If like me, you are home educating a pre-teen, you may be considering your options and wondering what it’s really likely to continue home educating teens. Over the last few months, I’ve had the privilege of interviewing several ladies who have more experience home educating than I have. I’ve asked them all about homeschooling teens and am pleased to be able to share our conversations with you!

Special Guest

Mary has been home educating for eighteen years and has two homeschool graduates. She is also co-host of the Rooted To Flourish Home Ed Podcast (pictured third from left).

Mary, how did your student’s learning journey change throughout their teenage years? And how did you need to adapt to best support them through these changes?

“They all have different personalities, for some children it was a very natural transition, as they matured, they just took themselves off to do their work more and more. For others this didn’t happen so naturally, and we prayed that this would become easier for them.”

“My children also did online courses through Dream Spires, a Charlotte Mason provider, when they turned eleven or twelve. This was a helpful stepping stone to independent study because I was not involved in these classes. They had another teacher and homework assignments to manage themselves”. 

What was a challenge or a blessing when it came to home educating teens?

“It’s hard work for the kids and very different from home education in the earlier years. They move from finishing school at lunch time, to studying for much of the day, and sometimes in the weekends or evenings too.”

“The blessing lies in watching them grow in independence and maturity; seeing them take on this challenge. Though we did not cover science extensively in the early years, for example, my eldest discovered a real interest in it at this age and has gone on to do chemical engineering”. 

Knowing what you know now, how would you prepare a pre-teen for what is to come?

“I would say, you can’t over-estimate the impact that reading has on their writing skills. But in the pre-teen years, I recommend enjoying your homeschool journey, enjoy the read alouds and the trips out, and do as much of those fun things as you possibly can”.  

How can mothers approaching this season prepare themselves?

Mary says, “I think you can easily be overwhelmed by all the information that is available to you now, but talk to local friends who have been through this season to learn more about what worked for them. I think it’s helpful to research particular subjects well, and if you are going for an exam-based approach, as we did, then spend time finding things within the syllabus that you can cover in practical, engaging ways. We did a lot of Shakespeare with our Co Op, for example”.

I’m so grateful to Mary for sharing her experience with me, and found it particularly helpful to recognise that home educating teens is not necessarily easy! Students at this age are working hard and making important choices. I hope Mary’s practical advice was as helpful to you as it was to me. Several people have recommended Dream Spires to me recently, and I am considering one of these courses for my daughter next year. If you’d like to read more in this Homeschooling Teens Series, you can find other interviews here.