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Homeschool Teens _ From Teen to Graduation

6 Resources for Making Homeschool High School Science Easy

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have 6 resources for making homeschool high school science easy. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School.

Science has been a subject that we have always tried to add naturally into our day.

Too, I folded it into our unit studies even at the high school level.

However, we do love spending our time reading about history and geography.

So, I wanted to be sure as the boys entered high school that they received more formal training in science.

6 Resources for Making Homeschool High School Science Easy

It didn’t mean we had to give up our hands-on things we were doing with our unit studies, but I wanted to be sure our activities were high school level because I wanted our transcript to reflect that.

Like history, science is a subject that you and your teen need to determine how in depth to cover it.

Though my boys loved science, like me, they had a bent toward history and geography so that did affect their choice as to curriculum.

If you’re a science minded family, its important which science track your teens takes.

Even if your teen is not choosing a career in science, the advantages of covering science at the high school level go far beyond just college or career.

5 Questions Before Purchasing A High School Science Program

Before I mention those advantages for us, look at these things to mull over before you pull the trigger on a high school science program.

  • Do you want to only cover the  major sciences like biology, chemistry and physics?
  • Do you want to cover subjects outside the traditional subjects, like astronomy or botany? Having homeschooled from the beginning, this is what appealed to my sons. They could feed their minds on subjects they were passionate about. So not only does science stir up a deep appreciation for creation, but the logical thought process that science teaches sticks with your child lifelong.
  • Does a Christian or secular view matter?
  • Is any teacher prep involved?
  • What kind of costs are involved for hands-on and lab? We stuck to curriculum that just used items we could find around the house and purchased a few other things like microscopes and lab things, but for the most part, we just used what we had.

Mr. Senior 2013, enjoyed the textbook approach of Apologia during his junior years but when it came to high school, he wanted a change.

He was pursuing some electives like public speaking that he wanted to focus on and writing.

But first, look at some of these how to homeschool high school books.

How to Homeschool High School Books & Resources

How to homeschool high school can be daunting at first. With a little help and these great resources, you’ll be a homeschool pro in no time.

Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers: When You Don't Know Where to Begin

Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers is a real eye-opener on homeschooling. It will alleviate a lot of the anxieties about getting started homeschooling. Reading each chapter’s highlights will give you encouragement, knowledge, guidance, and peace of mind to homeschool with confidence. The best part is that you’ll be educating the person who loves your kids the most in this world--YOU! Armed with the knowledge to make better choices in curriculum will empower you to continue the path of home education. Unlike many books based on one family’s experience, Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers is also based on Tina’s many years of mentoring hundreds and hundreds of new homeschoolers at live workshops. When you don’t know where to begin Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers equips you to successfully homeschool your children.

Cure the Fear of Homeschooling High School: A Step-by-Step Handbook for Research & Planning

Are you afraid of homeschooling high school? Do you think you’ll ruin your teen’s life? Are you afraid you’ll miss an important requirement for getting into college? Are you confused about credits and coursework? Or are you just downright overwhelmed and don’t even know where to start?

This book will take you step-by-step through the process of planning your child’s high school coursework all the way through to graduation, in such a way that you will KNOW that you are not missing anything! You truly can feel absolutely confident that you are doing the best thing for your child and your family. You can make informed decisions knowing you have done the correct research to do so. You can be FEARLESS!

Planning High School Courses: Charting the Course Toward Homeschool Graduation

Experienced hikers know to never begin a demanding journey without a good map and a strong plan. For homeschooling parents, it’s even more important to establish a solid homeschool plans toward high school graduation.

So, What Are Your Homeschool Plans?

  • Do you know how to homeschool high school?
  • Do you know how to prepare for college?
  • Do you know the high school courses essential to preparing for graduation, college and career?

Essential Electives for Homeschooling High School: How to Craft Courses That Exceed College Expectations

Homeschool Electives are the Secret Sauce for College Admission and Scholarships!

Learn How Homeschool Electives Can Make Teens, Parents, and Colleges Happy!

Homeschool electives are fun! Teens love them because electives involve a lot of what they want to do anyway. Parents love them because a happy teen makes for a happy family! Colleges love them because it helps them understand your teen so they can make good admission and scholarship decisions.

Lee Binz, The HomeScholar, shares the joy of homeschool electives. You will learn strategies to help you choose elective homeschool high school curriculum and document electives colleges will value. Don't put your homeschool in a box. Use electives and let your homeschool soar!

