How to Create a 4-Year Homeschool High School Plan
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This year, I officially have a high schooler!
And even though I’ve been thinking about high school for quite a while (and probably overthinking some of it, if I’m being honest), having an actual 9th grader has made all of the planning feel a lot more real.
Suddenly I’m not JUST thinking about what curriculum we’re going to use this year. I’m thinking about credits. What math will come next? Which sciences do we want to fit in? What electives should we count? What might dual enrollment look like later? And are we setting things up now so that we’ll have everything we need when it’s time to create a transcript?
One thing that has helped me tremendously is looking at high school as a whole instead of planning one year at a time.
That doesn’t mean I have every course picked out through 12th grade. I definitely don’t! But I do have a general four-year plan that helps me see where we’re headed and what we need to keep in mind along the way.
And I think that’s an important distinction. Your four-year high school plan doesn’t need to have every curriculum choice, elective, or future goal figured out. Your teenager will change over the next four years, new opportunities will come up, and you will probably change your mind about a few things too.
The goal is simply to create a roadmap.
So if you’re getting ready to homeschool high school (or you’re already there and realizing you probably should make a plan!), let’s walk through how to create a four-year high school plan you can actually use.
1. Know the Requirements That Apply to Your Homeschool
Before you start filling in courses, make sure you understand the homeschool laws in your state.
Homeschool graduation requirements aren’t necessarily the same as the graduation requirements for your local public school, and requirements vary from state to state. You’ll want to know what your state requires of homeschool families and what authority you have as the parent when it comes to issuing your student’s diploma.
But don’t stop there.
If your student is considering college, you’ll also want to look at the admission requirements for colleges they may be interested in. A college may expect certain high school courses even if your homeschool law doesn’t require them.
For example, you may want to consider how many credits your student will complete in:
- English
- Math
- Science
- Social studies
- Foreign language
- Fine arts
- Physical education/health
- Electives
You don’t necessarily need to know exactly where your student will apply yet. The point is to begin with a reasonable framework rather than simply picking classes as you go.
2. Think About Where Your Student Might Be Headed
This can be difficult when you’re planning for a 13- or 14-year-old; they may have absolutely no idea what they want to do after high school.
That’s completely fine. You don’t need a declared college major before you can create a high school plan. But it is helpful to talk about some possibilities.
Is your student currently thinking about attending a four-year college? Community college? Trade school? Going directly into the workforce? Starting a business? Pursuing a career that requires a particular type of training?
Their answers don’t have to be permanent. You’re simply looking for clues that might influence the courses you choose.
A student interested in engineering, for example, may need a different math and science path than a student who wants to pursue theater. A student who plans to dual enroll may need to complete certain courses before they’re eligible.
This is also a great opportunity to involve your teenager in the planning process. High school is a good time for them to begin taking more ownership over their education and thinking about what they want to accomplish.
3. Decide Which Credits You Want to Include
Once you have a general idea of your requirements and goals, start building a list of credits your student will work toward.
You might decide, for example, that your student will complete four credits of English, four credits of math, three or four credits of science, several social studies credits, and a certain number of electives.
At this stage, don’t worry about choosing curriculum for every course. You’re building the framework first! There’s a big difference between deciding:
10th Grade: Biology
and deciding:
10th Grade: Biology using XYZ Biology Curriculum, completing lessons 1–142 on this exact schedule.
You probably don’t need that level of detail yet!
Start with the courses and credits. You can choose specific curriculum as you get closer to each school year.
4. Spread Those Courses Across Four Years
Now you can begin putting everything together (the fun part!).
Create columns for 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade and start placing courses where they make the most sense.
A very basic plan might look something like this:
| Subject | 9th Grade | 10th Grade | 11th Grade | 12th Grade |
|---|
| English | English 1 | English 2 | English 3 | English 4 |
| Math | Algebra 1 | Geometry | Algebra 2 | Precalculus |
| Science | Biology | Chemistry | Physics | Science Elective |
| Social Studies | World History | U.S. History | Government/Economics | Social Studies Elective |
| Foreign Language | Spanish 1 | Spanish 2 |
| Electives | Economics | Logic | Ethics | Apologetics |
This is only an example. Your student’s plan might look very different, and that’s one of the benefits of homeschooling high school: You’re able to create an education that makes sense for your student.
