High School Help

Homeschooling through high school can be the very BEST years of your homeschooling journey. Be encouraged that you are able to guide your kids through the challenging teen years, help them wrestle with important issues, enjoy fascinating discussions with them, and prepare them for adult life. These can be some of the richest, most rewarding days a homeschooling parent can experience, so don’t be intimidated by high school.

Our high school resources are here to help you and your student as you chart this new territory and to provide guidance as your child begins to look to the future, whether that includes college or career. A long list of high school courses in all subject areas, including many exciting electives, is available. Academic weighting information is available for most courses. While SchoolhouseTeachers.com is not a school and, therefore, cannot provide any accreditation, credit can be awarded by the parent based on the amount of time spent and work accomplished in each course. As always, be sure you are familiar with your own state laws and requirements, and keep good records.

You will find help for creating transcripts, taking the SAT and ACT, finding scholarships, and so much more. Together we can make the high school years great for you and your students, and what a fantastic achievement it will be.

Planning for High School

1. Know your legal requirements

Each state, province, or country has its own requirements. They fall in two categories: how to maintain compliance with the laws regarding homeschooling, and what constitutes the required subjects and credit hours needed to graduate. Some states may even distinguish between a basic graduation diploma versus one geared for acceptance into state universities.

  • Find it yourself
    Do an Internet search on “Homeschooling Requirements [name of state, province, or country].”
  • The Homeschool Alliance
    Homeschooling in My State
    This page allows you to select your state from a map and view the related laws, homeschool events, local groups, and how to start homeschooling in that state.
  • The Home School Legal Defense Association
    Homeschool Laws by State
    This page also allows you to select your state from a map and view the related laws, as well as whether the state is highly regulated or has no regulations at all.

2. Make a plan and begin a transcript

Using the list of required subjects for your state and intended diploma (basic or college prep), pencil in a plan for what courses your student will need to complete during their high school years. Keep in mind that this is tentative. Circumstances and your student’s personal goals will change throughout the high school years. This is merely a road map to accomplishing the basic requirements to meet those goals. Leave plenty of room for electives!

Because this basic plan will serve as an outline for your student’s future transcript, familiarize yourself with how to develop one now, so that you can maintain it through the high school years.

One of the advantages of your SchoolhouseTeachers.com membership is the ability to input grades and create report cards in Applecore in the free silver membership. SchoolhouseTeachers.com members with an annual membership are eligible to upgrade to the Applecore Gold Plan, which gives the option to create transcripts.

3. Choose your courses

SchoolhouseTeachers.com has a full range of courses from K–12 to meet your curriculum needs. You may choose your courses a la carte, or you may use one or all of the pre-planned School Boxes. The landing or about page for each high-school-level course has a Transcript Information box regarding the suggested number of credits to assign at course completion. Parents need to be familiar with their own state laws and requirements; the recommended academic weighting for these classes is a suggested guideline only. Though some courses do not include suggested academic weighting, they may still qualify for high school credit if the parent feels it is warranted.

  • Browse by Grade: High School
    This page lists all of the high-school-level courses. The blue navigation bar also has a Courses tab, which will allow you to view courses by specific grade level, by subject area, or in a complete list of all courses. Another page which links directly to all high-school-level courses is here.
  • School Boxes and Curriculum Guides
    Not sure what to study in each grade? There is a pre-planned course of study for each grade available in our School Boxes. Access the grade you need from this page or from the School Boxes tab of the blue navigation bar.
  • Scope and Sequence
    The Scope and Sequence documents on SchoolhouseTeachers.com are another planning tool that will allow you to determine in what order to study certain subjects. These are divided by grade level or by subject to allow you to easily select the information you need.
  • All Courses List
    Don’t forget the electives! Besides selections in Art, Drama and Speech, and Music, SchoolhouseTeachers.com has curricula in Bible, Computer and Technology, Foreign Language, Health and Fitness, and many others in the Electives category.