Graduate Your Homeschooler in Style: Make Your Homeschool Graduation Memorable

You’ve worked hard homeschooling your child, and now you’re near the goal line... homeschool graduation. Your plan your graduation takes forethought, not just for the culminating graduation ceremony, but also to ensure your child has accomplished everything you want them to before
leaving the nest.

Too, Apologia had advanced courses like Advanced Physics that I knew we could come back to later if he wanted to pursue science in more depth.

So after reading about the interactive content Switched-on Schoolhouse used, he decided to use SOS Integrated Physics & Chemistry.He enjoyed the video clips, animations and games.

He ended up really liking their courses because they had courses that were outside of the traditional approach and kept science fun for him.

That program was discontinued but I find that 1) Glencoe Science Integrated Physics and Chemistry was similar and used with my second son.

Too, courses like 2) family consumer science are offered. Such practical courses in preparation for adulthood are sometimes not easy to find.

So, my next son didn’t follow a traditional approach either.

Random Efforts Can Pay Off

He liked more of a simplified approach to science and wanted to study only subjects that interested him like the stars.

So we used 3) Lift Up Your Eyes On High: Understanding the Stars (Christian Liberty Press High School Curriculum) .

And he also liked 4) Biology: A Search For Order in Complexity, 2nd Edition.

Too, Christian Liberty Press borrows some of their books from A Beka and Bob Jones.

Then for Mr. Awesome 2015 we also used part of 5) Biology by Bob Jones and then back to Christian Liberty Press for part of Chemistry or it was really by Bob Jones.

Lastly, we loved the straightforward approach of 6) Lifepacs. They are like worktexts which are good for independent learners. We loved Lifepac Biology.

Mr. Senior 2015 stayed on just one or two science providers.

Mr. Awesome 2015 was all over the place on subjects but liked the combinations.

Too, the process of scientific investigation is critical to higher thinking skills and logical thinking ability is a lost art not just among teens, but among adults too.

These are skill sets my boys should have.

So we didn’t follow a traditional approach by a family that would be pursuing a science career.

But we enjoyed having the variety of topics that fed my sons’ curiosity at the high school level,

However, it kept their passion for science.

What has worked for your family or what are you mulling over?

More High School Science Tips

6 Resources for Making Homeschool High School Science Easy @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Homeschool High School Literature Guides

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

You’ll love these homeschool high school literature guides which make teaching easy. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School for more ideas.

Though I was over the top giddy at accomplishing the feat of teaching my first son how to read, deep down I was anxious because I was already thinking about the upper grades.

Homeschool High School Literature Guides

The thought of teaching literature at the high school level made me feel defeated before I even started.

Many years later and after teaching all of my sons how to read well, I learned that one secret tool (not a secret anymore because you now know) to teaching literature in the upper grades is a simple, but well-thought-out high school literature guide.

Have you seen the nifty high school literature guides by Dover Publications? They are the Dover Thrift Study Editions. More on that in a minute.

I was given free books from Dover Publications and I was compensated for my time. However, paid for my time does not mean paid off.  ALL opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. When I do accept a product it’s because I’m giddy to tell you about it. Read my full disclosure here. Now on to the fun stuff!

Why You Should Teach Classic Literature

First, to clear up any confusion, there is not an exact grade where reading turns to literature.

Somewhere during the middle and high school years, reading turns from learning to read to reading to learn. A big difference.

Like the early grades, classic literature plays a huge role in reading to learn.

When teaching a beginner reader, the focus is on phonics, comprehension and vocabulary.

Some of those elements don’t completely go away in the high school years, but reading to learn is about peering closer at literature.

high school literature guides 1

Look at a few of the common elements of reading to learn that a high school student will want to cover.

  • Understand an author’s background or biography;
  • Understand an author’s message;
  • Understand literary analysis; and
  • Explore examples of literary terms like plot, theme, point of view and even complicated ones like similes and metaphors.

Why It’s Important to Go from Broad to Focused

Also, one more significant difference in teaching literature at the high school level is that a reader moves from being exposed to a variety of genres in the younger grades to a more focused look at one genre or time period of literature.

For example, a student will do a yearlong study of American, British or even World literature.

We recently started using high school literature guides by Dover Publications because not only did I want something that Tiny could do independently, but I wanted to contain the overflowing amount of high school curriculum.

