What is it about the second year in high school that makes a homeschooled sophomore struggle?
When Mr. Senior 2013 was a sophomore I thought it was the devastating news of my husband’s heart attack that knocked us off course, but no it wasn’t altogether just that. When Mr. Awesome 2015 was a sophomore we were bouncing along just fine or so I thought. He too had the sophomore tussle.
Looking back now, I see with both of my older sons that there was just an itch in the sophomore year that they both had to get past.
I learned a few things about helping them past this middle hump in their high school years.
- The sophomore year is a time to re-plan.
Part of the problem in the sophomore year was that what we started off using for curriculum in the freshman year was not a good match now for both of my boys.
For example, Mr. Senior 2013 wanted to be introduced to Mandarin Chinese and was not interested in Spanish that I so hoped he would lap up.
When a Homeschooled Sophomore Struggles
Mr. Awesome 2015 wasn’t interested in any foreign language study at all, but wanted more focus on computers.
Adjusting to fit their growing academic strengths was a must.
Letting go of what I had planned for all four years was necessary because they were coming into their own persons.
- They wrestled with the slump of hormones.
Some days they were on top of the world, other days they felt overwhelmed.
Boys and girls both deal with not only the changes in the brain, but with their body needing more rest.
I was surprised at how much sleep they needed, but also equally surprised that they could go through their day pretty quickly and focus when they had to.
Listening to them when they talked to me about their stress of getting their work done for the day, I had to decipher when they just felt the pressure of pending adulthood and when they really needed input on switching around their day.
- Adding extra curricular activities had to be analyzed.
At first, I thought the solution was to let go of things they enjoyed like ball room dancing and piano, but I am glad I didn’t so easily cave when they told me they were overwhelmed.
Isolating the problem wasn’t easy either because sometimes they weren’t quite sure what didn’t feel right.
The solution wasn’t limiting their physical activity or the social interaction.
Activities with other teens wasn’t something they didn’t just look forward to, but was a huge motivator in the week for getting their school done.
Balance was not easy because academics are such a heavy load in high school, but paramount to a sophomore too is a change of pace for the week and something to look forward to each week.
I realized that some of the math that Mr. Senior 2013 was doing, he was flying through and so he cut back some of the lessons to move on to something more challenging.
Conversation with a Homeschooled Teen is An Art
- I wasn’t having no stranger in my house.
As your teen starts driving, having a job and spending more time away from you, which too is normal and preparation for adulthood, that is the time they need you the most.
Talking with my frustrated teens took not only patience, but it seemed like some decoding prowess on my part.
Meaningful conversations were the only way I knew that something was or was not working.
For example, Mr. Senior 2013 liked having the options to switch out curriculum mid-year and lounge around in his learning, but Mr. Awesome 2015 needed a clear cut plan because his plan was to finish as fast as he could get through high school.
Not having the choices to switch mid-year stressed Mr. Senior 2013 and have too many academic choices with no clear cut end in sight was a stress inducer for Mr. Awesome 2015.
Try to figure that one out over a year or two.
Homeschool High School
The point is I eventually figured out their budding personalities as it changed in the sophomore years.
Struggling for us seems easier to take at times than it does for our children. And to us, our teens still feel like little children, but I learned that when my teens coped with struggles it was part of the metamorphosis into adulthood.
They come out of a struggle with coping ability and the best thing of all is that they come out with a better understanding of who they are, which serves them well into adulthood.
Are you struggling with a homeschooled tenth grader this year?
Lastly, I hope these tips help you to not let them give up so easily and return to public school and don’t give up things they have a passion for either.
Read more tips below:
- 6 Ways to Organize Your Homeschooled High School Teen
- Creative Solution for Homeschooling High School When Life Happens
- 9th Grade Homeschool High School – Avoid the Sock It to ‘Em Attitude
