Summary: High school homeschool electives are such an important part of the homeschool high school journey. Homeschool high school electives help to build up your teen's college application while allowing them to follow their interests and discover their strengths. Leadership, homeschool sports, 4H, and many more elective ideas are included here, 100 of them.
There is so much more to homeschooling high school than just core studies. One of the main reasons that we homeschooled all the way was to foster our daughter’s interests and grow her gifts. And as she approached high school, they became her high school electives.
Having the time to delve deeply into my teen’s interests was priceless. I encouraged her to explore her to try out different activities throughout her homeschool years. Isn't that what homeschooling is about anyway?
High School electives also
brought the fun into our homeschool. My
favorite one was her irish stepdancing class, where my hubby and I got to watch
them all perform each year on St. Patrick’s Day. What are your teens interested in? Where do their gifts lay?
Here are 100 ideas to
consider for high school electives and high school activities. I hope this list gives you ideas for your
teen. Many high school activities as
many can be made into high school electives. Don't miss the giveaway at the end of this post.
100 High School Electives and Activities
Animal Care – Help with family’s animals, assist at
the Humane Society, do an animal project 4H, compete at a state fair.
This can easily be made into an elective.
Athletics – Are your teens interested in
sports? Many Parks Department have leagues and classes, as does the YMCA,
etc. Some public schools allow homeschoolers to join in their sports
activities as well. –States that offer this option include Arizona, Colorado,
Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.
For more information, HSLDA has a link here –
http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/Issues/E/Equal_Access.pdf.
Parks Department Leagues, YMCA, etc.
Archeology – Take a course at the community college, or
make your own.
Art -- We
did classes at our Parks Dept. The YMCA offers them as well. My
friend’s teen enjoyed Artistic Pursuits from www.christianbook.com.
-- Ultimate List of Favorite High School Art
Resources by the Hodgepodge Mom, and it includes a year long high
school course in Art Journaling
Art Appreciation
Automotive Repair
Bible Quiz – link - http://bq.ag.org/
This program- offer competitions at the district, regional and national levels
in bible memorization skills. My daughter’s friend competed locally, then
had the honor of doing it on the national level, and she enjoyed it very
much.
Blogging – Set up a blog for your teen, or have them
set it up themselves. What a great way to get your teen writing!
Book Club – Attend your local library’s club, or make
your own.
Botany – Eva Varga has a great course in botany
here - Botany - Plenty O'Plants - EvaVarga
Boy Scouts – Earning badges, and progressing in boy
scouts, such as eagle scouts, is a great activity for leadership development www.scouting.org
Business Management – This could include running an etsy shop,
taking a course, or making your own.
Business Math
Career Exploration – This can be an elective for high school
credit. Some ideas for this include interviewing family members and
friends re their careers, doing online research into careers of interest,
arranging to visit a site of interest. 7 Sisters offers a complete course in Career Exploration Curriculum Bundle,
highly recommended.
Car repair – Learn along
side dad, help with car repairs, take a class, etc.
Carpentry
Ceramics - Our parks dept. offered great classes in ceramics, which my
teen enjoyed since middle school.
Chalk Pastels - Make your own fine arts course with Tricia
Hodges's Art for All Ages Chalk Art Bundle.
American Landmarks Chalk Art - This chalk art book is more advanced, ideal for high schoolers, and it can pair very well with your American History studies. A great way to complete a fine arts elective credit as well!
American Landmarks Chalk Art - This chalk art book is more advanced, ideal for high schoolers, and it can pair very well with your American History studies. A great way to complete a fine arts elective credit as well!
Cheer - Cheer classes and or competitions
Child Development – The 7 Sisters offer a complete
course in Early Childhood Education. Assisting
in a church nursery, babysitting, helping in a co-op class, or helping with
younger siblings over time can all contribute to the learing.
Choir
Coding
College Planner - Give your teen credit for preparing for ACT/SAT testing! All of
these activities can count as high school credit! Make it a course.
Comparative Religions
Computer Studies – Online, Programming, Web Design,
etc. Making a website, and blogging can count as web design.
Composer Study
Cooking
CPR-First Aid
Crafting
Creative Writing – We did this as one of our favorite high
school electives. I am a writer, so I taught my daughter the basics, then
we made our own homemade course with NaNovWriMo. I just share that as a reminder
that you can teach your skills and hobbies to your child and make your own
electives!
One Year Novel
Another way to go is to use One Year Adventure Novel – www.oneyearnovel.com,
or pick another resource such as Learn to Write the Novel Way from www.christianbook.com.
