When you are homeschooling high school, one of your major goals may be to have your kids get accepted into the college of their choice. If this is your goal, and the goal of your student, you will want to avoid these 5 biggest mistakes when homeschooling high school.
Check Your State’s Requirements
You will need to check out the homeschool requirements in your state during the middle school years. Many of you who know me, know that I am a big proponent of skipping middle school. (Blog post on that to come.) Checking your state requirements is very important, and you will find that requirements vary widely from state to state and they might change every year. A simple online search will provide the information you need and keep you updated. After you understand what the requirements are, develop a plan, with the input of your student. Make sure that you have covered the legal requirements and the course requirements of that state as you homeschool.
Meet College Admission Requirements
Every college will have a different set of requirements for admission. You need to know what the exact requirements are of each college you seek so that you can prepare adequately for the same. There are specific and blanket requirements for almost all colleges that you should know about. These include 4 years of English and Math, 3 to 4 years of social studies and sciences, 2 years of PE, and foreign languages, etc. Electives requirements will differ from college to college. When you know this, you will homeschool your child in such a manner that will enable them to get into the best colleges out there.
Beef up the Transcript
One of the benefits of homeschooling high school is that your students have the opportunity to explore a vast range of subjects and activities. Discover your child’s interests and talents and provide opportunities for them to practice these talents and explore these options. Add these to the homeschool transcript and showcase their strengths.
Cover the Basics Well
Basics cover writing, reading and mathematics. It is important to ensure that your child has a very good basic foundation. When they have a good foundation, they will be able to use these skills to and apply them to whatever subjects they decide to study in college. Many incoming college freshman require remedial classes, because they did not fully learn the basics well. See our online video courses at Our Happy Medium Academy for effective courses on the basics that your student can complete at his/her own pace.
Review Your Plan
Making a plan is a great first step! You should review your plan every 6 months to a year to be able to keep focused on the bigger picture. Definitely review your year each year during the middle school years. This will allow you time to make changes in academics or extra-curricular as needed.
If you do these things, you will avoid these biggest mistakes when homeschooling high school and you will find it easy to focus on homeschooling your children and prepare them for a good college in future if that is indeed their goal.