Focusing on British literature, I was tickled that I got in my bundle the following books.

 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Homeschool High School Literature Guides

Look at some of the reasons why we are using the comprehensive study guides.

  • The unabridged book and comprehensive study guide are together in one book.
  • There is an analysis of the chapter.
  • There are study guides with answers, thank you. I loathe extra bulk in curriculum and sometimes it’s unavoidable with high school curriculum, but an all in one book where the questions and answers are together is very useful.
  • There are suggested essay topics. I love that I don’t even have to think about topics for him to write about.
  • One more detail worth noting about the essays is that not only are there suggested topics, but also suggestions for the type of essay. For example, in reading The Scarlet Letter, there is a suggestion for a compare and contrast essay. Can you just say practical help for the new high school mom?
  • There is a biography of the author at the beginning, which gives Tiny a fuller understanding of the story. For example, in reading Frankenstein, Mary Shelley is a young author with a lot of unhappiness early on in her life. She goes on to write Frankenstein, which is Gothic fiction and it is the early beginnings of science fiction. Did she write to console herself or to escape? Are the two reasons really any different? The guide and book together allow for some great debate conversation with my teen.
  • Having used very comprehensive study guides before, I wanted something that gives me a framework instead of dissecting every literary element. Maintaining the love of reading at the high school level is paramount to the technicalities of elements. The Dover Thrift Study Editions have been just the right amount of balance for us.

Too, my roots have been classical though I love the freedom and mastery that learning through unit studies engenders.

Classic novels are a mainstay I expect my boys to cover in high school, but I love the fact too that studying a whole novel can be quickly turned into a unit study.

Homeschool High School Literature Guides @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

For example, when we read an abridged version of A Tale of Two Cities, in the early years, Tiny can draw from what he knows about studying the geography and culture of France and England.

It wasn’t necessary at that time to develop the underlying theme that no historical period will be free of serious problems.

However, now in the high school years by reading an unabridged version of A Tale of Two Cities he can connect what he knows previously and turn the book into a high school level unit study.

Focus is on the ugly side of war or the French Revolution.

Of course, for us, you know any time period we read about history has us always thinking about a unit study.

The point I’m making is that it’s so much easier making the jump to language arts, science and history when the books are classic.

Homeschool literature guides do not have to be cold, austere and overwhelming, but helpful, compact and motivating.

Not only can they teach critical thinking skills to your high school student, which helps him to dig deep to find the hidden message in a story, but study guides help you to move to the reading to learn stage of literature.

Finally, look at this short list I created. Grab one or two!

Dover Thrift Study Editions For Easy High School Literature Guides

The guides are literature and analysis in one book. the guide includes:

• Scene-by-scene summaries

• Explanations and discussions of the plot

• Question-and-answer sections

• an author’s biography

• List of characters and more

Dover Thrift Study Editions feature everything that students need to undertake a confident reading of a classic text, as well as to prepare themselves for class discussions, essays, and exams.

Julius Caesar (Dover Thrift Study Edition)

A charismatic politician's assassination leads to a civil war in Shakespeare's drama of ancient Rome. Written in 1599 about an event from more than 2,000 years ago, this historical play continues to captivate modern audiences with its memorable characters, poetic speeches, and profound examination of the conflicting claims of ambition, ethics, and loyalty.

Frankenstein Thrift Study Edition (Dover Thrift Study Edition)

Obsessed with creating life in a laboratory, a medical student haunts graveyards and dissecting rooms in search of the materials for his experiments. But when he achieves success, he rejects his ghastly creation. The creature — longing for love but shunned by all — turns evil and exacts revenge. Two centuries after its initial publication, Frankenstein endures as a synonym for "monster." The first modern horror novel as well as the first science-fiction novel, Mary Shelley's Gothic romance has intrigued generations of readers. A definitive survey, this Dover Thrift Study Edition offers the novel's complete and unabridged text, plus a comprehensive study guide.

