Long-Term Plans

One of the first questions people ask when we say we're homeschooling is "How long are you planning to do that?" We've always planned to homeschool through at least middle school, but we weren't sure how we would proceed after that. Many homeschoolers that continue through high school enroll their kids in classes at community colleges, which I myself did when I was in high school. Having gone that route myself, however, I'm unconvinced that it's the best option for my own children.

My situation was different from most homeschoolers' because I had been at a public school before I left during my sophmore year, and as a result I lacked the community that most homeschoolers have in place. My friends in high school forgot to include me in plans (out of sight, out of mind), and most of my classmates at the college weren't interested in socializing with me once they found out how young I was. The socialization problem wouldn't be an issue for seasoned homeschoolers with good communities in place, but the college culture was sometimes an inappropriate environment for me and being younger than everyone else gave me an inflated sense of my own fabulousness. I also feel like I missed out on some aspects of the high school experience--specifically graduation and senior projects--though I did get to go to my junior and senior proms.

So I want my kids to have real peers--which means not starting college until they're college-age--and to have the cultural experience of the latter part of high school, but if they maintain the pace at which they're moving through the grades they'll be two or more years ahead of grade level by the time they reach high school. I don't want them to spin their wheels for two years, nor do I want to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a private school, so our plan at this point is to homeschool them until their junior years of high school, and then send them to a public school with an International Baccalaureate program. The IB is a highly rigorous program, and the homeschooling years should prepare them very well for the challenge. I'm a Canadian citizen and am planning to register the goblins as citizens as well, which will open up doors for them at universities in the Commonwealth. The IB diploma is internationally recognized as being among the highest standards of secondary education, and working through the program at a public school will give them the high school experience while still providing a challenge.

This idea could still change, of course, because high school is still years off. I'm a recreational researcher and plan-maker, however, and for now, it's a very comfortable plan.