Homeschooling High School: What Makes a Project?

So you’ve decided to count their personal projects alongside of the projects you do together. But what might a self-directed project look like?

Our projects tend to focus on deeper, more more extensive reading and creating. This year we read The Divine Comedy together. That sparked further reading of critical sources and The Aeneid by Virgil. It also sparked a series of drawn notes, illustrations of passages from the text. This is Dante, Virgil, and Statius on the ascent of Mt Purgatory drawn by our senior.

Taking the time to immerse yourself in the text and respond to it is the key to deeper experiences with the story. Once again, this is the same sort of slow reflective work we have always make space for in our homeschool.

Our son is interested in chess and started a chess club at our co-op. He designed the meetings and bought boards at Goodwill. I helped coordinate with the co-op. At each meeting he presents a short tutorial and recommends a chess book; then the games begin. It’s been a great way to practice organization, planning, public speaking, and teaching. Even though I don’t play chess, I can offer encouragement and be a sounding board for his ideas.

Making space in our days for kids to work on what interests them has paid rich dividends. Heather Woodie has been a valuable resource in expanding my own ideas of what counts and what’s possible.