Cure the Fear: A Powerful Tool for Confident Homeschooling

Fear of homeschooling high school is real. My absolute favorite book for overcoming this fear is Cure the Fear because it is a practical step-by-step plan which I love.

FEAR was one way to describe how I felt about the very idea of homeschooling two high schoolers last year.

Dread.

Self-doubt.

What the heck am I doing?

I thought since I had been homeschooling for over 10 years I’d be more confident by now. Ha!

The Truth About Homeschooling High School

The truth is homeschooling high school scared the wits out of me last year, and I was really struggling to make heads or tails out of how to go about the whole process.

We just wrapped up grade 9 and 10 this week. And I have to admit, homeschooling high school was FUN!

I am almost done planning next year’s courses thanks to this awesome homeschooling high school e-book. But it wasn’t always this easy.

After all, I had children who:

• Did not know what they wanted to learn about.
• Did not want to go to college or university.
• Did not want to be involved in the process of choosing subjects.
• And did not have any idea what they want to do with their lives.

*sigh* All that GREAT advice of “get your kids involved” wasn’t doing me a lick of good.

Of course, I can also admit that at 14, I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. In fact, most days I STILL don’t know what I want to do when I grow up.

I let the fear of all the unknown really get to me when I was thinking of homeschooling high school.

I will say fear can drive you. It drives you to find the solutions and help you need.

And I did find it!

Finding the right resources that give you the support and answers you need in an easy-to-follow simple process is key.

Very few books and resources make it to my recommended list because I am really picky, AND I am not a fan of “how to homeschool” books.

Disclosure: I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Cure the Fear of Homeschooling High School: How to Be Sure You’re Not Missing Anything by Ann Karako is one of the books I recommend over and over again! It is THAT good!

Cure the Fear of Homeschooling High School: A Step-by-Step Handbook for Research & Planning

 

If you have any fears of homeschooling your child through high school you’ll love this book because you get a step-by-step plan filled with practical advice, planning tools, printable worksheets, and instructional videos.

Awesome, right?

I had been following Ann’s blog for years, even before I started my own. My favorite thing about Ann is how real she is AND she keeps things simple.

The book is a PDF which you are going to love because it has printable forms and clickable links to other resources, you can also get it as a paperback from Amazon.

Make sure you save it somewhere safe. I like to make a folder on my desktop so I can find it later. Or I drop it into Dropbox so I can access it on my tablet, as shown above. 

Ann is also a working mom like me. She doesn’t have time for complicated and neither do you. She provides a ton of simple, easy, straightforward resources for those homeschooling high school.

From the very first chapter, you can tell that Ann has been there, done that. She is not speaking from someone who has read about homeschooling high school and regurgitating facts.

She shares actual fears we all have such as entering a new phase where our kids need to learn things we have either never studied, totally forgotten or plain go beyond our ability.

Because she has felt that way too.

And yet. She has graduated children who have all been accepted to the colleges of their choice, and a fourth is due to graduate this year, ready to go to work.

For me, my fear was what if my children change their mind and decide they DO want to further their education? Will I have totally messed them up?

After all part of homeschooling is taking on the responsibility of educating our children. We don’t get to blame the teacher for screwing up-we are the teacher!

Remove The Fear Of Homeschooling High School

I hear moms in my online community speak these fears all the time. They put their kids in public school or private school once grade 9 hits because they are scared.

Or they are overwhelmed by a mountain of information that is not clear or easy to understand.

I was. I was frozen. Scared to step forward or back. But not anymore!

Right from the beginning, Ann walks you through how to use the book, from building the foundation, to figuring out what you really need to do, walking you through step by step from curriculum, credits, and planning. She also provides the forms to help you out!

Throughout the book, she doesn’t just say “core subjects” or “electives” but breaks each of them down with ideas, examples, and how you can change them for your kids!

For example, on page 40, she is talking about Science. She explains which one is considered a high school credit and the “normal” order they are studied. She also shares alternatives for those who are not scientifically inclined. (AKA not going to be a doctor or engineer.)

