Where are you going? Create a 4-Year High School Plan

Creating a 4-year high school plan is an easy way to ensure your homeschooler has what they needs to graduate. But how do you create one?

Not all who wander are lost. But you may be lost if you don’t know where you’re going as your kiddo begins high school.

How do you make one?
1. Grab my free template.
2. Grab a PENCIL or Frixion.

Grab your blank 4-year roadmap (free!), and let’s work through this together.

You don’t need to decide about curricula or other resources right now — this is just a roadmap to help you know where you’re going.

Why do you need to create a 4-year high school plan?

1. Nothing is missed. More than once, I’ve read stories from frantic homeschool moms who realize that their kiddo really needs one more year of math or Spanish. Or that they overlooked a credit of PE/health. Don’t be that mom.
2. You have a timeline
3. Things get completed in the necessary order.

Start at the End

Keep it easy on yourself — set your graduation requirements before you even begin. As you’re creating your 4 Year Roadmap, you’ll have these to guide you.

But how do you know what your kiddo needs to graduate?

We compared several college entrance requirements to shape our standards. Even if they don’t choose to go to college, it’s a good minimum standard. It also keeps the option open, just in case they change their mind.

Does your kiddo have a particular college in mind? Make sure that your standards & their standards align.

Be sure that your requirements meet/surpass those set by the state (if they set standards for homeschoolers.)

Grab a Seat & Your Kiddo

And a yummy snack. Share your graduation requirements. And then let your kiddo tell you what they want high school to look like.

What are their goals? Are there any specific topics that interest them? What classes do THEY want to take? Are they willing to commit to a heavy workload?

Sculpting a 4-year high school plan by yourself may be fine for some teens. But others? They’re going to balk at having no say over the plans. Or they may have ideas that you don’t know about. And what’s the point in creating a plan that doesn’t reflect the needs & wants of both your homeschool and your kiddo?

Next Up: The Easy Stuff

Math is typically a very straightforward path. And you know where your student is now. So filling in this path should be pretty quick.

English 1 – 4 is also easy to note down. You may want to have a focus for some of those years, like British lit or world mythology. But at least get the basics filled in.

What plans do you already have?

Next, start filling in the classes you know expect to happen, like pre-set classes at your co-op or at-home classes you already have planned.

Sketch Out the Rest

If you haven’t done it yet, go ahead & mark off any square you won’t use. (A fourth year of foreign language, for example.)

What credits do you need?

If you have a college-bound student, requirements may vary. Looking at the graduation requirements of your local high schools or entrance requirements for state colleges is a great place to start.

A typical course load over high school looks like:

• 3-4 years of science (with at least one lab science)
• 2-3 years of social studies (American history, world history, government/economics)
• 4 years of English (writing + literature each year)
• 2-3 years of a foreign language
• 3-4 years of math (algebra + geometry + advanced algebra, for example)
• Electives to include fine arts, home ec, career exploration, etc. (Check out this post for more info about electives.)

And That’s Enough

It is absolutely fine if you don’t fill in every square on your 4-year high school plan.  I promise. I would suggest jotting down ideas in any remaining empty square. That will serve as a reminder that you haven’t made a final decision on those courses.