Are your kids asking to stop homeschooling? If so, click through to discover some positive strategies for helping them to see the value of homeschooling. | stop homeschooling | kids hate homeschooling | go back to school |

What If the Kids Want to Go Back to School?

Overview: If you’ve made the huge decision to remove your kids from school or homeschooled them from the beginning, what do you do if they want to go back to school? Here are 10 positive strategies to win over their hearts.

Let’s say that you’ve either made the huge decision to remove your kids from school or have decided not to send them in the first place. You have made the commitment to homeschool them and things seem to be going well, in your opinion.

What do you do if your kids decide that they want you to put them back?

Are your kids asking to stop homeschooling? If so, click through to discover some positive strategies for helping them to see the value of homeschooling. | stop homeschooling | kids hate homeschooling | go back to school |

I have received several questions from parents asking me that question. It can be a heartbreaking position to be in. You’ve sacrificed, you’ve planned for hours week after week, you’ve really dedicated yourself to the task only to have one or more of your children reject the whole idea.

It can be tough when our kids want or think they want, something different from what we’ve chosen for them. What is the best thing to do in this situation?

The answer to that question depends on several factors:

Age of your children

The older your children are, the more input they need to have. When children are very young, it is important for us to decide for them. As they get older, however, they need to start having a say in what happens in their lives.

No matter how old our kids are, however, we are their parents. Some decisions still need to be made for them.

Often, they will not agree with us and we need to make our case and stick to our convictions. If we do it correctly, with the right intentions, they will thank us for it someday.

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How strong is your desire?

Why did you decide to homeschool in the first place? What are your reasons?

If these reasons are extremely strong, stick to your guns more adamantly than if you just had a mild curiosity about it and wanted to give it a try. If you’ve been in prayer about the decision and feel that homeschooling is God’s will for your family, then you need to continue.

No matter what your kids’ short-term response might be, you want to be fully in the middle of God’s plan for your life. Sometimes it’s hard to understand why God wants us to go down a certain road in life, but we still need to continue on in that direction.

Explain to your kids that God is in control and we need to obey Him, whether we agree with Him or not.

How strong is their desire?

We all know that the more kids want something, the more passionate their responses will be. Are your children just asking mild questions or are they off-the-charts adamant about returning to school?

Remind them they’re remembering younger years of school. As they get older and their schoolwork gets harder, they would have less and less social time with their friends.

They will sit at a desk for hours a day, not able to talk or pass notes unless they wanted to get into trouble. They will socialize with their friends at lunchtime and recess and that’s about it.

You can force your children to be homeschooled but you can’t make them learn. If your kids are really fighting your attempts to homeschool, you may want to consider trying a few of these positive strategies to try to win over their hearts.

What if the kids want to go back to school?

10 Positive Strategies To Win Over Their Hearts:

1- Make it Special

Every time you do something with your kids that they wouldn’t be able to do if they were in public school, be sure to mention it to them and play it up. For instance, taking off the first warm day in the spring. Or spending family time together in the evenings instead of having to do homework.

Be sure they see how late that big, yellow bus goes by in your neighborhood to drop off kids so that they realize how much LONGER they would be sitting at a desk if they were in school.

Paint a very clear picture to your kids about the PROS of homeschooling and the CONS of public school. Yes, there are pros and cons to both, but right now you want to get them to focus on the positive aspects of homeschooling.

2 – Make it Enjoyable

Add in a subject or two about which your kids are especially interested. We’ve added in computer programming for one son and videography for the other. They spend half an hour a day doing this each day and it is something they look forward to.

They wouldn’t be able to spend as much time pursuing their own interests or have many options on their educational choices if they were in a traditional school. Be sure they realize this!

3 – Make it Fun

Be very intentional about throwing some fun or joy into your school day. This is always a great thing to do, anyway. But since you’re trying to turn their hearts toward home, a great way to do that is to laugh together.

If they think their best childhood memories are at school, ask them what it is they remember so fondly and try to recreate or top some of those experiences at home. It should be easy to do because you have so much more freedom than does the school.

