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Homeschool Teens _ From Teen to Graduation

Accreditation Removing the Shroud of Mystery

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Let’s get a bit technical today.  My legal brain loves to go to details like this, but more than anything because I get a lot of questions about accreditation, I wanted to share a basic overview of what is accreditation and if it’s important to you.

Homeschoolers throw this word out and then stop to take a deep breath because they are not sure if they should be shopping for something that says accredited, running from it or just standing in place freaking out.

GETTING SMART WITH ACCREDITATION

Since I love layman’s language too and simple is always better let’s break down accreditation removing the shroud of mystery that seems to loom over it.

The first step in understanding whether or not you need to investigate more about accreditation is to grasp a basic meaning of it.

Accreditation. A voluntary process by schools to an agency that certifies that the school has met certain requirements and is an official school. 

In the United States, accreditation is an entirely voluntary process.

Can you see that right away the term official becomes a problem?  Why?   Because if you are legally going to need an accredited school, the next logical question is accredited by whom.  I’ll get to that in a minute. Let’s soak in this definition a bit more.

Homeschooling and Accreditation

In layman’s language, an accredited agency establishes guidelines saying that your child attended a real or legal school.

  Now don’t get your hairs bristled yet because I am right there with you, but key to understanding this is to understand it from a legal point of view.

It is a way of one educational institutional assuring another educational institution, usually an institute of higher education, like a four year college that the diploma meets certain qualifications or standards.

It is about establishing guidelines or standards.

Too, when accredited becomes a topic for discussion, it is normally during the high school years, but not always. More on that in a minute too.

If you live in a state or country that requires an accredited program, then understanding the big players recognized by the government is key to being selectively picky about a school that voluntarily goes through the accrediting process.

Goodness sakes, there is no need to memorize them, we have enough on our plates. Just be familiar with the agencies.

As you can see, if you need an accredited school, it’s just as important to be sure it’s accredited by one of these six regional bodies that are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
New England Association of Schools and Colleges
Northwest Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Western Association of Schools and Colleges

There are good accrediting agencies and bad ones, recognized ones and unrecognized ones, legitimate ones and phony ones. 

I don’t want to completely make your eyes pop out, because there are other accrediting agencies that I have seen through the years that are excellent, but the key is to understanding whether or not a majority of high learning institutes will recognize them.

Let’s separate the legal information now from what works for giving a child a superior education.

  A fine detail, but huge point homeschoolers over look when they get anxious about accreditation is understanding that accreditation has nothing to with the value of an education or the curriculum.

WHAT NO ONE TELLS YOU ABOUT ACCREDITATION

The two terms accreditation and superior education are not synonymous.

Schools throw out  that term as if attending one of those schools gives your child an edge in learning. It does not.

Helping new homeschoolers, I have seen some of the worst private schools accredited and I have seen some very small private school not accredited that offer an excellent educational program.

Accreditation may become important for these 3 reasons:

  • 1. It may be important in the elementary years, if you don’t plan to school longer than a year.  After putting your child back into school,  your local school may require proof that your child used an accredited school before they advance them to the next grade.
  • 2. Normally accredited is used more when your teen approaches high school and is deciding what path to take for their post high school years.  Helping homeschoolers whose children went on to the military is where an accredited diploma is important. This though could be a whole article on its own, but to keep it simple, please be sure you look into this if your child is planning a route that way.
  • 3. The next area where you need to know if your child has to have an accredited diploma is either if you live in a state that requires it or if your child is wanting to pursue a career that specifically asks for a diploma from an accredited school.

As you can see, thousands and thousands of homeschoolers have gone on to elite colleges with a mommy degree and without the need for an accredited school.

Homeschoolers may still be the minority in colleges, but it’s not the minority that understand how driven our homeschooled kids are and the superior value of their high school education without an accreditation agency can’t be denied.

Understanding that accreditation is not a mystery, but fulfills legal requirements and is used mostly when your child approaches the teen years helps you to understand whether or not an accredited school is something you need for your family.

What’s your answer when somebody asks you if your children attend an accredited school?

Hugs and love ya

Did you miss these posts?

Treasure the Moments of Homeschooling Testosterone Armed Teen Boys

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

I don’t want to sound cliché, but I treasure the moments of homeschooling testosterone armed teen boys. Thinking back when all the boys were real young, my sis came over to my house one day with her girls, which are about the same age as my boys. We were not only discussing how to homeschool boys, but also how we could join forces to homeschool our kids together.

