The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling High School



 This post may included affiliate links to products that we love and have used or would use in our  own homeschool. Please see my disclosure policy.



Are you thinking about homeschooling your teens through high school?

Or are you already doing that at your house?

I am delighted to be given the opportunity to put together an ultimate guide for you, all about homeschooling high school.  Besides preschool, being home with my daughter through the high school years was my most favorite time in our homeschool.  Not that it was all rainbows and roses, but it was so worth it!

101 Reasons to Homeschool High School
Homeschooling our teens gives us so many benefits, not the least of which is how it builds up family relationships.  

It also gives us a chance to be there, side by side, which our teens are reaching out, exploring the world as almost young adults, and beginning to find their own paths.

Homeschooling high school is so much easier with all the resources that we now have on the web!

All it takes is an understanding of the special requirements of high school, such as making transcripts, doing regular record keeping, and figuring out how to assign our teens their high school credit.


Once the particulars are figured out, then it is all about encouraging our teens, choosing their curricula with them, and helping them get going with their studies, which is what we homeschoolers are already so familiar
with.

So today, let's start with the particulars, including: planning, record keeping, assigning credits, choosing curricula, and making homeschool transcripts.

The nitty gritty of high school.

Then we are free to look at the fun of the high school years, by discussing things like;
 - making our own courses
- doing high school electives
- and celebrating graduations.

Then, at the end of this guide, I saved space for encouragement for us mamas, and also some for our teens, as they work to develop their self esteem.

And for those who have college bound teens, the last section of this guide is for you.

So let's get started with some tips for planning, from myself and many other veteran homeschool moms with tons of experience in the high school years.


1.  PLANNING to HOMESCHOOLING HIGH SCHOOL


Knowing a few key tips will make your high school planning easy!  Here are a number of posts that will help you in your planning.

 4 Steps to Planning High School at Home
Abundant Life Archives/ 10 Day Series on High School  by Marianne, mom to 7 teens with dyslexia

Curriculum Choice High School Board  by Curriculum Choice Authors

Homeschooling High School with Confidence by BJ's Homeschool

My book - Homeschooling High School with College in Mind - is great for planning and includes 13 planning printables, to make it easy,


Next, let's talk about record keeping and high school credits....


2.  RECORD KEEPING AND HIGH SCHOOL CREDITS


3 Ways to High School Credit
3 Ways to High School Credit.

In high school, recording those activities is important, as they then become high school credits.

It is not hard to do!  There are 3 SIMPLE ways to assign high school credit.

How to Tackle Grading by Heidi

How a Homeschool Mom Grades a High School Essay by Tina

How to Prepare Your Student for College Writing - by Betsy, in my book Homeschooling High School with College in Mind below.  Now let's look at resources for choosing curricula...



3.  CHOOSING YOUR HOMESCHOOL HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM



BJ's Curriculum Choices for High School 
BJ's Frugal Choices for High School Curriculum

101 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Annie Kate

Choosing High School Curriculum - High School Resources - Curriculum Choice a

High School Homeschool Video Courses
by Tricia

Geography Resources 
by Heidi

Of course, there are those transcripts to make, but doing that doesn't have to be daunting.....and here is some help for doing them... 


4.  HOMESCHOOL TRANSCRIPTS



BJ's Guide to Transcripts 
BJ's Guide to Transcripts 
by BJ's Homeschool
Including guidelines from HSLDA
website

Now that we've talked about the important details for planning high school at home, let's look at some of the fun things that can be a part of it too, for sure.  Another great option for high school courses is to make some of your own!


5.  MAKING YOUR OWN HOMEMADE COURSES



One of the most fun memories I have are when we created our own homemade courses.

Making your own High School
English Course
Making your own High School English Course

Have you seen all the resources from 7 Sisters Homeschool?  They offer frugal NO busywork ebook curricula from 20 + veteran homeschool moms.

They have high school courses in 
English
History
High School Electives 
Career Exploration
Health
Consumer Math
Literature Guides, and more.


Do you have a teen who is interested in art?  Or one who just wants to try their hand at it for an elective?

"Video Art Course -
Semester 2." 
 

Tricia Hodges, a veteran homeschooler also, at You Are An Artist, offers a large variety of art courses, taught by a professional artist, including video courses as well.  

This year, she has released two semester long courses, perfect for an art elective.