Romeo and Juliet (Dover Thrift Study Edition)

Even those who have never read or seen Romeo and Juliet recognize the star-crossed lovers' names as symbols of forbidden romance. Shakespeare's enduring drama takes place during a sultry Italian summer, in a city already boiling with the enmity between two families. Tensions rise further when an irresistible passion develops between members of opposite sides and the play's mood alternates between hope and despair. Romeo and Juliet was among the author's most popular plays during his lifetime, and it remains one of his most frequently produced dramas. Furthermore, its youthful characters and romantic plot make it an appealing introduction to Shakespeare for younger readers.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Dover Thrift Study Edition)

All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. It's the best book we've had," declared Ernest Hemingway. Millions of readers around the world would agree, having climbed aboard the raft with young Huck and Jim, the runaway slave, to drift along the Mississippi on a voyage of adventure and self-discovery. This economical two-part edition includes the complete text of Twain's classic novel plus a student-friendly study guide. Created to help the reader quickly gain a thorough understanding of the content and context of Huckleberry Finn,

Pride and Prejudice (Dover Thrift Study Edition)

This sparkling tale of one of literature's most famous courtships focuses on a spirited family of sisters and their marriage-minded mother's attempts to see them well settled. Jane Austen's wit and shrewd observations elevate her tale of rural romance to the heights of the world's great literature. A timeless satire of nineteenth-century English country life and manners, Pride and Prejudice is the most popular of Austen's novels. Warmly received upon its 1813 publication, it remains universally admired two centuries years later.

Wuthering Heights

Includes the unabridged text of Brontë's classic novel plus a complete study guide that helps readers gain a thorough understanding of the work's content and context. The comprehensive guide includes chapter-by-chapter summaries, explanations and discussions of the plot, question-and-answer sections, author biography, analytical paper topics, list of characters, bibliography, and more.

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Creative Solution for Homeschool High School When Life Happens

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I’m sharing a creative solution for homeschool high school when life happens. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School.

This made homeschooling my second high school son, Mr. Awesome, not only meaningful but one that I am really treasuring.

Although I had my reservations at first.

Let me back up first because you have to understand what happened when homeschooling high school with Mr. Senior 2013 to understand how I came up with the solution, which I am going to share in just a minute.

Creative Solution for Homeschool High School When Life Happens

When homeschooling Mr. Senior 2013, I had planned all four years.

And probably like most new homeschooling high school parents, I had a bit of over planning involved too.

Next, look at some of these resources to help you homeschool high school.

How to Homeschool High School Books & Resources

How to homeschool high school can be daunting at first. With a little help and these great resources, you’ll be a homeschool pro in no time.

Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers: When You Don't Know Where to Begin

Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers is a real eye-opener on homeschooling. It will alleviate a lot of the anxieties about getting started homeschooling. Reading each chapter’s highlights will give you encouragement, knowledge, guidance, and peace of mind to homeschool with confidence. The best part is that you’ll be educating the person who loves your kids the most in this world--YOU! Armed with the knowledge to make better choices in curriculum will empower you to continue the path of home education. Unlike many books based on one family’s experience, Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers is also based on Tina’s many years of mentoring hundreds and hundreds of new homeschoolers at live workshops. When you don’t know where to begin Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers equips you to successfully homeschool your children.

Cure the Fear of Homeschooling High School: A Step-by-Step Handbook for Research & Planning

Are you afraid of homeschooling high school? Do you think you’ll ruin your teen’s life? Are you afraid you’ll miss an important requirement for getting into college? Are you confused about credits and coursework? Or are you just downright overwhelmed and don’t even know where to start?

This book will take you step-by-step through the process of planning your child’s high school coursework all the way through to graduation, in such a way that you will KNOW that you are not missing anything! You truly can feel absolutely confident that you are doing the best thing for your child and your family. You can make informed decisions knowing you have done the correct research to do so. You can be FEARLESS!

Planning High School Courses: Charting the Course Toward Homeschool Graduation

Experienced hikers know to never begin a demanding journey without a good map and a strong plan. For homeschooling parents, it’s even more important to establish a solid homeschool plans toward high school graduation.

So, What Are Your Homeschool Plans?

  • Do you know how to homeschool high school?
  • Do you know how to prepare for college?
  • Do you know the high school courses essential to preparing for graduation, college and career?

Essential Electives for Homeschooling High School: How to Craft Courses That Exceed College Expectations

Homeschool Electives are the Secret Sauce for College Admission and Scholarships!

Learn How Homeschool Electives Can Make Teens, Parents, and Colleges Happy!

Homeschool electives are fun! Teens love them because electives involve a lot of what they want to do anyway. Parents love them because a happy teen makes for a happy family! Colleges love them because it helps them understand your teen so they can make good admission and scholarship decisions.

