Education: Homeschooling High School
From my experience, many families may be confident to homeschool in the younger years, but when the time for high school comes the confidence plummets and the worry surges. I want to encourage you to not fear. You have been educating your child from birth whether you homeschooled or not or realized it or not. And you can homeschool high school!
The high school years are when you really begin to see the fruit from all of the planting and cultivating of the younger years. The relationships developed over time with your children bear fruit in late night discussions, planning together, and enjoying their growing independence.
A couple of steps you can take to help you feel more confident and prepare for high school...
Research your state requirements for graduation. Different states have different laws and requirements, so find out specifics for your state.
Discuss with your teen. Have lots of discussions and practice listening. Listen to their concerns, interests, goals, and ask questions. Continue these conversations throughout the year. Be willing to reassess and make adjustments.
If college is the next step, look at incoming freshman requirements for each of the universities which your child is interested in. There is quite a range, and this will help you as you plan for particular classes and areas of study.
As you plan the high school years, involve your child in the decision making process. Show them the options for books, classes, opportunities, and engage them in the process. Let them own their choices. High school is a great time for them to take initiative, own their work, and learn to manage their schedule.
Transcripts. Try to keep your child’s transcript to one page. Most colleges don’t want a detailed account of every class and book read. Include your school name, address, and contact information for your child at the top. I organize them by subject/area of study (english, social studies, math, science, foreign language, fine arts, electives) and include hours of credit and grade. There are numerous online transcript templates you can use. I created a simple one using numbers/excel.
Resume. This is separate from the transcript and a place where you can include extracurricular activities, awards, honors, areas of leadership, areas and hours of service activities. Not all schools will ask for these, but it’s great to start it early so you can add things as you go and not forget by the time they need it. Again, there are a lot of online templates for these too. Homeschooling allows our children the freedom to explore unique interests, jobs, volunteer work, and the resume is a place for them to share beyond academics.
Advice from Students
I talked with several homeschool high school students and college students who were homeschooled (including my own). Here is some advice from their perspective.
Let your high school student figure things out and do things themselves. Even if it doesn’t seem to be working well initially, let them work at it. Don’t do everything for them.
Let them be their own person, develop autonomy, and figure out things for themselves. Stay involved with open communication. Allow space for them to have opinions that are different from yours.
Don’t treat all of your children like they are the same person.
Continue to cultivate relationships and friendships with other families even if your teen may not seem like they want it or seems too busy to participate.
Relationships/friendships are important to high school students. Parents should continue to have their own friends so children learn how to cultivate and navigate meaningful relationships.
Don’t put pressure on them for test scores and grades. Help them see their self worth does not come from their academic performance.
Don’t compare them to other people whether they are performing better or not.