Are you struggling with creating a curriculum that fits your child’s needs? Are you lost at how to put together a curriculum of your own? Don’t worry; you are not alone. Several other parents just like you struggling with transitioning from middle school to high school, or merely working with where to start.
We are here to help you with finding some of the best homeschool curriculum for high school students. There are several resources out there to aid you in this new endeavor. We want to make sure that you have as much information as possible to make this transition successful.
Besides providing you with information on the most recommended options, we will also give you and your homeschooler some tips on choosing the best curriculum for you. It’s important to remember that though a curriculum may be suitable for someone else, it may not be the best for you.
Keep reading to find out more.
If you want to just get back to studying, get our top choice for homeschool curriculum for high school here.
Our Favorites for Best Homeschool Curriculum for High School
Saxon Math by Stephen Hake and John Saxon
Saxon Math is a highly recommended option for homeschooling. They offer an abundance of resources to make homeschooling easier, not only for high school students but also for middle school students. Items from Saxon can be purchased as a bundle or individually. When things are purchased as a bundle, they will include solution manuals; otherwise, they will need to be purchased separately.
What Makes It Unique:
- Several subjects can be included with a Saxon bundle. These include Algebra 1 & 2, as well as calculus, geometry, and advanced math. If you are looking for a homeschool high school science curriculum, Saxon also offers Physics.
- Saxon homeschool bundles include two to three math workbooks depending on the bundle and test forms, a solution manual, and an answer key.
- Unlike the classroom bundle, they offer for students, which totals out to three credits, homeschool kids can earn five credits. This is because multiple subjects may be included in the advanced mathematics text.
Why Choose This Best Homeschool Curriculum:
- Saxon offers an abundance of materials to make sure that students are gaining the information they need. The workbooks provide students with worksheets, tests, and several practice problems.
- Purchasers found the texts to be in-depth and comprehensive. Information in each lesson and each book builds on the last. The texts offer just enough repetition to allow the retention of information to be high.
- Some texts even include a DIVE DVD, which provides students with a deep dive into the given lesson.
- If your child needs extra practice, never fear, there are practice tests throughout the text to help them out.
- Used Book in Good Condition
- Stephen Hake (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
Last update: 2024-04-28
Mark Twain Media | U.S. History 1865–Present by George Lee
Another excellent option for the homeschool curriculum is Mark Twain Media. This United States history option is perfect for student grade 6 through 12. This is a text that can grow with your student and provide them with an abundance of knowledge.
What Makes It Unique:
- This history curriculum offers an abundance of resources and activities for students. Some activities will appeal to each learning style. For example, more visual students will enjoy the array of graphic organizers and map analysis activities. Simultaneously, students who enjoy discussing will have an abundance of discussion questions to talk through while in class. There are also several research options for students who love reading and writing.
- These are excellent workbooks for U.S. history. These texts are easy for students to comprehend and follow along with. They can also be used for supplemental activities if students already have a full U.S history text.
Why Choose This Best Homeschool Curriculum:
- Many parents say that students love these texts, and they were so good that they bought the whole series.
- The books include a nice balance of activity and reading so that your student does not get bored with using it.
- The material has an excellent range of subjects and does not ramble too long about any particular area. However, like most high school texts, it may be lacking details about slavery and the genocide of the Indian people. However, as a homeschool instructor, you can supplementally fill in these gaps with other texts and create your lessons.
- Lee, George R. (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 96 Pages - 01/13/2017 (Publication Date) - Mark Twain Media (Publisher)
Last update: 2024-04-28
Runner Up for Best Homeschool Curriculum for High School
Time4Learning
Time4Learning is another excellent option for homeschooling. Though not a traditional curriculum set, this is a perfect option for parents who don’t have time to homeschool themselves. This online homeschool curriculum is one that can grow and change with your student.
What Makes It Unique:
- Time for learning offers an abundance of courses that your child will traditionally see in a high school setting. This includes Algebra I and II, Trigonometry, U.S History, Biology, Chemistry, and even physics.
