Transitioning Back to Traditional School

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Are you at a crossroads with homeschooling? As wonderful as homeschooling can be, there are situations, periods of time, and family dynamics at play that don’t always make it the best option. For those families, it’s possible that traditional school is best. If you feel your family would do better using traditional school, keep these tips in mind to make the transition to a traditional school run smoother:

Keep Up With The Public School Joneses

While homeschooling affords you the opportunity to educate your teen using any homeschooling style you choose, those different styles don’t always align with what the schools teach. This might be concerning if you’re transitioning to traditional school. You can find your state’s requirements on our state laws page. You could also check the school’s website and look through their “academics” or “curriculum” section for a better idea of the standards they adhere to. In any case, you’ll help your teen tremendously if the material taught in schools isn’t totally foreign.

Keep a Record of Progress

If you’ve been homeschooling from the beginning, then no one knows where your student stands academically except you. Your teen’s new teachers will have no one to ask – except you – about what was accomplished in previous years. This is why it is so important to keep good homeschooling records. Don’t be afraid of the new teachers. Instead, sit down and talk with them about why your child is transitioning to traditional school and what you hope to accomplish. Let the teacher know how concepts best click with your student and what your student’s learning style tends to be.  

Prepare Your Teen

Since your teen is the one going through the biggest change, it’s best to prepare for what may be encountered in high school. You can prepare by being involved in situations that might simulate a classroom setting (like a homeschool co-op) and make sure your teen understands how things tend to go in a group setting. To ease this portion of the transition, check with your teen’s future school and request permission for your teen to sit in on a class or two before officially attending school.

 

Also, explain to your student that schools have people who may believe very differently from your family. Talk about how you will handle this as a family and how your teen can best cope with being around people with blatantly different views. You could also discuss some of the ideas you think your teen will encounter and how to answer classmates’ questions.

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January 22, 2018