Teen Toolkit: How to Convince Your Parents to Let You Go to School at Home
byConnections Academy
Do you think it would be better for you to go to school from home but don’t know how to convince your parents to let you try homeschool? It’s a common issue for a lot of high school students. Fortunately, there are some great solutions.
If you’re like many teens, you aren’t sure how to convince your parents to homeschool you because you aren’t entirely sure what learning at home entails or what other options exist. Homeschooling can be complicated for many families. But there is one alternative that makes learning from home more possible for both students and parents: online school.
An online school has many unique benefits when compared to traditional school. Plus, a high-quality online school like Connections Academy® is a public school, meaning it’s tuition-free. Those are great advantages. But you’ll need to know more before speaking to your parents.
If you’re wondering how to convince your parents to be homeschooled online, you need a good strategy—a strategy our student toolkit provides
Here’s an overview of the six steps our toolkit will lead you through as you learn how to convince your parents to be schooled online:
Step 1: Decide on Whether Online School Is Right for You.
Online school isn’t new. Connections Academy has more than 20 years of experience in teaching students online. And, even before COVID-19 introduced most students to virtual learning, 330,000 K-12 students in the U.S. were enrolled in an online school.
So the question isn’t whether online school can provide you with a quality education (it can), the question is whether it’s right for you. Our toolkit can help you answer that question. Once you do, you’ll be ready to put together a convincing argument as to why your parents should enroll you in a school like Connections Academy.
Step 2: Make a List of Benefits—for You and Your Family.
Students have a lot of good reasons for switching to an online school. For instance, research has shown that certain students are more engaged in learning when they are away from the distractions of the traditional classroom. Other students, who currently dislike school, find that online school is more enjoyable for them.
Parents can benefit too. Online school offers more day-to-day flexibility, which works better for many family schedules. Online school also allows parents to take a more active role in their child’s education, which a lot of parents appreciate.
All that said, not every student or parent will gravitate to the same benefits. Your goal is to identify the unique aspects of online school that are most beneficial to you and the ones that are most beneficial to your parents. A questionnaire in the toolkit will help you along.
Step 3: Map Out the Facts and Benefits of Online School.
It’s one thing to know what benefits of online school are most important to you and your family; it’s another thing to know which online school fits your needs the best. After all, not all online schools are the same.
When figuring out how to convince your parents to let you move schools, you should have a specific online school in mind. Does the school you’re interested in charge tuition? Does it provide plenty of support for students and parents? Does it include student clubs? Does the curriculum provide a learning path that works for you, whether you are seeking advanced courses, want a head start on college, or need extra support for certain challenges?
Whatever a student is looking for in an online school, Connections Academy is almost always able to provide it. That’s because we’re committed to meeting the needs of every student on an individual level and helping them thrive. The toolkit includes a checklist of Connections Academy benefits to help you decide if our school will be the right fit for you.
Step 4: Prepare for the Conversation.
Talking to your parents isn’t always easy. Even when armed with plenty of information, you may not know how to persuade your parents effectively. That’s OK. Our toolkit provides tips you can use.
You’ll find advice on how to approach your parents, how to pick the right time for the conversation, how to frame your argument in a way that fits your parents’ decision-making style, and what to do if you don’t get an immediate yes.
Step 5: Answer Your Parents’ Most Pressing Questions.
If you’ve completed steps 1–3 and followed the advice in step 4, you will have likely made a convincing argument. But your parents are going to have some questions. Switching schools is a big decision and they will want to make sure that they have thought it through thoroughly.
The toolkit helps prepare you by listing the most common questions and providing good, concise answers. You can also fall back on all the work you’ve already done and even make use of the Connections Academy website, which provides details on every aspect of the school.
In the end, the key is to be prepared. And, remember, if your parents are asking questions, they’re taking the matter seriously.
Step 6: Consider Additional Resources.
If you’re uncomfortable sitting down and just talking to your parents, the toolkit provides some additional resources that can help you make your case. Specifically, there is a PowerPoint template you can use if you want to do a presentation. There is also advice on drafting a letter if you would rather express yourself in writing.
On top of that, you can find a lot of additional information in our Resource Hub, which is full of helpful articles about attending online school and succeeding as a student. These articles can be a big help when figuring out how to convince your parents to switch schools. There’s even an article providing tips for transferring to an online school midyear, so you can make a convincing argument no matter what time of year it is.
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