When my oldest son was four years old and homeschooling was a brand new path, high school seemed a million miles away. Now he stands taller than me and is completing his final four years of this part of his education.

Homeschooling in high school comes with a plethora of questions. It can feel like a tall order, making even a seasoned homeschool mom question her ability to persevere through these older years. And while I’m familiar with these fears, the Lord in His kindness did something for me over the past summer that I’ve been praying would be so.

He gave me peace for the high school years.

Even joy.

Will it be hard work?

Of course.

But what a privilege to get to walk alongside my growing son through these years.

So it is with joy that I write this post and share what I’m learning about how to homeschool through the high school years!

Where to Start

For some reason, we get to the high school years and all of sudden we think it’s like starting over. In reality, it’s just a continuation of the groundwork that has already been laid. There are some additional pieces that come into play such as credits and transcripts, but homeschool moms are good at learning how to do unfamiliar things. And the Lord is faithful to offer wisdom as we seek Him.

Pray over your year before you start planning. Pray to have eyes to see what is best for your unique child. Pray for the Lord to provide everything you need.

And then, do a little research!

Once I did some research about how to homeschool in high school, I realized it really isn’t as scary as I thought. They are still studying many of the same subjects, but it’s good to consider their future plans as you sketch out the next four years.

Questions to consider as you research:

• What are the high school graduation requirements for your state?
• What courses do students typically study in high school and in what order?
• What are your students’ strengths and interests?
• What life skills do you want your student to know before they leave home?
• Does your student what to go to college?
• If they do want to go to college, what do they want to study?
• What needs to be on their transcript?

Consider your Child’s Long-Term Goals

High School is a great time for our kids to explore their interests and gain experiences that will help them in the future. Once they enter ninth grade, they might already have post-secondary goals or they may be unsure. Either way, some options they might be considering are:

• 4-year college
• 2-year college (associates degree)
• Trade School
• Apprenticeship
• Internship
• Family Business
• Military
• And more…

One of the beauties of homeschooling is that we can design a custom four-year high school plan based on the direction our kids are headed.

How to Choose Courses and Electives

Once your child enters the high school years, you’ll want to start thinking in terms of semesters. Normally they will complete two semesters per year (fall and spring) and traditionally they receive grades each semester. They will also receive credits for the courses they take. Some of their courses will span over the entire school year, while other courses, such as some electives, may only last one semester.

So how do you know which courses to choose?

Generally speaking, the typical subjects of study are…

• English
• Math
• Science
• Social Studies
• Foreign Language
• Fine Arts
• P.E.
• Electives

However, the specific courses your student will take for these subjects and the number of years they will take each course will depend on whether they are college-bound or not.

My state has a homeschool organization called CHEC and they have a wonderful handbook with a section on how to homeschool through the high school years. If you are local to Colorado, I strongly recommend checking it out! You can find it HERE.

When I was first navigating how to plan for high school, I referenced this handbook and it helped me tremendously. It lays out recommended courses for each year based on whether you have a non-college bound student or a college-bound student. It also has several planning charts, sample transcripts, and other helpful tips. If you are not local to Colorado, it’s worth looking into if your state has something comparable.

College-Bound Students

My son is college-bound and is considering going into a science or engineering field, so I am keeping that in mind as I guide him through his high school years. It’s my goal to give him the best chance possible to be successful in what he wants to do with his life, and I’ll be cheering him on all the way to the finish line—and will definitely need a box of tissues once we get there.

With that in mind, I referenced the college-bound recommendations I mentioned in the handbook above and then created some of my own planning sheets to sketch out the next four years.

You may want to focus in on certain subjects, depending on what your child wants to study in college. For example, I am making sure my son has solid math and science since those subjects are especially important in his fields of interest. Your child can also choose electives that match their areas of interest. And some courses have pre-requisites, so you want to make sure to organize their courses accordingly.

Grades, Credits, and Transcripts

Grades

I’ve been grading my son’s work for several years, but I’ve never actually given him final grades for the year until now. Grades are what determine their G.P.A for their transcript. I’m still coming up with a system that works for me, so I’m not going to speak too much to this at the moment, but there is no hard rule for how to do grades—at least in the state I live.

In general, I’m using a combination of his daily work, tests and quizzes, and his participation to assign him grades. I’m also using weighted grades in some subjects.

Credits

Each class your student takes counts for a certain amount of credits, and they need a certain amount of credits to graduate and/or get into college. With my son, we’re aiming for a minimum of 28 credits spread over four years.

On average one full credit is 120-180 hours of instruction, and usually year-long core subjects like English and Math will count as one full credit. Courses that last only one semester usually count as 0.5 of a credit.

transcripts

There are different ways to create a transcript, and there are various tutorials and templates online to guide you through the process. Transcripts are a matter of recording the courses your student took, their grades and G.P.A, the number of credits they earned, and other notable activities they participated in through out high school.

While I’ve yet to create a transcript, from what I’ve seen, it’s really not as intimidating as it can sound. It’s a matter of keeping track of different components as you go and then using that information to create a transcript.

Don’t Forget Life Skills

While the academic pieces are important, I also want my kids to leave home with life skills. And some of these life skills might also count as electives at the high school level.

One of my son’s electives this year is financial stewardship because we want him to know how to manage money. He also helps his dad and other family with car projects and home projects, and is on his way to becoming a very handy adult.

Things like home economics, auto mechanics, and driver’s training can count as electives, so make sure to keep track of hours and give them credit for what they do!

Teaching the Harder Subjects

I think one of the reasons some people get scared off from pursuing homeschooling during the high school years is because the the coursework gets more challenging. The good news is, there are plenty of curriculum choices, there are online options, and you can outsource subjects outside the home as needed. You do not have to know everything—I don’t!

There are options for homeschool students to do dual enrollment at some community colleges and receive college credit while still in high school. They can also take AP courses and then take an exam to potentially earn college credit that way, too. Some other options are for them to take classes offered at co-ops or you could even hire a tutor for subjects you’re not comfortable teaching.

Right now, I’m personally comfortable teaching my son at his level, and my husband has an engineering degree, so he is a good resource for math and science questions that are beyond my ability. We may consider dual enrollment for upper high school math and science courses, but either way I know there is a path forward.

My perspective is that the Lord has faithfully led our family through over ten years of homeschooling and He’s not stopping now.

Resources

As I’ve done my own research, I’ve come across a few resources that are helping me along this journey of homeschooling a high schooler. This is a growing list but here are a few you might find helpful too:

• The Homeschool Guidebook for Colorado by CHEC
• Homeschool High School Record Book (an all-in-one book for keeping track of High School records)
• Homeschooling High School Masterclass with Erica Arndt (e-course plus access to templates)
• HSLDA High School & Beyond (this is an organization that helps protect homeschool freedoms)

If you are just getting started with the high school years like our family, or you’re inching closer to that milestone, I hope this offers some encouragement that is possible to thrive through the high school years.

Is it hard work? Of course! But hard work pays off and produces character not only in our kids, but in us too.