Making High School Fun

Posted by Lisa N. | 0 comments

Homeschooling high school is full of focused, directed study; however, I do try to provide experiences for our kids that are really, truly fun. Each family is different and your idea of fun is going to be totally different than ours, but I’ll share ours with the hopes that you are inspired. Leave a comment or link back to your blog so that we can see the fun things that you do!

We’ve been very fortunate to have yearly drama camps in our area. These have consisted of a yearly high school One Act Play Competition, a week long drama camp, and a weekly Shakespeare Camp. Each of these experiences are quite different, and kids of all types are drawn to them because of the camaraderie and good, clean fun that is to be had. The initial drama camp (which morphed into the yearly competition) started with a group of homeschooling parents hosting a drama camp in their back-yard several years ago. Now it encompasses around 100 kids a summer, 2 nights of performances, and happy kids!

• Politics! We’ve been involved in campaigning since moving to our current state. We’ve had the opportunity to participate in local, state, and national elections and our kids get the fact that they have political clout even before they can legally vote! TeenPact has been a huge part of our political endeavors and opened the doors to a myriad of possibilities, including free Leadership Institute Training. Our kids have been flown across country to participate in political campaigns because of the contacts they’ve made through TeenPact. The “alumni events” for TeenPact students are terrific as well. Two of our older kids have both gone to Washington, D.C., for a week long walking tour of the city and to rub shoulders with notables such as Newt Gingrich.

• The Challenge Program, run by the Timothy group, is a male only camp run by IRL great friends of ours, former Air Force Major, Bruce Stansbury. If your son wants a physical and spiritual challenge, he should check it out.

• This might be an odd thing to add to the list of fun, but my older kids currently love their work situation. They are feeding baby calves one full day a weekend. My oldest son also hays with a friend of ours a couple of times each summer. It’s not regular work, but it’s outside, very physical, and pays well. Check out the opportunities where you live and talk to other parents. We have found out about all of our kids’ work sites through word-of-mouth.

• Create classes that you know your kids are interested in and invite others to join. This year I am teaching Creative Writing for high schoolers. My son is intensely interested in writing and has some serious goals surrounding it. The class gives him structure, gives me an opportunity to direct and encourage his work, and supplies the added benefit of getting lots of other kids involved in something we love.

• Do something physical. Anyone who’s been to any TeenPact event knows that Ultimate Frisbee is the official sport. Several kids in our areas organized a regular Ultimate Game after their first state class and 5 years later it’s still going strong. Homeschool high schoolers meet once a week, spring through fall, at a local park to play till its dark outside.

• Those same kids also go ball room dancing twice a month. Contact a local dance studio and see if they’ll provide a discount to homeschoolers with lessons to boot. Our kids continue the fun of the dance at the local Dairy Queen.

• Find cool field trips. This year our teens will go rock climbing, take a field trip through EROS, and a local radio station, visit a museum, have the opportunity to do the sculpture walk with an area artist and more. I’m sure your city has great opportunities for teens.

There are obviously lots of other ways for high schoolers to have fun, even while they are working hard academically. What do your teens do?

Lisa Nehring has been homeschooling her 5 kids (2 of whom have graduated) for the past 20 years. She holds Master’s degrees in Human Development and in Marriage and Family Therapy. Lisa has been involved in creating co-ops, class days, and camp experiences for homeschoolers, and was instrumental in bringing TeenPact to South Dakota. She writes regularly for the Homeschool Village as well as other magazines, websites and newsletters. Lisa and her husband of 25 years, David, a Christian Psychologist and Biblical Counselor, speak on marriage and parenting, education and homeschooling. Lisa blogs regularly about “crafting the extraordinary from the ordinary” at Golden Grasses.