12th Grade

Calling, College, and Career

Chances are, your student only has six to eight weeks left for this semester. Perhaps you’re working on plans for a graduation party or state convention graduation ceremony. Maybe you’re working on invitations to an open house and scrapbooking pictures for a graduation party, stopping every once in a while to marvel at how fast time flies.

This is an incredible time in your student’s life and in yours. One season of discipleship has concluded; the season in which education and parenthood were vitally connected. Whatever your student is called to do in this new world of adulthood, discipleship will look different now. He will still be a disciple; you will still be his parent! But he is walking into the calling for which you equipped him, changing into the person you helped him (or her) become.

Preparing for the Next Step

Many parents ask me how to prepare for the transition to college or career after homeschool. Every time, I answer the same: “You already have.” Homeschoolers are some of the most well-adjusted students to enter college and the workforce, and I credit that to years of parental influence and spiritual discipleship.

This next step is a big one. There may be changes to the original career path or college plan. Majors might change, transfers may occur, and your student will do his share of internship and job hunting in the years ahead. Yet everything you’ve done in your homeschool – from academics to extracurriculars to daily responsibilities in the home – has become part of who he is, preparing him for the next step in God’s call.

The Heart of Homeschooling

What makes homeschooling so special, especially when continued through high school? It’s not protection from worldly influences, because the world still exists for homeschoolers. It’s not better academics and opportunities, though that may be part of the picture. What sets homeschooling apart – what lies at its heart- is discipleship. It is the personal attention of someone who knows a child better than anyone else – his parent – that makes homeschooling so effective.

If you doubt the preparation you gave your child, don’t let it keep you up at night. You have discipled your child in the truth. You have equipped, prepared, and readied him for God’s call. Now it’s up to him to walk it out.

Questions? Email [email protected]