high school

023. High School Documents

homeschool transcripts

High School Documents

How do you keep all those homeschool records organized without it becoming a headache? Curious about how to write a transcript that truly showcases your child’s achievements? And what exactly is a Counselor Letter and a School Report—do you really need them? Tune in this week as we discuss these topics and more, offering down-to-earth advice and helpful tips to make the process smoother and less stressful!

homeschool transcripts

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Are you just starting your homeschooling journey? We’re here to help! Begin with our Get Started in Homeschooling page and Homeschooling FAQ to make the transition smoother. If you’re guiding a young child, explore our How to Homeschool Kindergarten. to make those first steps special. For middle schoolers, don’t miss our Middle School page packed with tips and advice. And if you’re heading into the high school years, our Essential Steps to Homeschool High School will guide you every step of the way!

Show Notes

Homeschooling high schoolers isn’t necessarily any harder than homeschooling younger grades, in fact, some think it is even easier because you become more of an administrator or facilitator than a teacher. Homeschool record keeping is part of the job of being a homeschool parent but keeping track of those records doesn’t have to be overwhelming. 

If you’re new to homeschooling high school, be sure to check out the Essential Steps to Homeschool High School. This episode is part of our High School series, offering expert advice, comprehensive documentation, and resources like Free Transcript Templates to help you stay organized.

12 Steps to Homeschooling High School

As a homeschool parent of a high schooler, in addition to often being the teachers, you wear many additional hats:

Secretary:
Provide documentation
Record keeping, registration and administration.

Researcher:
Help student identify and evaluate colleges
Find sources of information for student (e.g. scholarship search, test options)

Project Manager:
Understand the process
Provide scheduling guidance
Transportation

Academic Counseling:
Help student with course selection, schedule modifications
Credit acquisition
Help student tailor academics and activities to goals

This is all part of that awesome benefit to homeschooling, where we get to handcraft a custom educational experience for our child.  It does not need to feel overwhelming or hard with a little bit of organization and help.  

We’d like to again thank Mary, Shari, and some of our other homeschool friends who have helped us along the way and specifically to craft some of the documents we are going to be talking about today.

Document and Records Guide

To go along with this episode, this 24-page High School Document and Records Guide will walk you through everything you need for homeschool high school recordkeeping.

Homeschool High School Document & Records Guide

This guide will walk you through step-by-step as you begin to create your own documents and records. It includes Checklists and Easy to Understand Examples for everything! You will be guided through all your responsibilities as your student’s guidance counselor:

Creating your homeschool portfolio

Writing the transcript

Writing the resume

Creating your school profile

Writing your counselor letter

Creating course descriptions

Ensuring great letters of recommendation

Save yourself all the confusion and set your student up for success with the confidence this guide will bring you. You will learn how to create and keep track of all your documents and records while homeschooling high school.

Document and Records Guide >>

The most important thing to consider when we talk about record keeping in homeschooling are your state requirements.  We are in Texas, where we do not have any kind of record keeping requirements and so up until high school, we generally don’t do a whole lot with that. I keep a single envelope per child per year that may have some examples of work or artwork, ticket stubs, programs, mementos from field trips, and a single sheet with what classes they took, places we visited, shows we saw.  It’s really more of a memory thing for us, rather than something representative of our schooling.

I tend to be a little bit more rigid on recordkeeping. I keep an actual portfolio -some states actually require this, but not here in Texas. My student’s portfolio is a three-ring binder detailing academic years with course information and materials, resumes, first day pictures and questionnaires, year and review, extracurricular, clubs, volunteer hours, awards, field trips, etc. I really keep all of our projects, samples of schoolwork completed elsewhere in a bin in the garage that I add to every year. Typically, at the end of the year, I will purge a majority of it and keep my favorites. Look up your state’s homeschooling laws and requirements

How do you keep homeschool records? (7:43)

Staying on top of homeschool organization is a good idea and will make your life as a homeschool parent so much easier and efficient. So, even if you have younger students, I encourage you to start making a habit of recordkeeping-even informally. Just a synopsis of what your child has done through the year on a one- or two-page document is sufficient in those younger years. Making recordkeeping a part of your homeschool routine and keeping up with it regularly will ease the burden when you need documentation for graduation, college admissions, and more.

If your student is college bound, there are 5 things that top colleges are looking for: 

  • Intellectual Curiosity
  •  Initiative
  • Leadership
  • Social Consciousness
  • Commitment

You can showcase these qualities by taking classes with increasing rigor, participating in extra-curricular and community service activities, showing consistency & depth in extracurriculars, and developing leadership skills.  We will have another high school series episode where we focus on extracurriculars and community service in this series. 

Meanwhile, there are 4-5 documents you will want to keep that you will need for college admissions that will help you illustrate these qualities. A transcript, a resume, a school profile, and counselor letter. 

In addition, some colleges are also going to want to see course descriptions.  It’s up to you if you want to prepare these.  Frankly, they are a lot of work and not every school is going to want to see them.  If you have mostly homeschooled at home, or used non-traditional sources, you may be asked for more information to back up your transcript.

Resume

A resume is a one-page document that provides an overview of your experience, skills, and other relevant information. A strong high school résumé gives potential employers and colleges a quick, but detailed and accurate snapshot of who you are and why they should be interested in getting to know you better. The primary goal of a resume is to sell your abilities to a hiring manager, making a resume is your first step toward finding a job. Colleges often want to see a resume, as well, and these can be uploaded in the Common App or whatever application program you use.  They are a great place to showcase your child’s accomplishments or special skills that aren’t necessarily educational or class type things. 

Writing a resume is fairly easy, there are many templates out there to help as well as blogs and articles to guide you. The basic items you want to include on your resume are:

  • Name and contact info, phone number, email
  • Summary

1-3 sentences emphasizing the experiences and accomplishments that best define you. If you are looking for a job, you might want something job specific in there, but keep that pretty broad for college applications.  And often, when looking for a job, specific job details will be in your cover letter anyway.

  • Experience 

For high school students, you probably aren’t going to have a long job history or even any at all. But you can emphasize the skills and knowledge you’ve developed in your studies, internships, community service, or part-time work. So it’s fine to include volunteering, babysitting, dog walking, tutoring, odd jobs, summer jobs, temporary jobs, and internships if you don’t have much in the way of real work history yet. 

  • Education

This is where you can put the name of your homeschool if you have one, any dual credit information, etc. You can also add your expected graduation date here. Not all states require you to name your homeschool.  We have a name we picked out when we did have to have one, and it looks good on paper- probably most people guess it’s a swanky private school.

  • Accomplishments

For the jobs or skills you listed in the experience section, you will want to clarify the responsibilities you had, the tasks that you successfully completed, and the outcomes with bullet points. Be specific but brief. We suggest using lots of action words such as: assisted, built, created, designed, drafted, installed, maintained, presented, programmed, repaired, served, and so on.

  • Skills

Here is where you can include any other pertinent information and accomplishments from home, school, or community, test scores, relevant coursework, non-credit courses taken, academic honors, special projects, leadership roles, extracurricular activities, hobbies, clubs, athletics, scouting, community service awards, scholarships, certificates. This is where things like specific computer programming expertise can go- fluent in Word, Excel, typing, etc.  Are you CPR or First Aid certified?  Maybe your student has Lifeguard or Babysitting certifications? Proficiency in a musical instrument.

We later also use this resume for work or as a base for creating a future job resume, so it is a great thing to start early and then revise as you go.  

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Course Descriptions

Course descriptions are details about individual courses and may be required or accepted by colleges.  You may want to check the admissions website or with the admissions counselor to see if these are necessary.  

There are 5 parts of a quality course description.  You are going to want to format it in a way that’s clear and easy to read.

1. Header: Your header should include the course name, instructor and/or course provider, semester/year class was taken, # of credits, grade received, and your texts and resources.

2. Description: Next you will want a good course description that will describe the class.  What is the purpose, the content, the experience.

3. Methods of Evaluation: Here, you will explain how the student was graded. Discussion, quizzes, tests, assignments, essays are some commonly used methods of evaluation. Many homeschoolers use a mastery approach, and this is where you can list that, as well.

4. Materials Used: List the main resources used in the class. This can be textbooks, plays, essays, online resources, newspapers, journals, lab materials. Some people include book lists for the year.  

5. Test Scores: If your homeschooler took Subject Tests or AP exams following this class, you can add them here, too.

If you are struggling writing these descriptions, keep in mind that you do not need to recreate the wheel. You copy and paste directly from the course catalog or website for community college or online courses.  Textbooks often have a summary listed on the publisher’s website.  If you used a tutor or other private class, you can ask the instructor if they have a course description or if they can write one for you. Also, if you have designed your own course, you may want to look for similar courses online and just use description as a guide while writing your own, or you may have already had it written out when you crafted the course. 

Lastly, if you have a student that is an artist or designer or maybe an actor or dancer, you will have different requirements.  We do have some friends who have walked this path and plan to have some guests on our show at some point that can talk about their students’ experiences in applying to specialty programs and we can hear about the audition or other admission processes they have been through. In some cases, students may need to build an artist’s portfolio in addition to or instead of traditional application materials.

