most teens are able to sit quietly in a courtroom to see how the judicial system works
  • Every city has a history, and most have city history museums – explore yours!
  • A local small business owner may give a tour and explains the pros and cons of ownership

History-Based

  • State capitols are a good place to see the legislative system in action
  • National parks offer both nature and history with one beautiful hike
  • Civil War battlefield locations are often free and relatively easy to find in the eastern US
  • Living history museums (think Williamsburg) are fun for all ages

Science Lovers

  • Amusement parks are a good place to see how physics works in the real world
  • Indoor skydiving spots are also a great place to test physics
  • Caves, caverns, and wildlife refuges are all great outdoor adventures
  • Many aquariums have programming for older students
  • Factories and manufacturing plants are in more places than you’d expect, and very interesting
  • Space centers, including NASA, offer all sorts of programming for older students

Specialty Adventures

  • Symphony and theater performances are cultural experiences
  • Art museums are as well, and you can tie them to history or culture
  • TV / Radio Stations give tours and presentations, and they love going in depth with older students
  • Music recording studios are another great option for sound enthusiasts
  • Our boys really enjoyed a unique adventure to learn about fermentation and physics

After the field trip, take time to debrief.  This may be an art project, an essay comparing or contrasting different aspects of the topic, or even a lab report, timeline, or research paper.  These last few ideas are perfect for high schoolers doing virtual/simulated science labs, deep-diving into history, or creating a senior thesis or research project.  Talk about:

  • The results or outcomes of the field trip.
  • What did they know before they went on the field trip? What did they learn?
  • What new insights can they take from the experience and apply to daily life?
  • What connections can be made between anything at the field trip with other aspects or topics they’re learning about?
  • What was the most interesting or fun? Why?
  • What else would they like to learn about this topic?

More Inspiration

Finally, even though these aren’t free, educational subscription boxes are a great way to bring the field trip into your home.  Here are some of our favorites!

Need some field trip inspiration?  Here are a list of adventures from across the United States – find one for your next local or vacation journey!

Geography / Location-specific
Mississippi
Vermont
Seattle
Chocolate World / Milton Hershey
Frankenmuth / Christmas World
Oklahoma City
San Francisco
Vermont
Seattle

Gettysburg
Mayberry RFD
Cabo San Lucas
Tulsa
Western Oklahoma
Fort Smith / Hot Springs
Orlando / Epcot
Amish Country
Outer Banks, NC
Kansas
Arizona
Roswell, NM
Nashville / Ryman / Parthenon
Niagara Falls
Washington DC / July 4th
Colorado Springs / Olympics
New York City
Cleveland / Rock & Roll
Lake Champlain / Maritime History
Maryland
Louisiana / Cajuns & Creoles
Minnesota Wyoming Colorado / Geology Grand Rapids Eau Claire Ontario / Canada Southern California Hampton Roads North Carolina Piedmont Lowcountry SC / GA      

History
Ancient Mayans
Oil & Energy
Battle of Vicksburg
Cornwall Iron Furnace
Abe Lincoln’s Home
Boston / Revolutionary War
Philadelphia / Constitution
Virginia’s Historic Triangle
Williamsburg
New Hampshire / French & Indian War
Valley Forge
Fort Ticonderoga
Biltmore House Omaha
Oregon Trail / Chimney Rock
Outer Banks / History of Lighthouses Colorado / Gold Rush Mackinac / War of 1812 Mount Rushmore / Deadwood The Lost Colony Pirates of the Outer Banks Patriot’s Point, SC




                      
Science & Math
Real-World Math
Zoo Studies
Johnson Space Center / Christina Koch
Airplanes & Air Shows
Principles of Flight
Kennedy Space Center U.S. Mint Inside a Cave Kitty Hawk / History of Flight US Space & Rocket Center Recording Studio Business of Cookie Making Fermentation & the Physics of Axe Throwing

Career-Based Electives for Teens

Electives are an excellent way to delve into topics and interests – no matter how strange they seem – in your child’s middle and high school years.  There’s your typical shop and home economics, but also specifics like aviation or hieroglyphs.  Think back…when else did you have so much freedom to explore?  As homeschooled teens, the world is their oyster!  

Elective classes give them a chance for career exploration, too.  Your student may discover that he doesn’t really want to be a veterinarian after all….or that he loves to write!

If you want some inspiration or just a quick-start guide, discover several free downloads of elective course curricula for specialized electives in our Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Choosing electives for high school can be both exciting and nerve-wracking.  If it’s a class outside of the core curriculum (required courses for graduation), then it’s an elective class.  What do colleges want to see?  What does your child really need?  And how do you know what to pick…?