Lee Binz, The HomeScholar, shares the joy of homeschool electives. You will learn strategies to help you choose elective homeschool high school curriculum and document electives colleges will value. Don't put your homeschool in a box. Use electives and let your homeschool soar!

Graduate Your Homeschooler in Style: Make Your Homeschool Graduation Memorable

You’ve worked hard homeschooling your child, and now you’re near the goal line... homeschool graduation. Your plan your graduation takes forethought, not just for the culminating graduation ceremony, but also to ensure your child has accomplished everything you want them to before
leaving the nest.

You CAN still Homeschool High School!

However, though I didn’t feel like this in the beginning of my homeschool journey (that is another topic), I also didn’t want to turn the teaching reins over to somebody else.

I had not schooled this long to come to the point in my teen’s life to let somebody else make significant decisions.

Some of the best times I have had are homeschooling high school though I was terrified when we started.

I won’t be victim to the idea that somebody else can give my kids better. 

In other words, I won’t make any decision based on fear though many times I didn’t feel so brave.

Then right in the middle of high school with Mr. Senior 2013 as I mentioned in my post Should I Let My Homeschooled Teen Graduate Early, my hubby had a significant heart attack.

It was a set back for us in high school.

After we recuperated from that as a family, I realized that I had gotten behind on supervising some of the courses for Mr. Senior 2013.

However, we buried our noses in the books and he graduated on time and of course we had a huge celebration, Texas style.

The point I learned from what happened to my family was that I never wanted to be in that position again with Mr. Awesome of feeling helpless.

I also learned that instead of planning week by week with Mr. Senior 2013 (he preferred that over my 3 month suggestion of planning and I let him do it because I am teaching him to be responsible for his own methods of learning), that I could have planned out 3 months and still let Mr. Senior 2013 plan weekly.

High School Options for Teens

This would have alleviated the stress and helplessness I felt then.

However, that is water under the bridge and there is no way either my oldest son or I had any control over what happened in our lives.

Are you still with me?

I had to share all of that because it always helps me to make better decisions in our homeschool when reading advice if I understand why the choices were made.

So without giving up my control as the homeschooling high school teacher, I came up with a creative solution to high school.

I have taken at least two years homeschooling Mr. Awesome with subjects we chose together AND he is also completing an online accredited high school program with Penn Foster.

I rejected the popular notion that I had to either do it ALL myself OR give it ALL to somebody else.

The criteria for me choosing an online high school program was that it had to be basic, easy and able to be completed within about a year and half or so.

Creative Solution for Homeschool High School When Life Happens @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Penn Foster, unlike for example, Keystone High School program I knew was a much lighter high school program.

With all the upcoming doctor’s visit, recovering time and upcoming care my husband needed, I wanted to have a back up to my courses.

Too, I wanted Mr. Awesome to focus on the courses I had selected, just like I had with Mr. Senior 2013 and to be able to customize high school for him and spend that one-to-one time I had given Mr. Senior 2013.

Of course, Mr. Awesome had to be on board with this because I didn’t want him to think that I was making him repeat courses either.

Abiding Homeschool High School

In helping many homeschoolers, I was familiar with a wide variety of high school programs and knew that Penn Foster has been around for a while and prided itself on covering basics, which obviously would be a good choice if our life took another unexpected turn during Mr. Awesome’s high school years.

It has given Mr. Awesome a framework and still has allowed me to flesh in with programs like North Star Geography, some of my Bible lessons I want him to have and do our unit studies.

Thankfully, the Mr. has had as good as health as he will have living with the effects of the heart attack and Mr. Awesome has hammered through both the subjects we chose and those of Penn Foster.

It will have taken him about a year and half to finish Penn Foster but it also had some unexpected benefits of using Penn Foster that I will explain in an upcoming post.

Out of struggling, though it may be stressful to go through, I feel, always comes empowerment.

More Creative Solutions for High School Posts

I want each of my son’s homeschool high school experience to be unique and Mr. Awesome has certainly flourished with doing a combination of my subjects and ones we chose through Penn Foster.

Without giving up my goals of being able to give my second son a personal and unique high school experience, it called for creativity not compromise.

Homeschool High School

I am hoping by sharing this today, that if life throws you an unexpected curve, you will not give up but find a creative solution.

The end doesn’t always turn out as planned, sometimes it is better.

