What?
How can dropping out of high school be a good educational choice for your teen?
VS
Actually, I like to call it Opting Out. Dropping out is sooo…negative, and tends of course to have a bad stigma. Many teens and parents alike view dropping out of school as akin to dropping out of life. Opting Out is the real solution. Opting out of a system that is broken. Opting Out of teen years of drudgery and boredom, and Opting In to real life learning.
Your teen can benefit in many ways by OPTING OUT of high school and pursuing his education at home or elsewhere.
1. He would have time to pursue his true interests. Teens in school are overburdened, overpressured and overstressed. They view learning as something they have to do rather than something they pursue because they want to. Leaving school opens up a whole new world of unstructured time in which to find and follow his real interests.
Unstructured time? Won’t my kid waste his days away? He needs direction! The importance of unstructured time in a child’s life have been gaining popularity in educational, scientific and parenting circles. Here is another article that describes why teens are anxious and depressed these days– not enough unstructured play time!
Our ideal students at Pacific Sands Academy are hungry for time to pursue their own interests- and often times these interests seem to lack value to the adults who love them. Video games for example: we as adults often undervalue our teen’s obsession with video games. But this is their world– and can be part of their education! Video games can in fact make us smarter!
2. Your teen can leave the typical “rat race” of traditional education, and find real learning and thus meaning in his life.
Most of us have memories of cramming for a test, and remembering nothing moments after it’s turned in.This is the “learning experience” of so many of our teens these days. Stress, cramming, forgetting, grade grubbing-pretty much in that order. If you step away and consider that your teen should be learning real life skills, finding real interests and passions and how to excel that these, you can see that other options are available! You and your teen (not the government) can design the scope of his education.
3. Your teen can still receive a high school diploma and of course have opportunities to pursue a college education!
As a home school parent, you can create your own high school diploma. There are several ways to do this and even books written on the subject.
You can also enroll at Pacific Sands Academy– and get weekly, monthly, or semester by semester support in pursuing individualized interests and goals. If you want your teen to pursue more diverse interests, we can help facilitate that. If you want your teen to get deeper into his own interests, we can help facilitate that. Pacific Sands Academy will provide a high school diploma when your teen has demonstrated the interest and ability to take the next step in life, whatever that may be- applying for a four year college, community college, or trade school, or starting a small business, or whatever! This may take weeks, or years. You, your teen, and your support staff from PSA determine these goals and this time-line together.
Many parents worry: Am I ruining my child’s chance for a college education? Am I ruining her future?
We often as parents consider childhood as a time to prepare for adulthood, yet as adults we all wish we could get back some of that child-like innocence, sense of wonder, and being in the moment. We all want our kids to enjoy and have wonderful, magical childhoods. Don’t we all, more than anything, want our kids to be happy? If your teen is unhappy now, isn’t that a reason enough to worry?
Your teen’s future will be healthier and happier if she has the opportunity to develop her creativity, self-reliance, and ingenuity. Unless your teen thrives in the school environment and takes advantage of interesting extracurricular opportunities available there, she is likely not developing these other aspects of her life her creativity, ingenuity, etc..– and in the end these are the things that matter- that test score do not and cannot measure.
In the Learn Your Way Program of Pacific Sands Academy, we look for these developing qualities:
Creativity, critical thinking, resilience, motivation, curiosity, enthusiasm, reliability, self reliance, self awareness, and resourcefulness.
Our teens develop these qualities by finding and pursuing what they are interested in.
High school credits, boredom and test taking need not apply.
I believe in interest-led, self-directed learning. I love helping teens find lives of passion and fulfillment outside of traditional academia.
Learn Your Way 
Hi Shauna I think it’s a great idea and truth be told that I really didn’t apply my potential until college. I put it this way, when on my own I studied for my own knowledge. That was much more fun then being told what to do.
Do the children you take in change, do they go to college? I know college isn’t necessary for success, but as my dad always said ” It keeps all your does open”
I’m lost on how do these kids that are dropping out find you and then what is there goal.
Thanks for your comment John! The idea is that kids and teens are no different from adults in that respect- we all learn when we “study” for our own knowledge and it’s fun. People often think that when kids are having fun- they’re not learning, but the contrary is true. When they have fun is precisely when they learn. Good teachers know this and employ as much fun possible in their classrooms.
College is ENTIRELY possible in this paradigm–of leaving the drudgery of high school or middle school– and pursuing your own interests. Many, many homeschoolers attend college, and in general are more successful there than their schooled peers.
I think the big question will be how to find these kids (so I’m taking an on line marketing class)– but once I do find them, I’m excited to help them find, create and pursue their own goals– that they create. These goals can look like just about anything- develop a computer game, start a blog, paint a mural, travel through Europe, build a tree house, a million possibilities
Hello, My name is Matthew. I’m one these students this article speaks of. I don’t like school but I love to learn. I dislike the idea of school but most of all I just hate it. I agree with every single thing this website says. It’s put into such perfect words I can’t describe it. I want to learn what I desire. My mother kinda supports me except, Her and I just don’t want to get in trouble with the law. How do I join this program? Im not sure where to do that. Maybe im not looking hard enough but thank you!
Matthew- I am so sorry, I haven’t been checking this blog for years. i mostly communicate by people reaching out to me via my website or emailing me. If you still need help- please email me at psalearnyourway@gmail.com