Here’s the Best Kept Secret to Finding the Perfect High School Curriculum
How do you choose the best homeschool high school curriculum? There are so many to choose from! Beginning with enrolling in a full online schools all the way to an eclectic mix of classes you custom choose yourself to meet your child’s needs, there is a dizzying array of choices.
The best of the best, though is that last choice. Putting together a personalized curriculum for your teen yourself.
Whoa! You say? That sounds way too hard! Actually, it is easier than you think. You have always been your child’s best teacher. Add to that role the fact that you have always been your child’s best advocate – you’ve spoken for them and chosen for them based on their unique gifts more times than you can count. You’ve known them since the day they were born, watched them tackle problems and set-backs, seen their curiosity build, and answered their toughest questions. Or, helped them find the answers. No one is better suited to put together your teens high school courses than you!
Not only are your qualifications enough to tackle this job, they are the best qualifications since you know your teen best.
Homeschooling your teen in high school is such an efficient choice academically. By cutting out commuting time everyday, eliminating chaotic transition time between classes, and being able to jump right into the day’s work without waiting for long lectures that teach to the ‘average student’, your teen will have time to invest in their own passions. Extracurricular time is great for pursuing hobbies and interests, but by designing your teens homeschool curriculum yourself, you will be able to put their unique gifts to work in some of their main classes. Planning your teens homeschool curriculum in high school yourself will positively impact them their whole life long.
In our own homeschool, our teens have earned state history and government credit while working as a page in the state legislature, earned computer science credit by learning professional designing programs, and one even began a fiber animal farm from scratch to earn elective credits in animal husbandry! Being able to tap into the knowledge of a mentor in a particular profession of interest takes this concept way beyond self-teaching. Working with a mentor opens your teens eyes like nothing else, and it prepares them for collaboration with professors and staff at their future college.
Let’s look first, though, at the nuts and bolts of planning your own curriculum and see how easy it is.
By searching online for (your state) + ‘homeschool laws’ and (your state) + ‘minimum graduation requirements’, you will learn the legalities of homeschooling in your particular state. Homeschooling is legal in all US states, but it is good to enter high school knowing of any particular requirement for your state of residence. Then, look at a few of the colleges to which your child is interested in applying or even colleges you think may be a representative sample of where he or she may apply. They may list entrance requirement on their admissions page, or you can call to ask. Often, the requirements include fulfilling the minimum graduation requirements in your particular state. Since these may vary among states, you can see how general is the list of courses that your teen must take in high school.
The fun of planning comes when you add in a list of courses you want your teen to take in high school or subjects they particularly want to study.
This is the beauty of planning your teens curriculum yourself, the flexibility of time, materials, and coursework that will keep your teen more engaged during their high school years.
After you set the general skeleton in place, you only need to focus on one year of planning at a time. Your child will mature considerably in a very short time as they move from middle school, into high school, and approach graduation. You do not need to have it all planned out at the beginning. Allowing room for interests that arise and educational opportunities that come up will serve you well. Isn’t it funny that the perfect opportunities come within earshot just when you need them?
I offer you a dose of encouragement as you begin planning the high school at home journey.
You’ve got this! By considering the maturing your teen is rapidly going though and remembering how your guidance is exactly suited to their needs since you know them best, you know you are the best to plan their homeschool curriculum in high school. You will be so glad to have given your teen this wonderful leg up on life by not only homeschooling, but by planning a curriculum that meets their individual needs and makes the most of the few short years of high school. Best wishes!
