HOMESCHOOOLING: “Public High School after Homeschooling – How Hard Is It To Make the Transition?” by Lorilyn Roberts

Mission Trip to Nepal, Joy, October 2014

My daughter, Joy, is finishing her junior year of high school. Yes—just one more year and I’ll be done. I laugh because, as parents, we know we are never done. We just accompany our daughter to the next fork in the road—college, or some sort of vocational training where she can learn a skill that will help her to—well, pay bills.

While I can’t say it’s been an easy transition from homeschooling to public high school, it was the right decision for my family.

To give a bit of background, my oldest daughter is twenty-four and my youngest, Joy, is sixteen. I adopted both of them from Asia as a single mother by choice. My oldest one arrived from Nepal when she was three and I adopted Joy from Vietnam when she was fourteen months. I homeschooled my oldest one from third grade all the way through two years of high school when she then enrolled at a community college as a high school junior. She graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and now has a well-paying job in a related field.

I homeschooled Joy beginning with kindergarten. At the end of that year, she scored in the top ten percent of all kindergarteners around the country, but she was a reluctant learner—at least when it came to me being her teacher. She loved me as a mom but not as her favorite teacher. After one year, I didn’t have the emotional energy to continue homeschooling her, so I put her in private school for three years.

2005 art, Joy's favorite subject

By the end of the third grade, she was testing at the fiftieth percentile and I was $15,000 poorer. Joy was a gifted learner and had been at the top of the charts after I homeschooled her in kindergarten. I pulled her out of private school and homeschooled her from fourth grade through ninth grade, although the eighth and ninth grades were a homeschool-private school combination. In other words, she was homeschooled two days a week and in private school three days a week.

When Joy entered the tenth grade, I enrolled her in a large public high school with over 2,000 students—quite a change from homeschooling. Even at the private school, she went to three days a week, she only had about ten kids in her classes.

I experienced much trepidation putting Joy into public high school. I thought about all the things she would encounter. I worried about the students she would meet, if she could make friends, if she would be able to succeed, and if the change would be overwhelming. She had never been in public school and I agonized over it her entire ninth-grade year before finally making the decision to enroll her in public high school.

To be transparent, I never felt as if I was that successful homeschooling Joy, at least not like I was with my oldest one. While both of them scored in the top seventieth percentile or higher every year, Joy didn’t like being homeschooled. She didn’t want to do the work for me, and I didn’t have the time to supervise her, as I needed to, especially when she hit middle school.

God showed me she needed to be accountable to someone else. I was too soft. I valued our relationship more than constantly fighting over unfinished work or the occasional issue of “cheating.”

When we went to the homeschool-private school environment, even though teachers expected more, they were also too lax. It was a Christian school, and while I appreciated the Christian influence and grace, I knew it wasn’t what Joy needed. She needed to learn the importance of accountability—the real world is tough. In public high school, teachers expect your assignments to be turned in on time. If you don’t do them, they don't listen to your excuses. In college, you need to study hard even if you don’t attend a class every day. As an adult, your boss expects you to do your job. One season of life builds upon another.

If you get the picture I am painting, you can imagine what that first semester was like when Joy entered tenth grade. On the positive side, she immediately made good choices in friends. I am thankful for God’s protection in that area. She stuck to the straight and narrow path and navigated through the social waters unscathed. I pray that will continue through her senior year.

As an aside, Joy was a competitive gymnast for over ten years and switched to competitive cheer when she entered eleventh grade—so she was busy. In her first year in public high school, she did not participate in a sport. I wanted her to focus on getting good grades

Joy’s grades that first semester were—well, not good. I will spare you the details, but the only “A’s” she received were in P.E. and art.

As painful as this was to me, my philosophy was this: Sometimes kids need to fail before they realize they want to succeed. Most kids, if given the choice, would rather succeed than fail. As parents, we need to make sure they have the choice. We don’t want to set them up for failure, but neither should we ensure success if they haven’t earned it.

Kids and teens need to learn the value of hard work Once Joy failed a class, she realized that failure was an option, and it wasn’t an option she wanted. She didn’t like it. That first year in public high school was hard—but she never complained and I never made excuses for her.

Eleventh grade has been much better. She is making A’s and B’s in all her classes, even taking AP classes, and doing well. She has learned how to study. Sometimes we have to make the tough choices we don’t want to make to teach our children life lessons they won't learn any other way. In Joy’s case, public school was the best choice.

