HSHSP Ep 183: Apprenticing Your Teens for Adulthood, Interview with Susan Landry

This week on HSHSP Ep 183: Apprenticing Your Teens for Adulthood, Interview with Susan Landry. HSHSP Ep 183: Apprenticing Your Teens for Adulthood, Interview with Susan Landry Apprenticing your teens for adulthood. What is that? Vicki is joined by Susan Landry of the Sparrow's Home, where Susan writes about home, homeschooling, cooking and all things related. (She bucks the trend of staying with one topic; she believes God created us as whole people, so she creates wholistic post topics. She works on mentoring moms!) Susan homeschooled her teens through graduation and loves it! She believes in apprenticing your teens for adulthood. Susan believes that we are also mentoring or apprenticing teens is the balance between free-ranging teens and helicoptering teens. She noticed a trend in blogs and in the media that urges parents to  *quit doing so much for your teens*: teaching teens to be independent and stand on their own two feet by not doing anything for teens. By stepping back and out of the parenting picture. Susan felt that we need to HELP them become adults! We can be helpers, apprenticers and mentors without helicoptering (heavy equipment mothering, one of our favorite HSHSP episodes). The balance we must find is between "stepping out of the picture" and helicoptering. It is apprenticing your teens for adulthood! How do we apprentice our teens for adulthood? * We DON'T say things like: We're telling you that you can't watch this! * We DO say things like: You can't watch this and this is why. We want you to learn to make choices on what you watch. We want you to become a Christian man. * In other words: cast the vision for  healthy, Christian adulthood. Then, have lots of conversations. Have you noticed that parenting teenagers is different than parenting young children? For homeschool high schoolers, we offer: * Guidance * Boundaries * Discussion on both Parenting of teens should not be *hard boundaries only* vs *here are the tv controllers, figure it out*. Parenting is not a dichotomy (black and white). In order to figure out if you are close to that health middle ground, ask yourself: Would you treat a friend this way? Here are some examples: * It is okay to keep fixing their food while they are home. * But at same time training them to cook and involving them in the process. * If teens forget things for co-op at home, do bring it. * But not if they have a habit of it, bad habits are broken by natural consequences. Remember: Would you treat your friend this way? People who believe in hands off in kids' education say: Don't meddle in your teens' education. Susan feels like homeschooling moms are the poster child for meddling in their teens' education, but it should be healthy meddling. Apprenticing your teens for adulthood looks like: * Involving homeschool high schoolers in curriculum planning * Involving homeschool high schoolers in discussions about current events * Teaching homeschool high schoolers Biblical worldview, apologetics and critical thinking skills. (We also recommend philosophy. Catch this HSHSP episode with Dr. Micah Tillman.) * Giving your homeschool high schoolers opportunities to travel * Talking to your homeschool high schoolers about what they learn in co-op, dual enrollment clas...