Advice - High School

Dear Homeschooling Parent,

Are you wondering if you have what it takes to homeschool your child through high school? Does the thought of creating a four-year plan scare you? You are not alone.

My husband and I have seen too many parents opt to send their child off to public school only because they felt inadequate to the task. If you think home is the best place for a child to learn, then we would like to help you continue through the teen years.

No matter where you are in your homeschool journey, the underlying principle that should guide any family is the belief that every child has the innate capacity to grow, develop and achieve his or her full potential under the care and guidance of his parents–even through high school.

All that’s needed is the right environment, the right learning materials, and the right perspective on home learning. Be there to provide these and you will see your teen flourish.

At Living Books Curriculum we believe that homeschooling through high school is the best option for parents. The research backs us up on this:

In 2009 the Homeschool Legal Defense Fund released a new study, The Progress Report: Homeschool Academic Achievement and Demographics, conducted by Dr. Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute, which surveyed 11,739 homeschooled students for the 2007–08 academic school year.

Results of the study showed that homeschoolers, on average, scored 37 percentile points higher than public school students on standardized achievement tests. Just so you know, 37 percentile points is a very significant difference pointing to what a child knows and can be expected to achieve when doing college level work.

Why aren’t more families homeschooling high school?

I believe it’s because parents have an underlying misunderstanding of what’s needed. We found most parents have three main areas of concern:

1. Fear of Failing
2. Lack of Knowledge
3. Lack of Support

Further, they ask questions like:

• How do I complete all the standard requirements in a fun, enjoyable way?
• What books should I use?
• How do I schedule all the work?
• How much should I be doing versus what my teen should be doing?
• Can I start using Charlotte Mason’s methods with a 16-year-old?
• How does the CM method assign credits for graduation?
• Is CM accepted at colleges as curriculum?
• How can I make sure I cover everything required?
• How do I keep records that will be accepted for transcripts?
• What about my teen’s social life or sports?
• What about science and math?

These are very legitimate questions that parents have…Jim and I had them as well when we were beginning to homeschool our teen.

That is why we created the 16-lesson course, Homeschool Your Teen the Charlotte Mason Way. We help you with everything from transcripts to motivation and support, lesson plans to time management, and – best of all – help you create a plan of study that complements your teen’s unique gifts and talents and prepares him for college and beyond.

Here is one homeschooling mom, Elizabeth Hicks from Texas, who took the course says:

“I am usually such an organized person. When it came to my high school daughter’s school “stuff”, I was such a mess! The Carroll’s worked very hard to design a course that was user-friendly, whether you are naturally organized or not.

This course was amazing! I highly recommend it for anyone who has or will have a high schooler to homeschool. My high schooler is doing much better, so I know that her 9-year old brother and 5-year old sister will do quite well in their time!

Thank you, Jim and Sheila, for sharing all your hard work with the rest of us!”

If you are new to Charlotte Mason’s methods and want to homeschool a teen, we recommend using Grade 7 and 8 for three years (7, 8 and 9) instead of two, then move on to a plan for college level work.

Living Books Curriculum is developing high school level guides for subject areas such as American Literature or Civics. However, since there is no one-size-fits-all for homeschooling high school, the best option is to take the parent course to make sure your child has all that’s needed.

Here to Help

We fully support our curriculum and courses. If you have questions, email me at charlottemasonhomeschooling@gmail.com

All the best,

P.S. 100% of the proceeds of your purchase help us help children in Africa to receive a living education. Jim and Sheila Carroll’s non-profit, Worldwide Educational Resources, has seven schools at this time, educating nearly 750 students. The Carroll’s non-profit was founded in 2000. Learn more.