How to Begin Homeschooling Your High School Student

The most important thing to do is ensure that you initially meet and continue to meet any regulations that are in place for homeschooled high school students in your state.

The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) has a great resource for researching the homeschool laws for where you live. Ensure that your teen will receive a high school diploma and anything else that is necessary to work or head to college after their high school experience has been completed.

Did you know that college credits could be earned, too? Our program, Dual Credit at Home, helps students earn part or even all of their college degrees during high school—-at home!

Initial Transition

Do not underestimate the initial transition as it is a significant lifestyle change for everybody, and it’ll take some time to get into a groove.

The parent needs to now also be viewed as a teacher, and the student will need to get used to being much more self-motivated than had been the case before.

During these early days as well as throughout the process, consider what your teen’s opinions are as she may make some great points as far as the curriculum used or how she is being taught goes.

She is going to have a lot of insight as it relates to learning the information as quickly and in as much detail as possible.

Regardless of who brings up ideas of change, do be flexible and willing to make adjustments throughout this process, especially during the first year.

One of the things to consider is when homeschooling occurs.

There’s nothing wrong with learning from 11 AM – 6 PM if that is preferred over something like 8 AM – 3 PM.

Perhaps doing work over the weekend and taking two days off during the week works better with everybody’s schedules.

You can also change up when subjects are learned. Perhaps instead of focusing for an hour or so on each subject, create a learning environment in which each one is taught for a longer time period at once.

One of the benefits of homeschooling is being able to enjoy the freedom to experiment with what will be the most productive way of going about things.

Improve as a Teacher

Simply meeting up with other homeschooling parents in your area can help all of you become better teachers as you share what has worked and what hasn’t for you.

Also consider taking advantage of things like homeschool conventions and continuing education classes, and teach yourself the topics that you’re passing on as best as you can.

Additionally, if your child has a learning disability, learn as much about it as you can and how you can best teach someone with it.

Also read up on various online resources related to homeschooling high school.

Extracurricular Activities

If your teen is interested in participating on sports teams or taking part in other extracurricular activities offered in traditional school settings, doing so is generally possible for homeschooled students, but you’ll want to research the opportunities available for your location.

Remember, extracurricular activities don’t need to be in school settings, so be creative and think outside the box.

Also, ensure that he spends time with friends and is otherwise social outside of the home environment.

Research and see if a homeschool community has been set up in your area. Oftentimes, things like group field trips can be arranged through these types of organizations. Additionally, one of the best resources for those looking to join an online community that is not limited by geography is the Facebook page, It’s Not THAT Hard to Homeschool High School.

Be Encouraged

It can be a scary time, transitioning to homeschooling a high school student.

However, being flexible throughout the process and doing your due diligence to research the regulations and how to ensure that the learning environment is a positive one will go a long way to putting you two in a groove before long.

Don’t get discouraged if you hit a rough patch in the beginning. This is a life-changing decision and homeschooling isn’t easy every day.

Keep focused, seek God for wisdom, and always make your relationship with your teen a high priority!