{Day 25} How To Teach Those Tough Subjects

{For a complete overview of the 31 Days to Homeschooling program, click HERE}

Let’s begin with a shocking truth. One of the first things many of parents say (or think to themselves) when contemplating homeschooling high school goes something like this:

“But, I can’t teach chemistry!”

“I don’t remember anything about Algebra.”

“I was never a very good student.”

“I don’t know the first thing about being a teacher!”

As a homeschool coach and counselor, I hear these concerns all the time.

Now, for some good news. Many of the parents who say these things end up homeschooling high school anyway. They do it well, too!

Turns out, the secret to relieving all fears of teaching high school is to adopt a different point of view. I have found the key to helping parents gain the confidence to teach high school is to help them realize they do not have to be the primary teacher.

This realization is both eye-opening and liberating at the same time. For it is only once parents realize they will be forgiven for not knowing everything, and that other ways exist to teach high school at home, that the real fun begins. With the burden of teaching lifted, homeschooling high school suddenly seems a whole lot easier.

I refer to high school parents as Conductors. Or supervisors, or coordinators, or facilitators, or proctors, if they prefer. I use this terminology to illustrate the supervisory role that parents take on in high school, and to de-emphasize the teaching role they played during the elementary and middle years.

High school chemistry is a great example of learning to adopt a new role in the education process. No parent is required to teach chemistry alone. The real job of the homeschool parent at this stage is to help secure resources — the books, curriculum, classes, DVD, schools, mentors, internships, co-ops, tutors or other resources to do it instead. Students are not helpless in the process either. In fact, many high schoolers get involved in deciding how and when every subject should be mastered, too.

The same goes for other “tough” classes. Parents uncomfortable with the thought of teaching high school math often turn to other sources for help. That is why high school math is so often taken online, using self-guided books with videos, or by enrolling in courses along with other high schoolers. Many high schoolers take math courses on college campuses, too.

This is true for physics, foreign language courses, technology or any course parents do not feel confident enough to teach. Resources abound for these subjects for this very reason. Families will have no difficulty finding ones that work for them.

I offer a highly informative seminar entitled, “Don’t Fear the High School Years!” (get a glimpse of it HERE). Parents consistently leave this particular workshop feeling more confident about teaching high school than ever before. In fact, some return year after year just to hear it again! To learn more about this workshop, or to BOOK A SEMINAR for your group or network, I invite you to contact me.

Further reading:

Homeschooling the high school years

High School Math: What is really needed for college admissions, and why?:

Calculus and Chemistry: 5 Solutions for Teaching Tougher Classes

Awarding advance high school credit