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Hi! So, I’ve been homeschooled my whole life, and since I’ll be in high school next year I was thinking of switching to public school. I feel like I need to have the experience of the social aspects of public school, as well as learning how to do tests and other education-related things that I haven’t experienced while homeschooling.
However, the education system where I live is really messed up right now, and if I switched I would really miss being with my siblings and doing deep dives into things that I normally wouldn’t learn if I were in regular school.
Basically, I’m wondering what other people’s experiences with regular school and/or switching from homeschooling to regular school, and if you think it’s worth it to switch.
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I would say it depends on the school, to be honest. I had a great experience with transitioning out of homeschooling – but that was because I was lucky enough to get admitted to a really good school with interesting classes, good teachers, and students I was able to get along with. If I had tried to go to a run-of-the-mill high school, I don’t think I would have had such a good experience.
I do agree that homeschooling can get lonely. But if you see that the educational system in your area is messed up, or that the schools in themselves aren’t appealing, I truly think the best thing would be to wait. Sometimes it’s better to be alone than to spend time in a negative situation. I don’t regret the many years I spent homeschooling – I got a very good education and I was able to spend time with my family and do things that interested me. And it was a good thing I didn’t decide to go to the catastrophe that is the local public school, because in a twist of events, I ended up being able to go to a much better school anyway.
Maybe one option would be to start the year homeschooling, and then transition into public school after winter break? Then if you don’t like it, you’ll only have half a year to get through anyway, and if you do like it, you can make plans to keep going there.
For tests and such, there might be ways to get practice with them while homeschooling. My mom always gave me exams at the end of the year for practice; perhaps you could do something similar, or take an online practice exam? For socializing, I do think it’s important to get some knowledge of what it’s like out there – but you could always try doing extracurriculars, which gives you a pretty good idea of the general social scene among non-homeschoolers. Either way, I don’t think you’ll miss out on a ton by continuing to homeschool, and you may actually gain a lot – a better education, the ability to do what you love, etc. It may be better to wait for the right school or social group, or even just hang in there until college, which is feasible from what I’ve seen.
Now, all of this only applies if the high school you’re considering isn’t very appealing in itself. If you actually feel that you would have a wonderful time in that school despite its lack of quality education, then by all means go for it! It’s so rewarding and wonderful to make friends, connect with people from other walks of life, have a community, be surprised by new things that you want to learn about, complete projects, etc., that it will definitely be worth it, even though it may be an adjustment. Just consider the school’s general social scene (is everyone obsessed with being popular and fitting in, or are they friendly and open-minded?) and the types of opportunities you can have. Maybe you could go to an open house or take a tour, or talk to someone who goes or teaches there. If you feel that spending time in a certain school would make you happy and bring you the things that really matter to you, then try it out!
I hope this is helpful! If you’d like to talk more, I’d be happy to. Whatever you decide, I hope it goes well <3
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I go to a public high school, and I love it. There are so many fun classes and lots of cool people. I think that if/when you go to college, it would be best for you to have experience with tests and whatever else. Even if regular school doesn’t do as deep of a dive into something you’re interested in, you can always do your own research.
I would encourage you to try out regular school, but of course you should pick based on what’s best for you. If there’s anything else with regular school you’re curious about, just ask :] -
At my highschool, I am able to go just for some classes, for example: French. If you could do that it might be a good way to ease into the public school without going all in. You would be able to meet teachers and kids, join clubs, do sports, and get the idea of a highschool class and its expectations, while not being completely overwhelming.
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I posted on here a few days ago and it didn’t go through… anyways…
About just the whole concept, switching from homeschool to public school, would be a big change. I just started homeschooling this year for Middle School, and I am loving it! What you could do, if the main thing is missing friends, you could do electives at the high school and do everything else at home. (I know some people that do that, so it could be a pretty good option) There’s also a school by me that does at school two or three days a week, and then you do the rest of the week at home. That’s a good in-between.
I find that the reason we homeschooled was mainly: 1, because I was getting older, and I wanted to spend more time at home before college, 2, we can save some money (which wouldn’t be a problem if you went to a public school), 3, so we could go on more trips (we were at Disney World a few weeks ago)
If you miss friends, and that’s the wanting to switch, you could do co-ops with other homeschooling families. You could do a 3 days school, 2 days homeschool in a week. You could do some electives at the high school so you can still have some friends.
Missing families: you could do the electives at the high school. It’d be like once or twice a week, taking 2-3 hours each time, you’d still see your family, and you’d have some friends.
Hope that helps!!