Electives can be a good way to make high school fun, to bring some moments of levity to a day crowded with the intense courses found in these upper grades, particularly in a college prep scenario.  What is your child interested in?  Which hobbies does s/he gravitate toward?  Are there any career interests yet?  This is a good way to let colleges know more about your student, as they see which electives made the cut and ended up on the transcript.

If your student doesn’t know what they want to take and / or doesn’t have a field of interest for a possible future career yet, it might be time to check out a Career Exploration course.  The Career Clusters Student Interest Survey is an inventory that helps narrow down your child’s field of interest based on preferences, hobbies, and skills.  It takes about fifteen minutes to complete and then shows the top three fields of interest for possible careers.  This metric includes sixteen different ’career clusters,’ including jobs ranging from entry-level to professional, and is a great way to determine elective choice!

If you have the opportunity, it will benefit your student to take elective choices aligning with his or her career interests.  This will help with determining if that is a good fit (it’s better to find this out in high school than once you’ve paid for that college training!), and will give them some introductory level knowledge, which can be a leg up in the job market.

Have an open discussion about future goals and plans with your high schooler.  Are they considering college?  Military?  Vocational-technical school?  Starting a business?  Each of these post-graduation paths will benefit from a variety of elective opportunities.

Depending on their future goals, create your high school plan.  First fill in your state graduation requirements.  Then add in all the interest-based ideas your teen has and work toward filling in the elective, and sometimes the core classes as well, with those interests.

Be sure to check with your local and state laws regarding what is required for graduating from homeschool high school.  Note the classes, credits, and other details so that when your student reaches their senior year, your transcript is ready to roll.  If you need help, the Sparks Academy School Counselor can help with creating a four-year plan

Discover more inspiration at:

Hands-On Science & Nature Projects for Upper Grades

Spring and summer are a fantastic time to take your homeschool outside!  Hands-on projects can be completed year-round, but during these times, it’s easier to incorporate nature and do big, messy projects.  Getting hands-on helps students to become more engaged, involve their senses in learning, and prevent burnout.  It also helps to flesh out abstract ideas in a more concrete format, applying difficult-to-understand concepts into a real-world application.  This not only helps the student understand more, but also retain more.

Each of these resources is appropriate for middle and high school students.  If you prefer family-style teaching, they can be tailored down, or you may eliminate some of the more complicated aspects, for elementary students.  Want to create your own hands-on nature study?  Download the unit study planner, and get started exploring your family’s interests!


Exploring the outdoors is a great way to learn!  Soak it all in, homeschool mama, and wear your homeschooling style proudly!


Think Like a Scientist

Mathematical concepts and the scientific method are a good place to start…


Get Inspired

Sometimes we just need a little inspiration to get started!


Take a Field Trip

Here are some virtual field trips that will inspire you to take one of your own…


Get Outside

Unplug and get your hands dirty!


Go Wild

Is it animals, wild plants, the jungle, or the human psyche that intrigues you?


A Little of This; A Little of That

Projects and ideas that didn’t really fit in a box…


Explore through the Pages

A literature study is a fantastic jumping-off point for further exploration.  Pick a topic, read all about it, and then get hands on with the additional projects!


Use a Complete Curriculum

Maybe you’re not quite ready to head outside…or maybe you’re required to have more structured learning.  Either way, these curricula incorporate real-world learning projects into the lessons!



Hands-On Subscription Boxes You’ll Love!

Learn about forensic science and methods. Go hands-on with techniques like fingerprinting, collecting shoe prints, and more. Use the same tools the pros use to detect the presence of blood and identify theft suspects. Each box comes with gear that real investigators use along with activities designed to let you learn by doing. Your first box contains a free one-year subscription to our online detective game. Examine the evidence and solve the case.


MATTER

We search planet Earth for the most interesting forms of matter. Each month we ship fossils, tools, specimens, materials, or artifacts that have been carefully selected as some of the most interesting pieces of matter in our accessible universe. Part museum, part laboratory, perfect for quarantine! Feed your curiosity or spark someone’s else’s. This one is for the kid who knows everything!! It will spark an interest for further research…

Beautiful Discovery

Beautiful Discovery kits use visually and kinesthetically engaging patterns of nature to unleash your hidden pattern power and give you STEAM skills. Items include eco-games, art, origami, drag and drop code, models, natural wonders, full color informational cards, full color picture books and booklets, paints and colored pencils, drawing sheets with art lessons on patterns seen in the natural wonders.

Perfect for the student who is hesitant about math, but all about art! This box combines the beauty of nature with real-world math through projects with seashells, crystals, dried leaves, flowers, for their beautiful patterns. There’s even an computer coding element with simple drag and drop block coding that will simulate the patterns seen in the natural wonders studied in each box.

Spangler Science 

Let’s make science fun one month at a time! A subscription to Spangler Science Club is a guarantee that we’re working together to prepare your young scientist for a future STEM-based career. Choose from one of three levels of hands-on science kits and subscribe to amazing science delivered every month!