How to Easily Homeschool Boys

When we looked up, my boys were outside in the yard with tree branches fighting and her girls were inside coloring pages, inside the lines no doubt.

(Boys to …………..

I didn’t speak out loud what I thought of her girls, but she did later about my boys.

She discussed with me about putting my boys on medication and I silently thought she had beaten the life out of her girls to the point they had no personality or energy either one.

I didn’t really speak out too because deep down I had a nagging fear that something might actually be wrong with my boys.

We both had our first glimpse of the opposite gender of which neither one of us had any experience handling.  Fast forward many years later, I never put my boys on medication because I knew as the mom that they were boys.
What does that mean? It means they learn differently than girls when they are young and it means more noticeable differences happen in the teen years.

Much of my work in disciplining my sons did come when they were younger because I was trying to teach them to sit still when they really needed to wiggle.
When my sis and I would meet together, I would be the one with my hands full as my time was spent beating my boys, mmmm, I meant settling fights and prodding the boys to complete their work.

As my sons have morphed into the teen years, my work as mentor has not stopped.  It has required more finesse, patience and respect of the fact that they are born with an inward need to exercise authority even over me and a some lot of days that set my not so laid back personality in a frenzy.
Because homeschooling is not just an adventure for my boys, but a journey in learning year by year for me too, I want to share a few things that worked and did not work for me as I homeschool teen boys.

……. Men)

1).  Embrace the differences.  As my middle son, Mr. Awesome approaches completing his high school years, his relationship with me is different than Mr. Senior 2013.  Unlike Mr. Senior 2013, Mr. Awesome wants very clear cut guidelines as to what is expected of him in high school for each year.  So I changed the way I prepared his high school curriculum without giving up some of what his father and I required of him in high school.

For example, with Mr. Senior 2013, we planned his high school together each year.  With Mr. Awesome, I planned for two years and he is taking an online school for the next two years.

I still have some classes we do together like geography and some history, but he wanted an outside source.  I admit I was a bit disappointed, but then I have to remember that I have hopefully modeled the art of reasonableness and more importantly considered his needs and differences in high school.

Some things have not been different than Mr. Senior 2013 like my middles son’s need to also question my decision making ability now.

Mr. Senior 2013 and I had many head butting sessions, which only ended with me physically and mentally exhausted.  Having gone through the rooster syndrome with my oldest son, I was a bit more equipped this time with Mr. Awesome.

Blessing and Challenges of Homeschooling Teen Boys

Instead of taking his questioning my authority as a personal assault, I realized his need to start exercising his thinking ability to make good decisions.  If he does not start learning when and how to question decisions now, then how will he be able to make good decisions on his own and then to care for a family later?

Understanding this has helped me a bit more to have patience when I am questioned about every school subject.  It is on the job training for the preparation of the challenges of manhood.

2.) Figure Head of Male Authority a Need.  I sympathize with those single moms, but even they can provide a positive male role model.  It may be their father, uncle or other close friend or family member.  Men just have an unspoken word among themselves when it comes to male bonding time.

It is not that a single mom cannot homeschool a testosterone packing teen, but it sure makes her job easier to have a male figure to turn to.

In all my worry, both of my sons lapped up the influence by my husband and his time as he models the kind of men I want my sons to become.

Too, my husband is able to help my sons to accept the fact that as mom, they need to learn how to accept my authority.

Applying this to homeschooling has not always been easy, but I try to do my part in always listening to what each of my sons have to say no matter how trivial it may seem.

Admitting that I too make mistakes and want them to learn to make capable decisions independent of a woman (though always listening to sound advice by either a man or woman) has always been a good stepping stone to them completing assignments or subjects that my husband and I have planned for them.

This goes back to appreciating the fact that they are a different gender and their need to exercise domination and independence is such an intrinsic part of homeschooling each day.

It is hard to separate the parenting from homeschooling during the teen years.

3.) Create A World Separate From Yours.  Again I noticed the slight differences between my teen boys when it comes to having other teen friends and have had to adjust to their needs.  Mr. Senior 2013 was more content with just a few friends though he still needed a sphere of friends outside of our family.

