Homeschooling high school - tailor made

 Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

 

Probably the single most important reason we have continued to homeschool our kids all the way through to high school graduation is the ability to tailor their education to their specific needs, interests, and personalities.

Some kids are more bookish and will thrive in a history/lit heavy course-load.

Others, love math and science and so we will hit the bare minimum elsewhere and stockpile STEM credits.

Still others just struggle in school. Every subject is a struggle. Every year a battle to the final test or project. College may or may not be on their horizon. We meet the requirements, plus a little, and pursue other interests and opportunities.

Homeschool gives them the time to pursue other training and experience without short-changing their preparedness for college.

Start in Junior High (if possible). We start getting a jump on high school credits in 8th grade, sometimes even 7th. Many students are ready for Algebra 1 before high school (can still be put on their high school transcript). Avid writers could handle a high school level writing class and tuck that out of the way early. Usually these are subjects they are going to surpass the state standard credit requirement anyway, but there is no need to wait until they are a freshmen to start mastering high level topics and have them ready for college by the time they are old enough to begin taking dual enrollment college classes.

Choose their track (and change it as often as necessary) - academic, apprenticeship, athletics, fine arts, etc. What do they love right now? Spend extra time on it. Take a class, park district session, workshop, etc. Explore it from every angle to best evaluate if it is just a hobby or if it is career or college major material.

Give credit where credit is due. As they pursue some of the extra areas, track their hours. I have a generic sheet I make up with 140 check boxes. If they spend 140 hours in any topic, I put that as a credit on their transcript. Theater, robotics, debate, sports, music lessons, cooking, ministry, anything that they are putting serious time into and learning a skill can be included on their transcript as an elective or at least as an activity.

Begin considering CLEP and dual enrollment opportunities (more details on this in another post). These can take the place of a class, fill the summer months, or just add extra credits to an already complete transcript. CLEP tests can even be taken during college, but the more they take advantage of the better, usually.

Make a plan. HSLDA has a simple worksheet that you can use for this. Remember to compare it with the state requirements, and remember not to settle for "good enough."

You can do this. You know your child better than anyone else.

It helps immensely if both parent and child are excited about the possibilities. Researching options and information together can help as you talk through some of the fears, hesitancies, and of course options as you make a plan for the best education pathway for your child.   

So many topics still ahead  -  College credit, transcripts, goal setting, finding resources, building confidence, finances, and more.