Homeschooling High School - What I've Learned So Far

We aren't even a complete year into this homeschool high school adventure and already I feel like I have learned so much. Having never homeschooled a high school student does that to you.

In no particular order, and by no means an exhaustive listing, I have learned...

• foundations established in the younger years are essential - without a strong foundation, it is impossible to build

• character is supreme and even more important than academics

• relationships are more important than classes

• have a four year plan, even if it needs to be changed - always start with the end in mind

• interests count - give time to develop talents and gifts, even giving credit if possible

• allow time to try out different things

• a transcript does not define a person, it simply showcases four years of learning

• the depth of learning is more important than the breadth of learning

As I learn more and more, I am completely humbled by those who have gone before us and share their wisdom. A few of the many sites to check out include: The Homeschool Scholar (I have her book too), 7 Sisters Homeschool, and Donna Young.

The High School Plan - Part II

Disclaimer: OK, it has been revised. It isn't the original high school plan. It probably isn't the second edition. Maybe more like fifth edition and stay tuned for corrections type of plan. Let's just call it organic and leave it at that.

When we set about to plan high school, we were at a loss. Teaching our child at home full time wasn't the option we had thought we'd be using. Since we were at a loss, I panicked. Yep, full blown, panic.

Just how do you homeschool high school, by yourself?

We started at step one: Breathe. Remember the Lord has set us on this path and will provide for us as we walk it.

Then, we moved onto finding out the requirements for our umbrella school. These are very loose guidelines which help create some guidance to those parents who need help with panic about planning high school level courses (me!). They also offer a general outlook on what colleges like to see on transcripts (I have to write one of these too!!)

Somewhere, I got the idea that I needed to know where we were headed over the next four years to make sure we covered EVERYTHING under the sky we needed to. It is actually wise to have a high school plan. Last thing anyone would want is to get to senior year and have to burden a child with additional classes because you missed something that could have been taught earlier.

Add to this that we want our children to have a liberal arts education. Let me define that better. We are what the world calls conservative Christians (we just call ourselves Christians). A liberal arts education, to us, does not mean a liberal education. Instead, liberal arts includes such subjects as art, music, poetry, logic, and rhetoric. The inclusion of these subjects are what we mean by a liberal arts education.

Our method of education up until this point has been eclectic with a bent toward classical. There's really no other way to honestly describe it. We tend to gravitate toward the rigor, memorization, and stages of classical education. However, we like to add into it a bit of Charlotte Mason techniques of gentle, habit forming ideas. And once in awhile, you may even find us using a traditional book with many additional resources (primary and secondary if possible) added into the mix.

What does all this look like in our four year high school plan?
That's the very question I set out to answer a few months ago.

Before you read over it, disclaimer on the physical education, health, and computer basics courses ~ These will occur sometime in the four years, not exactly sure when. We'll aim to complete them early in the four years, but they may be done over a summer break. It depends on the difficulty of the course load.

Without further delay, here's the answer...

Ninth Grade Courses of Study:
Bible - I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist with curriculum by Apologia
Geometry (with review of Algebra I concepts)
Biology with lab
Logic
English (including grammar, vocabulary, and writing)
Literary Analysis
World Geography and Cultures
French I or Spanish I
Introduction to Poetry (1/2 credit)

Tenth Grade
Bible
Algebra II
Chemistry with lab
Logic
English (including grammar, vocabulary, and writing)
World Literature
World History
French II or Spanish II
Art History (probably a 1/2 credit course)

Eleventh Grade
World View
Advanced Math or Pre-Calculus
Physics with lab
Rhetoric
English (including grammar, vocabulary, and writing)
American Literature
American History
French III or Spanish III
Music Appreciation (probably a 1/2 credit course)

Twelfth Grade
Apologetics
Calculus or Statistics (depends on student's educational goals)
Creation Science or an advanced science class (depends on student's educational goals)
English (including grammar, vocabulary, and writing)
Literature (exact focus will depend on student's educational goals and other class choices)
Shakespeare (probably a 1/2 credit course)
Governmental Studies (1/2 credit)
Economical Studies (1/2 credit)
Elective Courses

This, of course, is our plan for now. Like I said yesterday, it is organic...ever changing, ever growing, and ever in need of cultivation.

In four years, I won't be any more of an expert than I am now, but I will be experienced. And I am looking forward to this journey with my husband and son. It began last week!

The High School Plan - Part I

OK, it has been revised. It isn't the original high school plan. It probably isn't the second edition. Maybe more like fifth edition and stay tuned for corrections type of plan. Let's just call it organic and leave it at that.

Deciding to homeschool through high school was actually a hard decision. Let's be honest, it is where the rubber seems to meet the road in homeschooling.