Groovy Lab in a Box

With Groovy Lab in a Box, you will receive boxes full of everything you need to learn about and do hands on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experiments for ages 8+. We blend Scientific Inquiry and the Engineering Design Process, which allows children to create ingenious inventions, enhance problem solving skills and FUN!

Homeschooling Teens: College or Career Track?

For the last few generations, the collegiate years have been a crucial part of the growing up experience.  The system has changed, however, since my generation attended college, and it’s failing.  Inflated costs have driven up student debt so high that many cannot fathom how to escape it upon graduation, even with a good job lined up.

Also, because so many students are still being funneled into colleges, even with the prospect of crippling debt, there are too many graduates for the available jobs.  Students are either going on to graduate school, in the hopes of getting a job in their chosen field, or taking whatever job they can find.  Simply put – there are too many professionals being graduated, and not enough professional jobs.  

Or as Mike Rowe put it —  “America is lending money it doesn’t have to kids who can’t pay it back to train them for jobs that no longer exist. That’s nuts.”

Rowe continues, “Schools have done away with vocational training to focus on academic learning, creating a one-size-fits-all model of college-to-workforce that doesn’t recognize the real opportunities in the workplace and the real needs of society.”  And while it’s true that there are many careers which do require advanced training, such as those in the medical field, but not every career will require that four-year degree, and companies are just now starting to respond to this realization.

See the four traditional paths from high school – university, technical college, military, and career – in this article on ways to cut down on the cost of college.



General High School Help

As the homeschooling community continues to grow, one of the biggest concerns we hear from parents is that they don’t know what to do for high school…
  • Must-Read — Teens’ Guide to College and Career Planning 
  • Before this homeschooling life, I worked with eighth, ninth, and tenth graders…and loved it!  Teens are so exciting.  They are old enough to have a real, heavy conversation with (and it’s really fun to explore the basis for their opinions), but young enough to still need and want guidance (even if they won’t admit it).  From those years of experience, my experiences with my own children, and just the sheer memory of being a teen myself….here are five suggestions for motivating your student.
  • The Homeschooling the Upper Grades e-book is a collaboration project with bloggers from around the world, covering a wide variety of topics and issues facing the homeschooling parent of teens.  Twenty-two topics spanning special needs learners to academically gifted, and college to career-oriented students, are covered in this free download.
  • Worried you’re going to miss one of the pieces for moving from homeschool to college?  Here is the help you want with transcripts, scholarships, and making the transition!  In Through the Door, you and your teen will work through thirty-three modules to smooth the way from homeschool to college life.
  • Looking for high school help?  It’s not the academics for high school that are nerve-wracking so much as it is all of those ‘special things,’ like testing, applications, and deadlines that must be met for a smooth transition into college.


Career Exploration

Maybe your teen knows exactly what s/he has wanted to be since childhood.  Maybe they have no idea.  A little career exploration is good for both scenarios, as it helps to better understand what those jobs truly entail…

  • Must-Read — Career Planning for Teens: Discover The Proven Path to Finding a Successful Career That’s Right for You!
  • Career-focused electives can be a good way to make high school fun, to bring some moments of levity to a day crowded with the intense courses found in these upper grades, particularly in a college prep scenario.  What is your child interested in?  Which hobbies does s/he gravitate toward?  Are there any career interests yet?  This is a good way to let colleges know more about your student, as they see which electives made the cut and ended up on the transcript.
  • Career Exploration guides seventh through twelfth grade students to discover their career path or college major.  This eight-week elective course provides possible directions to the next step.  Each lesson includes informative articles, self-inventory worksheets, relevant links to additional information, and inspiring true stories.
  • The Career Center offers a whopping fifty-five different courses, ranging from eight weeks to full-year, to help your student further explore their interest and see if it is a good fit.
  • Parents can also pull together resources to create a year-long, career-based course for their student’s interest – such as this one on Architecture.  For technical or hands-on careers, check with your local community college to see if they have dual-enrollment high school programming.


Maturity / Relationships

Teens are navigating a tricky time of life, caught between the worlds of adolescence and adulthood.  Now is the time to talk about all those hard things…before they take the next step.

  • Ask Powerful Questions
    • Explore the clarity of intent, connecting through rapport, creating openness, reflective listening, and empathy. How can we explore the space between ourselves and others, and exchange meaningful perspectives? Just ask—powerfully.
  • Fourteen Talks by Age Fourteen 
    • The fourteen essential conversations to have with your tween and early teenager to prepare them for the emotional, physical, and social challenges ahead, including scripts and advice to keep the communication going and stay connected during this critical developmental window. 


