The following is a post from Tabitha.
It’s November. (Well it was November- I’m a little late in publishing this post) For many, many people around the world, it is National Novel Writing Month. For me, it’s, “I never see my oldest child away from the laptop” month.
For those of you who don’t know, NaNoWriMo is where you drop everything and write 50,000 words sometime between November 1st and November 30th. You can find out more about it at http://www.nanowrimo.org.
Something I’ve learned about homeschooling a teenager is that they will have interests that become more than casual pursuits. They become passions. They become what a person wants to live for.
I went to a public high school, and we lived, ate, and breathed what was going on at the time, which for me was musicals, orchestra, competitions, and even marching band. They kept the every day interesting, and gave us all something to look forward to.
Now, while my 15 year old isn’t into most of those things, he does have a few things that have become the things that move him through his life. He has found his own ‘driving forces’ for his high school years. They include listening to music (and finding new stuff he likes), drawing and art, and writing.
I told him something about Na(tional)No(vel)Wri(ting)Mo(nth) last year in passing. He decided to go for it. He made it halfway. He is trying again this year. Now, as a teenager, he could have signed up for the Young Writer’s program where you can set a goal and shoot for it and still feel the satisfaction of a job well done.
He didn’t.
My young teenaged eldest son thought that the full program was for him. He’d rather shoot for the moon and miss than shoot for the backyard and make it. Or something like that. Now, this year, he’s not doing that well and he doesn’t think he’s going to make it to the 50,000 words. He has just a few days left. Did he give up? No. Is he still working on it? Yes.
This is why I love homeschooling a teenager. I can see the things I want to see in him as an adult. I can see him growing and developing character traits that make me proud.
He is choosing to do something and sticking with it til the end.
He is staying true to what he wants to do. He is aiming high and working towards his goals. He is finding what he likes and who he is and digging in with all of his heart and soul. The maturity is peeking out. Sure, he has a ways to go. But what a wonderful journey to watch.
Tabitha (wife to Tom, homeschooling mom to 8 kids ages 14 to 1, learning something new all the time)
About tabitha
Thanks so much for writing this post. I was a great inspiration to me. My twins are five, so we are still new down the path of interest-led learning, but already I see how they can spend hours in deep concentration on the activities they love to do. I’m so excited for them to have the opportunity to pursue those things they love and become very, very good at them because they will have much, much more time to do them than many children.
Isn’t it great when our kids get commited to something and stick w/ it? I new many kids who joined that NaNoWriMo, I tried to talk my 12yr son into it but no luck on my end. We really struggle with writing and well it takes someone else to encourage him to write. For some reason I am just not his muse.
Lil Momma is that Crazy Homeschooling mom of 3 who is happy mowing grass, vacuuming, and even do windows…just don’t ask me to be my kids’ creative writing tutor check out our family adventures at Five in Training for HIM