Joy in her cheerleading outfit with a good friend

Our public high school isn’t perfect, but I know Joy is receiving an excellent education. I did insist she be enrolled in honors, pre-AP or AP classes. I wouldn’t allow her to be placed in classes with students who didn’t want to learn. As a parent, you have more input than you might realize on what classes your child takes. You know what is best for your child, particularly if you have been a homeschooling parent.

I also insisted that Joy take electives she would enjoy. She took art in tenth grade, photography this year, and will take pottery her senior year. High school is one of the last opportunities to indulge in cultured learning. The arts in my opinion are underrated. If you look at the richest civilizations in history, their culture has touched our society—what nation would we be if it were not for the amazing influence of Egypt, Greece, and Rome on our language, music, and arts? In college, classes tend to focus on career goals, unless you major in art, and most parents prefer educational pursuits that will ensure a well-paying job when their child graduates.

If you are debating whether to put your child in public school after homeschooling, particularly high school, ask yourself these questions: Do I trust that my child can make wise choices? Can my child handle peer pressure and bullying? Can my child deal with alternative lifestyles and kids who embrace different values? Will my child hold on to the morals I have spent years instilling in her, and can she shoulder the responsibility that comes with being in public school? Is my child able to make friends? Is she insecure or confident in her abilities?

If you feel like your teen can navigate the social waters of public high school, then I would ask, can my child receive a better education in public high school than if I homeschool her?

This is a tough question, but it’s an important one. High school is the stepping stone to college. If your child does not master the core subjects in high school, college will be difficult. Knowing Joy’s poor study habits, I knew she would not succeed in college unless someone toughened her up, and I knew it wouldn’t be me.

If your child is doing well homeschooled, working hard, and making good grades, I wouldn’t pull her out to enroll her in public high school. If something is working, don’t fix it. Many teens, including my first one, are able to go from homeschooling directly into college. It can be done and many homeschooling students do it successfully every year.

11th grade Joy's art, anatomy

Assess your child’s strengths and weaknesses. Ask your teen what he or she wants to do. A happy teen is easier to live with than a discontented teen. If you discover after a couple of months, public high school isn’t working or vice versa, it doesn’t mean you failed. You simply make the adjustment. Life goes on. In the end, it will be only a small blip in the educational journey of your child.

I used to say, “The worst day homeschooling is better than the best day in public school.” Mostly I remember the good days and there were many of them. One year may be great and the next, not so much. Life happens. Children change as they mature, and despite other things that may become a distraction, parents need to continue to provide an environment conducive to learning at home. It’s good to reassess each year where you stand on these important issues.

As a Christian, I found myself in bed many nights, exhausted, asking God for wisdom and guidance. Homeschooling was one of the hardest things I ever did but also one of the most rewarding, but there came a time when God clearly said to me, “It’s time to let go. Joy needs to go to public school so she can learn things you can’t teach her. You can trust me.”

If you would like more information, I would encourage you to check out Kids in the House. I homeschooled before the invention of the internet and sites like this one would have been very helpful when I was seeking answers to these difficult questions. Read and learn as much as you can, whether you are new to homeschooling or a seasoned homeschooling family. When it comes to high school, check out all of your options and ask God for wisdom. He will guide you to make the right decision for you and your family.

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MEDIA: CHRISTIAN REVIEW MAGAZINE FEATURES LORILYN ROBERTS

You can read Christian Review Magazine’s delightful review at:

http://bit.ly/ChristianReviewMagazine

Christian Review Magazine featured me in January but I just discovered it. I have done nothing but write Seventh Dimension - The Castle: A Young Adult Fantasy for the past five months, and I am now able to come out of the closet and rejoin the world of blogging, marketing, and sharing. I honestly enjoy these activities almost as much as I do writing books. Seventh Dimension - The Castle will be released in July 2015. 

To purchase Seventh Dimension - The Castle, click here

MY RESCUED ANIMALS: Devotional by Lorilyn Roberts

I"ll always be by your side while you write the best books in the whole world.

I'm an animal lover. Always have been, always will be. Animals have taught me lessons I couldn't have learned otherwise. When I see animals, I see the hand of God.

Sometimes I laugh when I see strange creatures, whether on TV, on the internet, in the wild, or in the oceans. I saw many weird ones when I scuba-dived. At other times, I mourn when I see the heartless killing of them. I don't mean for food, I mean for sport, for pride, for evil.

Lest I get too depressing, because that's not what this post is about, with the earthquake in Nepal and finishing my latest book, I am rather emotionally drained. Therefore, I decided to write this post for sheer enjoyment. I have pulled out photos of some of my pet animals, and yes, I have way too many. We have seven neurotic cats and one devoted dog.

