7 Ways to Think about College When Homeschooling
(Hint: Start Now and You Could Possibly Save Thousands of Dollars in College Tuition)
By Beth Dumbauld
As a homeschooling family, or as a parent considering homeschooling for a high school-age student, providing an individualized homeschooling environment can offer your college-bound high schooler a world of educational opportunity. The experiences of homeschooling can be overwhelmingly positive for families looking to provide one-on-one education and guidance to their children – even if they have hit high school.
Most homeschooling families feel comfortably confident about their ability and choice to homeschool their children during the preschool and grade school years, yet sometimes that confidence diminishes with the real – or anticipated – college preparatory educational needs of teenagers. The most common reasons parents choose to homeschool their children don’t diminish once a child enters the high school years. Theses factors: individualized learning environment, enhanced family relationships, ability to accomplish more academically, ability to teach a particular set of values and beliefs, desire to provide a “safer” environment, and a chance to offer guided social interactions1 – only grow in importance as a child enters adolescence.
Some homeschooling families express concern about their ability to meet the growing educational and socialization transitions required for their college-bound children. Put your worries behind you. Homeschooling students can, and do, thrive at college. According to one study cited by U.S. News and World Report, homeschool students graduate from college, “at a higher rate than their peers – 66.7% compared to 57.5%.”2
Homeschooling with the right tools in preparation for college allows your children the benefit of customized academic support just as they are beginning to identify their passions. Have a budding computer scientist? How about a math genius? Or does your child’s path include a somewhere down the road? As a homeschooling family, you can, and should, start taking the proper steps to prepare your child for college before your student actually enrolls. There are several things you can do today that will save you time and money for college tomorrow – and act as a springboard for smoothing the college admissions process for your child when the time comes.
By using these 7 Ways to Think about College during your child’s homeschool high school years, you can help your homeschooler prepare for college successfully and quite possibly shave thousands of dollars off the total cost of college later on.
Also, later in this article, we’ll share with you the experience of one homeschooling student, Chase Miller, who made the most of his own homeschooling-to-college strategies, and is entering college having already earned 18.5 credits while in high school – which translates to him being thousands of dollars ahead of the curve towards earning his college degree.
1Ray, Brian, National Home Education Research Institute, Research Facts on Homeschooling, 1/2011, p.1
http://www.nheri.org/research/research-facts-on-homeschooling.html
2U.S. News and World Report Education: Home-Schooled Teens Ripe for College, 6/2012, p.1
http://www.usnews.com/education/high-schools/articles/2012/06/01/home-schooled-teens-ripe-for-college