- There is also an abundance of electives offer that students know and love.
- Since this is an online option, there is a monthly fee for its services. However, it is incredibly affordable and won’t become a burden. This fee can easily be compared to your child’s lunch money for the month.
- The tool is flexible enough for you to use the lessons created for you or for you to create your own. It allows you to pick and choose which assignments are for you and where you will incorporate your own.
- Your lesson plans can be built around your schedule, as well as the difficulty needed to suit your specific child.
Why Choose This Best Homeschool Curriculum:
- This is an excellent option for parents who are entirely new to homeschooling and do not know where to start. It takes much of the guesswork out of planning your curriculum and attempts to figure out who you should structure courses.
- If you are a working parent, having a system with built-in lesson plans and automatic grading would be an extreme timesaver.
Value Pick for Best Homeschool Curriculum for High School
Sonlight Homeschool
If your homeschooling is not done traditionally and you are looking for Christian based options, Sonline is an excellent contender. The packages offered through Sonlight range from pre-school through high school.
What Makes It Unique:
- Sonlight is considered “literature-rich.” What this means is that stories are the basis for much of its curriculum. The brand feels that students can retain information more straightforward by using stories and facilitate an emotional bonding with the material.
- Several different stories are used in Sonlight’s literature to ensure that students are not only learning but reading about excellent examples, even if they are fictional. This includes characters like Corrie Ten Boom and William Wilberforce. Both can be considered Christian heroes.
- Suppose you are not sure about receiving all of your material from one company. In that case, flexible packages are offered so that you may incorporate your material with the material you get from Sonlight. You may choose to purchase one subject at a time or a full bundle.
- There are several offerings for students, including a homeschool high school science curriculum in Physics, Biology, and even advanced science, which prepares students for AP exams.
Why Choose This Best Homeschool Curriculum:
- If your child loves to do activities with their lesson, Sonlight often includes several activity kits. These can be purchases separate from the traditional curriculum and often have things like labs or microscope experiments for science.
- Parents love how the bible and Christianity stay at the forefront of all of the given lessons. Texts often include things like missionary biographies or teaching science from the view of creation.
- This option also takes extensive work out of planning. Most individuals opt to purchase a full bundle, which can include material for the whole year. This says you the hassle of having to create extensive lesson plans.
- This is an excellent option for students who love to read; however, if your child is not interested in a literature-rich option, this may not be the best for you.
How to Choose the Best Homeschool Curriculum for High School for You
What do you look for when you are planning your homeschool curriculum? Are you looking for top-ranked materials? Are you look for things that fit your student’s interests? There are a number of resources out there for homeschooling. As it gets more popular, new tools and resources are popping up every day. However, just because something is the most recommended homeschool curriculum for high school, that doesn’t mean its right for you.
When you have come to this moment, you need to start asking yourself some pivotal questions. You can do several things to narrow down your curriculum search and several questions you can discuss with your student. The questions listed below are gateway questions to getting you started finding the best curriculum options.
What’s Your Learning Style?
This is a critical question, one that is often overlooked when thinking about traditional school. It is simply not possible to accommodate 25 different students learning styles at a time. However, as a homeschool student, your interactions are more focused, and it makes it easier to cater lessons towards a specific learning style.
To better understand your student’s learning style, you will need to sit down together and talk about what they like and don’t enjoy. There may also be several online quizzes and tests to help students determine their learning style if they cannot articulate it.
Generally, paying attention to your student’s habits and general interest can be a big help in determining this. Does your student like to read? Do they listen to music while they work? Do they draw pictures in the margins of pages? All of these can be indicators of a person’s learning type.
Traditionally there are four types of learning styles. These include auditory, kinesthetic, reading/writing, and visual. If a person is an auditory learner, they will generally respond better to sounds. Individuals with an auditory learning style enjoy activities that incorporate some sort of sound. This includes reading aloud, receiving verbal instructions, or even discussions. They are stimulated by the things they hear.
