What To Do When Your 12-year-old is Bombarded with Questions About His Future
It's interesting (and sometimes alarming) to watch how other adults talk to your homeschooled teens. For some reason, many of them feel the need to quiz your offspring about their future plans, and particularly about where they're going to college. (Maybe it's their way of checking to see if "this homeschooling idea" actually works, LOL.)
I saw this with my own kids, and it put a lot of pressure on them. Feeling like they have to live up to the expectations of the other adults in their lives can be a huge temptation, simply because said adults appear serious and concerned about the issue. But deciding what to do with your life, much less whether and/or where you're going to college, is a big deal, and it certainly doesn't help to have people putting so much pressure on you, especially when you're not quite 13.
That's what happened to a 12-year-old whose mother posted a question asking how to handle this pressure to the readers of "The Homeschooler's Notebook." Their responses are so good, I just had to post this link to share them with you. Just scroll down a little less than halfway, to where it says "Last Issue's Reader Question."
By the way, at the bottom of that page, you'll find a link for subscribing to the "The Homeschooler's Notebook." I've been a subscriber for years and I highly recommend it!
2 comments:
I have people quizzing my 5 and 7 year old to make sure they're learning what they're 'supposed' to learn! Why do people think that's an ok thing to do? I don't quiz their school-going children to make sure the teachers are teaching them what they should learn (though I can tell my kids already know more than they do). Even people who are well-meaning and who I know love my kids (aunts and uncles) are skeptical, even though they can see that my kids are smart and happy and able to talk to anyone, regardless of age. I don't understand why people feel so threatened when homeschoolers do what they do. I guess it just gets harder when they get older...
Katherine, it does seem like some people feel the need to interrogate homeschooled kids, even young ones like yours. I understand your frustration. I guess this will continue until the general population sees what we already know: homeschooled kids are doing very well!
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