Planning for High School Success

There’s not ONE right way to homeschool high school, but planning is such an important part of setting yourself up for success! Let’s talk about how to choose courses that will help mold teens’ character while giving them excellent life preparation, then how to plan to implement them over the 4 years of high school.

Homeschool high schoolers must be ready to face adulthood: educationally, spiritually, emotionally, physically, socially. As a homeschool parent, YOU get to help them prepare for the independence of adulthood. Here are tips for planning for high school success!

1) Set Long-Term Goals

Prayerfully think about what kind of young adulthood God has called your homeschooler to. Can you write a “wish list” describing his/her educational preparation, spiritual maturity, health, and social/relational skills? Keep it in perspective, of course: a homeschool mom may plan her kids’ path- but God will direct their steps. You don’t want to get in His way, but thinking about the long-term picture will empower you to pray and help you make wise decisions.

2) Create some Short-Term Goals

Short-term goals are one-year-at-a-time goals for each year of high school. These will be the areas that you want to cover educationally each year with your homeschoolers. Here are some general thoughts about what to include:

Language Arts/Literature

Think about covering the common literature categories over the 4 years of high school. These common categories are typically recognized as British Literature, World Literature, and American Literature (in no particular order). Then add other categories that interest you and your teen, like Great Christian Writers, C.S. Lewis Studies, or why not blend topics for more general studies? Be sure to include vocabulary study, but incorporating that into your literature study is fine; using literature study guides is a great way to do that AND build a basic skill set for literary analysis.

Language Arts/Writing

Each year needs lots of writing of various types. Be sure to include a Research Paper, several Essays, and varied types of Creative Writing (poetry, short stories,journal entries, letters, song lyrics).

Grammar can either be learned using a stand-alone curriculum or (for students who have already mastered the basics) by editing their writing assignments and learning the nuances of good grammar as they correct their mistakes.

Maths

Include Algebra I, II, Geometry, and Financial Literacy (higher maths or business math may be a good choice according to your homeschool high schooler’s strengths and needs).

Social Studies

Most families study American History, World History (try integrating World History with Philosophy for a meaningful course!), Civics, Economics, Geography, Social Sciences (courses like Psychology or Sociology), and special topics of interest. These don’t need to be studied in any particular order, but make sure you spend time each year earning a credit of Social Studies.

Science

The commonly required sciences with lab experiments are Biology, Chemistry, and Physical Science (or Physics). Additionally, consider studying Health (or Human Development), specialty Courses such as Advanced Chemistry, Anatomy and Physiology, Astronomy, Environmental Science, or others that fit with your child’s plans for college or career after graduation.

World Languages

It doesn’t matter which language you pick, but your student needs 2 or 3 years of the same language for the high school transcript.

Fine Arts

Music, visual art, dance, drama, photography…so many options, and one credit is the absolutely minimum.

Phys Ed

This can be earned in many ways, but your teen needs at least 2 years of credits.

Career Exploration

This is one of the most valuable AND most-often-overlooked courses in high school. Varied numbers of credits need to be earned according to student needs. Help your homeschooler recognize what God has already done in his/her life and where He might be leading.

Religion

This is material that can be studied in many ways; choose an approach that fits your family.

Drivers Ed

You don’t want to play chauffeur the rest of your life, do you? 🙂

Electives

Elective courses are the ones where you get to choose what will uniquely complement your teen’s personality, areas of interest or passion, calling from God for ministry, and more. Use these to develop skills/talents, explore new areas of development, or add power (SPARKLE) to the high school transcript making it extra-attractive to colleges.

Planning for high school success means considering the generally agreed-upon requirements for a high school education AND considering the unique needs of your teen and your homeschool family. By giving both considerations time and importance, you will find the plan coming beautifully together for homeschool high school!

If you enjoyed this blog, please check out The Homeschool High School podcast on the Ultimate Homeschool Radio Network!

Sabrina and Vicki are your Big Sisters as they share the experience they’ve gained in over 20 years of homeschooling. They are the talky-2 of the 6 Sisters at 7SistersHomeschool.com. They are often joined by their other sisters, Kym and Marilyn OR other 7th Sisters! When YOU join us at The Homeschool Highschool Podcast, YOU will be our 7th Sister, too! Hooray!!

Come be our 7th Sister each week for The Homeschool Highschool Podcast, Tuesday mornings at 9:00 am EST!