4. Build up a resume

This is good advice no matter what future plans a teen wishes to pursue beyond high school. Colleges and future employers don’t just look at transcripts to gauge the potential qualities of prospective applicants. Any extracurricular activity outside the homeschool classroom should be recorded in a student resume. Does the teen participate in sports, music, or drama? Is he or she a leader in a youth group? Here are some other ideas to build up that student resume.

  • National Academic Homeschool Competition
    Beginning at age 12, students may participate in the annual National Academic Homeschool Competition sponsored jointly by The Old Schoolhouse® and the College Options Foundation. Benefits include prizes, preparation for standardized testing such as the ACT/SAT, and the ability to put a nationally-recognized competition on their student resume.
  • Community service opportunities
    Colleges and future employers alike look for graduates who aren’t afraid to become involved in their communities. Church work projects, Co-op leadership, and Community outreach are just a few ways for teens to serve. Look for any opportunity to get involved, and be sure to keep track of it in your homeschool records!
  • Member Dashboard: Activity Calendar / Events
    Look for more events and opportunities in the activities tab of your member dashboard. High schoolers are encouraged to participate in annual competitions and showcases, including the Art and Photography Fair, the Talent Showcase, the Virtual Science Fair, and the Graduating Senior Recognition.
  • High School Printables
    Keep track of your activities on the Awards, Honors, and Activities printable on this page.
  • Certificate Library
    Whether you are keeping track on a resume or in a homeschool portfolio, don’t forget to print out a certificate for each course your teen completes.

5. Start making future plans

High school is the time to explore. Do your teens have a future career in mind? Do they intend to go to college? Do they want to pursue a trade instead? What steps do they need to take now to get where they want to go?

  • Career Center
    This quick-reference guide helps you see which courses on the site can help your teens explore their career goals.
  • Career Exploration
    Career Exploration guides seventh through twelfth grade students to discover their career path or college major. This course can help teens explore career possibilities and discover talents and interests they may not realize they possess.
  • College Help Center
    This Focused Learning Center includes dozens of resources, ideas, and suggestions to help both parents and students as they prepare for college and beyond.
  • SAT/ACT Math Prep
    If college and standardized testing are in your teen’s future, use this course on SchoolhouseTeachers.com to help them prepare for the math part of the test.
  • Starting a Micro-Business for Teens
    The teen entrepreneur can learn about the world of micro businesses—what they are and what they can learn from starting one, and how to set up and run a successful small business.
  • Total College Success®
    The Old Schoolhouse® has partnered with College Options Foundation to provide their Total College Success® subscription free to SchoolhouseTeachers.com members. Step-by-step guidance, skills review and exercises, helpful videos, financial aid search tools, expert tips, interactive test practice, and more help you and your teen prepare for life after homeschool. SchoolhouseTeachers.com members receive free access to the complete Total College Success® content by using the link and access key available in the Member Bonuses tab of your Member Dashboard.
  • What’s Next: Discovering God’s Will for Your Life
    Though alphabetically last, this should be the first consideration for a teen’s future planning. Searching for the next step in life can be exciting yet overwhelming, intriguing yet stressful, adventurous yet painful. With this class, teens can learn about finding God’s will for their life.
  • The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine featured a series of articles in the Winter 2020/2021 issue which deal with future plans after High School.
    • Preparing for High School . . . and Life, page 76
    • Tackling High School, Year by Year, page 78
    • Is College Necessary? What about Trades & Internships? page 80
    • Considerations Before Pursuing a College Degree, page 82
    • College or Trade School? Empowering Young People to Make the Right Choice, page 84
    • College and the Homeschooled Child: They Do Go Together! Page 88
    • I Regret Nothing, page 90

6. Graduation

Plan ahead to celebrate a job well done! Visit our Homeschool High School Graduation page for a step-by-step planning guide, or organize your homeschool high school graduation with these tips from The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine.