This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: What Should Homeschool High School Look Like? This post is running concurrently on the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
What Should Homeschool High School Look Like?
Do you ever feel pressure to make sure you are homeschooling the right way??? Are you feeling pressure to be keeping up the right homeschooling “appearances”?
We have been receiving questions about what homeschooling high school should look like. Therefore, Sabrina and Vicki decided to take an entire episode and talk about it.
SO, before we even start, let’s put this whole “pressure to do homeschooling the right way” to rest. Let us tell you the 7Sisters philosophy of homeschooling: There’s not ONE right way to homeschool (especially high school)!
With that in mind, let’s talk about some practical tips for the “shoulds” of homeschooling high school
First off, let’s talk about some things you can (lightly read “should”) do to help.
- intentionality
- this means having some sort of plan, although we all know that plans often need to be adjusted because there are somethings in life that happen to interrupt the best laid plans
- schedules
- priorities
- what you want to see each week in your homeschool
- format
- The right format fits your needs and goals, as well as your teen’s needs and goals
Now, let’s talk about formats for homeschooling high school
When we talk about formats, we mean the way our teens’ courses will be taught. For instance:
Hybrid or umbrella schools
- These offer group classes (and often academic advising) for homeschool high schoolers
Homeschool co-ops
- Again, these are opportunities for group learning and projects
Online courses
- These can be asynchronous (such as 7Sisters online Psychology course) or live courses (such as those offered by the online academies of our friends and fellow podcasters: FundaFunda Academy and True North Academy)
At home, using textbooks
- This is a simple way to homeschool high school. Some textbooks are the old-fashioned hard-covered texts we moms all remember. Other textbooks are digital etextbooks (such as 7Sisters curriculum).
At home, logging hours
- Teens can earn a Carnegie credit by logging 120-180 hours of learning experiences. Check out this post for more information on how to earn these credits.
At home, learning together as a family
- Even though homeschool high schoolers will do many subjects on their own, this does not mean you cannot have family learning. For lots of ideas, check out this interview with our friend, Amy Sloan, as we discuss including teens in family learning.
Some traditional schools allow homeschoolers to participate
- Our local teens have found schools to take a special course or play a sport
Community or online college courses
- Some homeschool high schoolers begin taking a few community college courses during their junior and senior years.
Most homeschooling family have an eclectic mix from the list above
- The mix of formats helps fit courses to each teen’s unique personalities
Tips for success whatever the format for your homeschool high schoolers’ learning
Be sure to have your teen’s buy in by including them on the planning process. This helps teens own their education.
- Teaching them goal setting is often a helpful part of planning
Build in check-in points, weekly and/or daily, plus a mid-year review
- This means, sitting down with your teen and the plan, looking everything over and talking about it: What is working? What is not working?
Teach them time management skills
- Time management is such a powerful life skill!!
It helps to have some outside accountability
- Academic advisors at umbrella schools
- Tutors or teachers to grade some assignments
These days, many homeschooling moms are working homeschool moms. What should that homeschool high school look like?
It is possible to have a successful homeschool while being a working mom. For instance, Vicki has been a working homeschool mom for many years. (She is a counselor.) Here are a few tips to help:
Check out this interview on being a homeschool working mom from our friend, Stacey
- So many practical resources in this interview. (Also TONS of resources and tips in this post for working moms.)
Also this powerful interview with our friend, Julie Smith Mendez, of Working Homeschool Moms
- Julie knows how to make homeschooling while working work!
Next, think about joining a co-op
- Co-ops offer education and fun for teens while offering support and encouragement for homeschool working moms.
- Vicki points out that our co-op was how we 7Sisters met and became friends.
- These friends can also sometimes give teens a ride to special events when mom is at work.
- On the other hand, it takes a lot of humility asking for help
- AND don’t assume, rather- communicate!
Do homeschool high schoolers need to study each subject each day?
No.
Each teen is different and there’s not ONE right way:
- Some teens do a version of block scheduling
- Other teens like to knock out every subject, every day
- Your job is to help them experiment with schedules as well as frequent check-ins
What format should a teen use for their schedule?
Whatever works! For instance:
- Sabrina uses bullet journals for herself and one of her teens
- Vicki uses Google calendar
- Kym uses Google calendar, reminders, sticky notes, etc
- Suggestions for scheduling and time management from our 7th Sisters in this post
Should you set up a school room and should it look like a “real school”?
If your teen likes that kind of thing, yes. However, most teens do their schoolwork all over the house. Talk to your teen. Do they need:
- A desk in their bedroom (like a college dorm room)
- To sit at the kitchen table with their siblings
- The couch…everything all over the couch…and the floor
- Sometimes just going to the library or coffee shop and work there a day or two a week
One of the best things your can do is teach your teens to be their own scientist.
They need to observe themselves and actually notice what works for them. It is so good for teens to know themselves.
So, as you see, there’s not ONE right way to homeschool high school. Therefore, you and your teens do what is best for you! The deal is: Is your homeschool meeting needs and moving you toward your goals!
You can even capture educational moments over the summer. For lots of ideas for homeschooling high school during summer, check out this Homeschool Highschool Podcast interview with our friend, Anita Gibson.
Join Vicki and Sabrina for a fun discussion about what homeschooling high school should look like.
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