Homeschool Teens _ From Teen to Graduation

It feels like starting brand new when your child enters the 9th grade homeschool high school trek. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School.

This is not going to be another one of those homeschool high school posts.

You know where I share all the future plans for my sons.

Looking back now after having gone through it with my first two sons, I have tips.

I realize that realistic sanity saving tips would have helped me better.

Sure, I found plans for all 4 years of homeschooling high school helpful.

But in reality each child and each family’s goals are different.

Too, I chuckle now that I planned ALL 4 years of high school in 9th grade.

I will share why I feel that way in a minute.

The tips today that I want you to know about are tips I didn’t give enough credit ( pun intended, corny I know).

9th Grade Homeschool High School

Try to remember that over crowding your teen’s schedule in 9th grade can be a new mistake.

Even for the most seasoned homeschooler, it happens.

In our attempt to “do it right”, we can take a sock it to them attitude at the beginning of what can be, at least for us, some of the most memorable times about homeschooling.

I planned way more for Mr. Senior 2013 than he was able to do for his age in 9th grade.

With Mr. Awesome, the schedule and load was just about right.  Then of course Mr. Awesome is my second child to enter high school and you get to expert status real fast.

In addition, a lot of kids at the 9th grade level are taking driver’s education on top of their workload.

This means they are not driving yet and you are still taking them and your younger children to activities, classes and events.

Then there is the period where you have to ride with them when they are learning to driving.

If you have a highschooler, you know what I am talking about because I had claw marks on the car door though Mr. Senior 2013 ends up being a good driver now as an adult.

The point is that extra stress at 9th grade is not needed and because most of us have younger kids to school, you have time to still take a marathon pace.

The beginning of teaching them self-independence as an adult begins here but doesn’t happen in one year.

From Teen to Young Adult, A Complicated Unfolding

Speaking about young adults, another factor that I did not appreciate enough is that there is a noticeable difference of maturity at 14/15 years of age at the 9th grade level and 17/18 years of age in 12th grade.

That can be a good and bad thing, but that is another post.

I want you to know that eventually you stop going the homeschool planning alone because if you have raised your children with independence in mind, which is our goal, then the training continues in high school with them planning their courses.

Though I sat down with both of my older boys to plan out each year and though I consider them both fairly independent for their age, I was still pretty clueless as to the level of maturity and independence that they would grow into as a young adult.

As I planned with my second son as he entered high school, I simply explained to him that at least math and language arts would be done each year and the rest of the subjects we will map out as we went along.

It was a different approach than I took with Mr. Senior 2013 because as Mr. Senior 2013 approached being a junior and then a senior, he had decided to change out some subjects.

For example, I had science planned for all four years, but like me, his first love is history.  Too, the careers that he mentioned to support himself as an adult were not science related.

For his junior and senior year, he planned out his subjects and they didn’t include science but did include some form of history study for all four years.

At first I was hesitant to agree with him to immerse himself in what I thought was lopsided planning, but then I had to question myself because isn’t that the whole reason I homeschooled in the first place.

The beauty of high school is for a teen to pursue his interests and to not be weighed down with subjects that he won’t be using.

Throw Out the 4 Year Homeschool High School Plan

It’s easier to say that than doing it because you are always a parent and want to help your teen make the best decisions in high school.

However, high school is the time for them to start making the decisions for their life.

You can’t teach them how to be self-reliant and make good decisions if you take away their right to make decisions at the first instant they flex the decision making muscles.

A young adult has definite ideas of what his own future should look like and both of my older sons knew which subjects they wanted to focus on.

Like I mentioned, it has been different with Mr. Awesome.  Along with doing basic subjects, he will have 4 years of science and is pursuing more computer related courses in high school.

You can see why now that I chuckle at the fact that I listed all courses for each year.

It’s like planning for an adult without asking them their plans for their life or at least including them.  Crazy notion,uh?

Focus on Homeschool High School Framework

It only took one year of over planning for Mr. Senior 2013 in 9th grade to learn that I needed a framework or guide for the high school years instead of focusing every bit of energy on all four years and the courses.

Understanding about credits, planning either for college or a focus on career or ministry, when and how to include outside classes, if any, and whether or not to CLEP are all easier to find out about if you have a framework to guide both you and your teen.

You are not going to ruin your kid’s chances for having a successful life if you don’t plan all 4 years in 9th grade.

Core Subjects are Key

I know you need a basic guideline, so look at the foundational plan on my blog post Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 1 so that you can use this as a jumping off point for planning 9th grade.

Planning from the inside, or basic subjects like the 3 R’s that you have been doing all along and moving to the outside, which are content subjects like history, science, geography, foreign languages and electives is the basis for an excellent and superior education in high school.

Not only will 9th grade be rigorous, but it will be spicy, eventful and unique to each child of yours that enters 9th grade.

Remember that producing the transcript, attending a college if they go to college, choosing a career, or missionary work are all done the end of the journey.

Too, by then you will have a young adult that wants a definite say in the direction his or her life takes.

Though it didn’t seem silly at the time to plan all four years, it didn’t hurt because it gave me a measure of security because I wanted to be a responsible homeschooling mom.

I realize now that each of my son’s personalities and strengths were a larger part of determining what we covered.

It is not easy to change hats from teacher to supervisor, counselor, coach and partner in the high school years, but I wouldn’t trade one tear shed for the precious and memorable moments we now have in high school.

I don’t like being sappy either when I talk about my sons growing into young men, but it is hard to not have a few tears.

Somebody told me once that the high school years fly after your kid enters 9th grade. Guess what? It’s true.

Look at these other posts to ease your mind:

The Must Cover Subjects Part 2 in High School

High School–How to Log Hours for High School?

High School Readiness?

Homeschool High School How To Prepare THE Transcript + Editable High School Transcript

Accreditation Removing the Shroud of Mystery