A lot of families choose something different for high school. Sometimes it is a full blown brick and mortar school. Others family choose to use an umbrella school which meets once a week and offers almost all the classes their child will need. These are the original options we were considering.

Almost immediately we decided against a five day a week school program. Our oldest, well, we ruined him with homeschooling. He reads at an adult level. To put him into courses which required reading water-downed texts and not a lot of living books seemed like torture to a child who had developed a taste for good literature and such. Plus, the stringent schedule seemed a bit much for a child who knew how to get lessons done and still have some free time.

Next, we moved onto the once or twice a week umbrella schools. We liked these. Personally, I liked the outsourcing concept. I am not lazy, just practical. To have only three to teach at home, bliss. I have already been through these younger grades at least once. It would be so e-a-s-y. (Well, at least it would appear to be easy, but then we would start and I'd remember hey homeschooling has some tough days no matter what grade or number of children you teach!)

However, as we prayed about what would be best for our child (and I learned to quiet my own opinions of personal ease), we found the Lord pointing us to the third option. The one we didn't even consider: homeschooling him at home without many external classes. We still have an umbrella school which offers guidance and some requirements. We will still use a co-op for his science class, but the rest will be at home with us planning and guiding his studies.

Now you can understand when I say: When we set about to plan high school, we were at a loss.
It wasn't the option we had thought we'd be using. Since we were at a loss, I panicked. Yep, full blown, panic. Just how do you homeschool high school? Tomorrow, I will share our plan.

And Then There Was High School

The time has come, my friends, for me to admit it.

I have a high schooler in the house.
With the completion of 8th grade, it happened.

Suddenly, there he was, our oldest child, no longer a Kindergartener. Instead I see before me a man-boy or boy-man. Somewhere between childhood and 'all that lies beyond' is where I find him.

The time went too quickly just like my dad told me it would.
"Wait until they get in school, Dorie," he had knowingly said. "It will go by faster than you can imagine."

So far it has.

With four more short years to mentor, teach, and educate him, my husband and I feel a bit pressed.
Like most parents we want to "get it right."

There have been hours spent in prayer, planning, and preparation.
I am sure there will be even more.

And as we prepare for the next four years,
somehow I keep thinking of the A-Team and these words:
"I love it when a plan comes together."




What? Did you think this post was going to be a teary-eyed mom-son sentimental message?
*Pictures from this post.

Getting Ready for High School

Sometimes we are told to begin with the end in mind. This is all fine and dandy except when you are taking something, like homeschooling, year by year. Without a true end in sight, how do you know what to aim for?

For years, we homeschooled year by year. Honestly, we still do. However, I have taken to planning with one end in sight. The finish line of eighth grade. Oh, sure, we're still going to be homeschooling in high school, but there are certain abilities and academic marks we want each of my children to achieve before they begin high school. There is also a particular set of knowledge we want my children familiar with prior to high school. All of these are markers, or goals, we want each child to meet prior to completing eighth grade.

Each year, we determine how far a child has progressed, what areas need reviewed or introduced. Always moving toward the finish line at the child's learning pace.

With one child in eighth grade, we are quickly approaching that finish line. Over the next several months, we'll be assessing him for the final time.

Will we have failed or succeeded in meeting our academic plan? This remains to be determined.




*Photographs from the archives.

Answering the High School Question

Have you gotten it yet? 
The high school question that is. 

You know the one that follows the where do your kids go to school question that can lead down a few different roads, but when your oldest towers above your head, one look in his direction and the next question is: What about high school? 

Will you still homeschool for high school? 

We have always answered as honestly as possible.  In the past, we did not know.  There really are a plethora of schooling options and we wanted to be sure which way God was leading us.  We didn't want to close ourselves off to any possibility.  

Do we send him to a brick and mortar school?  If so, public, military, or private?  If public, regular, vo-tech, or charter?  If private, which kind a religious or college prep?  Which school matches our method of education?  Which school fits our child's style of learning the best?

Do we keep on homeschooling right through high school all the way to graduation?  If so, do we school completely on our own?  Continue to use an umbrella school?  Continue to use co-op classes? Start taking a few classes through local schools or universities? What about the homeschool schools which offer classes once or twice a week, but preserve some type of homeschooling atmosphere? 

We have always viewed our homeschool as levels, not really by grades.  By a certain level, a child should be prepared for {fill in the blank}.  So, by the time our children finish eighth grade, we want them to be at a certain level of learning, knowledge, and understanding.  While this aspiration and expectation prepares the child for any option, it doesn't give us a distinct direction. 

We are left with a clear view of all the possibilities, but no clear path.

Decision time is weighing down upon us heavily.  He is in eighth grade. 

However, we have spent a good deal of the last year deciding.  For us, we will continue to homeschool. 

Now, if we can just figure out how exactly. 
It is the current question which we struggle and wrestle with.