This is the third post in a series about transitioning your teens
to secondary (home)school. It is the second of two parts about teens and
routine, the one that is going to focus on choices in academics and how routine
fits in with that.
Let's Do The Vision Thing |
However, before getting stuck in to a discussion about books
and hours of study and methods, I think it’s important to cover what your
vision is for your child. That way, you can better tease out the details that
will work for your family.
I think a decision-tree here would be helpful, so you can see
how this series is being organised.
According to this schema, today’s blog post is the top line
of the green level: “Your visions/aims” of the academic-side of your child’s
home education.
I’m a vision-kind of person, so this is always in the back
of my mind when I make decisions about any of my four children’s education.
Even if you’re not into “the vision-thing”, I think it’s crucial that you stop
for just a short while to think about your vision and aims, or you will find it
difficult to settle into the kind of routine for your teen that will achieve
results you can be happy with.
Here’s a quick check-list for you. I want you to rank the
statements in order of most important to least important (from 1 to 14, with 1
being the most), as a way of helping you clarify your vision.
For me, a chart like this is tough. Do I really want my
teenager to keep doors open to the future more than I want her to have good
morals? Of course not! However, I am likely to put the academic success ahead
of character training if I don’t think through my vision beforehand.
Let’s now just look at two extremes of responses to the
check list. You can imagine that parents who seek their child’s happiness,
social life, and extra-curricular activities is going to seek an entirely
different programme from someone who is emphasising exams, academics, and
university entry.
Would someone really put a child’s happiness behind some of
the other issues on the list? Of course – I’m sure you see it all the time. It
can be argued that many people do this when they send their children to school
rather than home educate, because they think the child needs the education more
than they need to be happy (especially as it’s likely their happiness ebbs and
flows anyway).
Or when, as some homeschoolers do, parents force a dry and
boring workbook-style curriculum on their little dears, from which they require
six hours of toil for five days every week. Or, make them play the violin, or enrol them in knitting classes, or take on a paper round.
I do it, too! My son says he
doesn’t like swimming, and yet, four days a week, we have him plying up and
down the swimming pool. My reasons? I value things over his happiness – partly,
it’s the only sport we have time for him to do, and I want him to do a sport,
ergo …. Partly, I think there is a chance to build his character through it.
Partly, I’m hoping he will come to his senses and see how good he could be. A
little success, I’m sure, will see him suddenly enjoy it and be glad he toiled
for so many years. Who knows? On balance, swimming is better than no swimming,
so I have decided that he will continue to do it.
Am I wrong for valuing these other things over his
happiness? One day, I might think so, but for now, this is my vision, and this
is how I make choices for my own children.
Some kids go, some kids stay -- You know your own child best! |
Equally, I would not try to judge the decisions that you
make for your children. You know them better than anyone, and you know how
certain values and aims will suit your children. I’m just wanting to help you
clarify what might be otherwise a vague idea, because you will be in a better
position to help your teens transition to secondary (home)school that way.
Once you have ranked the 14 statements, you should get a
fairly good idea about the kind of thing you’re putting the highest value on.
If it’s academics, then you will want to pursue a more strenuous approach to
your child’s studies. If it’s more about personality and well-being, then you
will want to open up opportunities and activities that will probably be less
focused on books and such.
In the next post, I’m going to suggest ways of transferring
your vision into practical application, so that you can get the best out of your
teen while still going “up a level” for secondary (home)school. If you want to make sure you get notified when the next post is available, then please subscribe via the various options in the sidebar to the right.
Dr Kat Patrick is a
veteran homeschooler of 12 years. She grew up in Texas in the USA, taught at
American university and then at secondary schools in Oxford, England. She is an
examiner for the prestigious Cambridge board of exams at both GCSE and A-level,
as well as founder of Dreaming Spires Home Learning, online tutorials for
homeschooled secondary students all over the world.
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Suggestions, ideas, tweaks, or maybe you're just a happy Dreaming Spires student who wants to leave some encouraging words! Thanks for posting! Kat