Most colleges require a fine arts credit, and here's an easy way to get that done, while having lots of fun, too!


Last year, she released two semester long courses, perfect for an art elective. 

She also offers Semester 1 set up for fall subjects, like autumn leaves, holiday scenes, etc, plus lots of art books, on a variety of subjects, like historical sites, etc.

Now that we are talking about art, that leads right into looking at more high school electives....


7.    HIGH SCHOOL ELECTIVES


Homeschool High School Creatively -
 100 Electives
 
Homeschool High School Creatively - with Electives (100 Electives List)


Photography As A High School Elective by Heidi

Homeschooling a Horse Lover by Cindy

High School Electives and College by Betsy - Included in my book -



But what does high school really look like at home?


8.  A DAY IN THE LIFE - HIGH SCHOOL


High School Homeschool Parent Teacher Conference by Tricia

The Usual Hayhem by Middle Way Mom

A Day In the Life at Hodgepodge by Tricia

A Day in the Life by Shelly, family of 9 kiddos




Awe, the fun of looking back on  my daughter's senior year, and all the fun of watching her graduate at our state homeschool graduation ceremony.

Below is more on that, and also a bunch of ideas for ways to mark this important milestone in your high schooler's life.


9.  CELEBRATING GRADUATION


10.  ENCOURAGEMENT




What about college?  Can your homeschool grad go to college?  Yes, of course!


11.  THE COLLEGE OPTION 


Do you have a teen who is thinking about college?

I did and you probably know that mine is in college now.

Boy, did I worry way too much about that, when she was in high school.  But I needn't have!

The colleges are getting more homeschool friendly each year.  That is the trend.



Here's more about our story, going from homeschool to college, with updates from my daughter's college experiences there.

 How First Quarter Went at College  What was is really like?

The Scoop on Earning AP Credit in High School by Heidi

Homeschooling High School with College in Mind - Review by Heidi 


Have you seen our book yet?



eBook is on SALE


Create your own unique and nurturing high school program for your teen and help them get into college, if that is where they are headed. 
 
"This book provides support, encouragement and step-by-step advice on all aspects of the homeschool high school and college application process, if your teen is heading there."

"Betsy has a wealth of understanding and knowledge to share with the parents of college bound homeschoolers."



Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,


 Betsy

Betsy is mom to her college grad whom she homeschooled through high school.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool about the early yearshigh schoolcollege and she offers homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting.


What to stay in touch?





Copyright 2019 @ BJ's Homeschool
Updated 2025
 All Right's Reserved

9 Playful Ways to a Mature Grasp



Summary:  How to help your child develop a comfortable mature grasp of their pencil for handwriting.  Tips for the homeschool mom for teaching homeschool handwriting skills to their children and help for those who struggle with grasp, based on my O.T. background.  Games and fun approaches to handwriting.



Does your child struggle with handwriting?  Do they hold their pencil with their whole hand, or tend to hold it in an awkward manner?  

Our Favorite Frugal Homeschool High School English Curriculum



#highschooliterature,#highschoolhomeschoolcurrriculum. Some affiliate links may be included.  Please see my disclosure policy.


Are you looking for a quality homeschool high school English course for your teen?  Or would you prefer to put your own course together, with the help of a well put together literature guide or two?

How about having a choice of more than 40 frugal homeschool high school literature guides?  7 Sisters Homeschool offers both, plus great courses to help your teen develop strong writing skills as well.

We started off using Oak Meadow for our homeschool high school English until we found 7 Sisters Homeschool.

Oak Meadow offered lots of courses in literature and composition for high schoolers, which were well out together.  They taught literary analysis as well.  Here is a review of Oak Meadow English.  We used Oak Meadow for a few years until we found 7 Sisters Homeschool.

When we found 7 Sisters English, we were pleasantly surprised.  It also was well put together, but was way more frugal.  And we liked that it was written by homeschool moms.

7 Sisters Homeschool offers a variety of frugal PDF high school curriculum, with a focus on English studies.

 It is written by veteran homeschool moms who developed their own courses for high schoolers in their own co-op.  So all of their resources and courses are tried and true.

The 7 Sisters approach is based on over 20 years of homeschooling.

These veteran homeschool authors know how to capture a student's interest and then lead them into a solid study of literature all while avoiding any busywork.


And they offer English resources in a 
variety of ways, such as year long courses, or Literature Guides for just one particular novel that your teen wants to read. 

