High School
The teen years are a great time to homeschool your child. As your teen matures he becomes more self-directed and you as a parent become more of a facilitator and guide. With the plethora of wonderful homeschool materials available for high schoolers, this no longer needs to be a daunting task.
Course of Study:
First determine your course of study. Colleges want to see a well rounded student so a typical high school curriculum will include classes such as this. (Note - always check with the colleges your child is considering to see what they require for college enrollment).
- 4 units - language arts including literature, composition and speech
- 3 units - social studies including 1 unit of U.S. History, 1/2 unit of U.S. Government and 1/2 unit economics and one other unit such as civics, geography or world history
- 3 units - mathematics
- 3 units - science including 1 unit of physical science and 1 unit of biology
- 1 unit - physical education or 1/2 unit of physical education and 1/2 unit health
- 3 units foreign language, native American language, fine arts or career and technical education
- 5 units - electives
- Other electives may include classes such as keyboarding, Bible, shop, home economics, computer science, typing, auto mechanics, child development, psychology, sociology, welding, photography, dance or family living.
Testing:
Many colleges require either the ACT or SAT so you may want your teen to do some of the following testing. Most of them have their own homeschool code.
- 10th grade PLAN test
- 11th grade ASVAB (given by military recruiters assessing career strength areas) PSAT/NMSQT - Preliminary SAT and National Merit Qualifying test, ACT in February or April
- 12th grade ACT retake in the fall for a better score
Records:
Keep the following records in a file to help with generating a transcript and high school/scholarship applications.
- Records of days present and absent
- copies of annual statements of intent
- copies of any testing results
- immunization records
- reading lists by grade
- copies of certificates or newspaper articles on achievement
- report cards from any classes taken at a public or private school or college level
- samples of school work in each subject area
- report cards for adding grades to transcript
- yearly student summary page (include subjects, textbooks used, extra-curricular information, comments and promotion)
- lesson plan books to refer to
Transcripts:
You will need to generate a transcript. This is important whether or not your child attends college. The transcript then becomes a permanent record which should be kept forever in a safe or safety deposit box with important papers. HSLDA has a transcript service available for a fee or you can generate your own using a spreadsheet. (Sample Transcript)
The NDHSA recommends your transcripts include the following information:
- School information such as the school name, address and phone number, indicate that it is a home education program
- The parent/administrator name
- The student information including name and birthdate
- Either the anticipated graduation date, or when complete the actual date
- A listing of courses taken under each grade level
- The grade and credit recieved for each course
- Total credits learned each grade level and GPA for that year followed by a cumulative GPA
- Indicate any classes taken that are dual credit for high school and college credit
- A grading scale
- Signature of the parent/administrator
Computing Grade point Average (GPA):
- A - 4 points
- B - 3 points
- C - 2 points
- D - 1 point
- F - 0 points
Add up the scores and divide by the number of classes. A one semester course would represent .5 of a class. This number is the GPA. Extend the decimal point two places.
Other Resources:
North Dakota Scholarship Program
North Dakota University System Paying for College
On Facebook: ND High School Home Educators