We started homeschooling my third child when she entered her sixth grade year. Often many homeschool families are intimidated by the upper grade levels, thinking they can’t handle teaching lessons at that level, and many even panic and put their children into public or private school at this time. So to say we got looks of disbelief when we chose to start our homeschooling journey at this point is an understatement.

The key to being successful in homeschooling at any point is to have goals in mind for your homeschool: what do you want to accomplish for your child academically, socially and personally. As your child grows, your goals need to adjust to include the goals your child has for him or her self, so you can adjust their studies and activities to meet those goals.

There are actually advantages to beginning your homeschool journey with older children:

• They Can Read: a huge milestone already accomplished
• Independent Study: most curriculum would allow for independent learning (especially many homeschool software) and study for a child in middle to upper grade levels – thus encouraging true learning, not just rote memorizing of facts they will forget
• Limitless Learning: no longer is your child held to pre-determined limits of academic progress. If they need more time to ‘get it’, they can take more time; if they ‘get it’ quickly, they move on – thus learning without limits.
• No Peer Pressure: this was actually one of the main reasons why we chose to homeschool when we did: peer pressure, or negative socialization found in public schools.
• Strengthens Parent-Child Bond: Middle & high school is a time when teens can often ‘cop an attitude’ and the paradigm shift begins with the focus on friends more important than family. Homeschooling can actually improve, if not eliminate that shift and keep (or bring back) that parent-child bond and shift back to family as priority and goes a long way in avoiding ‘teen rebellion’.

There are also some disadvantages to beginning a homeschooling journey in later years:

• Child’s Unwillingness: often homeschooling is the parent’s decision, not the child’s. The parent is doing what they feel best, the child does not agree. How you handle this within your family may vary; in our home my daughter was initially reluctant and unwilling. However, over time, she understood and respected our decision and later thanked me for homeschooling her!
• Poor Learning & Independent Study Habits: just because your child has spent years in the public school system does not mean they know how to study or actually learn. They may know how to remember something long enough to fill in a worksheet, but they aren’t necessarily taught to think, ask questions and find answers (i.e.: true learning). They’re used to sitting and waiting for the next thing to happen, not working independently and moving forward on their own.
• Fear: Fear of what others will say. Fear of your inability to teach them. Your child’s fear of missing out on what’s going on with their friends. Your child’s fear of appearing ‘weird’.

Ultimately you need to sit down as a family to decide why you are considering the homeschooling option, weigh out the pros and cons for your family and realize that every obstacle can usually be overcome. Homeschool support groups can be a huge help – both offline and online support groups.

My advice is to seek answers to your questions from experienced homeschoolers (online and offline) and you will soon realize how vast and far reaching the homeschool community has become, and that you will not be alone in your homeschooling journey.

So yes, there are others just like you (and me) who got a late start in homeschooling and survived to tell the tale and share their experience with others.