All of them are rescued animals—from the streets, the Human Society, and unwanted. Actually, I think they rescued us. Yes, I would be much richer without their upkeep in heartworm medicine and food and vet bills, but how much poorer I would be without their love. 

Enjoy these snapshots. Laugh, cry, but mostly, remember God brings love to us through our pets. Every good thing comes from above, and yes, I do believe our cats and dogs and other critters will be in heaven. Does God not give us the desires of our heart? And my heart's desire is to see Gypsy, Gretchen, Shelley, Abby, Rex, Molly, Thomasina and Lewis (who have gone to their reward) as well as those still with us. How many blessings I would have missed without their licks, wags, kisses, purrs and—well, even their little messes. (As only a mother would understand:)

Yes, another dumb commercial.

Can I come in, too?

I'm so beautiful. Eat your heart out!

I'm in charge around here

I'm a cat on a hot Florida roof.

The best thing about Christmas is I get to play with the boxes.

Water always tastes better from a toilet.

Help! I promise I'll never do this again.
.

Thank you for fostering us for a future home:)

Peek-a-boo

I just love these blankets.

A PRAYER: Pray for the People in Nepal Following the Earthquake

Kathmandu

My heart goes out to Nepal. I can't imagine the suffering. Nepal is poor and does not have the infrastructure or resources to deal with anything like this. The epicenter was between Pokara and Kathmandu. These are the two cities Joy and I visited when we took Christian books to orphans last October. I have read reports Durbar Square was completely shattered. Below I have posted pictures from our trip from Durbar Square, Pokhara, and Kathmandu. 

Children in Nepal

My daughter Joy at the Durbar Square that was destroyed in the earthquake

Durbar Square, Lorilyn and Joy

Durbar Square

Town of Pokhara

Pokhara

I received an email from Ram and he said his family and house are fine, as well as the church. Joy and I stayed with his family for part of the time while we were there. They have adopted ten or eleven orphans. I don't know if they know about the other 130 or so other adopted children in Child Hope International homes around the country. Please continue to pray. World Vision is collecting donations if you want to help.

Pokhara Lake

GUEST POST BY EMMA RIGHT: “The Princesses of Chadwick Castle Adventure Mystery Series”

FREE BOOKMARKS! see below

Some of you might already know me (Emma Right) but for those new to my series, I’ll just recap about myself and the children/ young adult books I write.

First, I’m a homeschool mother. I have been doing it for about two decades now. Started when my son, now happily married and working, was only three. I still have four more under our roof and our youngest is ten. So probably another eight more years to go before the homeschool journey ends. Phew! It’s been a long road (but with many happy memories).

Why did I start writing?

We did a lot of read-aloud through the school years and I’d found that my children not only enjoyed this time together but I, too, looked forward to the discussions and the moments we talked about some of the characters and plots of the books I’d read to them. Sometimes I’d read the whole book to the children. Other times, I’d ask them to read parts. It was fun and gave them a chance to put on different voices as they pretended they were whatever character they were reading.

I actually wrote two of my series as a read-aloud—the Keeper of Reign Series, and now the Princesses Of Chadwick Castle Series.

Why a read-aloud series?

After about a decade of reading aloud, we ran out of good books to read. Don’t get me wrong, there are thousands still available but most were not written for young adults (10-17) and some were just too “heavy”. Also, even though I enjoyed the classics, not all children, especially since our children live in a different era from us, and are used to fast-paced stories, can bear to listen to pages of Dickens’ description of fog in Bleak House, for instance.

So I thought of writing stories for our kids. They enjoyed them, and so I wrote more. Just kiddie stuff –ones I wouldn’t even dream of publishing. But this gave the fruit to my first series, Keeper of Reign, (free now on Amazon as a download) and the rest, as they say, is history.

How did the Princesses Of Chadwick Castle come to be?

Fast forward six years later (last year) and suddenly “Princess” themes became popular. To be honest I’m a bit partial to princess-type stories myself. I’d also been hooked on the Downton Abbey Series—not recommended for children, but interesting for adults. Thus my writing is a princess tale about two royal sisters living in a 19^th Century castle in England. It’s a sort of a Downton Abbey for girls minus all the “R” rated drama. But there’s still drama in it, of course. And adventure. But still, at the back of my mind, I wanted this to be a book a mother, or father, could read to her children (ages 6-12) and have all the listening kids enjoy the fast-paced mystery.