How do you write a transcript? (19:06)

What is a transcript?  

Your transcript is a document that ensures that base admissions requirements are met, determines the student’s readiness to work at a college level, and showcases course load and rigor. Every school that your child attended in high school will provide a transcript for college admission.  For us, that meant we sent one both from the community college and from our homeschool.  Some students may have another from a public or private school that needs to be sent in.

When Will I Need a Transcript?

  • College admissions
  • Scholarships and contests
  • Internships
  • Certifications
  • Job applications/security clearances
  • Transferring to a public or private school
  • Military enrollment
  • Insurance companies (good student driver discount)

Your transcript should be a single page.  It should obviously be accurate.  You want it to be easy to read and easy to skim. And you want it to be professional and attractive.  I prettied mine up by printing on parchment and I ordered gold stickers with my school’s crest on it.  You don’t have to go all extra like that, but you can!

We see this question a lot- a college wants an official high school transcript and people freak out.  You know what makes it official?  Simply typing the words “Official High School transcript” across the top.  Later, when you send the last one after graduation, you will add the word Final. The top line of the document should make it clear.

So your transcript should have these basics:

At the top- Student Information

• Name

• Contact Information- your student’s, not yours.  We include address, email, and a phone number.

• Birth Date

• Other (sometimes optional) a SSN or xxx-xxx-last 4 digits.  They will be using this number a lot once admitted- now is the time to learn it!

There may be multiple students applying with the same name as your student, so you definitely want to have them identified as well as possible.

Graduation information

• Date of Graduation (actual or anticipated) and a start date (optional).  If you did something creative, like count 8th grade coursework, or have a super senior year, you may want to leave the start date off.  Again, it is up to you.

School information

• Name of School- not all states require this so you may not have one or maybe you are making one up now.  Some people get creative with this, other people use their last name or street name in the title.  

• Contact Information- this is where your parent info goes- I just put my name and email.

Course List

  • You are going to list both full and partial credit courses.
  • You will want to include courses taken elsewhere (dual credit, other schools)
  • Courses taken before 9th grade.
  • Courses that are honors or AP
  • You can designate these as separate from your homeschool courses done at home with an asterisk or other indication.
  • You will want a key and legend on your transcript that clarifies that information.
  • Also, you can put classes on your transcript that your student is currently taking or will take next semester (this is important for seniors applying in the fall for the following school year).  We just put IP (for in progress) on the transcript without a grade.

Credits and GPA 

You want a spot on your transcript to show the number of total credits completed and your GPA.  When it comes to Grade Point Average (GPA) there are several options for this.  You just want to choose something that is simple and easy to understand and that is consistent.  You want to list a cumulative GPA calculated for all completed courses.

And you can choose Weighted, unweighted or both. Grade-weighting is the process of increasing grades from more challenging courses when calculating the student’s GPA. Grade-weighting rewards students who take challenging courses. For example, common weighting is honors = +.5, college level (AP or DE) = +1 point.  Again, just make sure weighting clearly marked.

How to calculate GPA

1. Multiply each grade by the number of credits awarded to get the grade points.

2. Add all the grade points.

3. Divide the total grade points by the total number of credits.

In your key, where you may put clarifying information and a legend, you can indicate where courses were taken, your grading scale and your weighting formula.

Test Scores

You may also want to include test scores. PSAT, SAT, ACT, SAT Subject Tests, AP, some people do CLT.

Signature

Lastly, you want a spot for your signature and report date.

If your students won any awards or notable activities, you may want to include these on the transcript.  Some people are adamant about these being showcased on the resume or other part of the application, I have mine on the back of our transcript. This may include prestigious awards, volunteer work, leadership or specialized training or Internships.

Which leads us into what format of transcript should you use?  

This is very personal, and you have a lot of options here.  There are so many transcript templates out there.  Look around at several.  Some people like to list by year/term.  This is the most familiar to admissions teams.  It is easily organized and showcases increasing rigor from year to year.

Some people like to list by subject.  This can be an easy way to de-emphasize unusual timings (gaps, fewer/extra years) high school classes taken before grade.  We use it because my kids took many shortened semester classes and it looks weird to have several in one year. Super senior years.  This can also showcase passion/focus.

What is a School Report? (31:04)

A school report or school profile is a document that provides information about a school within the context of its students and its community. It gives an overview of the academics and opportunities offered. College admissions officers are typically familiar with the schools in their assigned region. They usually already know the quality of academics and the quality of the students who graduate from that school. As a homeschooler, you need to provide that context by providing evidence that your homeschool is also a quality one – rooted in strong academics and unique learning opportunities.

The school report/profile is about your homeschool, not your homeschooler. Up until this, all of the varying documents have highlighted your student.  Obviously, there will be some overlap, but this is the place where you can really highlight your academics and your academic choices and homeschool philosophy. The school report/profile is not a part of the transcript, but can add or provide context.  Not all schools will request or allow a school report, but some will, and this will come in handy especially if you are using a general admissions website, like the Common App.

Here are some items you want to cover in your Homeschool School Profile/report, aside from your school name and contact information.

  • The history of your school. You’ll want a brief overview of when your homeschool was created and maybe why, and maybe how it has benefitted your students. Again, talk in general, not specifics.  Even if your homeschool will only ever have one student, talk as if there could be many.
  • Describe the philosophy of your homeschool. Is it interest-driven, rigorous, student-led, self-designed, classical or other popular methodology, project-based? I used this section to explain a little bit about Charlotte Mason philosophy and mastery approach.  We don’t do a lot of testing, so I explained why here.
  • Describe your curriculum and choices.  Why did you choose dual credit over AP courses? Did you opt to focus on a particular path or interest?  I also use this section to talk about educational partnerships we may have had- local community college, brick and mortar homeschool school, university model program, etc. You may want to include a brief description  and bio of each provider.
  • Describe how grading, weighting, and assessments are done in your homeschool. How do you assign credits?  Determine weight? 
  • Graduation Requirements.  Here you may list your state’s graduation requirements or talk about your specific grad requirements if you are in a state that leaves that to you.

What is a counselor letter?

The counselor letter is basically a letter of recommendation submitted to colleges on behalf of an applicant and this would typically come from a school’s guidance counselor. Since you are technically the guidance counselor, you’re responsible for writing the recommendation. In a traditional school environment, this letter would usually be evaluating a student compared with other students in that specific school community.  Since homeschoolers obviously cannot be compared in this way, we really cannot do this.  We still want to demonstrate that they took rigorous classes, had impacts on the community, were leaders socially and in their extracurriculars.  

You will have to find a balance here between proud mom and teacher while still presenting in a professional manner.  You do not want to sound like a gushy mom, but you do want to share the great qualities and achievements that you know your homeschooler has.  I personally thought this was the hardest thing we had to do for the process.  Everything else has a template out there or you can ask friends for examples.  But this is such a personal and specific document, you really cannot do that with this.

So in writing your letter, you want to think about your application process as a whole and think about what your application does NOT say.  All in all, your transcript, resume, application (essay questions) and counselor letter should say everything you want them to know about your student. Think about- Is there anything missing academically? If you feel that the transcript doesn’t show the academic rigor of higher level classes, Ap or Dual Credit grades and test scores, provide other evidence of intellectual curiosity and examples of independent projects. If you have other credentials or experience in teaching, explain this in detail. Discuss your child’s development. 

You may want to detail more about your homeschool and philosophy again and perhaps explain how this shaped your student or was shaped by your student.  Talk about what motivates and excites your student, how they show initiative, how they have taken advantage of homeschooling and the schedule and flexibility it has provided them. You’ll also want to talk about extracurriculars and socializing. While the number of homeschoolers continues to grow  and universities are becoming increasingly accommodating,there are still stigmas or negative stereotypes that go along with homeschooling.Take this opportunity to discuss their social strengths within the context of groups, leadership roles, and other activities in the community.

Colleges really want to know WHO their applicants are. What kind of person are they and what will they be at college and in the future.  Universities are specifically looking for students that are going to add to an already rich school culture.  Why would your student be a great fit?  

You can reveal your teen’s positive qualities through anecdotes and examples- don’t go overboard!  You can also quote someone else or even the student to support their character and values. Be sure to back those quotes up with specific examples.The most important thing to remember is that  this letter is about the student.This should not be a list of accomplishments or a resume- you already supplied that context elsewhere.  And  while there may be slight overlap with your school report/profile, this is really just the story of your student.

Things that should be in The Homeschool Counselor Letter: 

  • Greeting to the selection committee with words that you are writing this letter on behalf of “student name.”
  • Examples, stories, or anecdotes about your students’ positive traits or values.  Information about your homeschool journey or philosophies, quotes from your homeschooler or other leaders familiar with your student (this could be someone else who has written a recommendation for them)
  • Make sure to include Common App or Application ID#, Counselor Signature, and  Counselor Title.