Mr. Awesome on the other hand has a stronger need for more socialization with teens.  He has a more-the-merrier attitude when it comes to other teens and even other people.

Creating opportunities for both my sons to interact with both teen boys and girls has been some of the hardest work on my part beyond academics.

Our homeschool co-op, church activities, fun sports and group field trips just for teens have been some of my best life saving tips to fill my boys need for the right kind of association.

Coming up in more articles about how to homeschool teen boys, I will be sharing specific curriculum that clicked better for us and more specifics as to how boys learn.

Your turn. Have you hit a brick wall when homeschooling your tween or teen boy?  What tips work for you?

Hugs and love ya,

Want to brush up on some more tips for homeschooling teens?

Guiding Older Children

Homeschooling Middle School Doesn’t Always Mean Middle Way

Homeschool Writing Program for Middle and High School

Homeschool High School Readiness?

 

How to Catch Up When Your Homeschooled Teen Tests Below Grade Level

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

You have had some great questions lately and I can’t help but to ask you if I can share them with my other readers.  Today the dynamic reader question: when your high schooler tests below grade level is one I feel some of you may also be wondering about. 

Homeschool High School Teens

This is one of those questions that you may think that you are alone in asking, but you are not.

Check out Suzanne’s question:

Hi Tina. I just started this homeschooling adventure with my 16 yo/10th grade son…this week! My question is, his assessment says he’s at a 7/8th grade level in Language Arts! He’s feeling kind of bummed out about it. How do I get across to him that this is just the beginning, and he may breeze through this 8th grade work quickly as well as the next couple of levels to get him caught up with actual 10th grade work? I hate to say it, but I didn’t realize it was this bad and he had been “pushed through” these last few years! I’m very upset with our public school system here, and so glad to have this chance to help him. I just want to help him anyway I can.
Thanks for your advise!

First, thank you for asking me!  I know this can be a sensitive subject because as the parent, we may have a tinge of guilt feelings. 

But I am here to tell you that even if you rocked along happily homeschooling on grade level that life could throw you an unwelcoming event.  When the Mr. had his heart attack, I found it more helpful to focus on what I could do to help Mr. Senior 2013 get caught up in high school and not focus on what we had lost.

Help Your Child to See Not All Goes As Planned.  Your attitude in helping him to see that this was not all his fault will help him to not only cover language arts with more focus, but it teaches him that we have to roll with life’s punches. 

View this as an opportunity to turn this into a lesson about more than language arts.  How he deals with this set back is preparation for adulthood and high school. 

He is old enough to appreciate that sometimes because of no fault of our own, we can get behind.  This helps him to focus on a “fix” for the solution and keeps it positive.

Maintain Your Balance In Test Results.  Without knowing what type of test he took, it is hard to assess it (no pun intended).  Though a lot of research goes into standardized testing, there are some tests that are not worth taking.  Remember to not be so quick to assign them validity.

Too, curriculum providers vary from grade level to grade level when it comes to language arts. For example, Rod and Staff, which is one of the most rigorous grammar programs that I have used has a student completing grammar by eighth grade. 

It wasn’t until recently (say within the last 5 to 7 years) that they came out with a high school program. 

Other providers, like Bob Jones High School prefer to use a spiral method of teaching some of the same concepts taught since 4th grade all the way to high school.  Does he really need that much review?

Testing your son using various resources like both the online tests (free or otherwise) provided by language arts provider as well as standardized testing gives you a much more broader view of his capabilities and skills.

Dynamic Reader Question When Your High Schooler Tests Below Grade Level

Language Arts Consist of 4 Skills.  Then after having received a much more clear picture, it is important for you to understand that language arts consists of basically 4 different skills.  This will help you to hone in on the one or two skills that need immediate help. 

The 4 basic skills of language arts are Grammar, Reading, Writing(Composing), Spelling.

Others come into use too like vocabulary, which generally is best learned within a literature or reading program.  Sharpen the skills that are more vital now.

For example, though grammar is important, it is a tool that helps us to navigate while composing thoughts.  If a highschooler is behind in knowing how to master the basics of composition or how to communicate his thoughts effectively, then he will be hampered life-long.  So what I am saying is that not all skills, even under language arts deserve the same amount of time at this age.

It does not mean that he should not work on them, but give the best or earliest part of his day to the most critical skills that he needs so that he is able to master them quicker.  Spelling too can be learned right alongside what he is writing.  For example, hold him accountable to spell each word correctly that he uses in his essays. 

