The Key to Homeschool High School for College-Bound Students
The key to making sure your homeschool high school is preparing for college is to meet college admission requirements. In other words, the best way to plan your homeschool is to start from the end by picking a few colleges that you would consider for your student. I would personally check the admission requirements for your local state college, a church college, and a dream-type school. Below are two examples.
You can fulfill those required credits/classes however you want, whether following a curriculum, doing Co-op classes, making up your own curriculum, or taking them with another institution (another online school for example). The key is to make sure you call whatever you are doing the class names that is required in your state. For example, don't name a high school science class, "Creation Science." This will not count. You must call it "Biology" or "Earth Science" or whatever is required. You can still teach it from a creation science standpoint though. It's mainly science and social studies and math that you have to be careful with naming, as states require certain subjects within those subjects to be covered -- E.g. World History, US Government, etc. Another Example: Most states have adopted the Common Core standards for English and Math. These standards do NOT state what you have to read, just what skills to apply to your reading. This is awesome cause you can choose the Bible as your content to analyze if you like.
I think the easiest way meet those class/credit requirements would be to just follow curricula or to enroll your student full-time or part-time in an online school. With online school, you are not the teacher, you do not choose curricula, you do not grade -- you are just the parent. We liked American High School. The work load was reasonable and they are extremely flexible. You only need to take 6 credits with them to graduate with them. That means you can homeschool all the other credits however you want, just name the class right (same name as they have), and they will transfer in your homeschool course work. Graduating with them is the same as any other public school -- it is a regionally accredited high school diploma. We had an awesome experience with them when we had custody of my husband's little sister that we took all the way through high school at home (3 years at online public school, then her senior year with American High School).
Another way to make sure you are on the right track is to enroll in a credit-banking institution, like North Atlantic Regional High School. This "school" does not offer classes or courses to take. Instead they help you craft appropriate high school level classes and maintain your transcript. In the end, they issue you a high school diploma from a regionally accredited high school (the most commonly accepted form of diploma)!
There is yet one more route to entering college -- admitting as a "transfer student." This would only apply if during your homeschool high school time you dual-enrolled in college level classes (at your local community college or other college -- Example: Andrews University has a dual-enrollment program that is cheaper than most community colleges if you had to pay -- but many communities allow dual enrollment in community college for free!), AND you took enough credits to qualify as a transfer student. Again, you would need to check your desired college to see how many credits would qualify for transfer student admissions.
*NOTE: GED is another high school option. Each state has different requirements.
- Here is a quote from undergrad admissions of Walla Walla University: "Homeschool students from a non-accredited program must meet minimum graduation requirements for the state in which they live as well as provide a notarized copy of their transcript...." This means you need to check YOUR state's graduation requirements regarding classes your child must take. Just search on Google, "graduation requirements MY STATE," and look at the .GOV website for authoritative information.
- In the state of Washington, to apply to any state college in the state, they have created a list of standard admission requirements. https://wsac.wa.gov/.../def.../files/2015.CADRs.Appendix.pdf
You can fulfill those required credits/classes however you want, whether following a curriculum, doing Co-op classes, making up your own curriculum, or taking them with another institution (another online school for example). The key is to make sure you call whatever you are doing the class names that is required in your state. For example, don't name a high school science class, "Creation Science." This will not count. You must call it "Biology" or "Earth Science" or whatever is required. You can still teach it from a creation science standpoint though. It's mainly science and social studies and math that you have to be careful with naming, as states require certain subjects within those subjects to be covered -- E.g. World History, US Government, etc. Another Example: Most states have adopted the Common Core standards for English and Math. These standards do NOT state what you have to read, just what skills to apply to your reading. This is awesome cause you can choose the Bible as your content to analyze if you like.
I think the easiest way meet those class/credit requirements would be to just follow curricula or to enroll your student full-time or part-time in an online school. With online school, you are not the teacher, you do not choose curricula, you do not grade -- you are just the parent. We liked American High School. The work load was reasonable and they are extremely flexible. You only need to take 6 credits with them to graduate with them. That means you can homeschool all the other credits however you want, just name the class right (same name as they have), and they will transfer in your homeschool course work. Graduating with them is the same as any other public school -- it is a regionally accredited high school diploma. We had an awesome experience with them when we had custody of my husband's little sister that we took all the way through high school at home (3 years at online public school, then her senior year with American High School).
Another way to make sure you are on the right track is to enroll in a credit-banking institution, like North Atlantic Regional High School. This "school" does not offer classes or courses to take. Instead they help you craft appropriate high school level classes and maintain your transcript. In the end, they issue you a high school diploma from a regionally accredited high school (the most commonly accepted form of diploma)!
There is yet one more route to entering college -- admitting as a "transfer student." This would only apply if during your homeschool high school time you dual-enrolled in college level classes (at your local community college or other college -- Example: Andrews University has a dual-enrollment program that is cheaper than most community colleges if you had to pay -- but many communities allow dual enrollment in community college for free!), AND you took enough credits to qualify as a transfer student. Again, you would need to check your desired college to see how many credits would qualify for transfer student admissions.
*NOTE: GED is another high school option. Each state has different requirements.