This letter can be difficult to write.  It is insanely personal, and it can be a powerful and moving experience writing it.  Prepare to feel all the emotions as you think back on their childhood and homeschool experience.  Definitely allow yourself to congratulate yourself on navigating an unconventional education path and your part in creating this special being.  This really is an incredible honor to get to present and truly recommend your student in this manner.  Celebrate your child and what you have both accomplished together!

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021. How Do You Homeschool a Child with a Learning Difference?

learning disability

How Do You Homeschool a Child with a Learning Difference?

You might be a parent who has considered or chosen to homeschool because your child has a learning difference or requires specific accommodations to support their learning journey. Traditional school systems often struggle to provide a curriculum that effectively meets these unique needs, leaving you to fight for the necessary adjustments. You may have wondered, “Can I homeschool my child?” The answer is a resounding, “Yes!” With the right resources, strategies, and support, homeschooling can offer a tailored educational experience that nurtures your child’s strengths and addresses their challenges, ensuring they thrive academically, emotionally, and socially. Tune in this week as we discuss these topics and more!

learning disability

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Show Notes

Learning challenges can make it difficult for children to keep up with peers academically and may lead to frustration and behavioral issues. Children with learning differences often struggle with social interactions and have low self-esteem. It is important for children with learning disabilities to receive appropriate support and in order to succeed academically and emotionally.

Sometimes people may have the idea that kids with learning disabilities are not motivated or intelligent, or it’s the parents’ fault. That is absolutely false.  We really need to widen the lens of how we look at these kids. Also, keep in mind that all students are unique and special and every single one has areas of strengths and areas of weaknesses. It’s important to remember that there are functioning, responsible adults everywhere that grew up navigating the system with a learning disability. 

What is a learning disability? (5:18)

Learning *disorder* is a diagnostic term. A licensed professional — usually, a psychologist — diagnoses a person with a learning disorder based on a list of symptoms. Learning *disability* is a legal term. A public school identifies a student with a learning disability. People will often use these terms interchangeably, but those are their definitions.

Sometimes we use terms like developmental delay or gaps in knowledge to describe learning disabilities. Learning disabilities are actually a neurological disorder. The most common of course being reading disabilities with dyslexia as the most common. The reality is that 5–10% of students in the US have some sort of learning disability. 

There are many ways that professionals will go about diagnosing a learning disability including tests that psychologists do. That may include an aptitude test and an achievement test and often they compare those two. They may run more tests and once they have those results it helps them determine if there is a neurological disorder, a gap in knowledge, or they just need more exposure and more time to catch up. Typically, these sorts of assessments are done around 6 or 7yrs old. 

Sometimes there are even children with really high IQs that may be labeled GT, gifted and talented in a school system that may actually have a processing disorder. Knowing that and getting appropriate diagnosis is going to really help make your approach to how you teach them in your homeschool. 

Unfortunately, some kids may feel shame because it may take them so much longer than their friends to do something. It makes them feel that there is something wrong with them. It’s important that these children see themselves and also that we see them not from a deficit viewpoint but from an asset viewpoint. So often we label and put people in boxes because it’s easy to identify them like that, but we know that people are multidimensional— every single human being — not just academically, but emotionally but also in their talents. 

When you are able to personalize your child’s education in your homeschool, you will be able to break that cycle of failure they may feel. When they can feel small measures of success, you can help them to change their internal dialogue and their mindset about themselves. It will help build their confidence and will help with every aspect of their life. These are often the kids that grow up with the most resilience, persistence, and grit. It’s not just about academic success!

It’s critical that you and your child learn about their diagnosis together. You need to become their advocate, but ultimately, you want them to be their own advocate in life -in the classroom and beyond- so they need to understand how they best learn and process information too. 

There is no better ratio for educational success than 1:1. Being able to customize an education to your child’s specific needs is what homeschooling is all about. Positive outcomes begin with having the right blend of teaching style, curriculum, and a keen understanding of how your child/teen learns best. 

How do I know if my child has a learning disability? (12:10)

Learning disabilities usually fall within four broad categories:

  1. Spoken language-listening and speaking.
  2. Written language-reading, writing, and spelling.
  3. Arithmetic-calculation and concepts.
  4. Reasoning-organization and integration of ideas and thoughts.

Today we’re going to address 6 common learning disabilities and how you can tailor your homeschool to accommodate your children and their individual needs.  Each of these conditions can present with a range of symptoms and can be diagnosed through a combination of medical and educational assessments. 

Dyslexia

Dyslexia is the number one learning disability that affects people of all ages. It affects a person’s reading and language processing skills.  If you are the parent of a child with dyslexia, you have probably searched long and hard for ways to help your child learn. Because children with dyslexia are often highly intelligent, creative, gifted, and productive, you can often capitalize on your student’s strengths to make the most of homeschooling. You have complete control over the materials you teach with and can even choose a targeted homeschool curriculum for dyslexia.

Dysgraphia 

Dysgraphia is a learning disability that affects a person’s ability to write. It can manifest as difficulty with spelling, poor handwriting, or trouble putting thoughts on paper.

ADHD 

Although ADHD is technically not considered a learning disability, research indicates that 30-50 percent of children with ADHD also have a specific learning disability, and that the two conditions can interact to make learning extremely challenging. ADHD, if not treated, can interfere with a person’s ability to succeed academically and socially, and may lead to challenges in relationships and employment later on. 

ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects a person’s ability to pay attention, control impulsivity, and regulate their level of hyperactivity. It’s the second most common learning disability and can affect people of all ages. I know many people that have struggled all their life and then to be diagnosed as adults. 

ADHD makes it difficult to concentrate, which can lead to one child distracting others around them in a classroom setting. Many children with ADHD are disciplined for misbehaving, but they can’t control their actions.

Dyscalculia

Dyscalculia is a learning disability that affects math skills. It can make it difficult for a person to understand math concepts, perform arithmetic calculations, and solve math problems.

Lots of people dislike math, but they’re eventually able to understand it with enough practice. Dyscalculia is more severe because it’s diagnosing a learning disability that makes it challenging to understand even the most basic math concepts. Since math builds upon itself, children with dyscalculia can fall behind and struggle to catch up for years.

Dyspraxia

Dyspraxia is a neurological disorder that affects a person’s ability to plan and coordinate movement. It can affect fine motor skills, such as writing or tying shoelaces, as well as gross motor skills, such as balance and coordination. Dyspraxia can also affect a person’s ability to process information and perform tasks in the correct order. It is often referred to as developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and is thought to be caused by problems with the brain’s ability to process information about movement and coordination.

Although dyspraxia is a condition that affects someone’s motor skills, it still has the potential to hinder specific learning.It mostly interferes with hand-eye coordination skills. Dyspraxia presents itself differently in each affected person, but some symptoms include poor balance and struggling with fine-motor skills.

Auditory and visual processing disorders

Visual Tracking Disorder 

There are some families where parents feel it’s necessary to read and write everything because their child has behavioral issues when they try to make them do their own writing for math or reading. Sometimes there is something else going on and can translate as a visual tracking problem that makes reading very difficult for them. At this point, it would be advisable to look into professional help.

Auditory

Although CAPD is not considered a learning disability itself, it can make some aspects of education particularly challenging. Central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) is a condition in which the ears and the brain do not work well together. A child that struggles with central auditory processing disorder is unable to properly process information. Their ears can hear, but the brain does not organize and store the information in a way that lets the child remember it easily.

How do I homeschool a child with a learning disability? (18:37)

We likely see a disproportionate number of students with learning disabilities in homeschooling circles.  This is typically because either the school has failed to meet their needs and the parents feel they do better with one-on-one instruction. Or, the diagnosis comes earlier as the parents have noticed something in their day-to-day interactions that may have slipped by in a busy classroom.  For whatever the reason, in order to homeschool a child with a learning disability there are some steps you want to take.

Diagnosis of disabilities

If you or someone who knows your child suspects a learning disability, you may want to have a complete evaluation done by a psychologist or specialist to get a clear picture of their strengths and weaknesses. You may also seek testing through an educational diagnostician. These are available through school districts, or an independent evaluator or private provider, or medical institutions like pediatric psychology groups. Check with your state homeschool laws or school district to find out about evaluation services that may be available to you. Sometimes these resources even provide support.

Learn about your child’s diagnosis

You know your child best and no one loves them more or is a bigger cheerleader for them than you can be. You know that they are more than a label and you are the one who can help them reach their full potential.  You want to do all you can to learn as much as possible about their diagnosis so that you are able to understand how to support them. You are going to need all the understanding and tricks in your toolbox to aid them and to recognize their different abilities.

Educate yourself on treatment options

Learn about what your options are for treatments.  There may be medications, or therapies or other interventions available to aid you in your new journey.  Seek advice and information from your student’s diagnosing professional and their pediatrician.  Other treatments may be available by working with an integrative physician. There are more and more types of therapies available for various disabilities and special needs: art and music therapy, pet therapy, behavioral and cognitive therapy.

