How do I do homeschooling right this time?

[Orange3]

How do I do homeschooling right this time? After this summer, i'm about to start high school. Ideally, I want to do homeschooling for the rest of my secondary education. But I need to figure out how do make that possible, first.

I had to come back to public school because it was so hard for me to find a curriculum, and still is. I struggled with using the common core and understanding which topics were in it, and most of the curriculums I were able to find were more of syllabuses, and I didn't know what lessons to start first, and at what time I should be on a specific subject. I was generally using khan academy and textbooks, and anytime I went on general testing things like parcc practice tests I could find, I was always so confused. I was doing polynomials before touching functions because I got confused on the khan academy curriculum. I got so worried that I just recently came back to public school, expecting a stressful environment and little in-class retention but at the very least a defined curriculum which would allow me to study after school,  but public school has been awful, and I have hardly gotten anything near a defined curriculum. Long story short; For the rest of high school, I want to continue homeschooling. I expect hesitation from my family and rightly so after what has happened; but I want to figure out a way to conquer them and make things work this time for the rest of my secondary education.

My goals are to pursue math and programming in college, and generally get good grades so I can get accepted into a college that will let me pursue those things, I'd like to graduate early. After this summer I will be beginning high school, and I'm not sure where to begin homeschooling for high school, a lot of problems and worries have been running around my mind.

Firstly, curriculum. I don't know how to use common core, I search up "CCSS.Math.Content.8.F.A.3 lessons" and don't really find much. A few worksheets on occasion, but no lessons to go along with it, so locating what topic the worksheet is in is another hassle. All I used before were general math textbooks, not aligned to a grade, so I found myself getting confused at times on what I should focus on and for how long. I'd like to find a curriculum which has the times of which I should pursue topics (for example: march, 2 weeks) and the specific lessons in topics so locating a   lesson video to watch is relatively easy. And how do I find worksheets and tests? That's been another  difficult thing for me, I usually just scrounged around on free worksheet websites, and struggled on parcc practice tests because I never really knew what exact topics were being done. And that's just for math, I'm not even sure where to begin on figuring out science, English and social studies curriculum, finding work for those has been even harder.. I just generally want a curriculum so that if I was suddenly transported to a public school class, or taking a test, I wouldn't be confused on what topics we were on.

And once I find a curriculum, where do I begin with grading and transcripts? I'm worried that my curriculum won't be seen as good enough, that admissions will judge it. Do you have to list what curriculum's you used for the courses? And how do you grade and get credits? I'm a bit worried about accidentally cheating, mostly because my process goes like this: I watch the lesson, do my worksheets, look at the answer key and compare my answer,
and if I get it wrong I usually go back to the lesson and do it again till it's right. Are your first answers final?
What process are you supposed to use for doing your work for grading when homeschooled? And how do you prepare for tests? Are you given the actual test in a curriculum, or are you given a sample test then you go somewhere for the real one? If you're given the actual test, is it okay to look at the questions to figure out which topics to study for it, or are you given sample questions? Who do you give the test to when you're done, or do you grade it yourself? How do you calculate your grades? How do you weigh, or unweigh them? How do you use the 4.0 scale? All this terminology is new to me in general, I'm not really sure where to begin.  How do I get credits? I hear it's about finishing a course, but what are general ways I prove I've finished? I keep getting worried that admissions will be dissapointed with things like time4learning and library textbooks, I'm just not sure what they wont want to see. How do you have a curriculum that admissions will respect?

How do I do summer school when homeschooled? Or AP classes? I've also been wanting to take some online high school courses as well, but I've been afraid that they're too expensive. Are there affordable ones? And if I do find some, how do I add merge the courses with my textbook curriculum in my transcript?

And once it's all finished, how do I begin researching on colleges and figuring out how to apply myself to colleges as a homeschooler? Can I go to a university as a homeschooler? How do I get scholarships and Aid? And how do I just generally proof my curriculum and work, to make sure my education isn't seen as less than a 'real' school? How do I get my diploma?

 For other people who have been in my boat, what guided you?  Where did you begin and what helped you figure out the process? What's the way a college bound homeschooler approaches homeschooling?

Sorry for all these questions, I recently came to this forum, and just need help. I really want to continue homeschooling for the rest of my secondary education, but I just need to find the resources to succeed.