If you do this, (hold him accountable for each language art skills), you will see that on one essay, he will work on all 4 basic language arts skills more effectively. This is a feat to cover each week and he will make rapid progress.

In addition, an online course where a child can go his pace AND get credit is sometimes the solution. Look at this Online Homeschool High School Poetry (No Teaching Involved) course that one of my teens did.

Set A Limit.  I found too in working with highschoolers that having clear cut guidelines as to when something needs to be completed by gives him the encouragement and hope to know that it’s not always going to be like this. 

Most teens like to know clear cut guidelines and a stopping point.  When a teen works with no clear cut goal, though we think we have a goal of catching them up, it’s not a finite goal to them.  Most teens will work harder knowing that they will accomplish their first goal.  Anybody works better knowing they have accomplishments.

If need be, cut the assignments in half and especially if he his quickly catching up.

Highschool Graduation “On Time” is VERY Possible.  I learned a very valuable lesson with my first son that I am now practicing with my second highschooler and that is to have a backup plan. 

With Mr. Senior 2013, I had planned all of his high school courses.  Then when we got side swiped, I didn’t have a back up plan.  We had to step rapidly to finish our set course by high school graduation.

With Mr. Awesome, I felt like I have had the best of both worlds,  which is where I lesson planned 2 years of his high school and used part planned for the other 2 years. 

Using an online school, I didn’t want Mr. Awesome to have the unnecessary stress that Mr. Senior 2013 did in that all his course planning came to a halt when I was at the ICU and taking care of the Mr. during Mr. Senior 2013’s high school years.

So what I am saying is that using a very basic high school program like Penn Foster or American School, where they review remedial skills can be a life saver when needed.  Most easy high school programs like that take only two years to do. 

Again, by using part of my courses I selected along with the ones the online school offered, I feel like Mr. Awesome still has a unique high school experience.  It was the perfect compromise for my situation.

Finite goals by both the online school and your courses gives your teen a goal to look forward to and can help close any gaps in his learning.

Being behind is a very grown up and adult issue.  It does not have to be a negative experience, but can be an experience for rapid growth and maturity in how to deal with what comes at us as adults.

Too, don’t forget learning doesn’t stop at high school graduation.

It has been my experience in helping hundreds and hundreds of homeschoolers that these kids are bright, caring and motivated when giving the right reason to be. 

He is not studying language arts just for the sake of catching up, but he is studying language arts because he needs those coping skills as an adult. 

And oh good grief, if I could only answer your questions without writing an online book then I would be happy.  I hope this helps you. 

Give your son a lot of praise, a great big hug and working hard never hurt anybody, but builds strength, character and determination.

You’ll love some of these other tips:

Hugs and love ya,

Homeschooling Middle School Doesn’t Always Mean Middle Way

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

Arriving at the middle school years can be a time of mixed emotions for both mom and child.  But homeschooling middle school doesn’t always mean middle way in our journey.  It is only natural though that middle school weigh heavy on the mind because it is a midpoint. Also, look at my page homeschool middle school for more fun tips.

3 Smart Strategies to Middle School Homeschool

Having gone through these grades twice now with my oldest sons, there are several things that helps me to stay grounded.

  • It’s about discovering your child’s individuality. 

Curriculum will come and go, but this is the time to focus on who your child will become.  It was hard for me to look at my boys then to picture the men they will become but it happens.

Middle grades are a time for discovering the strengths and weaknesses of your child’s character.  Middle school kids want to know how they fit in the world and they need time to explore a whole host of activities.  Whether you think they are behind or ahead in academics has nothing to do with their changing emotional and social needs.

Homeschooling Why Middle School Doesn't Always Mean Middle Way in Homeschooling

Self-discovery may come through field trips, attending classes without other siblings, or even volunteering for community service projects.  It may even come through an activity they enjoy doing alone.  Bottom line is that it is about discovering who they are and how they will contribute to this world.

I think it is one of the hardest times to homeschool too.  Because the kids are feeling the tug of adulthood but don’t have the skills like driving or the experience at planning to fulfill them, it is very discouraging at times.

It requires extra work on our part because it requires extra time.  Add in the time demands of a toddler or younger siblings to a middle schooler’s unique needs and it can be quite stressful.