Traditional or standard speech/language, vision, physical, and occupational therapies are common treatments. Unfortunately, nearly all health insurance plans exclude coverage for Educational Evaluations.insurance companies do not cover for testing that is educational in nature.  Sometimes it is FSA eligible. So, in some cases testing and therapies may be financially out of reach if you are seeking private care but are free through the public school system. Again, research the resources available to you (some states give homeschoolers with learning disabilities access to special services).

Seek Support

Seek support of all kinds from professional to other families. Finding supportive people or groups is a great way to get personalized answers and practical resources. Many of our friends that have been through this struggle say, over and over again, that other homeschool moms who have been through it were invaluable to them.

For parent support you may want to try groups such as International Dyslexia Association, and Decoding Dyslexia.   National charitable organizations such as Scottish Rite, Easter Seals, and The Arc offer resources, support, directories, grants, scholarships, and other helpful tools. 

SPED Homeschool is another national nonprofit organization that offers encouragement and an online community to support families impacted by special needs. They have all kinds of resources from teaching tools, planning guides, and empowering media.

International Dyslexia Association
Scotish Rite
The Arc
Easter Seals
SPED Homeschool

Get real with your child

We mentioned this earlier, but it’s critical that you and your child learn about their diagnosis together. Ultimately, you want them to be their own advocate in life -in the classroom and beyond- so they need to understand how they best learn and process information. 

You really want them to understand that they are not defined by a diagnosis. One in five people have a learning disability and there are so many bright and successful people out there who also share the same learning disabilities.  Understanding their difficulties and how their disability affects them while also realizing what their strengths are and ultimately learning how to work around or with all of this will help.

The book 8 Great Smarts by Dr. Kathy Koch is a great resource

There is also a homeschool specific 8 Great Smarts for Homeschoolers by Tina Hollenbeck and Dr. Koch

There probably is not a greater life skill than self-advocacy.  Some other resources like the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity and Understood.org can help you find resources to educate your child and teach them how to advocate for themselves.

The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity

 Another popular highly rated book is The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan by Ben Foss

Allow for accommodations

 Accommodations help students take in information or demonstrate what they know but at their level and at their abilities. Decide what kind of accommodations your child may need and make sure to discuss these with other people who may be in supervisory roles in your child’s life, like outside teachers/tutors or coaches and other instructors.  Some common accommodations that may be of use are audiobooks, dictation or oral work in lieu of writing. Other accommodations may be frequent breaks or extra time to do a task. This is something you may want to document in your homeschool records.

Elizabeth Hamblet’ website offers advice and makes presentations based on her professional experiences drawn from her 20+ years as a college -level learning disabilities specialist. Explore her site to learn all about the college disability accommodations system, and how disabilities are handled in the admissions process.

Have confidence and faith in yourself

You are your child’s best teacher, and you are totally able to give them a completely personalized education plan. One of our friends did emphasize that you need to be willing to constantly adapt and change what you are doing.  

Some of our friends have been able to teach their dyslexic children to read.  Others had to seek outside assistance. One used Scottish Rite and said her student responded very well to the structure of the program. Another friend was able to teach one of her kids with dyslexia to read but not the second. The second child received intensive remediation through a reading specialist, who was trained in research-validated multisensory programs that work when other approaches fail.  These programs address underlying weaknesses that make reading, spelling, writing and comprehension difficult.  

Read Texas

Instructors are trained in the following programs and instructional approaches:

  • Seeing Stars® Symbol Imagery for Phonemic Awareness, Sight Words, and Spelling. 
  • Visualizing and Verbalizing for Language Comprehension and Thinking®
  • Talkies®: Visualizing and Verbalizing for Oral Language Comprehension and Expression
  • Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing® Program for Reading, Spelling, and Speech
  • On Cloud Nine® Math Program
  • Orton Gillingham approaches including Take Flight: A Comprehensive Intervention for Students with Dyslexia

You’re going to find that there is no single best curriculum for your child. I would encourage you to really tune in to their specific strengths and weaknesses, and personal preferences, and customize the best homeschool curriculum options for them.  That might mean choosing a blend of homeschool curricula.

Parents should read to their kids, help them sound out words, and guide their reading activity, but they can’t learn for their child. That’s where using a reading program that accommodates their disability can aid independent mastery. Online courses, read-alouds, interactive videos, field trips, box curriculum, physical movement, and manipulatives, group/co-op learning can all provide exciting and engaging ways in which your child will succeed in homeschooling. 

Ideally, you will want to choose learning tools that:
  • Utilizes techniques that best fit their learning style
  • Self-paced so they can move ahead when they have mastered a concept
  • Be multisensory and include plenty of visual or audio instruction and support (depending on their needs)
  • Include instruction in all the rules of reading and strategies both for decoding and spelling new words (especially for dyslexia)
  • Builds on existing reading, writing and math skills
  • Encourages kids to become active learners through exploration and discovery
  • Introduces new learning opportunities in a safe, supportive environment
  • Balances learning with fun!

A couple recommendations we heard from friends were the program All About Reading.  Another one recommended Reading Eggs and  Hooked on phonics.  While these programs aren’t specifically designed for learning disabilities like dyslexia, they can help.

All About Reading uses the Orton-Gillingham approach. Children with learning differences find it’s a lot easier wy to decipher the code.
Learn More>>

Sounds Abound: Listening, Rhyming, and Reading by Hugh Catts Tina Williamson is recommended.  This program builds skills students need to become proficient readers with an evidence-based, systematic progression of lessons. The 125 one- and two-page lessons help students connect letters with sounds and improve early reading achievement. The lessons are organized into five skill areas in order of development. Each skill area begins with picture-supported lessons and progresses to listening tasks without pictures. Determine student progress with a pre- and posttest for every unit.

Sound Foundation’s Dancing Bears were easy-to-use books developed to teach reading and spelling to young children and students struggling with literacy. First published in 2001, ‘Dancing Bears’ pioneered synthetic phonics. All the exercises were chosen for their proven success in teaching dyslexic children to read and spell. Our books are designed to empower amateur teachers (AKA parents)

Sound Foundations Dancing Bears

Replacing writing with typing can be a helpful tool. Dyslexie font is a typeface – specially designed for people with dyslexia – which enhances the ease of reading and comprehension. To design the dyslexia-friendly typeface, all typography rules and standards were ignored. Instead, all the challenges of dyslexia are taken as a starting point. There’s an array of products you can add this to- like Microsoft Word, Google Chrome, etc.

Dyslexie Font

Another introduced us to Grammarly, which is a writing support program that 

supports streamlined and effective writing. Their suggestions help identify and replace complicated sentences with more efficient ones, refresh repetitive language, and uphold accurate spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Catch typos, missing punctuation, or commonly confused words before they become distracting to your reader.

GRAMMARLY: The World’s Best Automated Proofreader
Grammarly to help with writing.

A couple of our friends also chose to become trained in The Orton-Gillingham Approach to better help their students, which is a direct, explicit, multisensory, structured, sequential, diagnostic, and prescriptive way to teach literacy when reading, writing, and spelling does not come easily to individuals, like those with dyslexia.  It is most properly understood and practiced as an approach, not a method, program, or system. In the hands of a well-trained and experienced instructor, it is a powerful tool of exceptional breadth, depth, and flexibility.

Will having a learning disability hold my child back? (32:50)

It doesn’t have to. And remember that as homeschoolers, there is no behind.  The biggest benefit of homeschooling is flexibility.  Some other advantages of homeschooling your child with a learning disability are: 

  • A quieter learning environment in a familiar setting.  This can reduce anxiety and pressure.
  • Daily Progress  In a school environment you may get feedback from teachers at the end of the day or weekly.  But as a homeschooler you can track progress daily and see them blossom.  And you are also there if the day goes bust.
  • Set the pace. Spend as much time as you need on concepts or skills that are hard for your child. Move on when you have mastered something.
  • Choice of curriculum and resources  Children have different learning styles and sometimes music or movement are better than sitting still and listening. There are So many different approaches you can use as we discussed in the last section.
  • Quality social opportunities. You can join local groups that encourage kids to relate to one another on their own terms. You can pick your activities and extra curriculars.

You may have concerns about things like not having as much structure as a school environment.

You may worry about having fewer resources than a school may.  You may be worried about having less social interaction and getting burned out. Focus on things you can fix. There are things that you have much more control over, but you still can’t control everything that might go wrong in a homeschool environment. Instead of thinking about the resources that aren’t available to your homeschooled child, think about how you can fill in the gaps and gain valuable skills. 

Each public school child eligible for special education has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). As a homeschooling parent, you may not have to have one at home, but it’s a good idea to set goals at the beginning of the year and monitor progress over time. An IEP can also help you communicate with specialists. There are free sources online that can help you generate your own.

A common fear for parents as their child with disabilities grows up is that they will sit at home all day after graduation and do nothing. This is a normal fear but doesn’t have to be reality.

