A Question For You College Students Who Were Homeschooled?

Question

I will be a Senior in High School this year (home schooled), and was seriously thinking about starting college early and getting dual credit. Now I am having second thoughts. I recently read a paper that was discussing the transition of home schoolers to college. I am very shy, and I have a high fear of speeches. I am also very nervous about writing, because home schoolers don't have much writing. The paper I read asked home schoolers what the transition was like, and one of the things they found hard was the writing. I'm now considering just finishing out my High School at home, but working on my writing and my self confidence. How might I do this? What are your recommendations on preparing for the home school/college transition? Please help!!!

Answer 1

I would highly recommend getting involved in a local speech and debate club.  This is what we do....it involves writing and speaking.  Our club is affliated thru NCFCA but there are other organizations as well.  If there isn't a homeschoolers's club near you, see if there is a Toastmaster group (there usually is- if not, you or your parents can get one started easily and they are worldwide).   Another person has already recommended the IEW materials.  They are top notch and often there are co-op classes of these offered.  It won't take a HS student long to grasp the concepts taught in the program - then practice!  Write, write, write - some actually enjoy it.  There are some colleges who offer tutoring/mentoring in the area of writing.  While you are boning up on your speech and writing skills, you could tutor younger students in the areas you are gifted in (math, science, history?).  Helping others generally helps one forget about self and focus more on others.  Sorry to hear that writing and speaking have to be crammed in the last year but I am sure that you are probably advanced in other areas - don't let this get you down...you can make huge progress if you chose to this year.  Oh, in preparing for college....what are your parents recommending?  There are online courses that might help you get a feel for the course load/exams/etc.  However, if you aren't already largely reponsible for your study schedule and educational goals, I would start there.   The major battle freshman face is not really the course material or its requirements but with themselves and their lack of self discipline.  This goes for ps kids and hs kids alike.  Whether you do dual credit or not this year, get started setting your own study/work schedule.  Run it past your parents to get their input and then get started *now*.  I can not stress enough what a valuable life skill this is!  There is a month and a half of summer left for you to get started - real life doesn't take a three month vacation - and iron out difficulties in your schedule.  I tend to be unrealistic sometimes and have to modify several times before I find one that is comfortable.  I don't order each minute, btw.  Instead I figure how much needs doing per week  if I want to finish something in __ weeks.  Then I break it down into daily requirements.  That way, if something throws me off for a day or so, I can easily pick up where I left off to catch myself up, iykwim.  Enjoy the process! :)  You'll do fine.

Answer 2

Sorry - I am not a college student but I homeschool a college bound high school aged son.

You say: I recently read a paper that was discussing the transition of home schoolers to college. I am very shy, and I have a high fear of speeches. I am also very nervous about writing, because home schoolers don't have much writing.

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I am not sure why you have the idea (or at least it sounds like you think) that ALL homeschoolers are not well prepared in the area of writing.  That is certainly not true of our rising sophomore.  Plus, by the time he attends college, he will have completed 3 years of speech club.

Share with us this "paper" that you read if it is online somewhere.

Everything credible that I have read indicates just the opposite from what you state.

As to your question: I think you will be fine with community college and you are probably being a bit too hard on yourself.

On the other hand, there is no harm in waiting until you feel better prepared.

Answer 3

I was very shy and had a high fear of speeches--did all my schooling in public school and still went to university right out of high school and did well. Self-confidence comes from doing, so you need to do things that challenge you but that you can feel satisfied with afterwards. For shyness, it's to make yourself go do things where you'll have to be with people you don't know. But understand it can take time--I was close to 30 before I could say I truly felt as comfortable as I was going to feel with strangers.

"homeschoolers don't have much writing"--that's not an accurate statement. YOU may not have had much writing, but I know plenty of homeschoolers who write lots. In any case, you could see about specific writing courses offered or take the year to improve your writing, as per your second plan. There's no rush to get on with life so there's nothing wrong in finishing high school at the time you had originally expected to.

If you have a community college, I'd still say challenge yourself by taking at least one course. It'll make the transition to full-time college easier.

Answer 4

I teach at a Community College.  I am not against home schooling, however, I will tell you that I can always tell which of my students were home schooled.  They are not all identical, but they virtually always have ONE of the following traits.

