The summer before our oldest daughter started high school at home five years ago, I spent a good amount of time researching how to develop a course of study that would fulfill both our state's homeschooling requirements and basic college entrance requirements. When our son came home in the middle of this school year, I aligned our high school course of study to be sure what we covered at home would fulfill NCAA Core Course requirements. This fall we have our third child entering her high school years, so, much of the groundwork has already been laid and deciding on materials to support her learning throughout the high school years should be a piece of cake.
There are three main things you need to consider when you embark upon developing a high school course of study: government regulations, college admissions requirements, and your child's interests/goals.
Begin With State/Government Requirements
Since we live in Ohio, the homeschool laws dictate what we do each year, regardless of grade level. Under Ohio Administrave Code 3301-34-03 (A) (5), that means we are to teach the following:
- Language, reading, spelling, and writing;
- Geography, history of the United States and Ohio; and national, state, and local government;
- Mathematics;
- Science;
- Health;
- Physical education;
- Fine arts, including music; and
- First aid, safety, and fire prevention.
Notice there are no breakdowns for these basic subject headings; no specific requirements for teaching American History in 10th grade, Chemistry in 11th, or British Literature in 12th. Furthermore, there are no specific graduation requirements from the state for home educated high school students because the state does not issue a diploma to students who are educated at home (outside of those using virtual public schools). Now, don't get me wrong...I prefer that our state government doesn't dictate what we precisely need to teach and when; however, for those who are making their first foray into homeschooling high school, deciding what students need to learn for college, work, and a functional adult life can be rather daunting. I briefly looked at our local school district's graduation requirements to get an idea of what a typical student from our state might be expected of. Our local district requires 21 credits, most of which follows the break down below with about 6-7 electives to round things out.
College Admission Requirements
We've been at the homeschool things for 12 years, so I was very familiar with our state's requirements. So, the next place I turned was college admission requirements. I looked at several in-state colleges, knowing that our oldest daughter would not be planning on venturing too far from home. We are fortunate to live close to the city of Cincinnati, which is home to several private and public colleges. Most colleges in our area prefer to see the following high school credits on a transcript:
- 4 credits of English
- 3 credits of Math (preferably Algebra I, II and Geometry)
- 3 credits of Science (most prefer to see biology and chemistry, plus one other)
- 3 credits of Social Studies
- 2 credits of Foreign Language (same language)
- 1 credit of Fine Arts
Some colleges lump Foreign Language and Fine Arts in with other electives, so some require 3-5 Elective credits. This came up to an average of 16 credits. Our oldest daughter wound up with 21.5 credits when she was done with high school; 5.5 were foreign language, fine arts, technology, and English "electives".
While researching requirements for our oldest son this winter, I discovered that some colleges outside the state of Ohio require more credits upon admission. However, upon closer examination, I realized that most of those extra credits are for things like physical education and health and a good number of electives. I'm guessing this difference must come from the respective states' requirements for a high school diploma.
NCAA Requirements
While our son was still homeschooling during his middle school years, I started to acquaint myself with the NCAA requirements, since his goal was to play baseball in college. He then elected to go to public school for a few years, coming back midway through his sophomore year this past winter. The NCAA Eligibility process has changed a bit since I first researched it and is making things a bit easier for the homeschooled athlete to register with the eligibility center. This is something to keep in mind if you have a student-athlete at home. To locate homeschool-specific information, follow the link above, click on Enter Here, click on the Resources tab near the top of the page, and you should then find information for Homeschool.
For a Division I college, the following 16 core course credit requirements are:
- 4 years of English
- 3 years of mathematics (Algebra I or higher)
- 2 years of natural/physical science (1 year of lab if offered by high school)
- 1 year of additional English, mathematics or natural/physical science
- 2 years of social science
- 4 years of additional courses (from any area above, foreign language or nondoctrinal religion/philosophy).
For Division II, the break down for the 16 core course credits follows:
- 3 years of English
- 2 years of Math (Algebra I or higher)
- 2 years of natural or physical science (including 1 year of lab science, if offered by your high school)
- 3 additional years of English, Math, or natural or physical science
- 2 years of Social Science
- 4 years of additional core courses (from any area above, foreign language or nondoctrinal religion/philosophy).
So, again we see that basic 16 credits. When all was said and done with my planning a course of study, I was comfortable with between 18-22 credits, several which would be elective credits based on interest-led, "real life" learning.
Student Interests and Input
It's important at this stage of homeschooling to really get some input from your children. If they were in school, they would be choosing their classes within certain guidelines, based on their interests and goals; homeschooling shouldn't be any different. The more "ownership" your homeschooled high schooler has of what he's learning, the more success he's bound to have.
Ask your child about her interests and passions. You might be pleasantly surprised to discover that a passion for blogging can "translate" into a partial elective English credit (our local district offers this option for senior year) or that time spent playing on a community basketball team can be considered physical education credit (again, our local district "waives" the phys. ed. requirement for students who participate in team sports or marching band). Even non-traditional past-times can help a student gain elective credit. My oldest had an extreme obsession for the culture and music of the 60s. She listened to all sorts of music, watched movies, wrote "fan fiction", and read biographies of musicians and social icons of the era. How could I not grant a half credit of Fine Arts???
Resources to Help You
Places like Clonlara and NARHS can be helpful in evaluating non-traditional or "real life" learning for the high school transcript, but there is a cost associated with using such services. Lee Binz, of The Home Scholar has several free resources on her website that can be helpful for parents wishing to homeschool their children through high school.
Donna Young has so many great printable resources at her site for all ages, but her high school pages are really a big help in getting organized. I have used her 4-year Checklist for all my high school students. Below is a screen shot of part of the checklist that I'm using for our oldest son. It includes the classes that he took at the public school since I need to keep track of all the work he has done to date; however those classes won't appear on his homeschool transcript.
Don't forget the wealth of information that comes from veteran homeschool parents. Be sure to check blogs, carnivals, forums, facebook groups, etc. There is a growing list of homeschool high school blogs at Let's Homeschool High School. The Homeschool High School Carnival is full of great ideas. And Tricia Hodges at Hodge Podge has some great info on planning for homeschool high school.
The key is to find a balance between academic requirements and all the fun "extra" stuff that can make homeschooling through high school an enriching experience. Once you realize you aren't alone on this journey of homeschooling through high school, the less scary it is!
Enjoy!