Homeschooling High School Help
Homeschooling High School? Me too! Let’s Talk.
HOMESCHOOLERS! FALL IN! FORWARD MARCH!
The command to get into a formation and march is exactly what homeschooling high school feel like to me. Gone are the relaxed times when the kids and I spent half days at the park and casually reading food labels during grocery runs. They have been traded in for half days at the DMV, reading job applications, managing volunteer hours, and summer job drop-offs. A sense of urgency fills the air.
Homeschooling teens are a different animal than elementary. Some teens (ahem, Mine) are more serious, private, and moody versus the happy go lucky elementary years when they’d be down to go anywhere.
I have found that preparing for high school, in particular, is like the bark of a military command to soldiers by their commanding officer. “FALL IN!” I’m the soldier and it triggers an attentiveness to all the things: grades, GPA, transcripts, credits, college, scholarships, extracurriculars, careers, life choices (ugh!)- a forward MARCH toward a high school diploma, college degree, and productive adulthood! (yikes!)
There is no romanticizing the teen season. Between hormones and high school, it is rough. It is scary. It is demanding. I recognize some of this is due to feeling overwhelmed by all the must-haves (paperwork), desires, (jobs, clubs), and academic formalities (state requirements) of high school planning, in addition to the business of “life skills” education. As my teenage niece would say, “It’s tew muuuch!”
Homeschool high school planning is not a burden I must bear completely alone. It has become an opportunity to give my new high schooler some responsibility over his academic schedule.
Academic and Life Skills Planning
To help with the transition for us both, I created a printable student planner for my teen and I to use. It allows him to take ownership of planning his schedule and meeting his goals while also serving as an organizational one-stop tool that meets the academic and life skill demands. My plan is to treat the student planner as an Independent Study of sorts, part of his 4-year homeschool high school curriculum. As a 9th grader, he will be responsible for knowing what’s required of him from the state to graduate with an HS diploma, identifying those courses, and keeping track of his schedule. He will be expected to retrieve and record contact information for any organizations he participates in. He will begin to identify and write down his skills, talents, and gifts. Additionally, he will learn to affirm himself by completing an Affirmation playlist. He will also be challenged to endeavor to complete more than 100 prompts from the adulting calendars I created to address those experience-driven life skills. There’s more for him to take on in this planner over the next 4 years, 10th and 11th grade- college checklists, and 12th grade -financial independence checklists. Most of which I wish I had been exposed to when I was a teen. The best part is that it doubles as a portfolio that carries all of the academic requirements (Courses/description/schedule/list of assignments, etc.)
Practical, too
I am most excited by the adulting calendars.
Challenging my son to carry out nonacademic activities that will help him grow into a more responsible, independent, well-rounded young man gives this planner a practical edge.
The planner is a work in progress and the way I choose to embrace my new marching orders. It has made the demand manageable for us both. If you know someone feeling overwhelmed by homeschooling during the high school years, consider sharing this blog and the My Highschool Student Planner Portfolio with them. It is now available on my website as a printable or digital download for just $10.00.
I also have a FREE Homeschooling High School checklist for you HERE.
60+ pp, Available as Printables or Digital Download
My son prefers the printable, but if your teen prefers to use it as a digital planner, try using a note-taking app like Goodnotes. (Available for free or $9.99 one time) You can upload the PDF, write, draw, and type on it. A great perk is the ability to share the document as a collaboration which allows you access to review and give notes. Check out the demo of the planner inside the digital notetaking app, Goodnotes, below.
Watch the Digital Demo
How are you managing the demands of homeschooling a highschooler?