One of our friends is using a vocational rehabilitation service for youth.  They updated testing for her adult child and helped prepare for post-secondary education and employment opportunities.  Services are eligibility and need based. Some even pay tuition and books at the community college.

Ultimately you know yourself and your child. Your child with disabilities could thrive under your tutelage if you have the patience and courage to lead the way. You know your child best.  

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Orton-Gillingham Approach
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Dyslexia Checklist
Get your FREE free Symptoms of Dyslexia checklist. It is designed to help you determine if your child has the signs of dyslexia

019. High School Core Subjects and Electives

High School Subjects

High School Core Subjects and Electives

How do you determine which core subjects are essential for high school? What are the best electives for your high schooler to take, and how do you choose them? What exactly qualifies as a high school credit? These are important questions for any homeschooling parent, and in this week’s episode, talking about these topics and providing valuable insights to help you make informed decisions. Tune in!

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Course Planning Sheets (pdf)

Are you just starting your homeschooling journey? We’re here to help! Begin with our Get Started in Homeschooling page and Homeschooling FAQ to make the transition smoother. If you’re guiding a young child, explore our How to Homeschool Kindergarten. to make those first steps special. For middle schoolers, don’t miss our Middle School page packed with tips and advice. And if you’re heading into the high school years, our Essential Steps to Homeschool High School will guide you every step of the way!

Show Notes

We know that the idea of homeschooling high schoolers can seem daunting, but we are here to assure you that with a good plan in place, homeschooling high schoolers can be a cinch! In our first high school series episode, we covered how to make a four-year plan and everything you need to know before starting your plan – graduation requirements, state law requirements, and more. It’s a great jumping off point for those of you that are just starting out. I always say that I really thought it was easier to home school high school than homeschooling was in younger grades.  You really become more of an administrator than a teacher, especially if you are outsourcing some or even all of your subjects.

If you’re new to homeschooling high school, be sure to check out the Essential Steps to Homeschool High School. This episode is part of our High School series, offering expert advice, comprehensive documentation, and resources like Free Transcript Templates to help you stay organized.

12 Steps to Homeschooling High School

So what subjects does my high schooler NEED to take? (6:44)

There are several ways you can look at setting up your high school class plan. Most importantly, look at your state homeschooling requirements to see if you are bound to certain requirements and restrictions. We are here in Texas, where we are considered our own private school, and we get to set our own graduation requirements. 

 There are two things that you may want to consider.  One, what are your state’s *public* high school graduation requirements? The average is between 21 and 26 credits.  That is often a great guideline of the minimum classes/credits you may want to strive for and may want to be your goal for a student who may not be college bound.  

Learn more about creating your high schoolers documentation and download your FREE Transcript Templates (doc and xls)

Remember, you do NOT have to meet these requirements! They are separate from your state’s *homeschool* requirements and you don’t always need to adhere to those. However, being aware of them may be helpful, especially when applying to State universities. Many homeschoolers exceed well beyond the state requirements. 

If you’re not in Texas, you can view your:  State Homeschool Laws and Requirements

Also, if college bound, work backwards and look to see what some of the potential colleges your student may be interested in requiring for incoming applicants.  You can find this information on college admissions websites pretty easily.  We suggested making a list of both of these class recommendations to start and then planning from there.

College Requirements:

When researching admissions requirements for colleges, like required high school courses, your best resource is going to be the college’s admissions website (or the college admissions advisors). We mentioned it in our High School Trailer Episode.

Other sources for college admissions information includes:

Cappex

Cappex

PrepScholar

A good basic list of core classes may include:

This is just a suggestion.  Again, one of the huge benefits to homeschooling is that you are able to completely cater the education experience to your child.  There are endless opportunities to how you may want to set this up for your student.

●     Language Arts (English I, II, III, IV – regular, honors, or Advanced Placement®*): 4 credits
●     Speech: .5 or 1 credit
●     Math (Algebra 1 and above): 4 credits
●     Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Science elective): 4 credits, 3 lab
●     Social Studies (U.S. History, World History, American Government .5/Economics .5, Social Studies elective, ie. Geography) : 4 credits
●     World Language (2-3 years in the same language): 2-3 credits
●     Electives (Any other electives offered for credit): 5 credits

Choosing core curriculum 

Years ago, there were few options for homeschool curriculum-especially high school. That’s not the case anymore. Now we have SO many options, and that can be overwhelming to select the best fit for your student and family.

7 Steps to Choosing Curriculum
7 Steps to Choosing Curriculum>>

Some things you may want to ask are:

Are they college or career bound? What are their personalities like? What are their interests and abilities? 7 S

When you are ready to research core curriculum, you need to keep a few things in mind. 

  • Keeping the big picture in mind
  • Parent time investment
  • Student time investment
  • Financial investment 
  • Student learning style

Remember, there’s not ONE right way to homeschool high school, so there’s not ONE right kind of curriculum. And beware of the folks who say: You MUST use this curriculum because it’s the right way! (Sometimes, they are selling expensive curriculum!)

We want to circle back to the basics of worldview and homeschool philosophies, and what kind of materials you are looking for (online, book based, etc.) before choosing curricula.  This narrows down your search immensely and things may have changed since you first started on your journey, or maybe you are brand new to homeschooling altogether.  If so, you may find our episode 004 on Homeschool Styles and Philosophies handy:

What electives should I choose? (16:28)

When it comes to electives, your imagination is really all that limits you. Typically, there will be one to three elective courses in each year of high school. Too many electives can overshadow the core academic courses.  Your student’s electives should reflect who your student is and what they are all about. When we think of electives, some things come to mind:

• This is one of those places where you can incorporate your student’s talents, interests, and achieve that stand out status.

• Electives can allow your student to explore career options.

• Elective call  for authentic experiences- your student can oversee their own education and incorporate many different ways of learning.

• Electives leave room for unconventional experiences like internships and more.

• They don’t have to require lots of book work.

Elective courses require less work from your student than core academic courses. While some electives fit within the core academic subjects of Math, Language Arts, History, Science, Foreign Language, others are not core subjects at all – for example, PE, Auto Maintenance, Theater, Cooking. You will be able to find existing curricula for many of the elective courses your student might want to take. However, you can also easily design these courses yourself.

There are so many options for electives, really this can be an endless list.  There are certain options that may be pretty standard- PE, health, drivers ed, music art, etc. But you can also look to electives as a way of fine tuning a student’s specific interests or maximizing on a talent or specialty. When it comes to electives, your imagination is all that limits you! Typically, there will be one to three elective courses in each year of high school. See our FULL List of Electives

Check out Mr. D’s Courses for High School>>

Some colleges may want 2 fine art credits specifically, some don’t specify at all, so again, looking at what potential schools require or recommend can help you fine tune your list.  Electives are also a great spot to start when exploring dual credit programs.  These can be easier classes to start with and knock out college credit at the same time.

What constitutes a credit? (22:59)

Credits are a way of measuring a student’s completion of the educational requirements you have set or that are required by your state homeschool laws. Most high school courses are going to be worth either 1.0 credit (for a one-year course) or 0.5 credit (for a semester course). The credit assigned to a course generally takes into account course content, instruction time, and the time the student spends completing course work.

 A textbook designed to be completed in one school year is typically given 1.0 credit, while a textbook meant to be completed in one semester is often given 0.5 credit. Many publishers and curriculum providers are going to provide this information online or in the actual text. It’s important to note that even many school systems don’t finish the entire book or class.  We usually recommend that your student completes at least 75–80% of the assignments in a textbook to earn the credit.

 For courses that don’t follow a set curriculum, you can determine credit by keeping track of the reasonable time your student spends on the course work. For a core course (English, science, history, math, or foreign language), you will want your student  to log at least 150 hours for 1.0 credit (roughly five hours a week for 30 weeks). Logging more than 150 hours does not earn a student more credit; it simply indicates that the threshold of 150 hours has been passed.

For honors courses and Advanced Placement (AP) courses, students may log far more than the 150 hours. Generally, honors courses require 8–10 hours per week for 30+ weeks, and AP courses require 10–15 hours per week for 30+ weeks. Even though honors and AP courses demand more hours than a standard high school course, they do not earn more credit when students spend more than 150 hours completing them. Instead, there may be GPA rewards to taking these more challenging courses.  For instance, we award an extra .5 point for honors courses and an extra 1 point for AP/Dual credit courses on our transcript.

For a lab science course, you want to log a minimum of 180 hours; the additional 30+ hours are for required lab work.  One college we applied to required an addendum for homeschool, private, and charter school students to determine that their high school lab science classes were legitimate.

For an elective course (such as physical education, art, music, or another course that is not a core academic course), log 120+ hours for 1.0 credit and 60+ hours for 0.5 credit.  

If you have a student who is a musician for example, consider all their lessons, practice time, performances as credit.  Open mic nights totally count!  So does writing a theme song for your mom’s podcast! Kids that are competitive athletes may receive PE credit because they definitely put in the training/competition time. 

