High School Homeschool Curriculum

How do you homeschool in high school?

Are you wondering if now is the right time to homeschool your high schooler? Do you want to be sure you are able to cover all of the homeschool requirements for high school? Whether you are a first-time homeschooler, or a pro with a middle schooler approaching high school for the first time, this post on the Sonlight blog will cover what you need to know to successfully begin homeschooling in high school. From the basics of homeschooling a high schooler to the nuts and bolts of high school planning, to the best homeschool high school program, high school transcripts, and everything in between—we've got you covered.

Teaching a high school student can bring several questions. Sonlight mentors can show you it’s not only possible, but it doesn’t have to be painful. Watch the video below where mentors answer pressing questions from homeschool parents. Topics include:

• How to plan for the future and set goals
• Managing your student’s growing independence
• Determining what is best for your student, with your student
• Maintaining Extracurriculars and Electives
• Preparing your teen to leave the nest
• And More!

Video: Homeschool Helps & Hacks:High School How-To

Does the thought of homeschooling in high school overwhelm you? Transcripts, college prep, algebra...it’s enough to make anyone nervous. But, you can do this, and you can raise diligent, critical-thinkers ready to launch into college and beyond.

Watch the video series below—completely dedicated to navigating the high school years as a homeschooling parent. Whether you have a high school student now or are looking ahead, you'll get advice from those who have been there before. And you'll even hear from students who have graduated with Sonlight!

VIdeo: Chat w/Sarita- Homeschool High School Transcripts

High school can be intimidating even to experienced homeschoolers. Fortunately, Sonlight can show you it’s not only possible, but it doesn’t have to be painful. Watch the video below where Sonlight and industry experts who have all successfully graduated multiple children discuss how. Topics include:

• How to teach academics you never learned or don’t remember
• Managing your student’s growing independence
• The roadmap to graduation & continuing education
• Extracurriculars and Electives
• Transcripts
• And More!

VIdeo: High Hopes for High School

Sonlight high school students enjoy an interesting and rigorous college-prep education that’s equivalent to the finest schools in the country. We’ve even had parents report that Sonlight’s courses have more and better content than their local community colleges! Sonlight offers a variety of courses to help your students prepare for AP exams, and many students use CLEP tests after their Sonlight work to earn college credit.

Sonlight’s high school courses fully prepare students for college, the workplace, or any other vocation. When you choose Sonlight, you know you’re giving your children the academic foundation to succeed in life.

Although Sonlight's homeschool high school courses include a lot of material, please remember that learning is not about how much material you cover. Rather, it's the process, the journey. That's why Sonlight's high school programs will encourage your students to think through difficult issues, wrestle with opposing viewpoints, and discuss significant matters.

It's this educational process that will help to prepare your students for life in the "real world," away from home. No amount of knowledge can do that. But how your students interact with that knowledge and apply it will strengthen them greatly.

Elaine B. writes,

"I'm very pleased with the critical thinking skills my kids have picked up through using Sonlight. Maybe there is something inherently valuable about struggling with questions and issues and not really knowing if your answers are 'right' or not. After seeing how much better my son (who studied [the entire 400-level series]) is at critical thinking than I am, I don't worry so much. The most important thing is the process."

That's what you'll get with Sonlight's homeschool for high school students curriculum. The process. A path that is rich with knowledge and thinking skills that leads to understanding and wisdom. You won't get canned responses, trite answers, or dogma — all things that are anathema to the development of critical thinking.

Your high school students will soon be out on their own and with that will come great responsibility. Your children will need a significant measure of independence to be successful.

While we want in no way to discourage parent-student interaction and discussion (indeed, as you should realize by now, we encourage such interaction in every way possible), we want to help your students practice independence. That's why each high school level course comes with Study Guides for both Parents and Students. Your students, equipped with their Student Guide, can do as much independent study as they like.

The Student Guide contains discussion and thought questions—some questions covering basic comprehension, and some more like college-level analysis. Your students will be able to work through the questions at a comfortable pace without being tempted to peek at the answers.

You'll still get the same questions — and answers — in your Parent Guide. But the Parent and Student Guides are separate from each other. Some parents find their students can work completely independently with access to the Parent Guide to check their work.

You don’t have to be an expert in any high school subject—the Instructor’s Guides serve as the teacher. Your role is that of support: teach organization, talk through test-taking strategies, assign and grade research papers, and discuss lots and lots of great books.

At the high school level, certain elective courses are absolutely necessary. For instance, foreign language and money management skills. Other electives, while not necessary, are highly desirable, both from a perspective of personal enrichment and interpersonal communication skills.

We strongly recommend that all high school students study a foreign language. Rosetta Stone, our foreign language program of choice, provides many. You'd be hard pressed to find a language Rosetta Stone has not made available in their interactive courses.

Sonlight offers three resources for money management, a necessary skill for all children who plan to move out on their own: Money, Possessions, and Eternity by Randy Alcorn and Money Matters for Teens Workbook by Larry Burkett.

And there are many other electives available covering Art Skills, Art Appreciation, Music, World Views, Driver's Ed, and more. You can see all our electives here.

Get answers to all of your homeschool transcript questions and gain the confidence to create a high school transcript colleges will love with this free Homeschool High School Transcripts ebook. Download the free transcripts ebook here.

And there are many other electives available covering Art Skills, Art Appreciation, Music, World Views, Driver's Ed, and more. You can see all our electives here.