We have been asked: How many papers should MY homeschool high schooler write?
How Many Papers Should MY Homeschool High Schooler Write?
All homeschool high schoolers need to write.
- College-bound teens need to be prepared with the writing and thinking skills they will use to succeed in higher education.
- Career-bound teens need to be able to train and capture their thoughts so that they can be the culture-changing citizens we are raising them to be.
Often, though, homeschool parents are not sure how many books their teens should read each year. Here is what we advise them:
- There’s not ONE right way to homeschool high school! All teens are different in their abilities, interests and needs.
- However, there are some tried-and-true guidelines that you can follow or adapt to your teens’ needs.
Here are the guidelines we use.
First, you need to determine your homeschool high schoolers’ level. While there’s not a standardized definition of levels, these are the levels that our homeschool community uses. (Here is a post that explains levels.)
Next, adjust expectations by the year your homeschool high schoolers are in? Over the grades 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th grades there are increasing expectations.
You will find that writing guides are enormously helpful. 7Sisters Writing Guides coach homeschool high schoolers step-by-step through the writing process, helping learn to distill ideas and express them well. The most important aspect of 7Sisters’ Writing Guides is that they are not intense and contain NO busywork! They are not going to waste your teens’ valuable time. The guides also includes rubrics for grading.
How many papers should MY homeschool high schooler write? Here’s the breakdown by grade and level with the numbers of each kind of paper.
Language Arts 9
Language Arts 9 Level 2
- 4 short papers – whatever the parent feels the student needs
- 2 essays
- 4-page research paper (3 pages + references); must cite sources
Language Arts 9 Level 3
- 4 short – at least 2 creative
- 4 essays
- 5-page paper (4 pages + references); must cite sources
Language Arts 9 Level 4
- 5 short – at least 2 creative
- 5 essays
- 7-page paper (6 pages + references); must cite sources
Language Arts 9 Level 5
- 6 short – at least 3 creative
- 6 essays
- 8-page paper (7 pages + references) or 2 5-page papers; must cite sources
Language Arts 10
Language Arts 10 Level 2
- 4 short papers – whatever the parent feels the student needs
- 2 essays
- 5-page research paper (4 pages + references); must cite sources
Language Arts 10 Level 3
- 4 short -at least 2 creative
- 4 essays
- 6-page paper (5 pages + references); must cite sources
Language Arts 10 Level 4
- 6 short – at least 3 creative
- 5 essays
- 8-page paper (7 pages + references) or 4-page and 5-page; must cite sources
Language Arts 10 Level 5
- 7 short – at least 3 creative
- 7 essays
- 8-page paper (7 pages + references) or 4-page and 5-page; must cite sources
Language Arts 11
Language Arts 11 Level 2
- 4 short papers – whatever the parent feels the student needs
- 3 essays
- 7-page research paper (6 pages + references); must cite sources
Language Arts 11 Level 3
- 4 short – at least 2 creative
- 4 essays
- 8-page paper (7 pages + references) or 4-page and 5-page; must cite sources
Language Arts 11 Level 4
- 6 short – at least 3 creative
- 6 essays
- 10-page paper (9 pages + references); or 6-page and 5 page; must cite sources
Language Arts 11 Level 5
- 8 short – at least 4 creative
- 8 essays
- 2 8-page papers (7 pages + references) or 1 8-page and a 4-page & 5-page paper
Language Arts 12
Language Arts 12 Level 2
- 4 short papers – whatever the parent feels the student needs
- 3 essays
- 10-page research paper (9 pages + references) or 2 6-page papers; must cite sources
Language Arts 12 Level 3
- 4 short – at least 2 creative
- 5 essays
- 10-page paper (9 pages + references) or 2 6-page papers; must cite sources
Language Arts 12 Level 4
- 6 short – at least 3 creative
- 6 essays
- 10-page paper (9 pages + references) and 4-page paper; must cite sources
Language Arts 12 Level 5
- 8 short – 3 creative and 3 response papers
- 8 essays
- 2 10-page papers (9 pages + references) or 1 10-page and a 6-page & 5-page paper; must cite sources
Download 7Sisters Writing Guides to help your homeschool high schoolers have fun and successful experiences with writing.
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Are the 3 bullets under each Language Arts level meant to be a group (*all* done to satisfy the level) or just options (one done of the three satisfies the level)?
Hi Susan,
Our teens did all 3 bullets to satisfy our Language Arts requirements. However, remember, there’s not ONE right way to homeschool high school, so do what is best for your teens.
[…] books to read (adapt list and whether they are read-alouds/audio to your teens’ needs) and how many papers to write (adapt list to your teens’ needs). You can keep the papers simple. Here’s a freebie on […]