Also check out these other articles:

How Do Homeschooled Students Get a Diploma If I Do This Myself

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I love your questions and just had to share this one with you. The question is how do homeschooled students get a diploma if I do this myself? Also, I have more tips on my page How to Homeschool High School.

Hi my name is Kimberly I have 4 kids ..I started homeschooling my oldest son about 4yrs ago but with a school online then my other two oldest wanted me to home school well its very expensive going through a school on the internet .. I have been reading your blog and talking to my husband about just doing it on my own cause we have one more child who will be starting kindergarten next year it will be way to much to stay in this online schooling, but anyways my question to you is if I do the whole homeschooling myself how would they get a high diploma ??? I live in Indiana thanks for your time

How Do Homeschooled Students Get a Diploma If I Do This Myself

It’s true.

Online public school is very expensive because not only are you paying for curriculum, but you are also paying for teacher advice and depending on the school you could pay for record keeping.

Time-Saving Tricks

Doing this by yourself is not as hard or as terrifying as many homeschoolers may think. It takes knowing a few time-saving tricks and I want to share them with you.

Look at these things that you want to resolve and plan for now that will save you tons of time and stress later.

How Do Homeschooled Students Get a Diploma

■Plan with the end in mind.

It sounds crazy, but what it means is to start your forward planning by deciding the end goals now and working toward meeting them.

You don’t want any surprises at the end of your son’s high school journey when it comes time for college or career.

How Does My High School Homeschooled Kid Get a Diploma If I Do this Myself @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus blog

Homeschool Diploma

Start planning by finding out first what the requirements are for either a college or career.

When you find out the requirements, then you are sure to include those subjects or skills in his high school course.

It will form the skeleton of his high school courses. By being sure you cover everything you are suppose to do to prepare him for the course he will take, you will not have any surprises.

■Consider your state laws, if any.

The next thing is to determine what your area requires, if anything when it comes to high school graduation. A lot of states, the parents determine what course and credits to do for high school.

Just be sure you are complying with the law. If there are no requirements, then move on to the next point. If there are requirements, include them in your skeleton courses.

■If you have a choice of courses, then you want to be familiar with what is the total number of credits most high schools require for graduation and then adjust your expectations accordingly.

To give you a rule of thumb, 19 credits is about minimum and up to about 24 credits earned through the four years is college bound.

Again, if your child is attending a college, you will have started with them first to find out which courses will help him get accepted into college and you will want to decide the number of credits.

Too, a simple google search of things like *high school courses and transcripts* will give you ample examples of how a balanced high school program may look.

From that, you can add and tweak credits and courses you want for your son.

Establish the total number of credits and make it clear to him and you so you both know what it takes to graduate.

Next, look at some of these books for homeschooling high school.

More Resources For How Do Homeschooled Students Get a Diploma

How to Homeschool High School Books & Resources

How to homeschool high school can be daunting at first. With a little help and these great resources, you’ll be a homeschool pro in no time.

Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers: When You Don't Know Where to Begin

Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers is a real eye-opener on homeschooling. It will alleviate a lot of the anxieties about getting started homeschooling. Reading each chapter’s highlights will give you encouragement, knowledge, guidance, and peace of mind to homeschool with confidence. The best part is that you’ll be educating the person who loves your kids the most in this world--YOU! Armed with the knowledge to make better choices in curriculum will empower you to continue the path of home education. Unlike many books based on one family’s experience, Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers is also based on Tina’s many years of mentoring hundreds and hundreds of new homeschoolers at live workshops. When you don’t know where to begin Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers equips you to successfully homeschool your children.

Cure the Fear of Homeschooling High School: A Step-by-Step Handbook for Research & Planning

Are you afraid of homeschooling high school? Do you think you’ll ruin your teen’s life? Are you afraid you’ll miss an important requirement for getting into college? Are you confused about credits and coursework? Or are you just downright overwhelmed and don’t even know where to start?

This book will take you step-by-step through the process of planning your child’s high school coursework all the way through to graduation, in such a way that you will KNOW that you are not missing anything! You truly can feel absolutely confident that you are doing the best thing for your child and your family. You can make informed decisions knowing you have done the correct research to do so. You can be FEARLESS!

Planning High School Courses: Charting the Course Toward Homeschool Graduation

Experienced hikers know to never begin a demanding journey without a good map and a strong plan. For homeschooling parents, it’s even more important to establish a solid homeschool plans toward high school graduation.

So, What Are Your Homeschool Plans?