Unlike auditory learners, visual learners need to be visually stimulated. They learn things by seeing them. This means that large images, maps, and powerpoints are all good tools to use. They also may learn better from reviewing graph organizers or creating mind maps. These things will allow them to organize their thoughts and better understand the material being taught.
Reading and writing is another learning style. This style means that students learn by reading and writing. They enjoy taking notes and even reading through texts. These are the individuals who can read full sections in the book retain a majority of the information.
Last but not least, Kinesthetic learners learn by doing. They love activities that include hands-on options. For example, if doing a science lesson, mixing the chemicals and doing the experiment is far more beneficial than merely reading about it.
Though these are four different styles, individuals may also have a mix of these learning styles.
What Grade Level Are You?
Grade level is also a determining factor in which material will be right for you. Not only should you be adhering to the homeschool requirements for high school students, but you should also be working at your student’s grade level. If you find that the material for your child’s grade level is too easy, opting for more advanced texts or providing challenging activities may be essential to getting through the material. It’s important to remember that this is homeschool, and it is okay to get creative with the lessons and activities.
What are Your Post Graduation Plans?
Post-graduation plans will also hold a lot of weight on how you structure your curriculum. One important thing to talk about with your student is college and where they see themselves going. If they are planning on attending college, you will need to structure your lesson plans in a matter that not only suits your state’s requirements for a diploma but also allows them to stack up with children who went to a traditional school. They will need to be challenged not only academically, but they will also need to find ways to get in “extracurricular” activities outside of a conventional setting.
The field that they would like to go in, in the future, will also dictate what their curriculum will look like. For example, if your child wants to be an artist, it would make sense that many of their electives would fall into the realm of art and design. If your child is interested in being in the STEM field, they should take courses to help them succeed in this realm.
How Much Time Do You Have?
Time is a large factor in determining what you will need to create the best homeschool curriculum for high school. If you have very little time to devote to teaching or creating activities, you may need to outsource some of these responsibilities. This is a great time to use outside resources like dual enrollment programs or even online homeschooling sites. Many times these sites will not only provide lessons for your child; they will grade and keep track of progress as well.
If you are pressed for time, using an accredited homeschool curriculum for high school could be an excellent option. These are much like distance programs that you would generally find for college students. Though accreditation is not a requirement for homeschooling, it can ensure that your program sticks to a certain level of standards.
Knowing the length of time that you plan to homeschool is essential as well. If you are only homeschooling for a short time or due to uncontrollable circumstances, these accredited programs are also an excellent option. These programs are extremely helpful when you need your student to transition back to regular school.
It is essential to understand the time commitment that goes into homeschooling. It may be hard or nearly impossible to work a regular job while doing so. Homeschooling requires immense preparation, organization, and attention to detail. You take on the position of a teacher, but for free. Your payment is your child’s success.
These fundamental questions should help you begin to determine what you are looking for in the curriculum. One thing you will also need to decide is what type of schooling you will do. Some children are homeschooled using a religion-based curriculum, whereas others use a secular homeschool high school curriculum.
Wrapping Things Up: The Best Homeschool Curriculum for High School
Overall finding the best homeschool curriculum for high school students does not have to be a challenge. There are several options like the ones listed that can take the guessing and stress out of planning. There is also an abundance of online homeschool curriculums that will, in many ways, do the work for you.
If you require an online homeschool curriculum option, Time4Learning is an excellent option. Not only is everything online for your students to complete, but it is also affordable and does all the grading for you. If you are looking for a Christian based option, Sonlight is perfect. The curriculum span pre-school through high school; students are presented with material that is creation-based. This ensures that the bible is always at the forefront of studies.
If none of these suits your needs, there are many questions that you can ask yourself when looking for a curriculum. Some of the most straightforward questions to narrow down your options include your child’s grade level and learning style. These will quickly eliminate items that do not appeal to them or that they can not use. Whatever option you choose, make sure that it is right for you and not the people around you.
Did you enjoy this post? Then you may like our other high school study tips here.
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