Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Every homeschool kiddo is as unique as their fingerprints. No two of our kids learn the same way, connect socially the same way, or walk the same life path — and that’s exactly why I wanted to sit down with our third daughter, Rachel, and just… ask her. Not “how was homeschool” as a formality, but really ask: what worked, what didn’t, and what she’d tell another homeschool mom who’s standing where I once stood.
Rachel is charming and vivacious, quick-witted, the fastest one in our family to blurt out the answer to a mental math problem, and just as fast to make a new friend in a room full of strangers. She graduated high school in 2023, and on this episode of the podcast, she shares her honest, unfiltered take on what it was like to grow up moving between homeschool and public school.
“I’ve Enjoyed Both — For Different Reasons”
“I’ve enjoyed homeschooling and public school for different reasons. Homeschooling was good when I was little so I could really grow up in a way and be around siblings, and it was a nurturing situation.” — Rachel Wiedrick
That single sentence carries a lot. Rachel isn’t telling us homeschool “won” or public school “won.” She’s telling us that different seasons of her life called for different things — and that both settings gave her something real. That’s a message I wish I’d heard more clearly when Rachel was younger and I was quietly convinced that whatever choice we made had to be the right one, forever, for every kid.
It wasn’t a single decision. It was a series of decisions, revisited as she grew.
What We Actually Talked About
Our conversation wandered — the way real conversations with your kids do — through a few different threads:
Growing up in a physician’s family, and the travel that came with it. Rachel talks about how our family’s rhythm shaped her own sense of flexibility and curiosity, and how those early experiences abroad stuck with her long after the trip ended.
Learning to name and express her emotions. This was one of the more vulnerable parts of our talk. Rachel shares candidly that being understood — not just heard, but understood — was something she had to learn to ask for, and something homeschooling gave her the space and safety to practice.
Discovering she actually wanted structure. This one surprised me a little, even as her mom. Rachel explains how she came to realize that testing, deadlines, and a more defined educational framework weren’t things to resist — they were things she genuinely thrived under. Not every homeschooled kid needs a rigid structure to flourish. Rachel did. And figuring that out about herself, rather than having it assumed for her, mattered.
What hospitality work taught her about people. Rachel’s time working in hospitality gave her a crash course in reading people, staying patient under pressure, and finding genuine connection with total strangers — skills she traces back to the social confidence she built as an extroverted homeschooler who craved being around others.
What comes next. We also talk about her plans after graduation — not as a neatly resolved five-year plan, but as a young woman still genuinely figuring it out, and okay with that.
What Rachel Wants Homeschool Moms to Know
If you’re in the thick of homeschool high school decisions right now, here’s what Rachel would want you to sit with:
- Listen to your child — really listen — about whether they want to homeschool or attend school. Not what you assume they want. What they actually tell you, even when it’s inconvenient or doesn’t match the plan you had in your head.
- Structure and testing aren’t the enemy for every kid. For some kids, deadlines and assessments aren’t stressors to shield them from — they’re tools that help them feel capable and oriented. Rachel needed to discover this about herself rather than have it decided for her.
- A traditional high school social experience can be exactly right for an extroverted kid. If your child lights up around people, craves the noise and energy of a crowded hallway, that’s real information — not a sign that homeschooling has “failed.”
None of this is a formula. It’s one daughter’s honest reflection, offered so you have one more data point as you figure out your own child.
Go Deeper: More on Homeschooling Through the High School Years
- Welcome to the Homeschool Mama Self-Care Podcast (& Why I Homeschool)
- How to Homeschool Better (& Why Do You Want to?)
- How to Encourage Happiness in Our Homeschools?
- The Surprising Transition from School to Homeschool
- Introducing Rachel
- Watch Rachel’s Video for the Canadian Online Homeschool Conference
- Encourage Kids to Develop Their Passions in the Kitchen
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.” — Henry David Thoreau
Mindset Shifts for Homeschool Moms: Thriving Through the High School Years
Confidently Homeschool Through the High School Years $12.99 $10.99 Shop now
Mindset Shifts for Homeschool Moms: Thriving Through the High School Years
Confidently Homeschool Through the High School Years
More to Put Your Mind at Ease
- Advice for High School Homeschoolers with Vicki Tillman
- Transitioning into Homeschool High School: What We’re Really Talking About
- How I transitioned from homeschool to public high school
- Unexpected Feelings When Your Homeschooler Gets Accepted to University
- How I transitioned from homeschool to public high school
- How to unschool high school.
- Why Homeschool High School is Better with Mary Hanna Wilson
- homeschool high school, grade 8 & 9: the churning
- Having a high school homeschooler at home.
- What are the benefits of a homeschool high school?
- A Letter to My Homeschool High School Daughter
- Homeschool Teens Perspective: How to Homeschool High School
- high school options and post-secondary school
- How to Facilitate Child-Led Learning in Your Homeschool
- What It’s Like: The Homeschool to High School Transition
- I’m a new homeschooler. Are you able to walk alongside and mentor me?
You’re Not Starting Over. You’re Starting Fresh.
If homeschool high school feels like unfamiliar territory — even after years of homeschooling — that makes complete sense.
But here’s what I want you to remember: you are not starting over. You are starting fresh.
Everything you’ve learned about your child — how they think, how they learn, what lights them up and what shuts them down — you carry all of that into these high school years with you. That knowledge doesn’t disappear. It deepens.
The spiral you might be feeling right now isn’t a sign that you’re behind. It’s just your brain catching up to what your gut already knows: this child is worth figuring out. And you are exactly the right person to do it.
You’ve already proven that. You just have to trust it.
And if you need someone in your corner while you do — I’m here.
Book your free Aligned Homeschool Reset Session
I help homeschool moms trust themselves, edit expectations, and make intentional choices that create a more confident, connected, and present homeschool life.
Subscribe to the Confident Homeschool Mom podcast
Originally published April 11, 2023 · Updated July 11, 2026
Call to Adventure by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3470-call-to-adventure
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
