Homeschool High school?

[skater]

We have homeschooled our 3 children from the beginning. Our oldest is entering 9th grade in the Fall and we are struggling with the decision of public school. She is interested in the opportunities of school like sports and drama and possibly music. She is such a sweet girl (except when she's not :lol2) and I am scared that she will change if she is out in the world too soon. I admit that I also feel the lure of those exciting extra-curricular activities. We do a lot now, but it seems like there are many more opportunities in school. Any thoughts?

[lyngraphics]

I think in our town, home schooled children can participate in any school activity as long as it's not UIL.... I forgot where I saw that.

[lisaann]

The extra activities are not worth losing your dd to the world. :hug

Those same activities can probably be found in other areas as well. For instance both of my children play on basketball teams through the rec. council. The arts council offers drama, art and music opportunities. There are some public school systems who are willing to work with homeschoolers in these areas as well. Remember you pay taxes that pay for these things so your children should be able to participate in them.

[NewWorldOrder]

Homeschooling highschool does not mean she can't participate in those things, it just means you'll have to be more creative in finding where she can participate. A lot of co-ops offer activities and classes for different things, so you may want to really check around for any homeschool co-ops, especially large ones. They can be hard to find, so you'll have to start asking other homeschoolers, look on the internet 'cause they almost always have a website. There are also homeschool proms. My daughter is going to one this year, and it's a BIG deal. It's held at a very nice hotel in their ballroom, and it's quite formal.

As far as sports, she can still participate she just won't be able to do it through the public school, unless your district allows it. There are lots of sports leagues that go all the way through 18 years of age. I know soccer does, and, again, homeschool co-ops sometimes will offer sports. In my area there's a homeschool sports co-op. I just found out about that. It's going to take a lot of investigative work to find these things, but once you do it will have been worth it.

[Itiswell]

http://www.hslda.org/highschool/default.asp

Here is a terrific resource. We are about to embark on the same journey, but fortunately I have several families in our church who have successfully home-schooled through high school to use as mentors as well.

We do extra curricular activities through our school district (in PA they are required to allow home schoolers to participate). However, we are part of a large consolidated school district, and have had 2 lock downs on our campus within the past 4 months involving weapons, and a ROTC instructor was just arrested on 58 counts of sexually assaulting minors. My husband and I are going to have to have a talk about whether they will continue to participate, or I may just take them to community led orchestras in the area.