So I’ve went to public school my whole life where I’m a straight A’s honor student. But I have a lot of things that hold me back and are destroying me slowly. I love learning!! But, in a public school system, especially mine, it is very difficult for me to actually learn anything. I have a lot of disorders that make learning very challenging and me and my family are thinking about homeschooling for the last 3 years of highschool. I’ve already went to prom because my senior friend took me, I have already witnessed all of the highschool things and experiences, and all my friends just graduated so I really don’t have anyone. When I had to do online school because of COVID, I had never felt happier and I thrived!!! If I did homeschooling I would also be able to see my dad more and I would be able to have a social life! I guess I’m asking if there is anything that I should consider before deciding?
Homeschooling or online independent instruction? Because those are very different.
It’s a huge decision and you should do a lot of research. Not only about online learning vs. in person but about the disorders that are reason for you considering this.
I’ve had the chance to observe a few people who did online high school and I’ll share, but education is heavily studied so you should seek more academic sources/studies since they do exist.
Several friends did online programs when i was in high school (09′ grad) and it was horrible for them in the long run. They speak openly about regretting it from different angles, from not actually learning as much to not having social experiences.
My niece also did online schooling for HS because of covid (she switched to an online school not the public zoom schooling). She’ll be heading into her 2nd year of college in fall. She hasn’t pointed the finger at her high school education yet but has seen tutors and said she feels “behind everyone.” Right now she thinks she’s just dumb but i know she’s not, she just had a poor high school education. For example, I asked her what books she read for her high school and the answer was none, she had only read excerpts.
edit: regarding specific home school programs, i highly recommend buying one of their history textbooks and fact checking it. one of my friends likes to talk about how he switched programs because the school was sneakily teaching creationism.
Two things to think about:
Motivation
Make sure you spend 4-6 hours each day on school. Don’t spend 15 minutes on a class by just copying answers from some site online. You might not think you need to read Shakespeare or learn about world history, but these things can be important later in life.
Senioritis is a real thing and it’s much more extreme for students learning online. Make sure you finish school!
Social
One of the hardest things is not having daily, sustained contact with other people. Make sure you’re getting outside and smiling at people in person.
If you’re feeling lonely, make sure you have someone to talk to about it, like a parent. You can then brainstorm what to do.
I did online school for several years between middle and high school. Thought it would be great, but for me it wasn’t, and I was too anxious to make a switch.
My biggest regret is not doing the following sooner: becoming fully homeschooled but going to community college for all credits. I completed a years worth of high school in one semester. I recorded my passion for music as another class.
If I had done that sooner, I could’ve got an associates while in high school, as well as complete high school in half the time, or just rack up credits. Plus, the community college classes was some of the best time I’ve had learning
Just be aware, while colleges in the South like homeschoolers just fine, colleges in the North East absolutely hate them.
Homeschooling plays to your strengths — great! I think you should go for it. Whatever things you find challenging about school in person — find some way to push yourself on it. Assuming you’re planning to go to college, think about what obstacles you might be avoiding now that you’ll have to face later.
I have a lot of sensory sensitivities, and the transition from online learning to in-person was really hard for me because I went from always being able to turn the volume down to being in crowds of loud people. After two and a half years of masks, I’ve found myself reacting a lot more to smells than I ever used to.
I don’t regret social distancing early in the pandemic, but if I were in an isolating situation in the future, I would need to find some venue to force myself to be in crowded / loud public spaces, just to make them easier to tolerate when I need to. So if I were you, I might do online school but attend a student group at the local high school or join a support group / sports team / etc. You also could consider taking one class per term in person at your local community college to keep yourself accustomed to in-person learning.