If your teen completes a 3- to 5-credit college course in one college session (either an eight-week term, 11-week quarter, or 15-week semester), we recommend converting this course to a 1.0 credit high school course on your teen’s high school transcript. Even with abbreviated classes, the amount of coursework is often the same as if this was a semester or year long class.  

Also, consider that not everything needs to be a class.  I see that a lot on message boards- “my kid spends x amount of time a week doing this, how do I make it a class….”  You *want* to have some great extracurriculars included in your records- it makes your student appear more well-rounded and interesting.

You also don’t want to just add classes for the sake of filling up your transcript.  It can delegitimize the rest of your transcript.  We already work hard to give our kids varied classes and learning opportunities with other teachers to avoid the appearance of just “mom grades”, so we don’t want to add a bunch of nonsense filler just for the sake of filling space and saving time. We are all about multi-tasking but be smart about it. 

This Week’s Freebies:

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High School Electives for Homeschoolers

volleyball, ball, player-520093.jpg
volleyball, ball, player-520093.jpg

High School Electives for Homeschoolers


Visit our HIGH SCHOOL SERIES for more guidance as you navigate homeschool for 9th-12th grades and prepare for college or the workforce:

High School Series
When it comes to electives, your imagination is all that limits you! Typically, there will be one to three elective courses in each year of high school. Too many electives can overshadow the core academic courses, so you need to find a healthy balance.

Elective courses require less work from your student than core academic courses. While some electives fit within the core academic subjects of Math, Language Arts, History, Science, Foreign Language, others are not core subjects at all – for example, PE, Auto Maintenance, Theater, and Cooking.

You will be able to find existing curricula for many of the elective courses your student might want to take. However, you can easily design these courses yourself. This is the fun part, and the possibilities are endless!

Your student’s electives should reflect who they are and what they are all about.
019. High School Core Subjects and Electives
Planning out your Core Subjects and Electives>>

When we think of electives, some things come to mind:

  • This is one of those places where you can incorporate their talents, interests, and achieve that stand out status.
  • Electives can allow them to explore career options.
  • Calls for authentic experiences- they can oversee their own education and incorporate many different ways of learning.
  • Electives leave room for unconventional experiences like internships and more.
  • They don’t have to require a lots of book work.

BTDT Homeschool was created with a heartfelt mission: to empower and give back to the secular homeschool community.

Through our informative podcasts, blog posts, daily inspiration, and a wide range of free printable tools, we aim to empower you on your homeschooling journey.

New to Homeschooling>>>

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This is by no means all the options, but this list may inspire you to think outside the box of possibilities:

Business

Accounting
Advertising
Business law
Business management
Consumer education
Business math
Entrepreneurial skills
Financial management
Intro to economics
Marketing

Language and Writing

Advanced composition
African literature
Asian literature
British literature
Cinema studies
Contemporary literature
Creative writing
Debate
Film study
Gothic literature
Humanities
Journalism
Poetry
Popular literature
Practical writing
Public speaking
Rhetoric
Yearbook
Works of Shakespeare
World literature

Family, Life Skills and Consumer Science

Chemistry of foods
CPR training
Culinary arts
First aid
Early childhood development
Early childhood education
Family studies
Fashion and merchandising
Fashion construction
Home economics
Nutrition
Auto mechanics
Driver’s ed
Speech/Communications
Financial management
Home economics and management
Industrial arts
Interior design
Electricity
Plumbing
Gardening

Office skills

Communication
Creative writing
Communication skills
Debate
Journalism
Public speaking
Research skills/writing
Speech
Study skills

Computer

Animation
App development
Audio production
Computer repair
Computer applications
Desktop publishing
Film production
Media technology
Music production
Typing
Video game development
Graphic design
Keyboarding/word processing
Computer Programming/Languages
Web design

Fine Arts

VISUAL ARTS:
3-D art
Architectural design
Art appreciation
Art history
Ceramics
Digital media
Drawing
Filmmaking
Jewelry design
Painting
Photography
Print making
Sculpture

PERFORMING ARTS:
Band
Choir
Dance
Drama/theatre
Guitar
Jazz band
Marching Band
Music theory
Percussion
Piano
Theater technology
World music
Instrument performance
Music appreciation/history
Orchestra
Voice performance

Physical Education

Aerobics
Volleyball
Track & Field
Fencing
Dance
Lifeguard training
Pilates
Tennis
Racquetball
Squash
Pickleball
Ice skating
Yoga
Individual sports
Gymnastics
Team sports
Weightlifting

Vocational Education

Auto body repair
Auto mechanics
Building construction
Cosmetology
Criminal justice
Electronics
FFA
Fire science
Heating and cooling systems
Hospitality and tourism
JROTC
Metalworking
Networking
Plumbing
Refrigeration technology
Robotics
Woodworking
Landscaping

Science

Agriculture
Astronomy
Biotechnology
Botany
Earth science
Environmental science
Forensic science
Geology
Horticulture
Human Physiology
Marine biology
Meteorology
Oceanography
Physics
Sound and acoustics
Zoology

Social Studies and History

African studies
Asian studies
Civics
Current events
Economics
European history
Human geography
Archeology
Anthropology
Critical thinking
International relations
Latin American studies
Middle East studies
Political studies
US government
Women’s studies
LGBTQ+ history
Logic
Philosophy
Psychology
Sociology
World culture
Comparative religion
Mythology

Foreign Language

American Sign Language
Ancient Greek
Arabic
Chinese
French
German
Hebrew
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Latin
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Hindi
Turkish
Tamil
Vietnamese
Thai
Romanian
Mandarin
Bengali
Lahnda
Urdu
Indonesian

014. How Do You Make a 4-Year High School Plan?

4 year Homeschool High School Plan

How Do You Make a 4-Year High School Plan?

Whether you’ve been teaching your child for years or are homeschooling for the first time, it’s crucial to begin by developing a high school plan. What do you need to know before you start homeschooling high school? What are the homeschool graduation requirements? How do you plan for your homeschooler’s future? Tune in this week as we discuss these topics and more!

Tune in this week while we discuss these topics and more!

TWO WAYS TO LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE:
1. Click PLAY Button Above ^^ to listen here.
2. Listen on your favorite podcast platform:

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Are you just starting your homeschooling journey? We’re here to help! Begin with our Get Started in Homeschooling page and Homeschooling FAQ to make the transition smoother. If you’re guiding a young child, explore our How to Homeschool Kindergarten. to make those first steps special. For middle schoolers, don’t miss our Middle School page packed with tips and advice. And if you’re heading into the high school years, our Essential Steps to Homeschool High School will guide you every step of the way!

Show Notes

 When it comes to high school, a homeschooling parent shifts their role from teacher to that of an administrator, facilitator, mentor, and guidance counselor.  Our goal from childhood remains the same- we want to foster a love of learning, but we also have to get down to business with a strong plan for the future.

Ideally, you’ll plan out all four years before 9th grade even begins. But even if you’re halfway through their freshman, sophomore, or junior year, and you haven’t yet made a plan, you can start today. As you guide your student toward graduation, you can tweak the plan as their post-high school goals take shape.

If you’re new to homeschooling high school, be sure to check out the Essential Steps to Homeschool High School. This episode is part of our High School series, offering expert advice, comprehensive documentation, and resources like Free Transcript Templates to help you stay organized.

12 Steps to Homeschooling High School

What do you need to know before you start homeschooling high school?

Every student is different: Plan their high school based on their interests rather than what an older sibling studied. Adapt the lessons to fit your student- do they need more discussion time, extra time for math, or cut back on some of the work so they can participate in theater or have a part time job? Is there a program you did with another child that you know now won’t work or was a waste of time, cut it!  

Goals: When your student is ready to enter high school, it is important to begin to establish goals together to create an academic and extracurricular activity plan. There are so many options for your student!  And I really do want to emphasize that they don’t need to know what they want to do for college or beyond yet, but now is the time to start really thinking and talking about options.

block, lamp, get-1512119.jpg

Maturity Happens: Students mature a lot between 9th grade and 12th grade. Keep in mind that a 9th grader will probably not be able to handle the workload of a 12th grader. Keep this in mind and plan accordingly.  People often ask how long a homeschool high schooler’s school day is.  This can be a huge range and varies with class intensity and grade level and the student, of course.

Customize Courses: If you can’t find a class to fit your student’s needs, create your own course. Students learn best when they’re interested in the material. You can customize and tailor their education to literally anything that they are interested in. 

Counting Credits: You have two options for counting high school credits which gives you more flexibility as you make your plan. This can be counted by the amount of work completed or the amount of time the work took. Work completed means that the student completed the necessary chapters of the science textbook or finished their math textbook. You can also look at the amount of time they spent studying the material which works well when you want to count a course that doesn’t include a textbook, by keeping track of how much time they spent reading and writing or working on a project.  

Give Them Space: The high school years are a great time them to explore their interests. Be sure to include plenty of downtime for this to happen. These interests may not help with college applications but they’re still extremely valuable. You never know when a new interest might turn into a lifelong passion. 

