We homeschooled high school all the way through with our younger daughter. She took 60 credits at the local community college—some of them dual enrollment and some after graduation—and transferred to Virginia Tech, where she graduated with a degree in civil engineering.
If you would like to see how we tracked credits and created transcripts, see our 10th Grade Plan. For those homeschooling a non-traditional learner, Vanessa's 9th Grade Plan for a Non-Traditional Learner is helpful.
If you haven't checked out TheHomeSchoolMom's free homeschool transcripts, be sure to download the spreadsheet template. It is easy to plug in your courses and credits, and the spreadsheet calculates your GPA for you. I used this spreadsheet template to create transcripts for both of my daughters and used them at community college and universities.
Our 11th Grade Plan for a Prospective Engineer
For 12th grade my daughter planned to commit to the engineering program at the community college. For 11th grade, she eased into taking college level classes with 3 classes at the college and the rest at home.
Dual Enrollment (DE) English
Building on what we did the previous year with resources from the UNC Writing Center, the focus for her junior year was on composition through the local community college's ENG 111 course. Over the course of the semester, students worked to complete a research paper from the abstract topic proposal to the final draft. It was a challenging course that goes into the details of the process for a single paper instead of completing multiple papers.
Precalculus
Having completed both the Algebra and Geometry modules of VideoText, for 11th grade she took Precalculus at the local community college. VideoText covers Precalculus in its Algebra modules, but this was a nice way to start math at our local community college in a low stress way. Since credit for Precalculus does not count toward an engineering degree, we did not call this dual enrollment even though it was taken through the community college.
Dual Enrollment (DE) Biology and Lab
This is the 3rd of the 3 courses my daughter took at the local community college. Her preference was Anatomy, but BIO 101 & 102 were prerequisites.
American History
This was the only course that I developed at home for 11th grade. We used Crash Course American History, HipHughes history videos, lectures (mostly from The Great Courses) and various online readings to supplement. We kept up with current events using CNN's Student News.
Spanish 4
My daughter's Spanish 2 instructor tutored her own daughter and my daughter once a week in preparation for college level Spanish.
Technology
Technology was incorporated throughout the curriculum as part of each class.
Physical Education
Since my daughter was a competitive gymnast that spends approximately 20 hours in the gym each week, additional PE is unnecessary.
Mary Ann Kelley lives in coastal North Carolina with her husband and has two grown daughters, both homeschool and college graduates. Mary Ann, who homeschooled for almost 20 years, is a Virginia Tech graduate and lifelong learner. Mary Ann has been featured in interviews on Money.com, HuffPost, and in the Free Lance-Star newspaper. Her desire is for the content on TheHomeSchoolMom to encourage and empower parents and children to take personal responsibility for their own educational options and choices. In her free time, Mary Ann enjoys reading, traveling, genealogy, and volunteering for the Atlantic Beach Sea Turtle Program.
Hope you can help. I have a 11th grader that just needs to get out of school. It's been a frustrating family life. She had to leave public school because her address changed and she doesn't want to school at the address that she is at. We already enrolled her in the public school and said she will be homeschooled. She doesn't plan to go to a university but maybe a tech college for cosmetology or makeup artist. Just trying to get her to get her basic subjects done and maybe finish by next June when she will be 17 and get her GED. Can you help
Because homeschooling is governed at the state level, your best bet is to ask a local or state homeschool group in your state for more information about homeschooling for the remainder of high school. You will also want to ask about beginning homeschooling mid-year.
You might get some encouragement or insight from our article on homeschooling students who really need to be out of high school or they might drop out. We have seen students complete their high school education by homeschooling. A GED may or may not be necessary if you provide your teen with a parent-generated diploma and transcript. Universities typically do not require a GED of homeschoolers, but some tech and vocational institutions may require them. Your state and local homeschool group, again, may be able to give you insight about this, but you can also call the tech college and ask them.
If you do decide to have her finish high school through homeschooling, please create a diploma and transcript for her permanent records. It's not difficult, and we have known quite a few adult homeschool grads who decide in 5 or 10 years to apply to a college or job opportunity that requires a transcript—and a parent-created transcript usually meets the requirement.
Sending best wishes for you and your daughter to work something out that will carry her through.
Looking forward,
Jeanne
My daughter is a dual citizen of USA and South Korea born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. I am planning on homeschooling her this fall for her Junior year in South Korea then transfering her to a public school in NY to live with her aunt for her Senior year. She wants to either attend one of the University of California colleges or stay in NY and go to a NY State University upon graduation. Do you know of any reputable homechooling programs that I can look into that is accredited where all her credits will be transferable for college? Also, it has to be transferable to the NY highschool as well for her Senior year. Any sort of tip would help me. There are so many homechooling programs, I don't know where to start. Thank you!
I am looking into homeschooling my grand-daughter who is at this time in 10th grade, but is failing all her classes. She is going to be coming from WV to CT to live with me so that I can help her get thru high school and get a diploma. I just don't know where to start with getting information I need to do this with her. Do you have any suggestions for me as to how and when to start the homeschooling process?
Hi Elizabeth,
You need to read our resources on Homeschooling 101 and our resources on Homeschooling High School.
Start by getting to know your granddaughter and spending time with her to show you are interested in her whole self, not just the academic side of her. If there is something that she enjoys doing that you can do with her, spend time with her doing that: baking, walking, hair color and styling, listening to music, etc. If she is interested, help her start a little business like pet care, making and selling bread to neighbors, etc. Connecting with her around her interests and showing you're on her side is a vital first step. You could even see if you can figure out a way the two of you could volunteer together in an area of her interest: photographing pets at the animal shelter to help them get adopted, reading to elementary students, or helping at the library. Find a grounding shared experience before you begin academics.
You might find some help from this article about homeschooling a student struggling in high school.
Good luck. Your granddaughter is fortunate to have you willing to help her through this part of her life.
Jeanne
How does home schooling affects the student's chance to get in the good UC's? Do you have any information on it.
Hi Seema - By UC I am assuming you mean college. My kids started by dual enrolling in community college and both went on to respected universities. Other kids go directly from homeschooling to college. Some kids are not college-bound, instead choosing to pursue a trade. Homeschooling is neither a guarantee of nor a hindrance to admission to university. Preparation and planning are key if that is the direction a child plans to go, and colleges recognize the unique contributions that homeschoolers can make to their student bodies. TheHomeSchoolMom has lots of information for homeschoolers interested in attending college - it's definitely not a reason for holding back if you are considering homeschooling.
Like to get infor for grade 11
Hi Denise - Homeschooling is state regulated and parent-directed, and we don't offer individual consulting so I can't provide anything specific to your family's needs. I recommend getting in touch with local homeschoolers in your area and learning more about your state's requirements if you are new to homeschooling. They can also be a good resource for classes and co-ops that might be available locally. You might find the information linked from our Homeschooling 101 page helpful if you are new to homeschooling. Best wishes on your homeschooling journey.