Fall 2022/Whitney Cranford Crowell

Homeschooling high school can be a daunting proposition. How can you make sure your student has everything he or she needs to graduate and succeed in the real world? One way to cover your bases and put your mind at ease is to make a Four-Year High School Plan.

The state of North Carolina mandates no graduation requirements for homeschoolers. (Don’t be confused by some information you may find online about graduation requirements, even on the DNPE’s website. These only apply to public school students.) It is ultimately up to you to decide what coursework your student must complete to graduate from your school. The earlier in your student’s high school journey that you decide what those requirements are, the easier your job as teacher and counselor will be. Ideally, you should start thinking about your Four-Year Plan no later than the summer before ninth grade.

Preface: A Primer on Credits

Earning credits is one major thing that sets high school apart from earlier grades. Your teen will need to amass a certain number of credits, determined by you, to achieve graduation. The term “credit” refers to the time spent and the material covered in each course. One rule of thumb is that one full credit equals approximately 120 hours of work. (Note that we are not required to count hours in North Carolina.) If your student completes a curriculum that the publisher labels as worth one high school credit, that also can count. Ultimately, if you feel that your student has earned a credit for his work, you can grant him one. Credits in various subjects will form the basis of your Four-Year Plan.

So let’s talk about how to formulate your plan.

Step One: Map Out the Basics

Even if you’re not certain whether your student will go on to college—or are pretty sure that he won’t—there are a couple of reasons that the minimum admissions requirements for the University of North Carolina system make a great foundation for your plan. First, these requirements represent a balanced and well-rounded education that will set your student up for success along any future path that he or she may choose.

Second, teenagers are notoriously fickle. The plans of a fourteen-year-old are almost never set in stone. It’s far better to be safe than sorry, so creating a plan that puts your student in a position to apply to college four years from now is an insurance policy worth investing in.

The UNC system’s minimum admissions requirements are simple and easy to follow. They include:

  • Six course units in language, including four units in English (emphasizing grammar, composition, and literature) and two units of a language other than English.
  • Four course units of mathematics, including algebra 1 and algebra 2, plus two units beyond algebra 2. Geometry is accepted in lieu of one of the units beyond algebra 2, but it is not required for UNC schools. (Keep in mind that it may be required by other colleges.) Integrated math courses, such as those taught in NC public schools, are also acceptable. However, these courses are more difficult to find for homeschoolers.
  • Three course units in science, including at least one life or biological science, at least one unit in physical sciences, and at least one laboratory course.
  • Two course units in social studies, including one unit in US history.

The term “course unit” is equivalent to the term “credit.” Credits can be assigned in full, half, or even quarter increments, depending on the amount of work completed. For example, a half-credit in composition and a half-credit in literature would satisfy one full credit (or course unit) of English in the admissions requirements.

To start your Four-Year Plan, simply list out the four years of high school—grades nine through twelve—on a piece of paper. You might find it helpful to fold or otherwise divide your page into quarters, with each quadrant representing a grade, or create a table or spreadsheet electronically.

Now you can begin slotting in the required credits under each year. You don’t have any specifics yet, so just use the subject name. For example, English and math are easy; since they require four units each, you can list “English” and “math” in each year’s quadrant. Foreign language, science, and social studies require fewer than four credits each, so you can place them under the grades you think best for the moment.

Step Two: Tweak It to Fit

Now that you have a simplified outline of your Four-Year Plan, it’s time to think about adjustments that your unique student needs. If she is likely to apply to competitive colleges, she will probably want to take core courses above and beyond the minimum, so you might add science to an additional year, and social studies to two additional years. She might want three units of a single foreign language, or even four.

Likewise, a student who is less academically ambitious might need fewer credits in any given subject than UNC admissions requires. While I encourage parents to provide a college prep education whenever possible, you know your student best. If you’re unsure, you might consider easing into ninth grade with a lighter schedule but leaving the option for more challenging courses in the upper grades. You could shift some requirements—probably foreign language, social studies, or science—into later grades, with the option to remove some of them later if needed.

You can also adjust your plan now to accommodate any special circumstances. Perhaps your student is hoping to graduate in three years, or maybe you think he will need five. Adjust your plan for the number of years, and shift the courses you’ve already scheduled to fit the new timeline. Remember that at this stage, you’re just making a rough draft, so anything you do can always be adjusted later.

So far, we haven’t dealt with electives, but now you’re ready to add them. Your plan probably has only four—or at the most, five—units listed under each grade level’s quadrant. But most students will take somewhere between six and eight credits each year of high school. Those remaining credits can be covered for now with the term “elective.” An elective is a course a student takes, beyond the minimum requirements. It can be academic in nature, more practical or just plain fun. My current high schooler’s transcript includes electives in Asian literature, culinary arts, and computer science. You’ll want to add enough electives under each grade to round out the credits. If you’re aiming for eight credits per year, and you have four credits already listed under ninth grade, add four electives to make a total of eight credits for ninth grade.

Step Three: Customize It!

Here’s where the fun begins! If you look back at the UNC requirements, you’ll see that your student gets plenty of leeway in exactly what he or she studies in each discipline. You can customize each year to suit your teen’s interests, or your own ideas about what it is important to learn.

Start by filling in the details for subjects that have a defined scope and sequence. Math is an easy one. Many upcoming ninth-graders will have finished pre-algebra and be ready for algebra 1, so you can add that detail to the math line under ninth grade. You can then fill in the rest of the sequence—geometry, algebra 2, pre-calculus/trigonometry—under grades ten to twelve. Again, don’t get too dogmatic about this rough draft. If you decide later that statistics is a better fit for your twelfth-grader, you can adjust the plan. If your ninth-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 ten to twelve, 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 and 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.

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 ten to twelve. But if you haven’t fleshed out all of ninth 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.

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.

Step Four: Revisit and Revise

Once you have your ninth-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 Four-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 three. 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.

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 interests. And have fun! High school is a great age and stage to homeschool, and the opportunities are endless!

Whitney Cranford Crowell knew she’d reached peak homeschooling when she bought a custom nine-foot by six-foot bookcase with matching ladder and still didn’t have room for all the books. She lives in her childhood home outside High Point with her husband of twenty-two years, their seventeen-year-old daughter, and their eleven-year-old son. She can be reached at whitneycrowell@gmail.com.

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