Find Balance: Be sure to balance academic and social needs during the high school years. They are learning how to be a friend, how to make friends, and how to interact with people from all walks of life. As you’re planning high school, make certain you’ve allowed time for them to hang out with their friends, go to dances, play boardgames. Structured activities typically don’t have enough downtime for kids to make friends.  Finding and maintaining friendships can sometimes be trickier in high school because a lot of homeschool teens have specific interests and have gone separate ways with schooling and extracurriculars. 

Stay Connected: Avoid making every conversation about schoolwork. It is easy to see they haven’t finished their math or biology lab. The problem is that it damages your relationship when every conversation you have with your child is about their shortcomings. Your teenager no longer wants to tell you about their successes, and they won’t feel safe to talk to you about their struggles. Join in the activities they love. Play their video games, take them to their favorite coffee spot and play cards, or go see a movie. Give you and your child something to talk about other than academics. Don’t let your internal pressure about getting your kid into college stress them out!

What are homeschool graduation requirements?

First, you must know what your state requires for homeschoolers to graduate.

Look up your State Law and Requirements

It’s important to keep in mind that it is often not necessary to comply with or refer to public school graduation requirements, but some parents find it helpful to do so when deciding the courses their teens will study. 

As you are forming your plan, be mindful that:

  • Courses of study: Be aware of the requirements and how many credits of each one is needed. Some of the choices you need to make are done for you per the state requirement.
  • Credit hour equivalent: Typically, a one credit class is three hours a week of work, a half credit is an hour and a half a week.
  • Your Own Requirements: Remember, you are the school. Consider what courses are required to graduate from YOUR homeschool. There might be areas of study beyond what the state requires. Even if a student doesn’t want to study science beyond high school, some families may require a basic understanding of core science subjects – Biology, Chemistry, Physics. So stop and consider what is important to you.

How do you plan for your homeschooler’s future?

One of the most important factors in making a four-year plan for your student is bringing them to the table. You cannot plan without your student being a part of the process. Their input is a MUST.

  • This is their future: Don’t lose sight of the fact that this is their life, and they are the ones that will be responsible for carrying out this four-year plan. This is not all on us so be sure that they are part of the planning process from the beginning.
  • Be open: There is a good chance that your student’s ideas may conflict with yours. Be open to their ideas. Put them in the driver’s seat and help guide them. If they want to implement a part of their high school that is not on your radar or might be a different approach altogether, have them make their case. Remember that you are to facilitate their education.
  • Be a facilitator and mentor: Your job as the parent during high school will transition from teacher to administrator. We are here to help them to navigate high school, but the days of direct instruction are slowly fading away. We are here to give feedback on their work, discuss books and issues, and to help them to assimilate ideas.

5 steps to your 4 year plan:

Step 1

The first Step in planning for their future is to set long term goals (life goals, educational goals, career goals).

Example goals:

  • I want to do something mechanical
  • I want to do something artistic
  • I want to work with animals
  • I want to go into the military
  • I want to travel
  • I want to do volunteer

Step 2

What is the role of education in meeting these goals?

Determine the pathway- is a degree needed, what eleve, type of school?  Certification or licensing?

Determine entry, admission, enlistment requirements

When researching the role of education in meeting your students’ goals, the following resources might be helpful. 

Career Education Resources:

College Options for Homeschoolers

If higher education of some kind is in the educational plan, then these goals should be based on the type of college your student plans to attend. When creating a high school plan with your child, it is essential that you select courses that will at least meet the minimum requirements of the type of college or university they are interested in applying to.

The earlier you and your student explore colleges, the easier it is to make a four year plan. The plan doesn’t have to be set in stone, but having this information will help guide the next four years

Whether or not your student knows where they would like to apply, you can check with likely or local colleges to get an idea of the types of requirements for your student’s interests. Most colleges have requirements listed on their websites. Then as you continue to evaluate your plan, you can get more specific in your search.

College Websites are a great resource for you

  • They can give direction to help form your plan.
  • Learn about requirements beyond graduation. For example, some colleges require three credits of the same foreign language. So you may need to adjust your plan accordingly.
  • Check for homeschool requirements at application time- a few universities ask homeschooled students to provide unique documentation that may not be required for other students.
  • Not only does browsing college websites allow you to find out requirements, but it also opens up a world of possibilities. Students can learn more  about a programs they may want pursue.                 

When researching admissions requirements for colleges (such as required high school courses), your best resource is the college’s admissions web site (or the college admissions advisors). 

Other sources for college admissions information include PrepScholar, and Cappex.

Cappex

Community College

Community colleges are also an excellent choice for continuing your student’s education. Most community colleges have open enrollment. This means that students need to only meet the minimum age requirement and possess a diploma or GED. However, many specific academic programs within community colleges may have additional high school credit requirements for applicants. Examples of this are nursing, law enforcement, engineering, cyber security, Accounting, etc. It’s important to research the requirements of the specific academic program the student is interested in. You can make an appointment and meet with advisers on the community college campus, and they can help guide you on specifics. Most will offer free applications and they usually don’t require a high school diploma. 

Elite Institutions

If your heart is set on an ivy league school, you have a lot more work ahead of you than if you wanted to attend a state university, but it is absolutely possible for a homeschooler to attend an elite institution!

Ivy League and elite institutions of higher learning examine high school transcripts to see if high schoolers have chosen more rigorous courses of study. In addition to checking for credit counts by subject, they also want to see that students have challenged themselves by selecting honors-level, or advanced placement courses if available. Ivy league schools may require admissions interviews, application essays, an accredited diploma, and related extracurriculars while state universities may only be interested in SAT/ACT scores.

Trade or Vocational Schools or Military

Your student may not be college bound and that is ok, too.  There are so many options for trade, apprenticeship, vocational type studies and also military service may be something to consider.  You will want to carefully research these options as well as some have specific requirements.  They may require a GED.  If this is something that will affect your future plans, make time now to prepare for what that means.

Sports and Student athletes

You may have college bound students who are athletes and will be pursuing playing in college and looking specifically for sports scholarships.  For homeschooling parents with athletes pursuing NCAA Division 1 and 2 sports, there are additional requirements to be aware of.   Here is a link to a Facebook group that encourages discussion and information about NCAA Academic Eligibility process: Homeschool and NCAA Academic Eligibility

Step 3

The third step in planning for your student’s future is to create a class list. In episode 19 next month, which will be the second episode in our high school series, we will deep dive into core subjects and electives.  But in this step, you will also list other classes you may be interested in adding like test prep and life skills.  You may also want to start listing non-class items like volunteerism, internships, part time job, etc.

Step 4

Create a plan that makes sense to you.  You can organize it by year, by subject, on a grid, etc.  However, you want to do this is ok- you are the only one that will see it in raw form.

Step 5 

Implement your plan. Now is the time to take everything you have done and put it into action. Know that the plan will probably change so be prepared for that. And be sure to consider any high school level courses that were taken in middle school that might supplement your plan.  Also, consider using varied methods of learning (online classes, in person, independent study, etc.). Keep records and/or transcript and issue a diploma!  

We’d like to thank our friend Mary for helping us along the way and sharing some of these resources.  We took her classes in the past and they really helped shape our 4-year plans and we are grateful for her expertise.

This Week’s Freebie:

010. But What About High School?

But What About High School?

Feeling confused and lost as you start homeschooling high schoolers? Don’t worry – you can do this! Overcome the overwhelm and the fear of failure with us. Wondering if your homeschooler can get a diploma, if you need to teach calculus, or if they can go to college? Tune in this week as we dive into these questions and more! Join us for an enlightening and empowering discussion on navigating the high school homeschooling journey.

High School Homeschool
Episode 010:
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Scroll Down for TWO Freebies this week:
High School Planning Sheet (pdf)
Extracurricular Planning Sheet (pdf)

Are you just starting your homeschooling journey? We’re here to help! Begin with our Get Started in Homeschooling page and Homeschooling FAQ to make the transition smoother. If you’re guiding a young child, explore our How to Homeschool Kindergarten. to make those first steps special. For middle schoolers, don’t miss our Middle School page packed with tips and advice. And if you’re heading into the high school years, our Essential Steps to Homeschool High School will guide you every step of the way!

Show Notes

The High School Series is a great resource to help you get through those high school years! It covers these topics plus many Free Resources to help you on your journey. You will be learning how to homeschool high school right along with your teens and the homeschooling parent we are now is not the homeschooling parent we will be at the end of this process. Be patient with yourself. The longer you homeschool high schoolers, the more you will notice your imperfections! But, remember: Perfection is NOT required! Remember, homeschooling is about teaching your child how to LEARN and to foster that love of learning. 

We, as parents, are not going to be the best at everything.  Rather, we want them to learn that as adults, they can look for resources to keep learning things they need to know.

Take time to enjoy your teens

While your teens are in high school, academics will be high priority. However, try not to get so focused on those academics that you do not have time to enjoy your child. Your teen does not need to work on academics intensely all day, every day. Use the flexibility of homeschooling to your best advantage.