1.  inability to follow a rigid schedule (get to class on time, get assignments in by deadline, etc.)

2.  lack of social skills and/or self-confidence.

3.  great speller, but horrible writer.

4.  difficulty communicating in a classroom environment.

5.  difficulty accepting different opinions or points-of-view.

6.  difficulty respecting authority.

7.  thinking of the teacher as a buddy. (Calling a teacher by his or her first name, asking personal questions, etc.)

I have had varying degrees of these problems.  Some were really bad, others were minor.  I can tell you that after the initial transition, most do really well and are some of my best students.  They are good problem solvers and work well independently.  I don't remember ever catching a home-schooler cheating.

Think about any of the traits you have.  What can you do to improve them?  Don't feel ready for college?  Try a course or two and find out.

Fear of speaking in public in the number one fear among Americans.  It probably has nothing to do with your being homeschooled.  The ONLY way to get over it is to practice speaking before a group.  Is there an organization you can join to help with this?

As far as writing skills, it seems that home-schoolers are at the extremes.  They tend to either be fantastic writers or horrible writers.  I think that depends on the emphasis placed on writing at home.  I will say more are fantastic writers than horrible ones.  Practice, practice, practice.

If you need to build your confidence, maybe you should start with remedial classes at your local community college.  They are designed to help people that didn't quite get the skills needed in high school.  (Principles of Speech instead of Public Speaking, Introduction to Composition instead of English Comp I)  

A community college will probably have a test that you can take to determine what courses you are ready for.  Our school has the Accuplacer test; it's free.  If you are unsure if you're ready, take the test and see.  The results actually suggest into which class you should be enrolled.

MOST IMPORTANTLY - Forget what some report says.  What do YOU have trouble with?  Are these just normal freshman jitters?  (That's my bet!)  Gosh, I remember how scared I was!  I felt like I didn't know anything and the whole world was about to find out!

Answer 5

well, most incoming freshman are shy because they're all there as new students, just like you.

i won't tell you to "get over" your fear of public speaking, but if you aren't able to do it, you won't graduate from college.  period.  you have to give speeches or presentations in many of your lower lvl classes, and most, if not all, of your upper lvl classes.

home schoolers don't have much writing?  don't you feel like you're getting ripped off in your education?  if you can't write well, you also won't graduate from college.  there is writing in almost every class, and besides that, you are required to take a certain number of writing intensive courses (courses in different subject areas where the majority of your work is writing papers).  i would suggest you take a few writing classes at a community college near your house during your senior year so that you have any hope of keeping up with the work load and density when you start college!

Answer 6

Everyone ele has given you some great advice. I'd just like to say that as a homeschooler in highschool, I do quite a bit of intensive writing. I write research papers, persuasive, reflective, and expository essays, speaches, reviews of things I read, etc, etc, etc. I put a lot of focus on proper formatting for a college level paper, but I never let grammar or general quality of writing slip as well, and I'm ALWAYS trying to make my writing better, even if a paper seems perfect already. I do a lot of creative writing as well, and I've entered and won many writing competitions.

I also do quite a bit of public speaking. I'm involved in Toastmasters International, I attend leadership camps and seminars whenever i have the chance, I give presentations and demonstrations when tutoring or volunteering aat library programs or just giving an oral report or presentation to show competency in a certain area of study. I've even won "Speak-Off" competitions.

I know this probably doesn't help you much, but as I said before, you already got lots of great answers. Just pleast don't go saying things like "homeschoolers don't do much writing" because that's what's called a GENERALIZATION (Kids, can you say "generalization"?) and unless you somehow know every homeschooler or at least the majority of homeschoolers that exist, you really have no right saying that all homeschoolers or even most aren't doing much writing or public speaking. Saying things like that when you have nothing to base it on gives the rest of us homeschoolers who ARE doing intensive writing and public speaking a pretty bad name.

Answer 7

I wouldn't worry about it. I was on a scholarship committee and spent the spring reading some of the most poorly written essays  you can ever imagine - from college bound, public school kids. I have friends who are college professors in English and Communication, they routinely remark on how poorly kids today write.  Since the majority of kids are public school grads, that means most public school grads can't write either so don't worry.

