“What does homeschooling older kids look like?”

I hear this a lot, from worried parents of older elementary students, middle schoolers, and high school aged-kids. I get it; by the time your kids get to this point, the local homeschool group has cycled back to a new batch of 5-10yos and the older kids have moved on to the local middle and high schools. It’s a tough road

But let’s take a look, shall we? The Kidd is almost 14yo now, and starting his 1st high school year. He works at his own pace from books he’s chosen himself.

Here’s how yesterday (a Wednesday) went:

9am – rolls from the bed to the couch *actually* gets up at 10

10:30 – makes a breakfast smoothie, walks the dog, then takes his sisters outside to play while he works out

NOON – grabs a book and snack (always with the eating).

1:00 – LUNCH with the family. Afterwards, the kids all watch Secret Millionaire’s Club.

1:45 – The littles take a nap and he hops in the shower, then switches to ‘The Vet Life’, while pulling out books. Today it’s algebra and Japanese.

2:00 – snacks ?

3:30 – online writing class on Outschool

4:30 – grabs a snack ? harasses his sisters. Tells me a bad joke. Asks whats for dinner. Picks up his camera, water bottle, and skateboard and takes off.

6:00 – we meet again at church. He volunteers with the Cubbies at AWANA.

8:30 – home for dinner. He helps the girls clean their room before bed.

9:00 – We play chess. He wins 2 out of 3 games. We switch to Trash Pandas. He puts on Riverdale and we talk about how terrible it is the entire time.

10:30 – he cleans the kitchen then heads off to bed. He takes his mini sketch book, so I know he’s not going right to sleep.

Every day isn’t exactly the same, of course. He might spend an entire week studying only science. He may read (graphic novels) all day. His friends might get out of school early and come looking for him right after lunch. Field trips, neighborhood events, etc, you get the picture.

The goal here, is that he’s learning what he feels he needs to learn, when he feels he needs to learn it, with his future goals guiding his path.

Me? I’m just the co-pilot.

What does your teen’s average day look like?