Home schools are a good option for parents who want to be involved hands on in the education process of their children. However, when home-schooled children reach the high school age, a critical question that parents face is whether to continue instructing them at home or enroll them in a public school.



Teenage is the stage in the life of any child when you need to be very cautious as a parent. During adolescence, children are easily influenced by negative thoughts and activities, and there are limits to how much you can keep an eye on them. If you want them to be under your guidance when they are passing through this often emotionally tumultuous period, then home schooling is certainly recommended. Though home schooling a child who has reached the high school stage can be a tough job, it can certainly be achieved with determination.

Home schooling through high school is beneficial, as your child can complete the studies at home in just 24 months or even less. This not only saves time compared to high schools where the tenure extends to 4 years, but also enables your child to focus energy and resources on specific subjects of his or her interest. Since your child will not have to face peer pressure, acts of bullying or even traces of negative influences like sex or drugs while being schooled at home, it could set an efficient learning environment.

If you send your child to a public school, a lot of time is spent on administrative duties, which includes roll calling for attendance, distributing out work and supplies, maintaining discipline, and the collection of homework and reports of each and every student. Commuting to and from school is also a time consuming activity that can exhaust your child. Home schooling can help children make optimum use of the time at their disposal.

Teenage children are the fastest growing group of the home-schooled population in the US that is currently estimated to be approximately two million. It has been proved that students, who have been home schooled, possess greater ability to absorb information and produce better results than students who have been educated in a public school. No surprise then that most colleges or universities in the US welcome home schooled students, provided they meet their basic eligibility criterion.

In order to start teaching your child at home through high school, you should make a plan that is based on their style of learning. You should place emphasis on the areas where they display specific interest. The curriculum should be conducive to their natural inclination along with covering the basics of all subjects so that they get to learn everything but master a few. If you are facing problems in covering difficult subjects, you could try using online school, educational software and videos. If you want your child to acquire a diploma or certification to apply for jobs in the future, you could help them prepare for the General Development Test (GDT) that is used to measure the skills and general knowledge of a home-schooled child.

With the help of a planned curriculum supplemented with real life experiences, home schooling of high school children can help them become mature and responsible human beings, and good decision makers.