The decision to homeschool your own teen should not be taken lightly, especially by a single parent. It is crucial that you consider several things before you decide to homeschool your teen, like your work schedule, the age of your teen, childcare, supervision, budget, income, etc. For many of us single parents, creating the perfect formula for all these and knowing how to homeschool your child is just a little less than impossible. That is why a majority of single parents don’t opt for homeschooling their children even if they want to. In a study by the National Home Education Research Institute, homeschooled children score 15 to 30 points higher on standardized achievement tests as compared to students of public schools. Colleges are always on the lookout for homeschooled teens. Considering all this, it is actually worth the effort but it requires double the endeavor and trouble on the part of single parents. Here are some problems they face while homeschooling their teens single-handedly:

Managing it all

The biggest issue with homeschooling teens for a single parent is to manage work and the kid’s education at the same time. Most single parents fear that one of them would get neglected. But the solution to this problem is to cut on your work hours to spend time with your teen. You can take up a part-time job and work while your teen is participating in extracurricular activities. Working from home is another good option for single parents.

Taking a break

Homeschooling families often don’t take a break or do it once a year or so. The situation is a lot more different for a single parent and even more so for a single parent homeschooling a child with special needs. It is important that when educating a teen at home, single parents take some time off to relax and refocus. This can be done when the child is at sports, dates, sleepovers, parties or at a family member’s house.

Budget and income

Managing funds can be very difficult for a single mom who is homeschooling her teen. There is a single source of income on which the teen’s education has to rely on. There are several organizations that help parent’s homeschooling their kids by providing them with books and other material. Moreover you can always get free museum passes from the library, free library events such as musicals, free plays through the homeschooling organizations, free outdoor movies in the community, free educational movies, books, music, and documentaries from the library, and on and on. Freecycle is another great source from where you can get material to homeschool your teen.

Furthermore the state has also begun projects to help parent’s homeschooling their kids. At the end of the year, parents get credit and even reimbursed for items they have bought for their homeschooled kid.