Getting Started with High School
If you’re ready to homeschool through part of or all of High School, you are in good company here in El Paso and the state of Texas! We want to encourage you to pursue this with excitement - high schoolers are so awesome to teach. They have skills in place - and if they don’t you can tailor their education to meet those needs. High School years are where students can really learn to communicate effectively, have great conversations with parents and family, and apply what they have learned so far. It’s also a great time for students to learn more about themselves and their future career possibilities or interests.
Texas Homeschool Coalition, with whom we partner, has great information about high school and beyond for homeschoolers. Please look at this article, and take special note of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) graduation plans. Members of THSC have access to benefits such as a transcript you can download (fillable PDF or printed) to track credits for your student. Another valuable resource is HSLDA, a national Homeschool advocacy organization who also has an article on high school as a homeschooler.
If you’re interested in electives, we would like to point out a few resources. First, we have many fantastic local organizations providing a variety of electives. Many are not meeting now due to Covid-19, but we nonetheless support them as they offer virtual classes or other resources to the public. We have a list of such courses here. Additionally, parents in our membership are free to use G-Suite for Education to create electives or courses that they can then share with other members of EPHA.
Finally, we value the experiences of our team, some of whom have homeschooled through high school, and we would love to share their experiences and advice here for you. Today we will hear from Marie, who volunteers with us and manages all our Spanish community Meets and Information sessions; and Julie, who has volunteered at past conferences, joined in our information Meets, and been a speaker in past conference Q&A sessions.
How long have you been homeschooling your children? What are their current grade levels?
Marie: 10 years, since first grade up to 10th grade.
Julie: 15 years. Started when oldest was in the beginning of 1st grade. Oldest is 21 and is in the UTEP Doctor of Physical Therapy program. 2nd is 19 and is a senior at UTEP. 3rd is 16 and is currently taking a class at home and the rest are dual credit (Early Admission) at EPCC. 4th is 13 and is an 8th grader at home.
What philosophy of education do you prefer, or do you use an eclectic approach? I love unit studies, following the Charlotte Mason's approach but learning is no longer structured to solely on books
Marie: Science is one of my passions especially when we can behold God's wonderful creation. We take that same approach in our learning.
Julie: My curriculum choice at the beginning was 100% Sonlight which is primarily literature based. Over time I started to see some areas that I needed more help or specialized help and began to become more eclectic.
How did you decide what to teach for your High School age students?
Marie: First l saw the requirements [for Texas] - and we are planning one year at a time along with my children. I mention what their options are while attempting to prepare them for college if they choose to pursue a college degree. My kids interests are a priority.
Julie: In order to choose what classes for my kids to take in HS I looked at our local school and chose the path to get them into college. I also took advantage of CLEP testing for college credit and a dual credit course for my oldest. For my second child I ended up only doing a year and a half of HS and then finished up with all dual credit. To do dual credit I put whatever the student had completed on the transcript and looked at the various associates degrees that were offered and filled in her transcript with the proposed course load.
What are some of the curriculums you have most enjoyed using for the High School Years?
Marie: For science we truly love Apologia, for Literature and History, Generations curriculum. For Writing, we enjoy the IEW approach, and finally a resource we like is Dual Credit at Howard Payne University.
Julie: I enjoyed more hands off curriculum for the HS years, which gave me more time to work with the younger siblings. Teaching textbooks was great for math to free up some time. You can start it on the DVDs as young as 3rd grade.
For Writing, I used IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) This was a good break for me as well since I felt very out of my league with writing assignments and grading. It is a DVD that you watch with the child and then they do the assignments after along with a provided rubric for grading. These prepared my daughter, a struggling writer, for college and helped her to excel. Two of my children were naturally good writers and didn’t like the structure, but the other two needed the direct instruction and the rules to follow. Along with writing I used Easy Grammar and readers from Sonlight.
History is something that they can read by themselves with Sonlight. They provide the teachers questions to see if they understood what they read as well as helping them to see any biases in the textbooks or books that they just read.
ACE (Accelerated Christian Education) PACES are workbooks that are totally hands-off. They have all subjects that the student can work through at 3-4 pages a day and then when they finish the book, you give them the test.
Another option is Apologia Science for Biology, Chemistry and Physics. All of them have labs that go with and are quite rigorous if you have a student that is college bound for the sciences.
And, of course, the Dual Credit for any courses you want to have your child complete before finishing HS. It will give them more options for their education as well as the opportunity to complete and Associates degree or at least be nearer to their 4-year degree before even attending a formal school.
What are some of the challenges you have faced as you homeschool during High School?
Marie: Preparing as an advisor to help my children decide and prepare to CLEP out of a subject. Planning SAT, PSAT and ACT to fulfill requirements and finding a school that will allow you to save a seat as a Homeschooler. Finding other Moms that don't mind sharing knowledge and experience while you are facing the end of the road can be a challenge, and finding groups where your teens can get peer interactions within the homeschool community, many Mom's we knew along our journey have enrolled in public school at 9th grade.
Julie: My fears were that I’d need to take a lot of notes, prove what I did in school, take grades, and that they wouldn’t be prepared for college and that they wouldn’t do well on testing. Truth is, I didn’t need any notes, grades were mostly As and no one questioned them. I did have them quite well prepared and they did well on testing. The one child that didn’t do well on the math portion was still allowed to take dual credit in the other areas, so even that wasn’t an issue. To get into dual credit you need only take their test, the Texas Success Initiative Test (TSI), and no other testing is required. Once they are in the program, and they want to go to another University, they are then considered a transfer student.
What have been some of the positives of homeschooling through High School?
Marie: Family Unity, trust and mature discussions, among the children and parents.
Julie: A great part of homeschooling is that, during down times in the day, even while taking classes outside the home, we have considerably more frequent opportunities to talk than in a typical public school week. We always had time to spend at dinner discussing issues, or between classes or at the end of the day when we heard other people were struggling to finish homework. Our kids have all enjoyed spending time together as a family and working through things together.
I personally think that this is why we have such a great relationship. All the talks about the world and the way things work. They see us as their authority figure and the source of all information.
I believe this is why our children all have good critical thinking skills, they can recognize false information when they see it.. They know better than to take everything they hear as the complete truth without first looking into it. That is worth homeschooling in itself.
Finally, They value each other and actually take our advice.
What advice would you give someone who is nervous about starting their homeschool High School Journey?
Marie: The younger years are easier because we made the decisions as far as Academics for our children, now they become an active part of their education.
This is where a parent shifts conversations from toys to adult behavior: from guiding them in money management, helping them grow in hobbies that could be a livelihood. Teaching them to buy their first car, and pay for their car insurance, while pressing forward to be a blessing to their Community and serving in their church.
High school is such a short time before they marry or leave the home that I definitely want to help prepare them and feel the personal responsibility to guide them. Helping our children face the difficult transitions of starting an internship, and reporting to another adult (namely a boss) can provide a different outlook to your children's eyes about your personal sacrifice to Homeschool them. They become very appreciative even though it was a struggle in the younger years.
Julie: Best thing I learned about homeschooling HS when I wasn’t sure I could do it….If you can teach your child to read, they can teach themselves anything. This is so true. You will not be able to teach your child everything.They will have to learn on their own.
Thank you for sharing your experiences, Marie and Julie! We appreciate your insight.
Additional Resources:
Texas High School Graduation Plans Side-by-Side Comparison
How to plan a High School elective course