  • Do you know how to homeschool high school?
  • Do you know how to prepare for college?
  • Do you know the high school courses essential to preparing for graduation, college and career?

Essential Electives for Homeschooling High School: How to Craft Courses That Exceed College Expectations

Homeschool Electives are the Secret Sauce for College Admission and Scholarships!

Learn How Homeschool Electives Can Make Teens, Parents, and Colleges Happy!

Homeschool electives are fun! Teens love them because electives involve a lot of what they want to do anyway. Parents love them because a happy teen makes for a happy family! Colleges love them because it helps them understand your teen so they can make good admission and scholarship decisions.

Lee Binz, The HomeScholar, shares the joy of homeschool electives. You will learn strategies to help you choose elective homeschool high school curriculum and document electives colleges will value. Don't put your homeschool in a box. Use electives and let your homeschool soar!

Graduate Your Homeschooler in Style: Make Your Homeschool Graduation Memorable

You’ve worked hard homeschooling your child, and now you’re near the goal line... homeschool graduation. Your plan your graduation takes forethought, not just for the culminating graduation ceremony, but also to ensure your child has accomplished everything you want them to before
leaving the nest.

Harness the Power of F-L-E-X-I-B-I-L-I-T- Y

Also, to further educate you, one (1) credit is usually earned for one course (normally). It can be a bit complicated, but not too bad.

For example, with art and p.e. you will probably want to assign them each 1/2 credit because they don’t have the same weight as say a rigorous math or language arts program.

So, some credits are weighted.

Don’t worry too much about that now.

Just try to understand the fact that 1 credit normally equals finishing one course or book.

Check out my useful tips on my article, Homeschool High School – How to Log Hours for High School?

Lastly, divide the number of credits by the years of homeschool.

For example, if you want high school for 4 years and want about 22 credits, then you see your child needs about 5 credits or so each year (equally to 20 credits), with one year having a heavier workload to add two more credits.

It is simple math after you determine what your son needs to graduate.

If your son wants to move through high school quicker, like three years, then divide the number of credits you determined he needs to get by the years.

That’s it. Eazy peazy.

When I started with my oldest son, I just typed in a Word document what our four year plan was and what subjects he would take each year.

As he completed them and graded them, I just added the grade to my Word and kept going.

What you don’t have to decide for ALL four years are the courses. Subjects yes, but courses no.

State Laws Dictate Preparation of Diploma

What I mean by this is say for example, you have down world studies as a credit one year.

Let your teen decide if he wants to cover them generally or if he wants to zero in on a particular civilization or culture.

This makes for a very unique high school diploma, because it reflects his personality and interests.

Some subjects may be must haves like four years of math, especially if he going to college. But, if he has covered some basic algebra in the junior high years, he can focus on more advanced courses.

Too, he may focus on book keeping or some other practical life skill during his high school years.

There is so much variety in courses, that you want to decide that each year because as you teen matures, he may change his likes, dislikes and even direction.

The best thing to do is plot your course loosely, but that allows breathing room for your son if he changes his mind.

Be sure also to read my articles for high school and schooling a teen for more useful insider’s secrets.

■ Simple record keeping. The next insider tip is that you want some way to track all of what he is doing each year.

Also, grab my homeschool high school planning forms at the bottom of Step 5a Choose Unique Forms for the 7 Step Homeschool Planner.

And just remember, thousands and thousands of homeschool moms like yourself have gone ahead and crossed this bridge successfully.

With a bit of research and reading, you too can do this!

And don’t forget more how do homeschooled students get a diploma tips:

Homeschool High School Graduation Menu and Party Venue Day 4 of 10 Days

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Today is Day 4 homeschool high school graduation menu and party venue ideas for the updated 10 days series for planning a homeschool graduation. Also, look at more ideas on my how to homeschool high school page.

As I learned, choosing a menu goes hand in hand with choosing a venue.

We knew we were wanting to host a graduation with a sit down dinner and not just serve light refreshments.

Homeschool High School Graduation Menu and Party Venue Day 4 of 10 Days

I feel there are a handful of occasions that come around in life that deserve more attention than normal; graduating high school is one of them.

We chose to serve a dinner for our guests. Keeping it small keeps it affordable too.

At first, Mr. Senior 2013 decided he wanted Italian food. We love Italian food.

However, I feel when serving to a larger crowd and because not everybody has the same taste palate, a more diverse menu was in order.

