Homeschooling Through High School - You Can Do It!

I have become aware that there are some Christian homeschooling families who homeschool their children only during their elementary and middle school years and then put them in public school for their high school years.  I personally feel that this can potentially cause more harm than good, for it is the environment of the public high schools that can have the most negative influences on your children.  It has been my own experience with my own children that these negative influences (peer pressure, disrespect for parents, violence, sexual harrassment, immoral lifestyles, smoking, drugs, etc.) actually  begin showing themselves in the public middle schools - by the 6th & 7th grades, if not sooner.  If parents homeschool for the lower grades only, then it is more than probable that the good they tried to instill in their children will become undone by the time they graduate high school.  Sure, there is a chance that these kids will turn out fine despite the negative influences during their most formative years, but that chance is slim because the parents will no longer be the major power exerted over the minds and behavior of their children.    More waking hours will be spent in the company of their immature peers who, for the most part, lack proper social skills than in the company of  their mature parents who know the proper way to act in social situations.  Also,  these formerly homeschooled children will now be exposed to textbooks which promote evolution as being fact rather than a theory, humanist propaganda rather than history, and a tolerance/acceptance for immoral and unnatural lifestyles.

Some homeschooling parents feel that they are somehow inadequate or too unlearned themselves to educate their children through high school, and that is why they stop homeschooling after elementary or middle school.  While I can understand their reasoning, I want to assure these parents that homeschooling through high school CAN be done despite these fears.  I've been there, I know!
(You can read more about my homeschooling experiences with my own children on my earlier blogs - from June, July, etc. of 2011.)

I graduated from a public high school knowing only basic math and basic science, yet I was able to take my kids through high school at home in all the major subjects which included Algebra 1 & 2, Geometry, Biology, & Chemistry.  I was able to do this through a combination of lessons on video, a private tutor which we used for Algebra 1 for a few months, and a community college class in Algebra 2 which my daughter and I both took together.  Needless to say, I educated myself alongside my homeschooled children.  Two of my three children went on to attend college after graduating high school at home.  Both of them were ready for all college-level courses.  They did not have to take any remedial classes.  The one child (my older son) that did not attend college, frequently tutored his girlfriend during her first year of college, despite the fact that he'd never taken a college class himself. 
All three of my children ended up with great jobs, though my daughter has now become a stay-at-home mom and has asked me to help her homeschool her own children. 

So, parents, please don't let your own lack of education hinder you from homeschooling your children through high school.  Listed below are a few homeschooling publishers from which you may obtain lessons on video or via internet connection to homeschool instructors.  Also, check with your community college for "dual enrollment" classes for your high school student.  Each state will have a minimum age for enrollment in these community college classes.  In my own state it is 16 years old.

www.abeka.com
www.bjupress.com
http://schooloftomorrowusa.com
www.libertyonlineacademy.com
www.chalkdust.com
www.teachingtextbooks.com

You could do an internet search for other sources.  Try "homeschooling curriculum on DVD" and see what comes up. 

Blessings to you on your homeschooling journey!