My dear beautiful amazing teenager is now in 11th grade. It is her first day back to school in an online private school that she loves. She has always been homeschooled and always had a great deal of say about her education. I feel like I have failed her though because today her principle told her that she needs 2 years of a foreign language for 4 year colleges meaning, she needs to start today, only the principle said it is the hardest class they offer and doesn’t think it is a good for our daughter.
Wonderful friends have suggested things like community college for French but of course it is too late for fall enrollment. Had I talked to the principle over the summer I would have known this. However we are a military family and looking at 2 possible moves in the next 6 months so trying to enroll for spring right now is even up on the air.
Others have suggested a tutor and while it isn’t like to find one out here in the sticks, online ones are an option. While our homeschool budget is rather maxed with 4 homeschooling this year we could make it work, however my teenager doesn’t like that idea.
What does she want to do with her educational life after high school? She has no idea. Maybe nursing school, or programming, or graphic design, or engineering… she can’t seem to pin it down and others seem certain now is the time to figure it out, past time even. My husband of course thinks the skies are the limit and there is no time line.
Have I failed her? I should have known about the language requirements and been prepared with options for her by now. It isn’t often I freak out over homeschooling as we have been doing it so long but today is one of those days….
Then of course you have the ignorant people who think homeschoolers can’t get into college and that is 100% wrong. Homeschoolers even get into Harvard. My daughter doesn’t seem interested in what college so much as having options for ever she does end up picking. She is very artistically minded and doesn’t really fit into a “box” or like being boxed in. I still want to give her options but not push. Not pushing is hard.
The military moves makes this all more complicated than it is for most homeschoolers too. We think we know what state we will be moving to but that could change, making plans all the harder.
Please excuse me while I sit here and have a melt down for a moment. Like all parents, I just want all doors open to my daughter and if we don’t figure something out soon then a 4 year college might not be possible right after high school and she will be “stuck” in a 2 year college and more limited options.
Hi Kimberly! Most likely you have already settled on a solution for foreign language for your high schooler. If you are still searching or unhappy with your current option, Time4Learning.com has added Foreign Language this year (Time4Languages) with currently 9 options to choose from (Spanish, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Latin and English.) So far, my high schoolers are loving it (and we’re learning along with them!) Hope this helps!
Thank you so much Missy! We liked Time4learning got the lower grades. Sadly we need something that is accredited at this point!