A little of this and a little of that, or first things first.

I have noticed that in my family and in the families of homeschooling friends, that sometimes these kids put too much on their plate.

They do Youth Group activities and take on church responsibilities.
They may have jobs.
They need to do household chores.
They have their academic studies
They have their arts (visual and performance art)activities and classes
They do sports. 
They may have scouts or other social group outlets

...and in the end, they drop the ball somewhere, or in a lot of places.

I don't know about your kids, but I know that my kids cannot balance all of the above and do any area any justice.  While it is good to expose them to all of these areas so they can find their niche, at some point, they are going to have to choose which activities they are most passionate about and limit the other activities.

In my house Academics and Arts are equally a first priority.  Next comes chores and church activities. This goes on the schedule first and all other things must fit around this schedule.  I realize it sounds limiting and maybe even unbiblical to some, but time and trial and error have taught me that there are always chores to be done and there are always church activities and opportunities to participate in, so if we put those things first, then academics and arts would never happen.  As for sports, scouts, and the like, these are not my kids' passions.  Education is a first priority in my home, and both kids have a passion is some aspect of the arts.

If we tried to create a more balanced schedule and worried about making sure the kids had a little of this and a little of that, then that is all they would get... a little.  I would much rather put first things first, and let the other things fall into line.



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Just to prove homeschooling kids are not limited by their parents' knowledge

With teens, everyday could be sleep in day if I allowed it. But because there was a recital program (piano, dance, and singing) last night, I am allowing it today. Both kids played difficult piano peices of which I don't even know the names... I think my son's peice was a by Mozart.


I am so glad that just because I don't know something doesn't mean my kids can't learn it. I (almost) love it when they start talking music and I glaze over because it proves that homeschooled kids aren't limited by their parents knowledge.

...And I know NOTHING about music! I can't sing because I am tone deaf, and I can't read music at all. Yet both kids are in their 8th year of music instruction... some more formal that others. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Is homeschooling against the rules?

In dealing with a family where the public school child has NO CHANCE of passing the school year, the only option I could see as an answer was homeschooling.

Maybe my approach is a bit drastic, but failure to such a degree at half year, could only spell out disaster at the end of the year.

In the end, the parents decided to grin and bear it, feeling like homeschooling was somehow breaking the rules... cheating the system

Maybe I'm a radical, but at what point do you stop following rules when they are not working for your kids?

Aren't some of the most successful people in the world rule breakers? Consider this example:"Rule breakers bust up business models. They explode in an industry by offering a new paradigm so compelling in its benefits that it simply cannot be ignored. By virtue of the insanely great value proposition of their offers (think Apple in 1985, Amazon in 1996), they quickly redefine their industries and instantly change the norm. Recently, examples of this would be Autobytel and E*Trade. Rule breakers often cause a shift that carries organizations to new, unexplored territories." (from Risk strategies: Are you a rule breaker, shaker, maker, or taker? )
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