SNL Skit – Back Home Ballers
(Funny skit when the kids come home for the holidays)

If you’re new to homeschooling high school, be sure to check out the Essential Steps to Homeschool High School. This episode is part of our High School series, offering expert advice, comprehensive documentation, and resources like Free Transcript Templates to help you stay organized.

12 Steps to Homeschooling High School

Prepare Teens for Life and Career

To truly be prepared for life and career, homeschool high schoolers need to believe in themselves. We need to help teens find their self-knowledge and self-confidence. We can do this by:

  • Many teens are figuring out who they are by experimenting with various ideas and behaviors.
  • Teens will have struggles with friends or personal situations that will affect them deeply and stress them out.   Sometimes this causes them to butt heads with safe people while they are figuring things out. And that safe person is probably you. Try to give them some grace and not take it personally.
  • Do what works for your family.
  • It’s important to keep yourself in check and avoid feeling pressure of comparing yourself to others that may have a more high-achieving teen. Some homeschool high schoolers want to own everything about their education and assignments and others want daily engagement with you. And, sometimes what they want is not what they need. Maybe they think they want to do everything on their own, but then get bogged down. They’re still trying to figure it out.  This is where you can step in to help and guide them. You may choose to handle this by finding common goals with honest, regular check-ins, maybe daily or weekly. 
  • If you are struggling and butting heads-especially in a certain subject, it might be a good time to outsource a class. You want to try to avoid bringing on additional stress to your relationship. 
  • There will also be bad days when no schooling gets done. Some days are rotten, and schoolwork needs to be set aside. Tomorrow is a new day. You can model resilience for your teens- it is a GREAT life skill.

Can my homeschooler get a diploma?

Many people think homeschoolers cannot get a high school diploma or have to go through the state or get a GED to graduate.  Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states.  In many, like here in Texas, a homeschool diploma carries the same weight as a public or private school diploma.  There are some states where this differs- NY and there are some places that don’t take a homeschool diploma- beauty school, overseas colleges. But at the end of the day, a diploma is also just a piece of paper.  Very rarely are you ever asked to produce this document.  You can make one yourself or order a professional quality one from sources. What is really important, especially if your student is college bound, is a transcript.

A transcript is a record of classes, grades, and GPA.  A transcript should contain grades and class names for all levels of high school and any college coursework completed before high school. There are numerous transcript templates available online and you can choose to make a transcript by year or by subject. A subject transcript is a great option if you are including classes from 8th grade, or doing a Super Senior year, or perhaps, taking a lot of classes in a semester- like shortened semester classes (a lot of dual credit courses are offered this way, but it can look weird to have so many credit hours in one semester).  You also may want to include a resume or second sheet that lists all your child’s accomplishments, awards, any volunteer work, clubs and other activities.  This is typically called a resume, and is also detailed out in a college application or Common App.

We will include a high school planning template in our future high school series show notes.  

Many homeschool groups host graduation ceremonies or you can host your own.  It is also completely fine not to do one at all. You can order your own graduation gear and supplies without going through a pricey graduation company. We ordered our beautiful high school diplomas from here:

HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA – You can also make your own!

 

Do I need to teach calculus?

You do not need to know upper level math and science to teach it.  There are several options for teaching these subjects.  You can outsource- we use an upper level math and science school that we are lucky to have locally.  It’s a brick and mortar homeschool school, run and taught by a man with his PhD in Chemistry.  The kids love the class, it allows for labs not to be done in your kitchen, and they get to hang out with friends, study together, etc.  If you are in the Dallas area, here’s a plug for Thinking Reeds Math and Science in Plano.  We love Dr. Reid! Thinking Reeds

You also can opt to do dual credit classes through colleges.  Dual credit courses are nice because they satisfy high school credits while knocking out college credits at the same time.  We both did this through a local community college but there are tons of options for dual credit online, as well, if you don’t have a local option.  Arizona State has a Universal Learner program that is awesome- you can take a course for free and then only pay if you want to keep the grade.  

There are also several online single class curricula for different courses or al carte classes available from sources like Outschool, or Well Trained Mind Academy, and several others. You can even choose courses at Arizona State Universal Learner:  https://ea.asu.edu

Learn more about:
OUTSCHOOL CLASSES

Most homeschool curricula is scripted and/or you can learn right alongside your student. 

A lot of homeschool curricula is organized so that parents present the information as written, students then do the work, and then parents’ grade or assess from there.  You absolutely do not need to be an expert in any of these subjects.

Can my homeschooler go to college?

There are so many different pathways that homeschoolers can choose to take after completing high school.  While many are college bound, several also choose military, trade, certification programs, or community college.  

Determining what path your child will want to go can help you to craft your homeschool high school experience.  I do see a lot of people struggle with trying to figure this out early and I want to stress that it is totally normal for a 14-year-old not to know what they want to do for the rest of their life.  A lot of kids might think they want to do one thing and then change their mind later, again, that is ok.  It is our job to give them the ultimate schooling experience that will prepare them for *any* of the pathways they may choose along the way.  For many, that means a full high school academic plan with college in mind, along with a variety of extracurricular activities and community service.  These can be volunteer work, scouting, clubs and other activities, theater, musical instruments, etc.

If you are looking to do a college prep type approach to your homeschool high school education, I’d recommend looking at a variety of colleges and looking to see what they require for admissions from students.  Many have a section for homeschooled students specifically, but many review homeschool/private/public applications in the same way.  Either way, this is a good source for seeing what colleges want in terms of classes (a lot are looking for traditional 4 years of Math, English, Social Sciences, 4 years of science with 3 lab, 2-3 years foreign language, etc).  They will also talk about what they require as far as test scores go and so you may then want to incorporate test prep into your coursework as well and figure out the schedules for taking those.

A big concern for many homeschoolers is testing.  For those of us in states that do not require any kind of testing or have kids that have never been in a school environment, testing can be an overwhelming idea because it is possible the ACT/SAT or TSI/Accuplacer may be the very first test your students take.  It can also seem confusing taking in information regarding PSAT and all the other different testing option. CLT is another test some people opt for, as well (it is more of a classical style test, so often recommended for homeschoolers who have come up through a traditional classics trivium style of learning).  Get test booklets, take practice tests online, see where any weaknesses are that may need improvement.  Invest in a test prep course of some sort if you want.  

Some schools are now labeled as “test optional”.  Test optional sometimes does not apply to homeschoolers, however.  Also, sometimes scholarships are tied to test scores, so it is usually recommended to at least attempt tests.  You may surprise yourself, and testing, whether we like it or not, is going to be part of their college experience regardless.  

Another route to college to avoid testing and/or to save money, is to go to community college first and then transfer.  This can be done as dual credit or after high school graduation.  Do keep in mind that most colleges do not consider classes earned while still in high school as transfer credits.  Even when students graduate with associates degrees in high school, they are typically still encouraged to apply to all colleges as freshman students and remain freshman level until those credit eventually hit (sometime after first semester).  Some schools may still require a 4-year program, but they may reap the benefit of priority registration and 1st choice in housing, due to upper-classman status.  Most community colleges require some sort of placement test.  These are more informational for the college than they are a test of what students know. Many people want to avoid these, but they really are not a stressful type of test at all.

Must Reads for Dual Credit

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Kathe Lee’s “College Planning Using Dual Enrollment: Optimizing High School for College Admissions
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Jennifer Cook-DeRosa “Homeschooling for College Credit” Homeschooling for College Credit

Jennifer Cook-DeRosa also has several facebook pages- one main and then several state-based.  This is her main page:
https://www.facebook.com/HomeschoolingforCollegeCredit/

Not everyone is socially prepared for college, regardless of whether they were homeschooled, public schooled, or private schooled.  College involves a lot of big changes for kids.  Living on your own for the first time, experiencing all kinds of different freedoms and ideas, and learning to manage your own time is a big change. Not all students adjust. Many homeschooled students feel like they were better prepared than a lot of their counterparts- they had been exposed to a lot of different people and social settings in their lives, as well as taken a lot of different style classes, and were used to managing their time.  So again, you may be surprised at how your student adjusts, but it really will not be because of the way they were schooled.  It will be a lot more about personality and perseverance.

It’s also totally fine for kids to choose military, trade school, or a certification program, too, or other things like go into family business, or become an entrepreneur, which we will talk more about in another episode. The options are endless for these kids, and because they have been given freedom to learn in a more flexible and creative environment, don’t be surprised when they want to choose that for their future too.  

You determine the credit hours required, but if you have a child planning to attend college be sure to check their admission guidelines so you meet the minimum requirement for admission.

Most states require 19 or more credit hours for graduation with 24 or more needed for college prep.

General High School Graduation Guidlines

  • English – 4 credits
  • Math – 4 credits
  • Science – 3-4 credits (at least 2 with labs for college prep)
  • History – 3-4 credits
  • PE – 1 credit
  • Health – .5 credit
  • Foreign language – 2 credits (of the same language)
  • Electives

Be sure to check out our High School Series for details guiding you through the high school years.

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