4 – Connect with Friends

If your kids are missing specific school friends, encourage your kids to invite them to your house occasionally. After being away from them for a while, those friends may have changed undesirably and your kids might not miss them so badly if they can spend time with them again.

If they still have common interests, help your child to have time to spend with them. Just because they aren’t going to school together doesn’t mean they can’t continue their friendship.

Let them email a friend or have an occasional lunch date with a buddy. Consider letting them talk on the phone or a Zoom call on days when getting together with a friend wouldn’t be possible.

Are your kids asking to stop homeschooling? If so, click through to discover some positive strategies for helping them to see the value of homeschooling. | stop homeschooling | kids hate homeschooling | go back to school |

5 – Teach Them About Other Homeschoolers

Homeschooling isn’t the prominent educational model in modern society. However, there are many cool people throughout history who were homeschooled and who became famous authors, artists, inventors, business owners, pastors, missionaries, etc. Teach your children about these prominent men and women. Once they realize what excellent company they are in, they may accept homeschooling more readily. This is especially true with older children.

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6 – Consider a Co-op

It’s important to spend time doing activities with other homeschool families. If you don’t belong to a co-op you might want to consider that option.

In past years, we belonged to one that only met every other Friday morning, but it gave my boys a consistent time when they could have a few classes with their homeschool buddies. My boys really appreciated that time!

I also try setting up field trips and taking off afternoons occasionally to allow my boys to visit with their friends. They really enjoy this as well. My boys are social and they miss being around other kids if we aren’t doing it often enough.

Obviously, you need to have balance and still get the schoolwork done, but if you realize you haven’t been doing it very often, you might want to bump up friend time a bit.

7 – Join a Team

Being on a sports team can help your children fulfill part of their social craving. My boys play softball with a homeschool group every summer and that has been another fun way for them to make friends, burn off some energy, and have time away from home.

They also enjoy being on a basketball team from October through February, which gives them a huge social outlet.

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8 – Make it Real

Have heart-to-heart talks with your kids and explain to them why you’re doing what you’re doing. Make sure they have a vision for why you are homeschooling.

This isn’t just a crazy impulse.

Homeschooling is important for you and you honestly feel it is the best option for your family or you wouldn’t be doing it.

9 – Give Them Input

Be sure you are communicating with your children. Ask them what they miss. Try to incorporate activities they would appreciate throughout your homeschool day. Be sure you are using techniques which appeal to the way they learn best.

10 – Engage Their Minds

Be a student of your children. Teach them in a way that will activate their interests and turn on their love for learning.

Throw away as many worksheets as you can. Read them great books. Do active learning activities with them.

If your children enjoy learning, they will not want to stop!

It can be devastating when our children don’t think they want to be homeschooled. Sometimes, with a few minor changes to our routine, we can help them see that homeschooling can give them the freedom to have a specialized education that will be just right for them. Take the time to talk with your kids and to determine what will work best for your family.

Once you’ve won over the hearts of your children, you will all be able to better enjoy the long days that you spend together. It’s definitely worth the effort!

Question: Have your kids ever wanted to go back to school? What did you do? If you have any further tips to share with other parents please leave a comment below.

Are your kids asking to stop homeschooling? If so, click through to discover some positive strategies for helping them to see the value of homeschooling. | stop homeschooling | kids hate homeschooling | go back to school |

14 thoughts on “What If the Kids Want to Go Back to School?”

  1. Sandra holmes

    This was a very helpful article. Thank you!!! The homeschool community really need more topics like this discussed. I am a homeschool mom of 2 a five year old daughter and a 3.5 year old son. They are like night and day differences. My daughter is extremely sociable and often wonders what she’s missing in “normal school”. My husband and I try to assure her but sometimes she still wants that social side of her needs met. This article really helped me to see some other things I can do that could possibly help her feel like she’s getting that need met. Thank you again!