Answer 8

I agree with ozboz - many homeschoolers have extensive writing and speaking experience, please don't generalize.  I teach middle and high school foreign language classes at our co op, and many of the kids I work with (60+) write daily and are required to do class presentations and speeches.

If you feel unsure about your skills, I'd advise taking advantage of some resources from IEW - the Student Writing Intensive (level C), Student Intensive Continuation Course (level C), and Advanced Communication Series will get you more than prepared.  If the SICC is out of budget, stick with the SWI C and Advanced Communication.  These will give you tons of writing and speaking, as well as note-taking, experience and prepare you for college.  Here's the links: http://excellenceinwriting.com/index.php... (lesson plans linked on the page); http://excellenceinwriting.com/index.php... (lesson plans as well); http://excellenceinwriting.com/index.php... (second one down).

These really are excellent - my son is using these materials (on a different level, he's 10), and he loves it.  His writing has gone from an elementary level to a 10-12th grade level in about 2.5 years.  The programs are easy to understand and are taught directly to you by the author of the program.

At community college, go ahead and enroll in some freshman writing and speaking courses.  The only way to get over your insecurity is to just do it...so do it! :)

Edit - are you talking about the article in the BJU Homeschool Helper?  This was one study, done by one girl at one school.  It does not mean that homeschoolers everywhere feel unprepared for college.  You may want to challenge yourself more with writing - the IEW programs really are terrific for that - but other than that, you should be just fine.

Answer 9

I'm home-educated, been home-educated all my life (save 5 weeks!) and had my first piece of writing published in a national magazine when I was 12 so it is not accurate to say 'homeschoolers don't have much writing'.

Anyway I am not from North America and college/university operates differently in my country; however, I don't think you should necessarily fret too much about starting college. The chances are *everyone* feels unsure about some aspect or other; that's just human nature when you are going into a new situation.

As others have already said though: there are heaps of writing and speaking resources that you could tap into in order to bolster your confidence. Just know that the more practise you get, the easier it'll become and the more comfortable you'll feel; no-one is perfect when they first start out; and your tutors etc at college are all there to help you learn how best to do such things.

Answer 10

Relax.

First of all, many, many homeschoolers do intensive writing during their high school years.  You just aren't one of them.

Many homeschoolers do quite a bit of public speaking and performing.  You just aren't one of them.  So let's not generalize.

I would strongly suggest that you take a couple of courses at your local community college. If you feel your writing skills need sharpening, take a freshman writing course.  You can take a Speech course as well, although to be honest, many people go all through college without ever giving a presentation in front of their class - and then go on to fine careers that do not involve public speaking.  

So I would strongly urge you to go ahead with that dual credit idea and use this year to fill in any gaps you have in your education.   (All students have gaps, BTW, not just homeschoolers.)

All the best.

Answer 11

First off, even if you are shy, you need to realize that there are lots of people that are freaked out about starting college.  It's normal to feel scared of something that your whole K-12 life builds up too.  There's a ton of pressure to succeed!

Second, you mentioned that you are nervous about writing.  Does this mean you are nervous about writing, or you have trouble with writing?  I honestly never had any homeschool friends that weren't schooled with tons of writing, so I can't agree with what you read.  For me and my homeschool freinds, writing is usually a strong subject.  If you are honestly having trouble with your writing, then get a tutor before you start college classes.  Working one-on-one with someone will be easier than being in a classroom.  If you are just nervous about your writing, have different people read some things you have written and get their feedback.  Constructive criticism always helps me.  The only other thing is to write, write, write!  The only way to get better (or just more comfortable) with something is to practice.  Unfortunately, the same is true for public speaking.  The only way to get better is to simply do it.  Are you in any classes now?  Make it a point to ask questions during class.  Don't wait till you can ask the teacher in private.  Read school work/the news paper/essays out loud to your family and friends.  Read a book out loud to your little cousin.  Start small and work your way up.  Even people who give speeches for a living admit to being nervous sometimes.

I usually try to convince people to take college classes during high school to get them out of the way, but it sounds like maybe you would be better served with a tutor and lots of home speech practice.  Ultimately, it's up to you and what you think you can handle.  Good luck!