Should you homeschool High School? Can you? What does it take?

Intro

Two scenarios:

Currently enrolled in high school and looking to pull them out and Homeschool them

Currently homeschool in middle school, wishing they were at boarding school 

We can't tell you if you should homeschool high school. BUT we can give you information about how we decided what to do and we can give you information about what it takes for success in homeschooling High school so you can make an informed decision.

Our Story

Context: in Texas, where homeschoolers have lots of freedom.

Our kids were entering High School ages, one was on-age and one a year younger.

We went to talk to the counselor at the High School they would attend - she had no idea, no protocol 

One of our kids is a year young for the grade so he would have to test into everything to prove he could do 9th grade. There was talk of even making the on-age kid take the tests "just in case"

Since all our kids were ahead in math they would need to take "credit by exams" to get HS credit.

What she thought the hardest part of the adjustment would be?

Asked problems the school was facing -- drugs, bullying, etc?

Asked about kids degree programs and various requirements, all the high-level info was online

Our suggestion

Based on our experience, if the child is on-age and doesn't need any credits, is a regular 9th grader, then you may be successful just enrolling them without making a fuss. BUT you might get hassled a bit by the school either way.

What does it take?

"costs" of doing Home School High School, part of cost-benefit analysis

 1. It's difficult to start at home and then switch to public school and get credits. If you were "one year at a time" up until now you should really consider High School a block

2. You need a graduation plan from the start -- what classes do you require, what does the state require, what will the transcript look like if submitting to colleges

3. Traditional High school has a lot of non-core slots in the schedule -- electives, study halls, flex periods, sports, etc. The number of core/required classes dwindles as you go…so by the Senior year you're swimming in electives. Keep this in mind, it's a lot of effort to have elective ideas, make/find classes, etc.

4. Because of the complexity of classes and diversity of electives it can be more expensive than earlier grades

5. 7th/8th/9th grade can be rough, but take heart. Kids become more independent and rational over time. 

6. You need to be open to Adjustments (math homework, goals)

It can be done!

We're here to help, [email protected]

Story Time