[City Mouse]

It sounds like you are trying to homeschool yourself without a parent envolved. Is that correct? If that is the case, you may want to look at online schools for the support you need.

[EKS]

As you are finding, it is not trivial to design a homeschool curriculum, and it's even less trivial to design a good one.  And since you are a student, I honestly don't see how you could do this effectively.

Why don't you want to attend public school?  

Do you have a community college in your area?  Would it be possible for you to dual enroll (attend college while still in high school)?

 

[...................]

If you are pretty much on your own without parental involvement, you'll need to research online schools. 

My first recommended option is to google Public Charter Homeschools in your state - they are free- they're usually kind of annoying in terms of testing and paperwork but you can get an accredited diploma that meets all of your state's requirements.  It'll want you to track the hours / days you spend doing your work and you'll actually have to communicate with the teachers they assign now and then . K12 has some great programs.  

If your parents are supportive and on-board and have a little more finances there are also private Homeschool Correspondence or online schools which are pretty cool because they cater to homeschoolers.  However, with this option your parents would need to do a LOT of work to ensure that you meet the requirements as a private homeschooler, and they'd need to follow a lot of rules and laws in your state and most states require them to register as homeschool parents.  If your parents can pay a nominal fee (about 800/year) American School is a great option!  https://www.americanschoolofcorr.com/courses/   American School's diploma doesn't work for public colleges in every state (for example, New York) so you'd need to ask American School if their diploma is accepted at public universities in your state.  If your parents are willing to really be in charge, and doing all the work, this is not a good option for you because if you don't follow the laws a truant officer can show up at your door 🙂

You seem smart and intelligent.  Good luck!

 

[Orange3]

4 hours ago, EKS said:

As you are finding, it is not trivial to design a homeschool curriculum, and it's even less trivial to design a good one.  And since you are a student, I honestly don't see how you could do this effectively.

Why don't you want to attend public school?  

Do you have a community college in your area?  Would it be possible for you to dual enroll (attend college while still in high school)?

 

The public school I'm in is very difficult. There's fights, teachers have no time with the crowded classrooms, and there are no AP classes offered in any high schools around. Even if there were, with the constant disruptions and teachers sprawled across trying to stop kids from beating eachother up and sitting in their seats and trying to teach, there's only time for rote memorization anyhow. And the curriculum resources even here are unclear, so my after school studying is a struggle.

I'm not doing the curriculum entirely alone, but I am trying to curate clear resources and a general plan ahead of time for May when we will begin discussing high school, I can show them the things I have found that could create a proper homeschooling highschool.

[Arcadia]

If your parents need a lot of convincing and isn’t willing or able to help financially, I would see if K12 has a online public charter school in your state. That would be free for you, gives you a public high school diploma, and has AP courses for you to take. Curriculum and teacher support is provided. You would likely have online classes daily especially for English and Math. The school sends you the lab kit for your science courses.

https://www.k12.com/virtual-school-offerings/online-public-schools.html

[...................]

K12 is definitely the best of all the public homeschooling charter schools!  The online classes are pretty amazing, and actually we've considered paying out of pocket for them, they're so good.  THey're designed for your situation exactly.  🙂 Check it out.

[73349]

Hi, Orange. It's great to see a student thinking about the future and making plans. Here are a few things to consider:

Common Core: Depending on what state you're in, the Common Core standards might not really matter--many teachers only use them to verify that their plans aren't missing anything. You'd do better to look for "pacing guides" or "scope and sequence" of a particular course online and buy used textbooks to read and work through. You might also like to look for "AP _____ syllabus," where _______ is the subject (US History, for example). A list of AP courses and exams can be found at https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcourse . You will also need to look up which schools near you offer AP exams and call to see whether they allow other students to take them; you'll want to check in November for an exam you'll want to take the next May.

Grade-Point Averages: The 4.0 scale works like this: it's an average of the points you've earned for all the classes you've completed. An A is worth 4 points, a B is 3, a C is 2, a D is 1, and an F is 0. Many districts "weight" averages by adding up to a point if it was an honors or AP course, so a B in AP Biology is worth an A in regular college-preparatory biology. So supposing you've finished your freshman year with an A in English, an A in an AP science, an A in math, a B in a social studies class, and a B in art. That's a 3.8 weighted GPA ([4+5+4+3+3]/5). Keep in mind that GPA is less useful for homeschoolers than for other students; you'll be judged more by your courses, SAT scores, recommendations letters, etc. Transcript forms can be found online--search "free transcript forms."

