Here’s how to earn a practical Language Arts credit based on Career Exploration.
Earn a Practical Language Arts Credit Based on Career Exploration
Career Exploration is an elective credit that is absolutely necessary for homeschool high schoolers. Why?
- Teens need to have SOME idea of what they want to do with their adulthood
- If they are headed for college, they need to develop a transcript that builds toward their major
- Or if they are NOT headed for college, they need to decide what kind of training or apprenticeships to invest in
- Teens who have no idea what they want to do often experience anxiety
The problem is: How do you fit Career Exploration in an already busy schedule? (We’ve already addressed why spend time on it in this post.)
Here’s one solution: Make Language Arts the base for Career Exploration!
Here is a way to build a Career Exploration credit into Language Arts.
Literature: Read biographies
Whether teens choose a career after being inspired by a biography or not, they will have the vicarious experience of learning about a career through the book. This is important. The more different kinds of careers teens are exposed to, the better their brains are at honing in on one.
With that in mind, 7Sisters has some favorite Literature Study Guides based on biographies: Joni, God’s Smuggler, Something Beautiful for God, Born Again.
Think about it this way: Career Exploration is kind of like fitness. The more overall fitness teens have, the better their bodies are at honing skills in a specific sport. You can give your teens *career fitness*!
Literature: Read self-awareness books
Help teens get to know themselves. They can come to know themselves better if they read books like:
- What Color is My Parachute for Teens
- The Road Back to You
- Emotional Intelligence 2.0
How many books should your teen read? It depends on their goals. Here is a post that explains how to decide.
Writing: Research Paper on Career Exploration
Teens need to write a research paper each year. Therefore, you can make that paper useful! Teens can use Career Exploration as their topic and write a page or two on 4 or 5 careers.
I would suggest an APA-style paper, as it is information-based rather than thesis based. (MLA papers are thesis-based papers- trying to prove a point but APA papers are attempting to share unbiased information. This is a good choice for an information-gathering paper like Career Exploration.)
Writing: Essays
For a good Career Exploration credit, teens should also do some shadowing and/or volunteer work. Whether they are interested or not in a job shadowing and volunteer work:
- helps teens get the feel for different work atmospheres,
- this helps them clarify their goals.
Then they can write a five-paragraph essay on each of their shadowing experiences and several volunteer events. It could be a compare/contrast essay about what they like and don’t like about each.
Be sure to log hours on shadowing and volunteer work and count it toward your teens’ Career Exploration credit.
If teens are feeling rusty about compare/contrast essays, there are good step-by-step instructions in 7Sisters’ Introductory Guide to High School Essay Writing.
Writing: End of the year essay.
Also, teens should definitely be working through the Career Exploration Bundle. At the end of the year, have your teens write a personal essay about what they know about their gifts, talents, experiences, interests, values and goals.
Bonus: At the Homeschool Highschool Podcast’s Facebook page, we often share videos and posts about different careers. Like and follow the page and share with your teens!
Your homeschool high schoolers can record a Career Exploration elective credit when they have:
- logged 120-180 hours (the number varies by state) or
- read 8 books and logged 60-90 hours
- read 8 books, logged 30-45 hours AND completed Career Exploration Bundle
Note: If you have a teen with special needs, adjust the times and rigor of activities to meet their goals and abilities.
Congratulations! Your homeschool high schoolers have earned a Career Exploration credit AND all those books and writing also count for their Language Arts! And the best thing is: They feel better about themselves and better prepared for life!
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