My 15-year-old daughter and I just completed our first week of homeschooling for the year. After being homeschooled for all of her life, she wanted to try going to a traditional high school for ninth grade. It was ultimately a one-year process, from visiting schools last January and deciding to apply to a small local Catholic high school, to getting her neuropsych testing updated (ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia), to meeting with the school about accommodations, and finally attending this fall.

I told her going in that she (we) had to commit to it at least until Christmas. I sensed, and I was right, that there would be days when one or both of us would want to quit, and I wanted to take that option off the table for a reasonable amount of time. Honestly, I wanted it to work out. I enjoyed being “normal” for a small season of life. I wanted her to make some good friends and have the high school experience. I wanted the chance to see one of my children walk across the stage at a traditional high school graduation. At the same time, the struggle was real.

I was basically her one-on-one aide at home. They allowed her to take most of her work home so that I could help her with it, which meant we were often doing more hours of school together than we did homeschooling, and doing it after she had little sleep (she doesn’t sleep well, and our days were starting at 5:30 a.m.) and already spent a full day at school. We were both exhausted, but I felt it was worth it to give her the chance to go to high school and have that experience. But the social experience was also fraught with drama. Come December, she decided she wanted to be done and return to homeschooling after Christmas break. Her father and I tried to talk her out of it. The school counselor tried to talk her out of it. Her friends tried to talk her out of it. She wasn’t having it, and despite my mixed feelings, I needed to honor my original agreement that she could go back to homeschooling after Christmas.  

And so, I thanked the school for giving her the opportunity to attend and withdrew her. After Christmas, I chose a curriculum, drafted my homeschool plan, and submitted it to the Department of Education in my city. I submitted it on January 1^st and was approved on January 2^nd. I was thankful for no pushback.

We are back to our homeschooling life. I’m thankful that she is getting more sleep, that my evenings are no longer spent on hours of homework, and that I can tailor her education to suit her needs. She decided to go back to the Friday co-op she attended last year so that she could see some of her homeschool friends. She returned to a weekly library art program she enjoyed. She continues to take part in a local drama program. Life goes on.

I’ve often told people that homeschooling is a year-by-year decision and to pray about what they should do. I have prayed for years and continue to pray to make the right decisions about her schooling. For some reason, God wanted us to take this path. I’m thankful she got to see what high school was like. If nothing else, it was a life experience, and she did learn some things while she was there. It also gave her a greater appreciation for homeschooling, which I hope will translate into a more cooperative spirit about completing her lessons (a homeschooling mother can dream!). As for the future? I’ll keep praying and see where God leads us.