10 Days of Planning a Homeschool High School Graduation: Menu and Venue (Day 4). As I learned, choosing a menu goes hand in hand with choosing a venue. We knew we were wanting to host a graduation with a sit down dinner and not just serve light refreshments. I feel there are a handful of occasions that come around in life that deserve more attention than normal; graduating high school is one of them. We chose to serve a dinner for our guests. CLICK here to learn how we celebrated!

Making Homeschool Lifetime Memories NOW

He agreed and in the end we kept to our southern roots and added in something special, like the prime rib.

Here is our menu for the night

  • chicken friend chicken with smothered cream gravy
  • prime rib
  • garlic mashed potatoes
  • southern style green beans (no half cooked crispy green beans)
  • salad/trimmings
  • homemade bread sticks

Having hosted many parties where I both prepared the food and brought it, I didn’t want to do that this time.

I wanted to enjoy the out of town guests and family instead of running around serving/preparing food.

Look at these tips I learned when ordering the food through a catering service that saved us some money.

  • Choose a time of the week when it’s not as busy. Saturday is more like a peak time, so having our party on Friday, it was a better price break.
  • I chose entrees and sides separately instead of paying by the plate. In other words think like you are picking up the food with 40 servings instead of telling them they are catering.
  • By serving the food ourselves, we didn’t have the extra charge for set up, serving and tips for servers.
  • For us, the venue was right down the road, so the caterer only charged an extra $25.00 for delivery. If the place is further away, having somebody responsible with a huge van works too. For me, having the chef deliver the food worked out better since he had rolling carts and brought his hired help.
    • Cake and Food - Homeschool Graduation @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

At this time, I ordered the cake too. Being the guy that he is, Mr. Senior 2013 only had a few things he wanted.

One thing was he didn’t want it to look like a wedding cake or “too girly”.

I think if you have a daughter, she will probably have a lot to say on this.

Homeschool High School Graduation – Party Time!

I think it’s hard for cakes to look anything other than plain pretty.

I ended up having it made and chose an ombre (graduated color) blue design.

Keeping the table simple with candles, flowers and a white cake stand, kept it pretty, simple, and elegant.

Homeschool Venue @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool PlusWelcoming Lobby Homeschool Graduation @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus
homeschool graduation location @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool PlusKitchen matters Homeschool Graduation @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

As far as the venue, we have a lot of places around us to choose from.

I have lived in places where you only have a handful of places that are nice. But, if you have a choice, look for these things.

  • Is there a fee for set up or cleaning?
  • Do you have to clean? Can you pay for somebody to clean it afterwards? We got the place clean and so all we had to do was pitch in at the end and clean up. Our homeschool kids are use to doing this because of how many field trips we have had hosted.
  • We ended up going with a community center that has a nice kitchen so I could keep the food warm when it was delivered. There was plenty of parking and it was easy to find so I didn’t have to send out instructions with the invitations. The lobby was warm and inviting.

But, I think the best tips of all are the money savings tips because why not take advantage of them. Who wants to pay full price when we can get a deal?

Remembering that some managers gave me a discount for places we have rented for our homeschool co-ops during the week, my hubby asked them for renting the place on FRIDAY and not a peak time like Saturday night.

They were delighted because hardly anybody rents a room or building on a Friday.

We cut our cost significantly, about 40% by renting it on Friday.

Our homeschool friends are pretty flexible and as long as they knew ahead of time, they can arrange their schedules.

Choosing to do some of the serving and cleaning ourselves, the party was fast becoming a part diy party.

But that is not the only diy thing we did. You know homeschoolers become true do it yourself people the longer we homeschool. It’s true.

Next post, I will share some more things we did to prepare for the decorations and yep, it included getting the Mr. to help us out too.

If you missed the other posts in this series, you can catch up below:

Homeschool High School Graduation Menu and Party Venue Day 4 of 10 Days

    More Homeschool High School Graduation Planning Resources

    10 days of Planning A Homeschool High School Graduation: Day 1 Start the Planning

    Day 2 Senior Portraits/Cap & Gown. 10 days of Planning A Homeschool High School Graduation

    Day 3 Homeschool Graduation Invitations Which Words Matter Tinas Dynamic Homeschool Plus thum Day 3 Homeschool Graduation Invitations–Which Words Matter. 10 days of Planning A Homeschool High School Graduation