Courses: High school is meant to work with a whole course sequence planned out. You should look up a typical course sequence for college-bound students in your area. It varies A LOT, but will probably look something like this:

Freshman year: English (high school English courses emphasize reading literature and writing papers--try searching online for "English I syllabus" and you'll get the idea), either Math 2 or Geometry (supposing you've already completed an Integrated Math 1 or Algebra I--if not, just start wherever you are), Biology (or physical science, Earth science, or whatever is offered), AP Human Geography or some other social studies course, Spanish 2 (or the first or second year of whatever language you're doing), P.E./Health, Computer Science since that's your area of interest. You can also do whatever extracurriculars you like and KEEP A RECORD, whether it's playing an instrument, scouting, volunteering, or anything else you do outside of school. Coaches/advisors/teachers who see your work can later be asked to write letters of recommendation, too. It's a good idea to stick with things you enjoy over a long period of time if possible.

Sophomore year: English, Math 3 or an Algebra II, Chemistry, European History, Spanish 3, Art (or some kind of arts-related course), Computer Science.

Junior year: English, likely a trigonometry or pre-calculus type of math, Physics, US History, next year of your language, Computer Science. Any of these except math can be done as an AP (but it is rare for a student to do more than about 2, maybe 3 APs in one year, because they're so time-consuming). And don't forget to take the ACT and/or SAT this year.

Senior year: English, whatever is next in your math sequence (such as calculus or statistics), and this is the fun part: about three more courses that let you focus on your areas of strength and interest. At this point, you want to prove yourself as a strong student and do what you love. More science, such as astronomy or environmental science?  Take EdX or other MOOC-type courses in programming? Do you want to try psychology? Maybe you'll find an internship--that counts. Maybe you want to do a senior project of some kind and share it online and/or in the community.

You want to come up with a total of at least 4 English courses, 3 in the social sciences, 4 each in math and science since you're thinking about a STEM field, 3-4 in the same foreign language, and some extras.

[Garga]

Common core isn’t a curriculum.  It’s simply a list of the kinds of things that should be taught in each grade.  It’s a way to try to standadize that things that are taught in each grade across the nation.  Then the curriculum makers add those topics to their curriculum.  Like, if one should learn to add and subtract in first grade, then the makers of first grade math books make sure they cover that in their book.  But common core doesn’t put out their own books.

I would strongly suggest you looking into an online school, like k12, only because the stakes are high if you don’t have all your t’s crossed and i’s dotted for your high school education.  It’s one thing to be a homeschooling teacher OR a homeschooling student, but to be both at the same time sounds really, really hard.  The online schools will have teachers to support you, and you won’t be in a bad physical environment.  As the homeschool “teacher”, not only do you have to worry about the education, but you have to be a guidance counselor as well and create things like course descriptions and transcripts and diplomas.  It can be done, but it would be very hard.  If you go down that road, then you need to start hanging out here on these forums for a bit of time every single day and ask quesitons and read the high school threads that come through so you can make sure you’ve got all your ducks in a row.

If you’re still determined not to use an online school, then as Whitehawk posted above, find out the classes traditionally taught in high school. Then google things like “homeschool curricula geometry” and start seeing what comes up.  Or search here for “geometry” etc and see if you can find posts about the curriculum.

Also, look at the pinned threads at the top of the high school board forum.  The pinned threads are often collections of different math, science, etc, curriculums that are out there.  

 

[73349]

Also, once you look up some course syllabi, you'll find that many list the textbooks, which you can then go and buy (and again, keep a record of what you used and did--colleges may want course descriptions including book lists), and some publishers sell their tests. This part will require adult assistance.

For example, this  AP Computer Science syllabus includes books, such as this one, which is easy to buy inexpensively online. Here's an English course focusing on British literature. Again, it lists the books that will be used, so you can look for them. Here's an example for Spanish 1 (although it's not so detailed, you can set up your own plans using the textbook listed).

Edited March 11, 2019 by whitehawk