Beginning a high school experience with your homeschooler can be exciting—and maybe a little scary. Join us for this lively discussion about things to consider as you enter the precious high school years.

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Show Notes

1. Goal setting: Have you and your high schooler talked about what comes afterwards? Will it be college, trade school, or a job?

2. What kinds of things are required by your state for a transcript? Use your state’s educational website to determine this. The Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) offers you tremendous support in this area.

3. How much is enough? And what is important? Do you need four years of high school math if you are going to a trade school?

4. Create a loose plan (e.g. 4 years of math, 3 of science, etc.). Plans will change! But you need to be prepared to recognize that if you have a plan, you can flex within that plan.

5. Check requirements for colleges your student MIGHT be interested in. Knowing what they want will help you craft an appropriate transcript.

6. Plan for extracurricular activities. Colleges are looking for well-rounded students, not just transcripts. What can your student do to showcase their talents?

7. Consider community service to help your student begin to sort paths. Look into options in your community.

8. Don’t close any doors. Have a student who is not stellar in mathematics? Now is the time to figure out why and help them gain as much experience in the subject as they can. Don’t make future decisions on present performance. They are not grown-ups yet.

9. Consider asking other trusted adults to sit down with your student and talk about what they see as your student’s strengths.
   
10. Conversations. Have them often with your student as the high school years progress. Be prepared to flex as they mature, their interests change, and their outlooks broaden.

Four observations about your highschooler that should frame their high school experiences:

1. Teach them to learn independently. Now is the time for them to orchestrate their own learning.

2. Give them a strong language arts foundation. Regardless of how you feel about compositional writing, give them the writing skills necessary to succeed as an adult. Include oral communication skills, a learned skill set that must be practiced.

3. Teach them to manage their time, which is also a learned skill. Talk often about what is working and what might need to be improved upon.
   
4. Apply real-world consequences. Not all effort is equal. Learning to fail successfully should be taught at home.

Ann Karako’s book Cure the Fear of Homeschooling High School. You can find this terrific resource on Ann’s website.

Free High School Transcript Templates (HSLDA)
If you are a member, you have access to four free templates and educational consultants to help you and answer questions (some by year, some by subject).

Transcript Service (HSLDA)
A resource if you don’t want to use a free template to do it on your own.

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