But as a historical adventure, is “princessey” tale enough? Even with all the mystery and intrigue?

I didn’t want to just write a chapter book. I wanted it such that moms and their kids could look at pictures too as the story unfolded—sort of like a cross between a chapter book (novella for kids) and a picture book, so both the eleven-year-old and the seven-year-old could enjoy the reading at the same time.

I’d always loved the artwork, pieces from master artists that graced the walls of museums. We have several of those Art books lying around the house. Some of the images though were inappropriate for children. Also, I wanted the kids to have exposure to good art, not just splashes of oil paint people throw on a canvas.

The process of creating the Princess Castle Series

So I started scouring Google images for art that have entered the public domain. And I mean hundreds of hours of scouring! I pinned them on Pinterest and when I was ready, I combed through the pinned artwork and picked those that could be interwoven into my princess stories. Then I reworked the tale so the pictures could make sense and gel with the words on the pages, too. But I didn’t just use the art pieces whole—although I did for some of them.

Most of the paintings were cropped and I’d capture the details of a sleeve, or the hem of a brocade gown, or finger-pointing, or a fallen tiara. Do you get the picture? (Pun, intended). I wanted the readers to see the pain and attentiveness the artists had gone through to give them the art.

Truly, I hope young readers and their moms, dads, or teachers, reading to them, can appreciate the art pieces. At the end of each book, I also feature an artist.

It was a painstaking process procuring the right images and getting the image sizes correct and so forth. But perhaps, long after the story may have lost its charm—through over-reading, hopefully—the artwork could still hold appeal, and inspire the children.

However, because I’ve grown to love the characters of the two princesses, Elle and Belle, I’ve started on a second series that will hold its own set of mystery and intrigue. While the Princess Castle Series deals with art and the end of each book introduce readers to a particular artist, the second series will have write-ups on ballet stories—like Giselle and Swan Lake, et cetera.

Also, I realize as a relatively new author, readers might be hesitant to invest in the Princess Castle Books. So I’ve made it easy for everyone. The first book, While Princesses Sleep, is available for download in three formats (Kindle, Nook, and pdf) if you go to the emmaright.com site; the second book, Beaded Dresses Mystery, is free for three days in April on Amazon, and the third book, Lady With the Circlet, will be gifted to all entrants in the Kindle Fire HD Giveaway I am hosting this month. (Check the giveaway link below to win a Kindle Fire HD).

In case you don’t have time to read aloud—consider this free alternative.

I am excited about the audiobook for the first book, While Princesses Sleep. It was professionally read by a British voiceover artist. The story, after all, is set in an English 19th-century castle. For those who write me a review be sure to email me and I will send you the MP3 recording for free! I hope the children will enjoy this feature. They can listen and follow the story with their book—ebook or paperback.

There are eight books in all. It’d only take thirty minutes for moms to read each one. Maybe slightly longer if they dwelled on the pictures.

Synopsis of While Princesses Sleep, Book1 of The Princesses of Chadwick Castle Series

While Princesses Sleep: Princesses of Chadwick Castle Adventure, Book 1 (Princess Castle Adventure Mystery Series) is a tale of two royal sisters who are princesses.

The Princesses Of Chadwick Castle Adventure is an eight-book series set in 19^th century England. The adventure revolves around the sisters, Elle, age 12, and Belle, 10. It’s great for readers who love Cinderella-type fairy tales and European princess stories.

While Princesses Sleep opens with Princess Elle discovering a strange sound in the night. Curious, she determines the reason for these mysterious noises and starts the adventure with her sister, Belle. Something is afoot at the castle and they must find out what this is. However, finding the truth behind the secrets they stumble upon leads them to strange answers? What sort of trouble will the princesses get themselves into?

Titles in The Princesses of Chadwick Castle Adventure Mystery Series

1. While Princesses Sleep

2. Beaded Dresses Mystery

3. Lady With The Circlet

4. Secret Mission Princess

5. Pretty Scary Lady

6. Down With The Crown

7. Peasant Princesses

8. Princess Rewards

Emmaright.com

Get a free Book 1!

Get free bookmarks and postcards!

Where to get the ebooks on Amazon.

Only paperbacks available on Barnes and Noble

Leave A Review! (Amazon) For While Princesses Sleep

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emma.right.author

Twitter: @emmbeliever

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Several of Emma Right's books have won awards. Before having children Emma Right was a copywriter for two major advertising companies and won several international copywriting awards.