4 College Skills to Learn in Homeschool High School

Want some homeschool help for basic college skills that your homeschool high schooler can learn now? I’ll tell you!

Four of my homeschool graduates have already finished college and are off in the working world. All of them graduated college with honors. These are 4 of the most important college skills they learned in high school.

College Skills to Learn in Homeschool High School

1. Public speaking
College admissions officers are often impressed with homeschoolers who participate in rhetoric leagues, public speaking courses, or debate teams. It shows that they have drive, courage, and willingness to learn tough skills. Our local homeschool support group has Rhetoric League. While my high schoolers have never said it was their FAVORITE thing about high school, they ALL say it was one of the most important things they did.

My kids also use public speaking in many of their classes with presentations and projects. My oldest son earned extra scholarship money speaking as a college ambassador. Once, my daughter was asked by a professor to speak to the board about the effectiveness of their department- spontaneously, no prep time. It went well because she was already comfortable with public speaking. You never know when you’ll need to speak!

2. Leveled-up courses in their major area

High schoolers should invest in higher levels of learning in their specialty areas. For instance, one son wanted to be a history major in college, so his history courses included challenging learning opportunities. My daughter wanted to be a photographer- I couldn’t teach her high level photography, so in her junior year she started taking photography courses at the community college. College-level courses look powerful on a transcript. Learning to work intensely on special subjects is an important skill.

Click here for a post on how to level up.

3. Writing- LOTS of it

Usually in high school, writing is not a stand-alone course. (It is part of the language arts credit.) However, homeschool high schoolers who do lots of writing are better equipped for college. The more they write (both numbers of papers and types of papers), the better they will transition into the rigor and fast pace of the college classroom.

In high school my teens write research papers (MLA and APA style), essays, short stories, poetry, and specialty writing (resumes, lyric writing, sermon writing, script writing). The point is to write so much and so varied that they are desensitized to the stress. They use the 7 Sisters writing curriculum because my kids can’t stand busy work or pretentious textbooks.

4. Social skills

This also is not a stand-alone course. (We include social skills in health.) In high school, we review the 10 basic skills they learned as children. The confidence they renew as they practice these skills helps them at college interviews (and job interviews), as well as making new friends and meeting new professors. The cool thing is: if your teen knows social skills, he/she can practice them in any situation!

Help your homeschooler prepare for college early by practicing these 4 skills! For more college-prep study skills, check out this post.

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Here’s my vlog on The Perfect Homeschool Transcript.