Thinking of home schooling my boys...

Hi all! My boys are only 3.5, but I'm seriously considering home schooling them and am researching curriculum, requirements for our state (VA), and seeing what coop options I have here. Thinking far ahead, I know that colleges look for lots of extra curricular activites and such when looking at applications. I would plan to have the kids enrolled in outside activities -- sports, music, art -- and they can do charity work, etc. But...for those that homeschool through high school, how are you making sure your kids look good on their applications (I'm not talking the academic piece of it)?

Thanks,
Mendy

 

Mine are not in high school yet (far from it), but everything you listed would make your kids look good. Honestly I went to public school and did nothing extracurricular. I had to "join" a couple of clubs my senior year so I could write something down. I think I showed up to like 2 or 3 meetings at most. I hope my kids will still be interested in sports, music, community service, etc when they get that old.

 

I think one of the benefits of homeschooling is that they have the time to devote to things they're really interested in. That way the activities they participate in will be meaningful to them, possibly lead them to internships and allow them to really know what direction they want to take in life. All of these are good for college, IMO. For my oldest (still far from college), it's looking like the arts are going to definitely be her choice. She plays the piano, just won a PTA (ironic, being homeschooled) award for a musical piece she wrote, and has recently discovered watercolors. Her art teacher said she really has an eye for it. My son is really into building things (he LOVES the Erector set), and I've recently looked into the robotics organizations that are nationwide. There's nothing local for kids his age, but we may start something. He's also in boy scouting and though he'll only be 9 in a few weeks, he has every intention of earning his Eagle award. These are just some of the things that I think will be in their favor.