This can also become an English credit. Creative writing is a great way
to build up your teen’s confidence in putting words on paper. It’s
fun, too.
Dance – My daughter enjoyed studying irish dance
at a local dance studio for many years. There are many kinds of dance to
consider, ballet, jazz, liturgical, etc. We started out with parks dept
classes in preballet. What fun I had watching my little one learn to
dance!
Desktop Publishing
Early Childhood Education
Vicki Tillman from 7 Sisters - Early Childhood Education elective course. Add power to the homeschool transcript, prepare to be a good homeschooling parent, and provide enriching career exploration, while doing this course, which is FUN!
Early Childhood Education
Vicki Tillman from 7 Sisters - Early Childhood Education elective course. Add power to the homeschool transcript, prepare to be a good homeschooling parent, and provide enriching career exploration, while doing this course, which is FUN!
Fashion
Financial Management
Fine Arts - My friend used this program by a veteran
homeschooler Harmony Fine Arts
Fitness Coaching
4H - www.4-h.org/ They offer a variety of
activities to develop kids and teens’s citizenship, leadership, responsibility
and life skills. My daughter participated in their annual competitions at
our state fair each year, and enjoyed photography, art, knitting, baking, and
more. This gave her outside feedback on her projects, which was
priceless. Find a local 4H club here - http://www.4-h.org/get-involved/find-4-h-clubs-camps-programs/.
Furniture Refinishing
Gardening – Building a veggie garden, studying
gardening online, planning a flower garden, helping with garden maintenance at
home can all count.
Geology
Graphic Design
Gymnastics – My daughter took lessons at our local
gymnastics center. This was a great way for her to build strength and it also
showed perseverance on the high school transcript, as she did this over a
number of years. (Usually you would only include the high school activities on
the college application.)
Hand Arts
Health
Home Economics – Cooking dinner once a week could become
a ½ or full credit in home economics, depending on whether it was done for one
semester or a year. Making a recipe notebook, trying out new recipes,
etc. Lots of potential for homemade courses here.
Homeschool Scouts – www.homeschoolscouting.com To find a listing of homeschool
troops, click here – www.homeschoolscouting.com/homeschool-troops.
Homeschool Sports Network – http://www.hspn.net/homeschool-sports.asp.
To find a homeschool sports program in your area, check out this website, which
has a list of states that offer sports around the country.
Horticulture
Interior Decorating
Itsy Shop
Jewelry Making
Journalism
Landscaping
Leadership Activities
1. Youth
and Government is a hands on way of learning about state
government, gaining speech and debate skills at the same time. They meet
in small groups, as delegations, then compete in district events, while
learning about state government and how a bill becomes a law. Meanwhile
they practice debate skills, leading up to the statewide Youth
Mock Legislature. All the teens gather together at the youth
legislator and enact the roles of legislators and vote on mock bills, written
by the teens themselves. This program is available in 33 states across
the country, and is sponsored by the YMCA. They even elect their own
youth governor each year!
2. TeenPack Leadership Schools – www.teenpact.com This is another well established
leadership program which provides groups and workshops that equip teens to
become leaders in politics, society and citizenship. They offer state
classes, four day classes and a national convention, too. Their classes are
held in 41 states at their state capitals. Many of my teen’s homeschool
friends participated in these events and learned a lot there. They looked
forward to it every year. To register for a state class click here - https://teenpact.com/events/
3. Counselor-in-Training Programs – The girl scouts, boy scouts and
camp fire programs all offer counselor training to teens. Then they
assist in summer day camps for younger kids.
4. Volunteering –
Help at a food bank as a family, volunteer at a pet hospital, or the Humane
Society, assist at a library as a volunteer page, help to lead a class at
co-op, etc. By recording your teen’s hours, volunteering can be made into
a homemade elective course.
5. Parks Department’s Teen Board – Many parks departments have youth
teen boards, who meet regularly to plan activities for younger kids, and that
is a way to learn leadership skills.
6. PoliceExplorers – Many
police departments offer this program for high schoolers. It includes
lots of volunteer opportunities and leadership training as well. Our
family friend has been involved it this program for years, and is gaining
helpful experience, that may lead directly to a career in law enforcement.
7. Speech and Debate - NCFCA – National Christian Forensics
Communication Association – This is the longest standing nonprofit
organization that offers speech and debate activities for homeschooled high
schoolers. They meet locally in chapters, compete regionally, and hold a
national championship yearly. Lots of my teen’s homeschool friends
participated in this, and loved it.