Here's the super frugal way to make your own English course for your teen. 


Let's take a look at their frugal homeschool high school Literature Guides. 



They offer over 40 of them, frugally priced, including:
  • A Separate Peace
  • A Raisin in the Sun
  • The Scarlet Letter
  • To Kill A Mockingbird
  • The Hobbit
  • British Poetry Selections
  • A Tale of Two Cities
  • Joni
  • Anne of Green Gables
  • Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
  • The Invisible Man
  • The Three Musketeers and more.

The Chronicles of Narnia Lit Guides is a complete set of literature guides, for digging in completely to all of CS Lewis' beloved chronicles. 

Choose the lit guides for your teen wants based on their interests and create your own English course from that. Click Literature Guides to reach all of them.  

 Add in one of their writing courses, below, if your teen could use some guidance with their writing skills. Or, are you looking for a complete year long course in Literature?   7 Sisters offer those, too.


My friends at 7 Sisters Homeschool put together frugal year long homeschool English courses, for grades 9 through 12, including:
  • Cinema Studies for Literature Studies and Composition
  • American Literature
  • British Literature
  • World and Ancient Literature
  • And more
What a nice variety of English courses to choose from! Picking between them can be so fun for you and your teen together. Imagine using movies to learn literature composition!


To reach any of these PDF courses, click Complete Year Long 7 Sisters English Courses.

Each course includes approximately 5 - 8 novels to read and analyze, with guides to help you and your teen for each lit book. 
Below is a description of one of these courses, to give you an idea of what's included.

American Literature

The American Literature course consists of a 125 page downloadable ebook text, which is a complete college prep one year course, centered around nine classics.

Students usually read one book a month and then work through the corresponding study guide included in the course.

There is also a table to refer to, that helps you to adjust the course so that students can earn extra advanced credit or honors if desired.


Each of these courses is helpful for teaching your teen literary analysis, which was crucial to my 2e daughter developing her critical thinking skills, for college readiness.



OR are you looking for a stand alone writing course for your teen? Here at 7 Sisters, you have lots of choices.



7 Sisters Homeschool offers essay writing courses at 3 levels:

- Introduction to Essay Writing
- Intermediate
- Advanced. 

Each writing course is frugal, at less than $12.00. There is also a bundle option, if you like.

They also have one for senior year and another one for writing research papers.

If you teen is headed to college, 7 Sisters even has a course for writing the college essay. 

Do you have a reluctant writer in your house?

7 Sisters also has help for teens who are reluctant to write, or prefer creative writing to essay writing.  I invite you to check out the Short Story Writing - Family Narrative

For more info, just click here: Writing Courses from 7 Sisters.

Do you have a teen who is headed to college, or just thinking about that option?

Have you seen my book yet for homeschoolers called Homeschooling High School with College in Mind, 2nd Edition?
 
Google made us a Review:

"Homeschooling High School with College in Mind, is a well-laid-out how-to guide for setting up a high school homeschool so teens wind up having knowledge and skills that colleges expect in their students."

Coming: January 20th, our ebook will become downloadable, as a PDF.

The price of our PDF book will be $5.99, compared to our paperback, which was recently raised due to papaerback printing costs.

That way, you could get all our best tips for high school and getting into college if your teen is headed that way, as a PDF, saving you money compared with our paperback.

I invite you to click AMAZON for more information if you like.



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 yearshighschool
collegegifted/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?

No spam ever.  
Just encouragement for your homeschool 
in your inbox.

All Rights Reserved
Copyright, Updated 2026



Homeschool High School English Curriculum from 7 Sisters



Sharing our favorite frugal high school homeschool English and writing curriculum.This post may included affiliate links to products that we love and have used or would use in our  own homeschool. Please see my disclosure policy.  #homeschoolhighschoolcurriculum #homeschoolhighschool #homeschoolEnglish



Are you looking for a quality homeschool high school English course for your teen?

4 FUN and Easy Ways to Help Your Young Handwriter -




This article has moved. 

To reach 4 FUN Ways to Help Your Young Handwriter, including tons of fun activities for handwriting, just click below:
These activities will help build up the skills necessary for good handwriting.  Including fine motor coordination and other important things that will help your young handwriters or those who are struggling.

There are so many ways to help struggling or new handwriters and most of them don't involve handwriting at all!  These playful activities are from my OT days prior to coming home to homeschool our 2e daughter, with sensory issues and ADHD.



Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,


Betsy


Betsy is mom to her college grad, whom she homeschooled from preK through high school.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early yearshigh school & college and wrote Homeschooling High School with College in Mind.   She offers free homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting


Want to stay in touch?


This post was shared on my favorite linkups here.

Copyright, 2019, All Rights Reserved

BJ's Guide to Homeschooling High School - It is Not that Hard! -


Summary:  How to plan your homeschool high school, including assigning high school credit, high school core studies, making your transcripts, and getting into college for homeschoolers.  



Are you homeschooling high school, or thinking about it for next year? 

Our Favorites for Homeschool High School U S History -



Summary:  Our favorite homeschool high school curriculum for U S History.  How we used frugal homeschool high school curriculum to make our own course.  Sharing also free complete homeschool high school options for American History. Note - This post may included affiliate links to products that we love and have used or would use in our  own homeschool. Please see my disclosure policy.


Are you looking for frugal resources for U S History for your high schooler? 

Homeschool Curriculum for High School U. S. History -





Note - This post may included affiliate links to products that we love and have used or would use in our  own homeschool. Please see my disclosure policy.


Are you looking for frugal resources for U S History for your high schooler?  

Would you like to put your own course together, or used a prepared curriculum?  Today, I'd like to share frugal resources for both. 

Let's start with making your own course, using some very frugal resources that I have found recently...

- Our Homemade Course in U S History

When it came time for our high school US History studies, we used a variety of sources, and made our own course.  To do that, we picked a spine, then added in some geography, literature, and a little art history, for fun.  My teen was a big part of putting it all together. 

So, I'd like to share with you how we went about putting together our own course, which included:
- a spine
- literature options
- geography
- a  primary resource
- and some art.

1.  First of course we needed to find a spine for our learning....My teen was a big part of choosing this resource,

Short Lessons in US History

With short lessons, this book gives a clear overview of US History, with quizes, mapwork, and critical thinking questions to ponder.
We searched for something that would cover everything and also encourage critical thinking.  

We found this book to be engaging while covering all the essentials of our country's history, in it's 11 chapters, each of which included:

-1.  Time Line - related dates for each chapter
-2.  Activating Prior Knowledge - questions to look for as you read
-3.  The text, with sidebars and brief biographies
-4.  Critical thinking questions
-5.  Activities - map work, reviews and puzzles.... click here above to read the rest of my review of this frugal book.

2.  Next we added in some living literature...

There are lots of ways to add living literature to your history studies.  Of course, if you add in American Literature, then you will be doing two high school credits, US History for one, and American Lit for another high school credit.

One can pick and choose fiction and non-fiction such as:

To Kill a Mockingbird
Uncle Tom;s Cabin
The Federalist Papers
Tom Sawyer
Miracle at Philadelphia
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Edison - from Heros of History
(there are so many other choices, of course)


At our house, we decided on Oak Meadow's American Lit course. 

That gave my teen a credit for English as well as one for US History.  We combined the two courses and got 2 credits done together!

Oak Meadow was very good for my daughter, with lots of comprehension questions and critical thinking questions to ponder for each novel included. 

If you are looking for something similar but much more frugal check out American Literature by 7 Sisters.  

This is a 100 + page resource can be used for a whole year long credit in English, and it includes literature guides for so many of the great classics of American Lit. 


American Literature by 7 Sisters is ideal for independent study because it is written by homeschoolers, all set up for your high schooler with no busy work. 

I have a lot more information on this well put together course in my review called 7 Sisters American Literature

3.  Our third step was to add in some geography.  

We did not do every project in this book, but it was a great supplement to our studies. 


U.S. History Map Activities

U.S. History Map Activities | Main Photo (Cover)
This book is set up in a workbook style, which my teen enjoyed, with comprehensive mapping activities for each major event in US History.  

By answering the questions and mapping out each historical event, my daughter got a hands-on feel for each major event, my teen got a hands-on feel for what she had studied.  
  
It's from Rainbow Resource also, very frugally priced.  This homeschool curriculum site has tons of resources, workbooks, textbooks, and innovative programs for homeschoolers, from K - 12.  I highly recommend it as a source for curricula and we used it a lot.  (I have no relationship with them.)

4.  Next we found a frugal resource for primary resources -The Patriot's History Reader


This book goes back to the original sources, including documents, speeches, and legal decisions that helped to shape our country. 

