This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: If I Could Talk to My Younger Self, Advice from Sabrina Justison.

If I Could Talk to My Younger Self, Advice from Sabrina Justison

This week, Sabrina is here to give some encouragement and advice. As you know, our 7Sister Sabrina is a fount of wisdom and homeschooling experience. Her youngest has already graduated from his homeschooling phase of life. Sabrina has learned a lot as she homeschooled four kids all the way through high school.

So, ready for some encouragement? First, we appreciate that you are probably in the thick of homeschooling high school. We appreciate you! You’re our 7th Sisters!

Sabrina has always wanted to homeschool her kids, starting in Pre-K. She took things year by year, but each year decided to homeschool another year (her kids agreed with her). One of the things that made homeschooling work for Sabrina and her kids was sharing her adventures with others- like her sister (7Sister Allison), her parents, and the co-op moms who became the rest of the 7Sisters!

Advice to Sabrina’s younger self

1. Oh my friend, there’s not ONE right way to homeschool high school. You will not find the perfect curriculum, philosophy or system that is going to work all the time for all your kids.
2. If you try something that is not working for a particular kid, get rid of it and try something else!
3. College is not for everyone. (Your kid heading to college is not the reward homeschool moms get for doing their job well. College is for some homeschool high schoolers, but not all. So do not get all guilty if your teen is not college bound.) Check out Sabrina and Vicki’s discussion on having “just average” teens.
4. Don’t be afraid to look back at your high school experiences- the good and bad experiences. However, don’t try to draw exact parallels between your experience and your teens’ homeschooling experience. I mean, the world is SO different (internet, culture, etc etc) for our teens. Homeschooling is different than traditional school, also. It’s okay to have some similarities and lots of differences.
5. Your kid is not you. Just saying.
6. Learning to learn is vastly more important than learning the things that other people know. Try to help them find ways to think (critical thinking, philosophy, discussion skills) so they can continue to learn through their entire lives. Concentrate on learning how to ask questions and look for information in good places.
7. There will be holes in their education. There is NO way to cover everything in the universe that it would be great for them to learn before they graduate. They can keep on learning after they graduate.
8. Resist the urge to compare you and your homeschooling families to what other homeschooling moms and families appear to be. (Nobody’s lives are Pinterest perfect! Beware of comparing your real life to someone else’s social media pix.)
9. While you’re at it, check your own social media health.
10. Value communication over punctuation. At 7SistersHomeschool.com’s estore, you will find lots of study guides by Sabrina (literature, writing, speech, drama). She knows by experience and learning by living: what you are saying is more important than the grammar with which you are says. Grammar is for the second and third drafts (use Grammar Granules and/or Grammarly.com to help). BUT remember, the ideas are the most important, ideas are the heart of our communication.
11. Be trustworthy and be honest when you fail. Your teens are watching you. If you can give them one thing and one thing only: a character of modeled trustworthiness, honesty and ownership of mistakes.
12. If your teens disagree with you, that does not automatically mean disrespect. Adolescents are at a developmental phase (see 7Sisters Human Development text) where they start difficult conversations and they question and push to see what is solid in their lives. Watch their tone and attitude for the difference between their painful questions or trying to be disrespectful.
13. Creativity saves lives. Do not underestimate the power of the Fine Arts and the power of noticing the creativity of God in nature. These are not extras but tools for survival. The ability to create something in the midst of chaos can save lives in a down or chaotic time.
14. Homeschool high school is not an extension of elementary and middle school. It is different and you will run into things you don’t know how to teach. SO stay in community and switch up teaching different courses with a friend or co-op. Teens are different from their younger siblings, too (you now that), so remember this as you figure out what education should now look like.
15. Find freedom in this phrase: There are actually worse things that could happen than the particular crisis that you are killing yourself to avoid in your teen. There’s not a formula. There’s no guarantee that your good work will end in the outcome you wish for. God is in charge of the outcomes- keep handing your homeschool and your teens to him. So if you take the energy you are putting into the trying to make your teen avoid the “scary outcome” and pour your energy into your relationship with God and your trust in his care for your teens, you will modeling how to need God for grace, redemption and support.

You can get more advice from all your 7th Sisters in 7SistersHomeschool Facebook group and in this Homeschool Highschool Podcast chat with Sabrina, Vicki and Kym with advice for new homeschool moms.

Join Sabrina for SO much encouragement in this week’s Homeschool Highschool Podcast episode.

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