How I Use Cure The Fear

As you know, I never use things the way they are “supposed” to be! Apparently, Ann knew that because she makes it easy to customize the plans to fit your child and your life.

I read each chapter and did some of the exercises. I definitely did the one in chapter 2 because she was so adamant about it.

And you know what? She was right. I needed to do that exercise, and I needed to do it myself.

The printables are amazing. Now that I have my color printer, I printed them out again for this year.

Aren’t they pretty? I also used my favorite planning book The Well-Trained Mind for curriculum ideas. 

The book contains 8 printable forms that you will fill out as you go through the process, from the crucial confidence-boosting first step to the final schedule of courses and curriculum.

Use the forms to write your plan, in pencil! You can even add in any dual enrollment, AP, or exams to earn college courses such as CLEP and DSST. These forms are perfect for helping you create your homeschool transcript.

I read the book cover to cover. Then printed out the forms and went back to do the chapter 2 exercise.

Then hop around to the sections I really wanted to learn more about.

Like anything, use it the way you NEED to. Do it your way.

How using Cure The Fear worked out for us.

Last year’s plans went okay. We had to change math programs a few times, we mixed in cooking and baking to help my girl.

We learned new things about each child, so the “wonderful plan” I had going into next year needs to change.

But that is okay. Life is about changing. Homeschooling is all about being flexible.

Out came the Cure the Fear book, and I re-read the chapters I needed. I took my forms, and some of our homeschool books and dug in.

As much as I hate change, planning is kind of fun. My kids don’t like to make choices. I narrow it down to 2 or 3 top options and let them decide from there.

Cure the Fear of Homeschooling High School: How to Be Sure You’re Not Missing Anything provides steps to help you choose your curriculum and clear information on credits.

Cure the Fear of Homeschooling High School: A Step-by-Step Handbook for Research & Planning

 

I really loved page 26, where she talks about how each child is different and they may need a break in the senior year. She also shares how we can tailor their education to fit them personally.

YES even in high school. ♥

This was perfect because I have one child who is not a fan of core subjects. We’ll work out what years she needs to do which subjects and which ones we can let go of.

I really appreciated the practical help in the book, including life examples, such as how to find the information you need on your own. What that information means and how you can use it for you, not against you.

She even offers suggestions on how to find the best curriculum for your child and how to adjust that to your child’s unique needs. I found my son’s French program through this book.

I love learning from others because you can see what parts of high school are flexible such as what courses are taken when and what is not flexible such as your state/province requirements.

Cure the Fear really gave me the confidence to say “Yes we are going to homeschool high school!” and know I had a plan for my kids that fits our life.

Sometimes we just need to hear that we are not alone in our fears and we need someone to guide the way.

It is so easy to get caught up in all the “this is what your high school MUST look like” hoopla that we forget one basic truth.

We are the decision-makers in our homeschool.

We know our kids best.♥

Please do the research. Educate yourself. Talk to your child (if they aren’t like mine!) and find out where they want to go and make a plan.

Follow the practical and hands-on help in Cure the Fear. Go from the big picture to the small details with confidence.

You’ll use this book again and again. You’ll also rediscover new things.

For example. I just realized I could count my son’s driving course! YAY!

Now if only we can get him to remember that STOP means BRAKE.  Oy, I am not sure there is enough coffee in the world for when your “baby” starts driving.

Homeschooling high school actually ended up being a ton of fun. It didn’t look like what I had in my mind but that’s okay!

Are you homeschooling high school? What is your biggest fear right now?

Homeschooling High School doesn’t have to be terrifying- You CAN do it. Arm yourself with the tools and resources you need. Trust me, it is so much fun 🙂 These moments fly! Don’t miss a thing.

If you are looking for an affordable, powerful tool to help you homeschool high school with confidence, check out Cure the Fear of Homeschooling High School: How to Be Sure You’re Not Missing Anything by Ann Karako – because she has graduated children who have all been accepted to the colleges of their choice, and a fourth is due to graduate this year, ready to go to work!

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