Many of you have asked me what are the must cover subjects in high school. Guess what? There are not any. Okay, I just wanted to get that over with so you can be released from all the stress of high school planning and all those rules you have set up for yourself.
Instead of giving you the must cover subjects, I want to give you some must know basic tips that will help you to sail through high school planning.
And okay yes, I’m giving you a guide to what you want to know which is what are some of the basics that you don’t want to overlook.
Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 1
I assure you this is easier than some books about planning high school make it sound. Bathe in the thought for a minute that there is so much freedom in high school when it comes to planning. Free yourself from any predisposed thoughts about what you think you need to cover in high school.
From that freedom, comes the very unique way you want to build your high school courses. Don’t start high school with fear, stress, and rigid rules about planning.
I don’t want to oversimplify planning high school either. Your fears about high school can be valid if you don’t get the heads up about a few very significant details.
You know I’m a stickler for details. And I always want my followers to be just a notch above when it comes to understanding homeschooling know how.
Core Subjects Are Key
Most veterans might answer the question about what subjects to cover by saying it depends on your future plans. Though this statement is very true, it does not give you a specific answer and direction. I don’t really like that answer either.
Giving you one foundational point to build on will be of much more help and here is the nitty-gritty: stick to the core subjects in your most basic planning.
You have heard me say it before and it’s true. The 3 R’s are at the very heart of high school planning and they keep every future opportunity opened for your teen.
Follow me on this thought or scenario for a minute. I don’t care what teen experts say, not all teens know exactly what they want to do at the high school age. I know many adults who are still not sure what they want to do whether in college or not. And if they do, they can change their mind on a dime too. Don’t make my mistake and put extra pressure on your teen to decide now while he is still investigating his options for the future.
This is not the time for our teens to know exactly what they want to do, but it is the time for them to bask in the wealth of opportunities opened up to them. Diligently investigate the opportunities while they are a teen.
On the other hand too, the teen years are about exerting some positive pressure on your teen. They need to taste the weight of adult decisions, but you are the only one to know how much positive pressure to exert. It truly is a balancing act in high school not just about planning subjects, but because you are dealing now with a pre-adult.
There is not another time in their life that they will be free of financial responsibility and not responsible for taking care of a family yet. High school is about preparation for adulthood and they are not quite there yet.
Some teens have an idea of what they think they want to do and others do not. It is all in the realm of normal. Do not think you are the lone homeschool mom who has a teen that does not know what he wants to do yet.
How does all of this help when planning subjects?
Because high school courses reflect the direction your teen wants to take. Sharing that fine, but significant point with you helps you to see that they are inextricably link, which is why it can seem like talking about muddy water when talking subjects in high school. A set of courses or subjects that works for one family might not work for another family with different goals.
Again, the backbone of your planning, whether you are planning for the known or unknown future is to be sure the foundation of their high school is built on the basic or core subjects. From there, you can add specific subjects to it.
You want your teen to have every option available to him when he finally decides on a route.
A Teen With No Plan While You Plan
Whether your teen goes to college, joins the workforce right away, takes up a gap year, goes to missionary service, or don’t know what they are doing the next day, lay a good foundation by sticking to the basic subjects like math, language arts, history and science.
These courses will give them the edge they need for any future options.
My basic high school plan looked like this:
- 1 Math each year = 4 years or 4 credits.
- 1 Language Arts each year = 4 years or 4 credits.
- 1 Science for 3 years= 3 years or 3 credits.
- 1 History each year= 4 years or 4 credits.
Bam, 15 solid credits were planned immediately for Mr. Senior 2013.
Now, I said this was my plan. I realized soon enough that planning for a young teen prior to high school is quite a different thing than when he inched closer to adulthood in his junior and senior years. Now, he wanted to make more of his own educational choices too. And rightly so.
Plodding along throughout the high school years with the basic core subjects is a solid plan because it keeps all your teen’s options open.
But, what else do you want to add to his high school courses? Well, next comes the glam part of planning as I call it. I will share in Part 2 how to round out the rest of your high school subjects.
Does this sound like a plan? Click on Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 2 if you’re ready for the next part.
Hugs and love ya,
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That looks like a great foundation, and like you said, it keeps doors open, no matter where the child wants to go for college. We started with Harvard’s entrance requirements. Even though we don’t have plans to go to Harvard, I wanted to make sure the high school plan I was making wasn’t going to be the limiting factor either. There are so many ways to determine what to do. Thanks for breaking it down easily!
Shannen recently posted…Always Make Progress in Faith, My Friend
That’s it! Shannen, keep all options opened instead of pressuring them when they sometimes don’t know what they want to do. I hear ya, cover the basics and they have plenty of flexibility from there. Thanks for scooting by today!
We’ve used a similar plan for our high schoolers, although we chose to require 4 years of science. My teens wanted me to make all the educational decisions with only a couple of exceptions. Having all the teens do the same core line-up for high school makes life much simpler for all of us.
I often think high school is simply more of the same schooling we’ve been doing all along rather than a different kettle of fish all together.
Sara recently posted…Parenting the Three Stages of Classical Education
Yep, love your line up Sara. I hear ya. Keep it simple. Too, what some homeschoolers don’t realize is that each kid is different too. Though my son loved math and did one each year, he wanted to cut back on science and do more history and literature. So there is so much flexibility.
Well said!! It IS just what we have been all along.
Thanks for scooting by today.
Good thoughts, Tina. My older ones didn’t really make a final decision about what they wanted to until their last year of homeschool so I made sure I covered the bases so they’d be prepared for whatever.
Carol recently posted…The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
Thanks Carol. So you know the flexibility needed for this time period. It’s just hard to say exactly what each family wants to cover. So true, just cover the bases and leave the doors open. Great tip!