Of course there are many reasons that we home school and our extended family has come to accept the fact that we home school. At first they thought it was a fad, but when I gave up my profession to home school our children, they realized it was the ‘real’ thing.
But one of the primary reasons that we home school is to avoid the needless peer pressure. Now, I’m not oblivious to the fact that it is inevitable to avoid, especially with extra-curricular activities, but it was one of the reasons nonetheless. We loved the fact that we could choose the subjects that were interesting and of course still tackle the not so interesting ones. But the best part was having the liberty of doing what we wanted, where we wanted and best of all, when we wanted. Can I share a little secret? My kids are learning 24/7 and they truly love it.
For example, my now 10yo dd can cook and so can my 14 yo dd. Now, I’m not talking about boiling water, they can cook entire meals and love doing it!! My older son is a math whiz and a natural musician and singer. My younger one, we call ‘little man’ has a great memory, which is a bit scary, but fun nonetheless. My oldest graduated last May and is attending college full-time.
But, now comes my rant. You knew there’d be one, right? I don’t usually rant but for the sake of my son, I must. Remember one of the reasons that I mentioned several paragraphs ago as to why we chose to home school? Let me refresh your memory, it was due to peer pressure. Well, wouldn’t you know that my oldest is experiencing that very thing we tried to avoid. Now, let me explain…it’s not the actual peers that are pressuring him, it is all self-induced but exists nonetheless. You see, my son although only 16 can graduate high school now, if we let him. We chose to slow down the pace and extend his high school years until next semester at least. But that’s not the problem.
Just recently he was scheduled to take the infamous ACT exam. He thought that he had to do very well, or better yet was afraid of doing well. The main reason he was putting this pressure upon himself was because of his friends. Most of his friends are seniors and have plans or so he thinks to attend college and have supposedly chosen a major. Notice how I say supposedly. Because every parent knows that they will ultimately change their mind once in college. My poor son was stressing because he didn’t know what he wanted to be when he grew up. Sound familiar?
After the many tears and explanations, both son and I were crying, by the way… he was more at ease. He was putting needless pressure on himself and needed us, his parents to relieve the stress and let him know that it was simply okay. Let’s face it, many adults still don’t know what they want to be when they grow up. Myself, although I thought I wanted to be a doctor all my life, which of course was implanted in my brain by my parents, became one and no longer practice as one. My first love was writing and to this day continues to be my first desire and passion. I’ve always wanted to help people, so of course it was natural to become a doctor, but quite frankly I help more folks now, then I ever thought I could with my writing. Amazing, huh?
Well, this post is getting longer and longer and I don’t want to bore you. The moral here is to sit down and talk to your teens. Let them know that it is perfectly okay not to know which direction they want to go. It is not essential to have a major picked out to enter college, and quite frankly it is not necessary to go to college. Some of the greatest entrepreneurs never attended college, but that’s another post. Talk to your teens, ask them questions, they may be stressed out for no reason, and they need your reassurance that it will all be fine in the end.