Are you homeschooling
high school, or thinking about it for next year?
We continued homeschooling our 2e teen through the high school years, as she was doing so well with it during middle school.
We wanted her to continue
homeschooling as it allowed her to follow her interests while preparing for
college at the same time.
But I was a little overwhelmed with all the new details that I needed to deal with during high school, such as:
- High school credits
- Homeschool high school curriculum
- Core studies
- Homeschool Transcripts
That’s a lot and seemed
overwhelming to me at first.
So looking back, I
pulled together my best resources for planning the high school years.
That would have saved
us a lot of headaches for me! Let’s take these items one at a time,
starting with high school credits...
1. Assigning High School Credit
You probably saw my article on 3 Ways to High School Credits, but in
case you haven't click on the link above.
It was not hard for us to assign high school credit. There are 3 ways to do that, including:
1. the Textbook method
2. the Hours method
3. the Mastery method
This post explains each of them, and all of
your teen's work counts. That includes:
-courses that you made yourself
-plus volunteer
-and paid work hours
-internships
-time spent reading, etc.
We did a lot of different kinds of learning,
and all of it counted. Secondly, let's talk about where to find high school curriculum.....
2. Curriculum Search Resources
First, we started with
our favorites from middle school as I wanted to keep whatever was working
best for my daughter.
For example, we used SOS
for math in middle school, and just continued with it for most of high school.
That was a no-brainer.
When we needed to source a new subject or two, we turned to the curriculum search tools below.
a. CURRICULUM DIRECTORY at
Let's Homeschool High School
This curriculum
directory for high school is the most complete one I have ever
seen! And it includes TONS of links, too!
b. THE CURRICULUM
CHOICE
This site is
full of curriculum reviews, written by a team of authors (me, too) who have
used the curriculum, at home with their families.
There are reviews of
curriculum such as Tapestry of Grace, IEW for literature and writing, Oak
Meadow, a number of Charlotte Mason options, and tons and tons of many more
reviews, too.
But before we ordered
anything, we spent time talking about my teen's special interests. These influenced our choices for core studies and also her high school
electives.
High School Electives
What is your teen
passionate about? How do they spend their time, when they have free time?
What are their strengths?
My daughter wanted to learn about film making, and also had an interest in political science.
So we did
some video making that one of her homemade electives. She learned how
to make her own videos, and entered them in various contests. Then we did
a course in Government for one of her social studies
requirements.
The beauty of homeschooling high school is that you get to build and nurture your teen's interests. And these interests helped us build her core studies as well. But what exactly are high school core studies.....
3. Core Studies Requirements
Core studies are usually referring to the basic high school courses in math, English, social studies, science
and foreign language that are required for public school graduation.
But did you know that homeschoolers
do NOT need to follow the public school gradation requirements?
What you choose for your
family's core studies requirements is usually left up the the homeschool family.
Most states do not list what is required for a homeschool diploma, and as I said above, we do not have to follow the public school graduation requirements.
So as a homeschooling parent, you can set up your teen's high school years based on what is best for your student.
COLLEGE BOUND:
Many families do dual credit and then their
teens then go directly into college. Others, like us, want their
college bound kids to do high school first, and then follow their prospective
college's entrance requirements while doing high school at home.
CAREER BOUND:
Other set up a high school
program that focuses on future careers, such as the trades.
SPECIAL NEEDS:
And families with special needs teens who are
not academically inclined, can set up a plan that meets their needs for
independence in the activities of daily living.
Now that we finished
discussing core requirements, let's talk transcripts...
4. Making your teen's High School Transcripts
 |
(Volunteering is a great way to get work-related experience.
Colleges look for this on their applications.)
Compiling your transcripts is simply recording your
teen's studies and classes on a transcript form. There are many templates
available online and also in this article below:
BJ's Guide to Homeschool Transcripts includes
a list of everything that needs to be on the homeschool transcript.
Also
my book below includes planning forms, sample transcripts, a transcript
form and other helps for putting together your teen’s transcripts.
After helping my homeschooled high schooler get into each of the colleges she applied to, I wrote this frugal guide:
For more info: Homeschooling High School with
College in Mind - 2nd Edition
Have you seen my facebook group called
choosing curriculum
high school electives
assigning high school credit
making transcripts, how to get started
long range planning tips
writing a college essay
preparing for college writing
freaking out!
high school electives
assigning high school credit
making transcripts, how to get started
long range planning tips
writing a college essay
preparing for college writing
freaking out!
Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,
Betsy
Betsy is mom to her now college grad, whom she homeschooled through high school. She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, highschool,
college, gifted/2e and wrote -Homeschooling High School with College in Mind, 2nd Edition, She offers homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting, and has had some of her articles picked up by the Huffington Post.
college, gifted/2e and wrote -Homeschooling High School with College in Mind, 2nd Edition, She offers homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting, and has had some of her articles picked up by the Huffington Post.
Want to stay in touch?
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