May 21, 2009

Thank you for visiting HomeschoolBytes again! Feel free to contact me with questions or suggestions. Make sure to subscribe to my RSS feed or get email updates any time I post new content.

A reader, Cindy, mentioned she would like to see more information for homeschooling teens, since it is pretty sparse compared to homeschool ideas for younger kids.

I don’t have any teenagers yet, but my with my oldest (9-years-old) giving me a the occasional “Whatever!”, I’m not far off

It seems a lot of kids return to school during the high school years and it is more difficult to help those who don’t, find social outlets and friends.

How do you do it?  Have you found something that works well that you could share with us?

Here are some of my ideas:

1. Church teen groups – Depending on your religious persuasion, many churches expend special effort to help provide wholesome activities and social groups for teenagers.  If you don’t currently belong to a church, ask around and find out from friends which teen group their family really enjoys.
2. Volunteer – Choose an area that your teen is interested in and explore the volunteer opportunities.  Ask around locally or try a site like Volunteer Match to find ideas in your area.
3. Intern or Shadow – Again, find what your teen is interested in, and find if they can shadow someone in that field for a bit or do a summer internship.  Many careers have shadowing and/or intern programs already set up.  Check with your local high school and college career centers for more info.  (I shadowed an emergency room doctor once a week for a few months before deciding to go to medical school.  It was a great experience!)
4. Activities at the local high school – In many states, homeschool teens are welcome to participate in team sports, electives, and extracurricular activities without having to go to the regular classes.  It’s a great way to make friends and also to find low-cost activities like band, choir, drama clubs, and team sports.
5. Host a group – Find a topic your teen and his/her friends are interested in, and help organize get-togethers, parties, and group activities.  You could help them put together a play, invite an author in to give them some novel writing tips, provide space and materials for building and launching rockets or drawing cartoons, help them launch a group blog, send them to the movies once a week and have them write a group review and rating for the local paper . . .  The possibilities are endless, and many times all you need to do is provide a bit of direction and resources.

Online Ideas:

1. “Homeschooling Teens” on Family Education
2. “Why Homeschool Teens” on HSLDA
3. Search Yahoo Groups for Homeschool Teen Groups, or start one for your area.
4. A-Z Home’s Cool Teen Resource Page

Your turn:  What are your best ideas to help and encourage teenage homeschoolers in their social life?

Posted under Homeschool Teens, Thursday Topics