  2. I have a soon to be 9th grader whom I have homeschooled since 2nd grade. Now that high school is coming up he wants me to send him to public school….aaagghhhh. besides the fact that I am against the idea of him going we live in an area zoned for a school that isn’t very good (socially or academically). He’s looking for the social aspects of school more than anything. He thinks hes.missing out on some ridiculously good times in high school. Lol. We are new to FL so he doesn’t have many friends that he would be.going to the local high.school with anyway. He does play travel soccer and we have a great youth group at church and I am.looking to join a co-op hopefully. Any advice?? Lol. Thanks

    1. Michelle Caskey

      Sounds like you’re thinking about the right things. Soccer, youth group, and a co-op will give him some of the social aspects that he thinks he’s missing. Try to be intentional about helping him to form friendships with a few kids from these groups, if possible. Invite them over to the house.

      Also, talk to him about why you removed him from school in 2nd grade. Talk to him about what high school was like when you were in it. Show him news articles of some of the bad stuff going on in high schools nowadays.

      Most of all, pray that God would change his heart and help him to enjoy being homeschooled his high school years. Make sure you allow him to have the time and flexibility to study some stuff that he enjoys and finds relevant and don’t try to duplicate the same old classes he would be taking if he went to public school. Hopefully that will help!

  3. Very helpful! My oldest often gets pressure from his public school friends to “come back” to school. He will be entering 7th grade and playing soccer for the school (we are lucky to be in a state that allows homeschoolers to participate!). He’s also active in our church and basketball. I like to take it year to year-but really want him home with his 4 younger brothers. I hate to see our family apart-they have grown so close! I keep praying that God will help him choose the correct path.

    1. My oldest will be in the ninth grade next year. This is our second year out of public school. He has really enjoyed homeschool but thinks he might enjoy highschool. My heart says “No!” Haha. But I’m not sure me laying down the law is best route. Then his little brother (5th grade) says he will go back if his brother does. Argh. Praying, teaching, and trying to make homeschool awesome. Haha.

      1. Oh, I’m sorry, Jodi. Yes, that is difficult. You aren’t the only one who has been in that situation. As our kids get older, they do have minds of their own. Do lots of praying and keep me posted.

  4. My son went down this road before the beginning of this year – his 8th grade year. After his public school friends started talking about their schedules, and he realized how little gaming time he would get each day, he promptly changed his mind!

    1. There you go! Sometimes our best allies are kids who are attending public school and who are willing to give an honest evaluation of their experience to our children. So glad that things worked out that way with your son!

  5. I have homeschooled my 4 kids their whole lives, and now my 2 oldest kids (Kim,17) (Matt,14) want to go to a public high school and they say I’ve been keeping them in a bubble. They have a pretty good spiritual life with God and I’m not sure if they can make it in school. Do you think they should be able to go?

    1. Wow. I really can’t answer that question for you. That’s really between you and God.

      I would suggest you do lots of praying – with your husband and with your kids. If you’re like me and you feel that God has called you to homeschool – and you really don’t want them to go to public high school, then try to talk with them about what it is they’re wanting to experience. Are there ways you could loosen things up without giving up homeschooling altogether such as allowing them to do more with their church youth group? Or with friends? Or possibly joining a co-op? Do they feel that God WANTS them to go to school for some reason? Or are they wanting to participate in some of the social aspects of school? There might be sports teams, dances, book clubs, etc that they could take part in WHILE you homeschool.

      You might also want to pretend your homeschool is a public school for a few weeks and see how they like it. Have buzzers go off when it’s time to change classes. Make sure they wake up as early as they would need to to attend school. Possibly even make them do their first class at the library or something so they get to experience the joys of getting completely dressed and out the door in inclimate weather. Be sure to assign homework similar to what they would be getting in school. Do the tests. Have pop quizzes. Etc. etc.

      At the end of those weeks, maybe their desire will have changed and they’ll be more likely to work with you to figure out solutions without giving up homeschooling altogether.

      I hope that helps!

  6. Have always thought about this… should in case kids decided to go back to school… what to do?

    My little Mariam is five last December and she insisted she no longer interested in homeschool that she wants to go to school like her friend. Even when the mother insisted she must be homeschooled, am still considering reading the implication.

    Thanks for this post

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