High school planning is a work in progress! Adjustments can be made at any time. So don’t be afraid to get specific, knowing that you can work out the details as you go.
Here’s where the fun begins! your student gets plenty of wiggle room in exactly what he studies in each discipline. You can customize each year to suit his interests, or your own ideas about what’s important for your student to learn.
Start by filling in the details for subjects that have a defined scope and sequence. Math is an easy one. Many upcoming 9th-graders will have finished Pre-algebra and be ready for Algebra 1, so you can add that detail to the math line under 9th grade. You can then fill in the rest of the sequence— Geometry, Algebra 2, Pre-calculus/ Trigonometry — under grades 10 to 12. Again, don’t get too dogmatic about this rough draft. If you decide later that Statistics is a better fit for your 12th-grader, you can adjust the plan. If your 9th-grader has already taken Algebra 1, or if she is still working on Pre-algebra, then you’ll adjust the sequence to accommodate this.
You can repeat this same process for science and foreign language, filling in as much as you know right now and leaving room for adjustment as needed later. The goal is to make sure you include all of the requirements in your plan, even if it ends up changing. So go ahead and write in “Spanish 1-3” under grades 10 to 12, if you think that’s what your student will take. It can be swapped out for Arabic or
Japanese if he changes his mind.
The traditional science sequence is Biology, Chemistry, Physics. As long as you are getting a mix of life and physical sciences, and your student has the requisite math skills for any given course, you’re free to adapt this sequence based on your student’s interests. For example, a teen who prefers the life sciences might go on to Anatomy & Physiology, Botany, or Marine Biology after an introductory biology course, with Chemistry thrown in for good measure. Go ahead and pencil in which sciences will include labs in your plan.
I can’t stress enough: This is a WORKING plan! Adjustments can be made at any time. So don’t be afraid to get specific, knowing that you can work out the details as you go.
English and social studies are a bit more flexible in that they don’t have a defined scope and sequence. But if you want to be sure to cover British literature, or US and world history (both requirements at many universities), or any other course in these disciplines, add them now.
Now is also the time to include any specific electives that are important to you or your student. If she’s a pianist who will earn a credit in music each year, add that detail to one of the “elective” lines in each quadrant. If you think that a well-rounded education should include PE, health, or American government, add those somewhere as well. An academic elective like Government could also fulfill a social studies credit, so it’s up to you which category to put it under.
It’s fine to still have placeholder subjects in your plan for grades 10 to 12. But if you haven’t fleshed out all of 9th grade, now is the time. Which math and science will your rising freshman take? What social studies? Will English have a theme (e.g., American lit, fantasy and science fiction, poetry), or will you plan books and writing assignments in a variety of genres and simply call it English 1? What electives are of interest? Some of these details will require you to have a brainstorming session (or several) with your teen. Some might require you to do some research into curricula or classes. But having an idea of where you’d like to go will make finding resources much easier.
REVISIT & REVISE
Once you have your 9th-grade plan laid out in detail, you’ll be ready to decide on curriculum and begin putting your plan into action. As your student matures, he or she will gain greater insight into future goals, and you can adjust your plan for the remaining grades to better reflect them.
You will want to revisit your 4-Year Plan at least once each school year—or more often if necessary to ensure that you’re staying on track and to further flesh out the upcoming grades. Having a solid foundation in place will help ensure that you don’t forget important coursework so that your student will be fully prepared to go wherever she wants on her life path.
What if you’re coming to homeschooling with a student who is already in high school? You can still follow this same process. Add the credits your child has earned under the appropriate subjects and years in Step 4. If your teen is missing any credits he or she should have completed in previous years, move those to an upcoming year and deal with them then. It’s okay to have more than one math, science, English, or social studies course in a year, if that’s what your student wants or needs.
High school is a great age and stage to homeschool, and the opportunities are endless! So relax and enjoy this time with your maturing teen. The most important thing to keep in mind when homeschooling high school is to have a plan but remain flexible. Include your teen in the process as much as possible, and tailor the coursework to his or her unique needs. And have fun!
Whitney Crowell has been an active consultant and dedicated volunteer with HS4CC since 2022, actively leading two vibrant HS4CC Facebook communities: HS4CC at Selective Colleges and HS4CC in North Carolina.