Finding another homeschool mom you can trade off with in driving your child to his classes, hosting a co-op on a subject your child likes with only one other family at your house and driving them to classes every other week are things I have done to feed their need for adventure and discovery.

During those grades I have also found that my sons were ahead in subjects and lagged behind in others.

With both of my older sons, it has never meant either that we were exactly middle way in our journey or in academics.

  • Re-evaluate the academics. 

This is the time too that I have to switch from my teacher hat to supervisor hat.  Like us, our middle school kids want the same freedom to pursue subjects that interests them.  Without giving up the parental guidance, we need to throttle back the control.

It’s important for them to understand that though they have more input in their academics now, it doesn’t mean that you are willing to negotiate the core subjects.

You have to be willing though to let them try a new math program (approved by you of course) or writing program.  Negotiating how they approach core subjects, times about when they do them or where they do them shows you are willing to let go of control.

Many times I gave my sons a couple of choices in curriculum that I had weeded through at some of the conventions.  Some of the programs were ahead in some subjects, on target in others and a few for lower grades.

My oldest son was very decisive at that age about which math and writing program he wanted to stick with.  My second son, not so much.  So I made the choice for my second son and he was completely fine with it.

The point I am making is that both of my sons had a choice about academics because I wanted to show my willingness to be reasonable as this journey eventually becomes their education.

Too, some kids are very advanced in middle grades and are already capable of doing high school level work.  I always let me sons move ahead where needed and simmer on other subjects as they needed to.

  • Letting go of the best homeschool approach – your approach.

Ouch, this next suggestion of being willing to let go of a homeschool approach that you have followed for many years is a touchy one.

However, being willing to switch your homeschool method or approach that has been working for you as the teacher is crucial to surviving middle school.  Try to avoid micromanaging your children because it stifles any efforts for self-independence.  Clear accountability works better and is of more value because in real life, that is when they are adults, nobody runs behind us to remind us.  We learn by reaping the benefits or consequences of bad decisions.

I’m right there with you too because this is kind of scary for us as moms when we have been use to taking all control for their education up to this time.  I had to learn differently too because my sons now learned differently.  If you want your children to be independent learners then your method of teaching has to follow what works best for them.

When I started homeschooling and my children were young, the classical approach to homeschooling fit my idea of what my husband and I thought homeschooling should look like.  It still does in many ways.

Along the way though I learned that I didn’t have to be so dogmatic about it but that I could embrace many strengths from each homeschool approach.

Having boys and knowing they learn best by hands-on allows me to mostly choose resources that fit our unit study method.

I have not given up any of my homeschool goals but have partnered with my sons in embracing their homeschool approach that becomes more clear during the middle school grades.

I have found that the middle school years are an exciting time as my sons emerge.  It is a good place to be if you stay flexible and realize that the many different approaches to homeschooling exist because we have many different types of learners.  Embrace it, don’t run from it.   And change for goodness sake if you need to because it will mean the difference between making the most of middle school or having a collision midway.

I will be sharing some resources in upcoming posts that worked good for us too during the middle school grades.

Are you willing to let go of the middle school struggle and seize these exciting years?

Hugs and love ya,

2012Tinasignature DIY Homeschool Organizing With Duct Tape

Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 2

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

Today, I have homeschool high school the must cover subjects part 2. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School.

Planning high school subjects does not have to be a tricky conundrum. 

We may think we want a checklist provided by somebody else, when in fact, guidelines may be of more value. 

Guidelines for must cover high school subjects are more flexible than a checklist.

I tallows you to take into consideration your family’s goals, your teen’s maturing personality.

(I know, some days it doesn’t seem like it, but I promise they do grow up) and it allows you to adjust your plan, which is very common too.

When I shared Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 1, my goal in that post was to be sure you knew to build your high school courses .

For example, I want you to have ar frame with the basics and keep a good balance of the core subjects.

Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 2

Today, I want to share what I call “glam planning” in high school. 

I call these next round of courses you need to decide on glam planning, because they really embellish or add to the goals you have been working on in the younger grades that will now come to fruition in high school.

Chosen Direction Equals High School Course Selection

The direction your teen chooses to take makes all the difference as to which high school courses are selected.

Too, I think part of the confusion in understanding high school courses is realizing how you can break down course selections and how courses generally fall into larger broad categories.