Read Prior to Graduation


Organizational Skills

Whether it’s a bedroom, an office, or digital life, having a good system of organization can save your student time and trouble down the line…


Life Skills

Resources for a wide range of students and their needs…


Thinking Skills

Critical thinking is something every parent should help foster, age-appropriately, from the earliest years.  We want our teens to go out into the world with eyes wide open…

  • Must-Read — Do the Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations
  • Looking to focus on critical thinking skills?  This Guidebook Set features four books, each with multiple lessons that are direct, concise, and help students relate concepts to their daily lives. Two of the books are designed to make students think about thinking and thought processes.  The other two books are motivational and inspirational in nature, showing examples of people who trudged through difficult times to make a difference in the world.
  • Literary Adventures for Kids is a language arts curriculum that fosters both writing and critical thinking skills.  There are five different year-long classes to choose from, each including a blend of classic and modern books and encouraging students to ‘think beyond the book.’


Technology Skills

We live in a digital world, and any path your student chooses is going to require certain technological skills…beyond the cell phone.

  • Must-ReadFuture Skills: The 20 Skills and Competencies Everyone Needs to Succeed in a Digital World
  • Regardless of the path, all students need to become familiar with the Microsoft Office family. This elective curriculum uses project-based learning to teach critical thinking, problem-solving, research, and out-of-the-box thinking skills. It celebrates students’ creativity and innovativeness and allows students to learn by creating solutions, all while introducing learners to a full range of Office skills.
  • Using short, online unit studies, this site introduces your student to apps, online programming, and other ‘new tech’ being used currently in both educational and on-the-job settings. Students develop skills and practice through short, fun projects.
  • The Guide to Digital Student Projects is an excellent starting point for learning how to organize via computer (as opposed to the old-school, paper method).


Test Skills

We all know that test skills are a must for college entrance exams, plus academics in general, but many careers require occasional training and testing as well.  It’s good to brush up on those skills…

  • Must-Read — Mind Over Scatter: Conquer Any Test with Sharper Focus and Less Stress
  • Do you have high school students who are considering college?  One of the steps they’ll need to take is standardized testing.  This is especially important for homeschooled students as it helps to provide outside validation to the grades on their transcript.
  • Even if you know the material and are prepared for your test, it’s completely normal to experience test anxiety.  In fact, to a degree, anxiety helps you perform better on the test!  However, too much can prevent you from doing your best…so what test skills do you need?

Exploring Beliefs for World Religions Day

The Encarta World Dictionary defines religion as “people’s beliefs and opinions concerning the existence, nature, and worship of a deity or deities and divine involvement in the universe and human life.”  In a world that is constantly struggling for peace, having a better understanding of belief systems and values can help us to understand different people and cultures…which may lay the foundation for a thoughtful progression amid a multitude of complex cultures.  Studying world religions can lead to a better understanding of the relationships between religion and politics, economics, and social structures..


Novel Studies & Curricula


Short Primers


Art: Stained Glass Windows

Supplies

Directions

  • Print out the picture that you want to copy. We used shields and crests.
  • Trace the picture on the tracing paper with the black marker.
  • Color it with crayons. Use bright colors. Don’t color too hard, or the wax will run!
  • Cut out your shield and laminate it to make the colors even brighter. 
  • Hang it up and let the sun shine through!
Find more history-themed art projects in Recycled History!



    

Literature: G.A. Henty & Comparative Books

  • Beric the Briton
    • This tale of the Roman invasion of ancient Britannia remains one of G.A. Henty’s most popular novels of all time. Join Beric and his best friend Bodouc as they live the adventure of a lifetime – captured by the Romans, trained as gladiators, and placed in the service of Emperor Nero himself! When the story of a mysterious “Christus” begins to circulate the Roman Empire, Beric and Bodouc are forced to confront their pagan past. Will the two young prisoners be able to overcome their thirst for revenge and discover the source of true forgiveness?
  • For the Temple
    • The troubles in the district of Tiberias, the march of the legions, the sieges of Jotapata, of Gamala, and of Jerusalem all come to life. In this impressive and carefully studied historic setting, you will follow a lad, John of Gamala, who passes from the vineyard to the service of Josephus, becomes the leader of a guerrilla band of patriots, fights bravely for the Temple, and after a brief term of slavery at Alexandria, returns to his Galilean home with the favor of Titus. The fall of Jerusalem is brought to life in this classic.
  • The Kids Book of World Religions
    • By gaining a greater understanding of the cultures and beliefs of people around the world, children build respect and tolerance for the differences that make each of us unique.With objectivity and accessibility, this title in the Kids Book of series looks at the histories, scriptures, places of worship, religious leaders, gods and major festivals that are the foundations of many of the world’s religions.
  • Investigate the World through Religious Tradition
    • Over 7 billion people live on the earth, and 84 percent of them describe themselves as being religious. Few topics incite such passion as religion. What does that mean? Why are humans invested in ideas that may never be proved? Why has religion played such an important role in history?