Sometimes, you have to insist your homeschoolers learn subjects they are not necessarily fond of. (Of course, if you are an unschooler, you will take exception to this statement.) While your child may be gifted or talented in an area or two, they will want to ignore other areas. Your math whiz may resist grammar lessons. Your creative writer may avoid math. Your budding scientist will shun anything unrelated. Unless college is unimportant, and counting money suddenly becomes irrelevant, there will be subjects they have to take anyway.
Today, I had to break the news to my son that if he wanted to continue in the “Arts” program he has been taking through high school, then he was going to be required to take some classes he had avoided like the plague in the past. He loves his homeschool arts program because of the way it creatively presents history, and because it allows him to be immersed in music and visual art. The drama and singing, he could do without. However, in the high school program students are required to be well rounded and must take classes in all disciplines even though only one or two may be close to his heart.
I knew this was coming so I tried to prepare him. For the past three years, I have been trying to get him to audition for a play, join a choir, or even present a speech, but he made it clear that his place was backstage, behind the camera, or running the lights. Fortunately, I had worn him down enough that although he grimaced; he knew that his years of avoiding public performing were over and easily agreed to taking the entire course, chorus, drama, and all.
While homeschooling allows students to spend more time immersed in disciplines that they love, it is also important to request that they step out of their comfort zones from time to time and stretch themselves. Who knows, they may find out that the thing they avoided all those years is the thing they love the most.
*Have a question about homeschooling? Just ask.
*Want to know more about homeschooling? Start with the 2006 homeschool blog in review!
* Have you seen the homeschooling curriculum glossary?