Can You Really Teach Homeschool High School?
Don’t freak out if your child is inching closer and closer to high school. It doesn’t mean that you have to stop homeschooling. In fact, I think you’ll find that it is much easier to teach homeschool high school than to teach younger kids.
I think every mom panics at least a little bit about homeschooling high school.
We’ve been repeatedly told that high school is a big deal and we could very easily “mess up”, right? Guess what? They’re wrong about both of those things.
Jenn carson
When our oldest was in eighth grade and quickly approaching high school, I was panicking. Could I really teach homeschool high school? Was I actually qualified? What do we do about a diploma? How do I create an official transcript for college or jobs?
How could I possibly teach her higher level science, math, foreign language, and everything else?
Would my kids end up being social outcasts if I kept homeschooling them? Would they even be able to get into college or get a job with their mom-given homeschool diploma?
With all of the doubts and fears swirling around in my head, my husband and I headed to a homeschool conference to learn more about homeschooling high school.
Here are our top three takeaways from the high school seminars at the homeschool conference.
Number 1: Am I qualified to teach homeschool high school?
No, I don’t have a teaching certificate. My sister does. She says having one only means that you know how to do crowd control and really has nothing to do with actual teaching or conveying information.
Does it make her a better homeschool mom? She doesn’t think so. In fact, homeschool moms with a teaching certificate probably have to unlearn more because homeschooling isn’t school at home.
And really, who cares more about a child’s education than his or her parents?
I found that I actually remembered more than I thought I did from my high school years.
A lot of the classes your child will take, you probably also once took. I have found that the second (and third and fourth) time through the Algebra 1 textbook has been much easier for me than the first time through and I have been able to help when necessary for that class.
And for the things I didn’t remember or never learned, I either bought courses, created a course for the child to self-learn, or outsourced the learning. And you can too. Here’s how:
A. Creating a Course:
For example, one of my children was interested in film making. I don’t know anything about the subject, but I do know how to chat with other homeschool moms and find good books.
After choosing a couple of good books, I went through them and developed a plan for combining the two books and what I would require for the class. Then, it was easy to create a daily schedule for the class.
I’ve put several of the class schedules in the HHO Shop at very affordable prices. The rest are available for free.
B. Buying a Class
Most high school curriculum marketed to homeschoolers is written to be self-taught by the student. Through Apologia’s wonderful science books, my kids have learned biology, chemistry, and physics all on their own. I believe the ability to self learn a skill or subject matter is a wonderful side effect of homeschooling that benefits them through adulthood!
But sometimes, even with homeschool curriculum, we still needed some help.
We used both Teaching Textbooks and DIVE for teaching math and Red Wagon Tutorials for teaching science.
Dave Ramsey taught the kids personal finance with his high school Foundations in Personal Finance program, which the kids did with a group of friends to make it more exciting.
We also attended a paid co-op where we did a variety of classes with other teens.
C. Outsourcing the Classes:
Inevitably, they sometimes have questions that are beyond my ability (or desire) to learn. For those questions, we have found people in our community that are willing and able to help.
For instance, when my kids needed help with Calculus, they asked a retired math teacher at our church for his help. He was more than happy to help them.
My sister found a biology teacher turned homeschool dad who was willing to do the biology labs with a group of his high school son’s friends. Networking and reaching out to friends and acquaintances can really be beneficial.
There are also many online resources that can be searched out and utilized. After all, chemistry is hard! (And one of our kids quickly flew past our college chemistry skills–she’s now working on her PhD in chemistry.)
When we had a question that neither of us as parents could answer, we looked to both our local friends and family and to the internet. BTW, MIT Open Course is a great science resource with many different, free classes!
Another great way to outsource those classes that you don’t want to teach is dual credit. This is a low-cost way for your high schooler to get college credit before they even go to college! Learn about the many different ways to earn dual credit here.
Number 2: Is my homeschool high schooler going to be weird because of “socialization”?
There’s a misconception that homeschooled kids won’t have the same socialization opportunities as public school kids.
This could actually be a good problem; not all socialization opportunities are good opportunities!
Homeschooling allows you to skip the negative socialization and focus in on having good clean fun. With a little searching, you can probably find a like-minded group of friends with whom to have events.
Many churches have teen groups and many homeschool groups offer outings for teens. If you can’t find anything, have your teen plan a community service event and encourage others to take turns planning events.
I know of several homeschool groups in my small rural area that host dances and other fun events for their teens. Or if there’s nothing already organized in your area, read how to start your own group.
They can practice their ability to socialize with adults when asking people in their community for help with some of their course work. This will benefit them later when they need help from a college professor or need to discuss a problem with a supervisor at work.
Another great way for your teens to be out in the “real world” is to spend time volunteering and serving others in their community. Learn more about how to find and create volunteer and leadership opportunities for your teens.
Number 3: Can homeschool kids even get into college or get a job?
The fact is, most colleges love homeschool graduates. According to the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) homeschool students are increasingly being actively recruited by colleges. The NHERI also found that home educated adults are more likely to be active in their community. I personally know dozens of homeschooled graduated kids that have gone to college, have jobs, and are thriving out in the real world.
I can create a transcript
At the conference, we attended a class on creating a transcript. I think the biggest takeaway is that every high school does them differently, so it is not going to matter if yours looks slightly different.
It is important to follow a basic standard format and to call it an “Official Transcript”.
You can get free transcripts online, or you can purchase this editable one that’s a part of the High School Planner from our sister site. This post explains what you need to know about homeschooling high school and creating a transcript.
It is pretty easy to create the transcript as long as you work on it every year instead of waiting until senior year! There is a lot of other stuff going on that year, so you don’t want to be scrambling to remember what they did four years ago.
I can issue a diploma for my homeschooled high school graduate.
Please, don’t let your high schooler get a GED!
Employers are MUCH more likely to hire your child that has a home school diploma over someone with a GED.
After all, a diploma is simply a document stating that a person has completed a course of study. Once your child has completed the course of study required by you and your state’s laws, you can issue the diploma.
You could create your own, but I recommend purchasing one. They just look more professional. We purchased ours from HSLDA. My sister purchased her children’s caps, gowns, and diplomas from Homeschool Diploma.
Yes, You Really Can Homeschool High School
After attending the conference, my husband and I both felt like yes, we could homeschool high school.
All of our children received academic scholarships based on their performance on college entrance exams and have been able to thrive in the workplace. I am confident all of our kids received a solid academic and social experience throughout their high school years.
Update: And we did. We have successfully graduated three young adults from our homeschool high school.
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More Homeschooling High School Resources
Our sister site, Whole Child Homeschool, has a series of posts about homeschooling at the high school level, Hope & Help for High School. There are also many unit studies on Whole Child Homeschool for high school.
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