It was so convenient to have this at hand, and it eliminated the need to search the internet for these.  

Click here to read the rest of my review on the Patriot's History Reader, which has Christian slant.







5.  Then we added in some art....


This book added a lot of fun to our studies.  

The Boston Massacre, Paul Revere's Ride, the End of the Civil War, are all famous paintings included in this book, which teaches about design, rhythm, and perspective...and it is offered as a book or a cd.

I recently found another great art book that is make to add art to your American History studies.  

And it is full of American landmarks!  Your student will learn information about our country's famous historical landmarks, while learning how to draw them.  

American Landmarks - Chalk Art 

This is an ebook is made by Tricia, from Hodgepodge. 

The lessons are taught by a professional artist, and will give your teen a nice introduction to art using chalk pastels.  It is available at a frugal price here.  

Next, I's like to switch gears and talk about some prepared curricula for American History.

Prepared Complete Curriculum for High School U.S. History

 

 I recently found some frugal prepared curricula for US History, if you would rather use a complete course, instead of piecing one together. 


First let's look at a course from Glencoe, a well established curriculum publisher, who offers a frugal US History course called...


American Vision offers a complete US History book, a student center that goes along with it, and free videos for each chapter. 

Free videos...I love that.  

American Vision can do all the work of putting together a solid and creative history course for you. And it is a very frugal choice as well.  

This course explores American History from 1775 through the 21st century, through an interdisciplinary approach that includes literature, art, and biographies. 

First let's look at the book itself.  The book includes the following:

1. Vivid and Accurate Re-telling of US History
2. US Geography with National Geographic Maps
3. Primary and Secondary Sources
4. Related Activities
5. Appendix with Supreme Court Case Summaries including:
- American Lit Library
- Critical Thinking Lessons, such as "Find the Main Idea, and Determining Cause and Effect"


This book is available used on Amazon here for around $20.00. That's the student edition.  I recommend also getting the teacher's edition, as it has all the answers in it.

They also offer what is called the Glencoe student center.

Student Center

Here they offer many more online activities, and it is a part of the Glencoe Online Learning Center, which has a whole lot of go-to activities, links, and more...To add a lot to your study of The American Vision, check out the web activities, vocabulary cards, e-puzzles and games, interactive maps and more.

And they offer free videos too...

Videos for Each Chapter

I love how Glencoe puts together their history books.  We used their World History book in 10th grade, and it taught so many of the critical thinking skills to my daughter. And they had primary sources, references to art, and great essay questions to ponder as well.  

There was a quiz at the end of each section, which we used at times.  Just click above for free videos that teach the important history concepts that are included in each chapter.

Next, I'd like to share another prepared curriculum option, and this one is from Oak Meadow...

2.  Oak Meadow US History


This is another great option for US History from Oak Meadow, a well established secular educational publisher that we love....

"This course explores American History from 1775 through the 21st century, through an interdisciplinary approach that includes literature, art, and biographies.  It encourages integration of information, critical thinking skills and more, while the student learn US History in depth.  Great for college prep." 




Oak Meadow US History  consists of a book written by Oak Meadow that goes along with the Glencoe U.S. History book discussed above.  It includes tons of creative and innovative discussion questions to go along with Glencoe.

What are your favorite resources for high school US History?  I love reading your comments... so please share your knowledge with others here or on facebook.



Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,

Betsy

Betsy is mom to her now college senior, whom she homeschooled through high school.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early yearshighschoolcollegegifted/2e and
wrote -Homeschooling High School with College in Mind.   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?  

We joined the iHN Massive Guide to Homeschooling History.  Click here to reach more great posts from the iHN blog.



Also on the blog:


Homeschooling high school gives you and your teen a chance to be together, side by side, as they enter the all important high school years, and begin to explore their future possibilities in life.  



Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

BJ's Frugal High School Homeschool Curriculum Choices for 9th - 12th --




Summary:  Our frugal homeschool high school curriculum favorites for science, social studies, English, math, foreign language, and homeschool high school curriculum for high school electives and activities, including psychology, drama, art, and more.  7 Sisters and Chalk pastel art resources are included.  Secular and faith based options as well.  This post may included affiliate links to products that we love and have used or would use in our own homeschool.  Please see my disclosure policy.


Are you starting to look around for new ideas for your high schooler for next year?