Homeschooling the ADHD Child
Highschool
NOTICE: The following posts are taken from the Christian ADHD Homeschoolers List. The names, e-mail
addresses and locations of all parties involved have been
removed to protect their privacy. The posts have been used
with permission, but are copyrighted by ADHD of the Christian
Kind.
Could I ask you a question about your high school graduate? Is he or she
going on to college and if so, did you find it difficult to gain admission?
How did your son or daughter do on the SATs? The reason for my questions is
that my husband has always been concerned about the boys getting into
college after homeschooling.
My daughter did four years of home school, started back to public school in 8th
grade. That was her choice, both for friends who were doing it and because
things were offered we did not feel qualified to teach -- foreign languages,
higher math, other things she wanted to take.
However, after four years of home schooling, my daughter tested two years above
her grade level on the Iowa Basics -- and has maintained that difference
during her high school years, we feel. She did well on her SAT and this year
is taking three college-level courses -- for which she will get college
credit -- as part of her senior curriculum.
It's pretty common for homeschoolers who go all the way through high school
at home, to do well on SAT/ACT and to have no trouble getting into college.
Colleges rely on SAT/ACT scores -- if those indicate you're ready for
college, most colleges will accept the student. Truth is, homeschoolers are
desired by many colleges because they frequently excel.
Our middle daughter also did four years of home school -- starting back in
seventh grade. She, too, tested two years above her grade level after four
years of home schooling. And went back to public school with our support,
when she choose to. The primary advantage for her is things like drama,
chorus, etc., which are hard to do at home.
When I read back through your original
e-mail, I realized that your kids were back in school, so it wasn't like
they went from HS to college. But I appreciate your taking time to give me
the facts, because that helps too. Do they get a little bored being
advanced? One of the things I dislike most about school settings is that
the kids have to learn according to their age level only - they can't just
move on with the next year's material even if they are bored silly in the
grade they're in. If they are HS, they can go at their own pace and just
soar!
There is some boredom when they are ahead of their classes. This is a minor
issue; it is far outweighed by the benefits we have observed:
1. Some hard classes are easier for them because they either have mastered
part of it already, or can go lighter on other subjects they have already
mastered, and focus on their hard ones.
2. When they started back to public school, this did not entirely end
learning at home. ____'s piano has progressed excellently; both girls are
avid readers and think for themselves; _______ has put her efforts into
working on French and Spanish. We don't see public school as an either/or
proposition with home schooling -- Public school offered some things we
could not; and home school still offers some things public school cannot or
will not.
As a philosophy, I'd say it this way. Our focus is on their education -- we
felt free to bring them home, feel to let them go back, and feel to continue
to encourage them at home studies after they went back to public school --
because learning is a lifelong thing. You have some agreement with us here
already -- after all, you're not going to home-college your kids, are you?
Of course not, they'll go out and upward in the larger, public world.
Here in ____, we have a great plus -- the state law provides for "dual
schooling." You can school your child at home, but if you find a single
class they need/want/would benefit from in public school -- and the school
has room in the class for even one more student -- they have to let your
child take it, at no charge. This applies to one class, or two, or several.
We did not take much advantage of this, but a lot of homeschoolers here do,
and it's great. Phys ed, team sports, etc. Drama, chorus, or that one
subject the parent is not very good at.
Anyway, we favor home schooling -- and the freedom to do otherwise if/when
it is obviously of benefit to the child.
As a child who grew up with both parents working, I really appreciate my
wife putting so much time and energy into our children and their education.
They have strong bonds, a much better sense of family than I did, and a
security that many children today lack. We feel our children are what we
will send into the future -- to do good in the world -- when we are long
gone. So this is more important than money, than the economic gain that two
working parents might achieve, etc. We have unwittingly taught our children,
that people are more important than money, the world, getting rich. And
we're glad.
My wife tells me I have gotten the dates/years wrong in the previous e-mail,
but the gist is correct -- somewhere I was off a year or so in when they
went back to school, etc.
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