5. Pay Attention to Course Sequences
One of the biggest benefits of looking at all four years at once is that you can catch courses that need to happen in a particular order.
Math is an obvious example. If you know where you’d like your student to end up by senior year, you can work backward and make sure there’s enough time to get there.
The same thing can happen with science courses, foreign languages, advanced classes, and dual enrollment.
You don’t want to reach junior year and suddenly discover that your student needs a prerequisite they haven’t completed.
This doesn’t mean you can’t change the plan. It simply helps you see those potential issues ahead of time.
6. Don’t Forget About Electives
This is one of my favorite parts of homeschooling high school!
Not every credit has to come from a traditional textbook course. High school gives our kids the opportunity to dig deeper into things they’re genuinely interested in, and many of those interests can become meaningful electives.
Think about music, theater, art, computer science, photography, personal finance, entrepreneurship, apologetics, technology, cooking, or other areas your student wants to explore.
Your teenager may already be spending significant time developing skills through lessons, activities, volunteer work, or other opportunities. As you’re creating the four-year plan, think about how those experiences might fit into their overall high school education.
7. Think Ahead About Dual Enrollment and Other Opportunities
Even if dual enrollment isn’t on your radar for freshman year, it’s worth thinking about before junior or senior year arrives. The same goes for standardized testing, internships, career programs, extracurricular activities, and other opportunities your student might want to pursue.
You don’t have to plan every detail right now; but putting these possibilities on your radar can help you make better decisions about the courses your student takes during the first couple of years of high school.
8. Keep Your Four-Year Plan Somewhere You Can Easily Update It
This might be one of the most important parts of the whole process…because you’re going to change things!
You might start high school planning to take one science course and choose another instead. Your student might discover a new interest and want to add an elective. You may decide to use dual enrollment for a course you’d originally planned to teach at home.
And when things change, you want to be able to update your plan without losing track of what your student has already completed.
This is one of the reasons my husband and I created Homeschool Curriculum Planner.
You can use the planner to organize your student’s homeschool courses and keep important information together as you move through high school. Instead of trying to remember everything when it’s time to create a transcript, you’re keeping track of those details along the way.
And if you’re just getting started, you don’t have to purchase anything to try it!
You can create a free Homeschool Curriculum Planner account and start setting up your student’s courses and exploring the planner for yourself.
Especially if you’re at the beginning of high school, getting into the habit of keeping good records now can save you a lot of work later.
9. Revisit Your Plan Every Year
Once you’ve created your four-year plan, don’t file it away and forget about it until graduation.
I recommend reviewing it at least once a year.
Before you plan the next school year, look at what your student has completed and compare it with your original plan.
Ask yourself:
- Which credits have we completed?
- What still needs to be completed?
- Have my student’s post-high-school goals changed?
- Do we need to adjust our math or science sequence?
- Are there new electives they want to pursue?
- Are we considering dual enrollment?
- Are there activities or accomplishments I need to record?
Then make whatever changes are needed.
By senior year, your student’s actual high school experience may look quite a bit different from the plan you created before 9th grade. That’s not a sign that you planned poorly. The plan did its job by helping you see where you were headed while still giving you room to adjust along the way.
You Don’t Have to Figure Out All Four Years Today
Planning homeschool high school can feel intimidating because the stakes suddenly seem higher.
But you don’t have to know every curriculum you’ll use, every elective your student will take, or exactly what they’ll want to do after graduation.
Start with what you do know.
Learn the requirements that apply to your family. Think about your student’s goals. Map out the credits you expect them to earn. Pay attention to course sequences. Then revisit the plan as your student grows and their goals become clearer.
Having that big-picture plan can give you a lot more confidence as you make decisions one year at a time.
And keep good records while you’re doing it!
If you’d like an easy place to start organizing your student’s high school courses and records, create a free Homeschool Curriculum Planner account and begin building your plan.
You don’t need the next four years perfectly figured out. You just need a place to start!
Cheering you on,