Master High School Course Descriptions

As you can see from my picture above, American Literature falls under English.  It is not as specific though as say a study of plants which is a more narrow study of Biology, which falls under the broad category of Science.

Understanding both the direction your teen wants to take and more clearly how to articulate your courses, will help you to glam up your high school course selection.

For example, if your teen was going to enroll in a four year university then a lot of universities like to see a broad range of topics being covered.   In other words, was his course selection well-rounded?

If your teen is thinking about taking community college courses and then maybe head to the work field, then you would want to hone in on skills that will help him to accomplish that. 

You would want to be more specific in choosing the course of study. 

As you can see from the picture above that a plant study would be a great choice for your child if he chooses to become a biologist.

The bottom line is that must cover subjects vary for each person according to what are the end goals.  Understanding that you can get a specific as you need to or stay as general as needed will help you to not become stressed by the selection process.

High School Courses  1, 2, 3 Planning

In public schools here in Texas, the high schools have a variety of plans that you can choose to follow. 

I think as parents it is wise for us to have a plan and back up plan too because things don’t always go exactly as planned.  Look at the 3 plans below. 

The plan varies with the goal, but they are all good plans.

College Bound Recommended Minimum
Total Credits : 26 24 22
Remember that you don’t have to have everything planned to a “T” when your child enters high school.   Planning is good to help you reach goals, but just don’t allow your plans to rule when you need to change or be flexible.
If you will focus on keeping the core subjects balanced just like you have all along, you will have some breathing room as your teen decides on his final direction.
Look at this 9th grade course selection I laid out where I keep all the course descriptions pretty general.   Actually, it’s pretty close to what Mr. Senior 2013 did his freshman year.

Subject Area

9th Grade

Credit
English I1
Mathematics – Algebra 11
Science – Biology1
Social Studies – World Geography1
Physical Education1
Fine Arts1
Total 6 credits
  

Can you see how easy peazy it is to get 6 credits for their freshman year and I did not add any electives yet or a health credit, which is usually .5 of a credit?

Hint Hint: The rest of the grades follow this same type of layout.

If your teen was doing a foreign language then you would add that to your course study.

As you can see it is not hard to get the required amount of credits that you set up for them in high school. 

Key to determining the credits is being sure that you are within the normal range of most high schools.  

Using simple multiplication of 6 x 4 (number of years we usually equate with high school), your child can easily attain 24 credits for high school.

I have heard all kinds of numbers through the years, but I feel pretty safe in saying 19 to 26 total credits for high school is what you should aim for.

Some folks think 19 is too low, but then again it depends on your goals. 

How to Easily Plan High School Courses

That is not for any person to judge or say, it is your decision alone as a family to make.

Remember, that there is a lot of wiggle room in choosing courses that interests your teen in high school beyond the core subjects.

Just to give you an idea, beyond the core subjects, my son studied foreign languages for a couple of years, fine arts, wood working, ball room dance, public speaking and some volunteer work.

Look at these steps as to where to begin high school courses.

  • Plan each grade by filling in the core subjects, which are English or Language Arts, Science, Mathematics and Social Studies.  Some schools feel that foreign language is part of the basic core subjects.  With our world being more connected than ever before and with diverse cultures in each country, I tend to agree with them.  These subjects are your framework.
  • Determine your child’s direction. This are your glam subjects.  If your child is college bound, the college is the first place to visit and determine what they think is a well-rounded plan.  If you child does not know a direction which is completely fine too, then fill in with courses that interest them and are of importance to your family.  For example, if you child for sure is interested in dance or sports, is it really necessary to weigh them down with a lot of extra history courses?  If your child knows a direction and is work-minded, then give him skills in high school that will help him hone his work skills like courses on communications and computers.
  • Be willing to adjust as you go along.  There is a huge difference in maturity levels between children that are 14/15 years old and young adults that are 17/18 years old.

High School Courses

I will share more on this subject as I plod along too in my blogging, but I wanted to give you an easy starting point.

Plan high school just as you have planned the previous grades.

  In the most basic form, high school really is just a continuation of what you have been doing all along.  Keep on doing it and besides you’ll love “glam planning”.

Hugs and hang in there.  High school truly is fun!

I also found one book particularly helpful when planning:

Home School, High School, and Beyond

You’ll love these other powerful and practical helps from my over 20+ years of how-tos: