Even though I’ve been homeschooling Munchkin for the past nine years, I’m not too confident about how things will go this year. Why? Well, because she’s starting high school! Grades aren’t based on craft projects and simple question and answer exercises anymore. She has to buckle down and get some serious studying done so she can have good test scores on her transcript. Sadly, as the workload increases, her attention span and motivation seem to decrease. This is not okay!
Getting Ready for High School
So, I decided to change over to a program that was more rigid and that would require her to take more ownership over her education. Now she’ll have an online teacher to answer to for shoddy or late work. There are also more benchmarks in how far she must progress in her studies at given points throughout the year. I think it will lessen the stress of doing her work for both of us.
We considered putting her back in public school but, after being homeschooled all her life, it would be cruel to throw her back in that environment at this point. Plus, homeschooled students can take some of their classes at local community colleges starting in 10th grade. That means she can get college credit while still in high school. She could even get an Associate Degree (AA) by the time she graduates.
And then what? As Munchkin is just starting high school, it seems a little early to think about college or technical school. However, the first fourteen years of her life passed so quickly that I’m sure another four years will go by before we know it. It’s a good thing we’re already starting to save for her future education expenses with ScholarShare!
Planning for Your Child’s Future Education
ScholarShare is California’s 529 College Savings Plan. It allows parents (and friends and family) to save for their children’s education. Funds can be used tax-free on educational costs such as tuition, books, boarding, etc. You can open an account for your kids as soon they have a social security number and take advantage of one of two age-based portfolios. Account owners and beneficiaries do not need to be California residents to take advantage of ScholarShare. (Get more information in the FAQ post I wrote a while back.)
So as you prepare for this new school year and beyond, you might want to add “opening a ScholarShare account” to your to-do list. The earlier you start, the more you can save. The more you save, the less you or your child will owe later. It’s a win-win situation!
This post is part of my participation as a ScholarShare Ambassador, which includes compensation and a one-day event with travel expenses covered. All opinions are my own.