Life Skills
Marine Science
Marketing
Martial Arts – Many studios offer homeschool classes in
martial arts. One of my teen’s friends is a student of martial arts, and
it was a great way for him to develop discipline.
Music – Music lessons, composer studies, Squilt - http://www.homegrownlearners.com/squilt/,
playing in a band or orchestra, singing in a choir, performing, attending
performances call all lead to a high school credit in music. Our area had a homeschool choir
available.
Music Appreciation - My friend, Tricia Hodges, from Hodgepodge used this course
an recommends it 20th Century Music Appreciation Course.
Music Lessons
Nature Study
We loved doing nature study, too. How about one of Cindy's nature study
courses, such as Incredible Creeks from Shining Dawn
Books?
Nutrition
Oceanography
Office Skills
Orchestra
Painting
Philosophy in 4 Questions - A whole credit of philosophy, by 7 Sisters,
highly recommended. No busy work, and from a Christian perspective.
Photography – I taught my daughter photography, from
age 8, and we did this together for many years, and it later became a homemade
elective. There are also online courses in photography, and some parks
dept’s offer classes as well.
Photo Shop
Physical Education
Plumbing
Programming
Psychology - Introduction to Psychology - A
Christian Perspective - from
7 Sisters
Research Skills
Robotics
Sailing
Sea Scouts
Sewing
Shakespeare
Would you like some resources for making your own high school English course?
Make your own course, with novels such as these, for example:
These books include the original text,
with a parallel translation of modern English on each page. Having the
parallel text made this learning so much better and understandable for my teen.
Sign Language
Social Media - Advertising
Sociology
Speech and/or Debate - NCFCA–
National Christian Forensics Communication Association link - The longest standing nonprofit
organization that offers speech and debate activities for homeschooled high
schoolers. They meet locally in chapters, compete regionally, and hold a
national championship yearly. Lots of my teen’s homeschool friends
participated in this, and loved it. They also hold short film and
writing contests.
Speech 1 - Public Speaking
and Practical Life Skills - by the 7 Sisters, also highly
recommended.
Small Business
Stoa – Christian Homeschool Speech and Debate – This national organization offers Speech
Events, Debate Events, and Tournaments here http://www.stoausa.org/ State
Organizations are here. http://www.stoausa.org/about/stoa-state-links
Theater and Drama – Take a class, usher at a drama production, join a local
community theater group. My nephew participated in a homeschool drama
program offered by his co-op.
Video Courses - Tricia Hodges, from the Hodgepodge, has an extensive list
of high school video courses in High School Homeschool Video Courses, including American History, Visual
Latin, Economics and so much more!
Video Making - We made our own course in video-making, a true joy
to do with my teen. It became a one-half credit elective on her
homeschool transcript and was tons of FUN!
Voice Lessons
Volunteering – Such a great way to gain experience, build
up confidence, leadership skills, and to try new things. Some places to
consider – Church youth activities, church nursery, the public library, nursery
room at co-op, the Humane Society, Girl Scout or Boy Scout day camp, Parks
department special needs programs, mission trips, nursing homes, church camps,
day care or preschool, food bank, YMCA, YWCA, etc.
My daughter volunteered at our local library one summer, and
enjoyed it. They were already set up for volunteers there, so it was easy
to set up. Some museums are also set up to offer teen volunteering.
This led to a recommendation letter that we sent along with our college
application.
Web Design
Weight Lifting
Word Processing
World Cultures
YMCA – www.ymca.com They have a link there that will
list all of the YMCAs in the US and will give you a guest pass to one to visit
nearby.
HSLDA also has an extensive list of possible
high school electives here http://www.hslda.org/highschool/Elective_Possibilities.pdf
Nothing like
watching your teen as they discover and explore their special interests during
the all important teen years!
I loved doing activities and electives with my daughter. I followed her
interests, and did not load on extra electives or activities just to show them
to the colleges.
Instead, we made time for her to develop her gifts and
talents as it fit into our homeschool days and our family’s schedule.
And homeschooling creatively with FUN electives helped my teen get into college! Is that where you want your teen to be heading? It is NOT hard to do!
This post is a part of the 100 Things iHomeschool Network Blog Hop! (starting November 21st) Check out the group cash giveaway and all the other great posts there.
Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,
Betsy
Betsy is mom to her 20 year old daughter whom she homeschooled from day one. She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, high school & college and wrote a book on college. Betsy also offers free homeschool help and messages at BJ's Consulting.
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