Create a Homeschooling High School Plan
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Homeschooling high school for the first time can feel daunting. Maybe even scary. It feels like this homeschooling thing just got REAL. Your child’s future looms ahead, and you don’t want to screw it up. How can you make sure you don’t forget something important?
Create a homeschooling high school plan.
I think beginning to homeschool high school feels intimidating for just about everyone. We have homeschooled for 8 years now, and I was a classroom teacher before having children.
I generally feel pretty confident about making educational choices for my kids, but I lie awake at night thinking about high school.
Why does homeschooling high school feel so scary?
Well, we want to protect our child’s future. We don’t want our own choices or shortcomings to hold them back.
Choosing not to go to college is one thing, but not being able to get in because of missing high school classes is quite another. Homeschool parents do not want our lack of knowledge to keep our kids from reaching their dreams.
Homeschooling high school requires parents to add the role of guidance counselor to their job title.
I honestly think this is why so many homeschool families choose to send their children to a traditional school for the high school years.
In the elementary and middle school years, you get to make all of the decisions. You decide what your kids need to learn. You don’t have to follow any set standard if you don’t want to (unless required by your state). I mean, my kids spent an entire semester learning about chocolate this year! You won’t find that class offered in a traditional school.
In high school, each year no longer acts on its own. Each year is a piece of the puzzle. It contributes to a larger goal. That goal might be college, trade school, joining the military, or going straight to work.
Creating a homeschooling high school plan lets you approach the high school years with confidence.
How to Create a Homeschooling High School Plan
Set High School Graduation Requirements
The first thing to do when setting up a homeschooling high school plan is deciding on your graduation requirements. This can be done in a few ways:
- Follow the graduation homeschool requirements for your state. Most states do not have specific requirements for homeschoolers.
- Research the college admission requirements for the schools your children are interested in attending. In North Carolina, public colleges follow the UNC minimum admission requirements. Check out the admission page of all the colleges your child might attend.
- Look up the high school graduation requirements for public schools in your area.
Ultimately, you set the homeschool graduation requirements for your homeschool.
My daughter plans to go to college after graduating from high school, and we live in North Carolina, so I chose to set our graduation requirements slightly higher than the UNC minimum admission requirements.
In my homeschool, this means that I will require:
- Language arts – 4 credits
- Math – 4 credits
- Science – 4 credits
- History – 4 credits
- Foreign Language – 4 credits
- Physical Education and Health – 1-2 credits
- Fine Arts – 1-2 credits
- Electives – 4-6
Please know that you do not have to follow my plan! You have the freedom to adjust the ‘required’ classes based on your child’s goals.
Create a Required Course List
Print out a copy of the High School Plan worksheet and start listing your non-negotiables. The non-negotiables are the classes that you feel your child absolutely must complete before graduating. I suggest doing this in pencil.
You can absolutely change course later, but this gives you a framework.
Jotting down the key courses will ensure that you don’t forget about a class you want to teach. There are so many awesome homeschool curricula available, and it can be really easy to get distracted.
One benefit of listing out all of the classes you plan to require is that you can get a sense of the long-range picture.
Perhaps a vacation or field trip will line up with a certain curriculum. Maybe you want to teach world literature and world history in the same year.
My family is planning to teach government and economics during the next presidential election because of the natural tie-ins with real life. Knowing when I want to teach this subject helps me plan my history course sequence.
Leave Blank Space
Don’t feel like you need to plan every single class for all four years of high school before even starting 9th grade. List your non-negotiables, courses your child wants to take, and then leave blank space. You can update this high school plan as often as necessary.
One of the key benefits of homeschooling is the flexibility to create a custom education tailored specifically for our children. I believe this is possible even with a high school plan framework.
Leaving blank space in a high school plan allows your child to pursue interests and develop talents. Fine arts and electives are a great place to encourage interests. There are so many options!
A homeschooling high school plan is intended to reduce stress by approaching teaching high school in an organized manner. You are starting with the end in sight.
Share this post with anyone who needs help creating a homeschooling high school plan.
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