4 Things Every Home Schooling Parent Needs to Know

11 December, 2017

I must have seen it a hundred times: parents take up home schooling with an admirable zeal and grandiose plans, but fail to take some of the most essential steps for their child's success. Here are four of these essential steps, taken from personal experience.

1. Extracurriculars

I cannot stress this enough: your child needs extracurricular activities. This is an absolute must. Athletics, theater, volunteering, debate club, Girl Scouts, two-stepping club - whatever it may be, make sure your student is involved and is involved consistently. The number of extracurricular activities on your child's college application has the power either to push her across that acceptance line, or hold her back on the wait list. As far as colleges are concerned, there can be no such thing as too many clubs or volunteering efforts, especially constructive ones like debate or serving at a community home. As long as these activities don't hinder academics, you should definitely make an effort to have your child involved at least every school year, and preferably every semester. Whatever it may be, make sure it is interesting and application-worthy.

2. Real-World Experience

It is excruciatingly painful to watch under-socialized home schooled kids try to take their first steps into the real world. Back when I was taking dual credit at the local community college, I witnessed innumerable incoming students struggling with basic social interaction. They were excessively awkward or oblivious to normal social cues (yes, when people start answering you with monosyllables and acting like they have somewhere else to go it probably means you have been talking too much). I do not intend to point fingers or accuse the parents in any way. I am simply very strongly emphasizing the importance of making sure your home schooled child has plenty of real-world interaction. Not just co-op, not just weekly youth group, but something that challenges him to stand up for himself and voice his own opinions confidently. Make sure your child has opportunities to interact with older children and others who are not home schooled, as well. It can be a part-time job, some sort of leadership initiative, or even just sending your child out to order his own dinner once a week (without you standing beside him). Trust me, this one will be infinitely helpful in the long run.

3. AP Exams This is one of the great advantages of home schooling - you have the freedom to take any AP exam any year and in any subject you choose! Don't lose this amazing opportunity! So many parents throw this great chance out the door; I know many home schooled seniors who have never taken an AP exam in their lives. This causes me grief. Do you know what good AP scores do for your child's college applications? Four good AP scores can set her apart from the crowd. Not only do good scores demonstrate academic excellence, they also prove to colleges that you are just as serious about schooling as traditional public schoolers - something that can be infuriatingly hard to convince people of. Besides, with home schooling, you are not limited to only taking certain exams in certain years. I was able to take AP English Literature as a freshman, while most public schooled students are not able to take it until junior or senior year. This gives home schooled students a wonderful advantage that they should take care not to throw away.

4. Don’t Be a Helicopter ParentThis is probably the easiest trap to fall into as a home schooling parent. Because you have immediate access to your child nearly twenty-four hours a day, it is natural to want to regulate all twenty-four of these hours. You have the special opportunity to spend a lot of quality time with your child – isn’t this part of the advantage of home schooling? However, this can easily go from ‘a lot of time,’ to inordinate amounts of time, and before you know it your child never has a moment apart from you. This ties in closely with the need for real-world experience; someday your child will be on his own and when that time comes he needs to be capable and independent. How can he become a fully-informed and responsible citizen if you’ve made every decision for him his entire life? Ensure that your child has adequate time apart from you – with friends, at work, in a classroom setting – and allow him plenty of opportunity to make his own decisions. Above all, try to remember what it was like to be your child’s age, and what you needed most at that stage in your life.
Under informed and loving care, your child is sure to flourish in his or her education and development. I wish you the best of luck in this great undertaking!

Nathania DavisTCU Class of 2021 John V. Roach Honors College Verified Tutor for Frog Tutoring October, 2017

About Nathania D.

FrogTutoring Tutor Based in Fort Worth, TX

I am a freshman Psychology major at Texas Christian University, in the John V. Roach Honors College. I am minoring in Studio Art and plan to add a General Business minor as well. I hope to find a career in Research Psychology.