High School Homeschooling: Planning a Course

You have done your overall planning for all four years and know what classes your student needs for this year. Now what? There are a number of alternatives for teaching the different subjects.

1. Many buy textbooks for each class and have the student work through the texts, answer the questions, and take the tests. This can be an easy way with at least some assurance that you’re covering all the bases. For a student who works well independently, this might work. It would give that student a starting and ending point. Skills developed using this method may include reading comprehension, some writing skills, and some time management skills. On the other hand, for a student who struggles with reading and writing, or who needs more interaction with others, it may not be the best way. Also, it can be boring for some students. For those unfamiliar with the subject, using a textbook can help, but remember that no textbook perfectly covers all aspects of the subject that you may find important for your child to learn.

2. Others choose to delegate one or more of the courses to specialists in those fields. This can be in the form of a local class (homeschool co-op, community college classes, enrollment in a private school that works with homeschoolers) or online.

3. Perhaps you came to enjoy unit studies in previous grades or your student is bored with the choice of textbook/class. You can integrate different subjects into a unit study or simply apply the unit study approach to individual classes. At the high school level, you can actually get a lot more information out of your kids and allow them to do a lot more of the planning. Here are some possible steps:
Find an online scope and sequence for the subject or grade-level textbook (borrow or find at Goodwill or library sale). Using a scope and sequence or table of contents in a book provides a summary or list of concepts that are typically covered for that topic. You have the option to exclude or include different parts, but this provides guidance.
Brainstorm: Make a mind map of all the ideas that come to mind. To make a mind map, start by writing the big topic in the center of a blank sheet of paper. Branch out by adding more to this network of ideas and groups of ideas. Write anything that comes to mind. Then you can rewrite using only the ideas you want to use.
Brainstorm or make additional entries for each of the ideas on your mind map.
Enter activities and resources into the course plan in your planner where they can be marked as complete.

4. With a little more planning, you can combine subjects like History and English. While you’re brainstorming, you’d use scope and sequences for both topics. In doing this, you can include a number of homework types that develop a wide variety of skills including research, hands-on projects, as well as reading and writing. I am not suggesting that you double count work done in an integrated class. This can allow deeper coverage of an area.

If the unit study approach sounds interesting, but difficult to implement, try it first with a class. As you gain more experience, you can expand to other courses. You may also benefit from working with a homeschool consultant in this area. As a homeschooling parent, you are in the driver’s seat of your child’s education and you have many options.