How to Create a 4-Year High School Plan for Your Student
The idea of forecasting your child’s course of study four years before he or she graduates can feel like an overwhelming task. You still may see your child as too young and immature to be wrestling with the ideas of Aristotle or delivering a convincing speech on the
impact that homesteading has on the environment. The one thing we can rest assured of is that our children will grow whether we as parents are prepared or not. Equip your child for the future by preparing for the challenges ahead with this tutorial on how to create a 4-year high school plan.
It is important to think about high school before it happens. It is important to create a 4-year high school plan for your student. This exercise will help your child know what to expect and it will keep you as a parent from scrambling your child’s senior year to cover credits you missed. Being strategic, will bring both you and your student peace and confidence during these crucial years.
These are your final four years homeschooling this child. I know you don’t want to be stressed. Plan to be strategic so that you can enjoy these years and not dread them.
Ask Questions
As you prepare your 4-year high school plan, you should include your student in the process. You will have much more success in getting your child to complete the necessary tasks to finish high school strong, if he or she is part of the process of choosing those tasks to be completed.
Homeschooling is different from classic, public schooling in so many ways. It allows for a greater flexibility in schedule and in content. Here are just a few strategic things that parents must keep in mind while preparing their child’s 4-year high school plan.
- Flexible High School Credits: Many states allow for creativity in which sciences you choose to complete in high school. You may have a child that would thrive taking a science in forensics but would find physics boring.
- Completing College Credits Early: Some states have programs that make testing out of college courses very affordable if completed in high school.
- Career Aspirations and Scholarships: As a parent, you will need to keep both your child’s future career aspirations in mind, as well as scholarships necessary to pay for the education to get your student in that career field.
The FREE Homeschool Parent’s Guide to Creating a Strategic 4-Year High School Plan will walk you through these pertinent questions and more!
Stay Flexible
The Homeschool Parent’s Guide to Creating a Strategic 4-Year High School Plan is free to download. This tool will instruct you as you process what the final four years of your child’s education will look like. You will take into account both state standards, your personal standards, and what your child’s college course of study will require for entry.
Your student may not have his or her career chosen yet, and that is perfectly natural at such a young age. We have included a career exploration mind map to help explore what career fields might fit his or her interests and skill sets currently.
The best thing about creating a 4-year high school plan is that it is meant to be flexible. You are encouraged to revisit your 4-year plan annually at a minimum in order to keep your student on track or change course if necessary. The 4-year plan is meant to serve you and your child. It is not written in stone. It can change as much or as little as you need it to in order to set both you and your student up for success.
