Building a 4 Year Plan - Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, & Senior Year

Just like every adult person that you meet is different, so is every high schooler. They are no different. Not every person you meet was designed by God to have a desire to go to college. Some people gravitate towards the Trades while others have a passion for the areas of the arts. My husband has a natural knack for numbers, while I love the field of education, planning, and administration. 

The point here is that God made us all different and it's our responsibility as your child's home educator to also serve as their counselor as they matriculate through the high school years, to guide and help them navigate where God is leading them. 

It's difficult as a young person to ascertain what field of study you should enter and pursue for the future. There are a sea of options, but as our child grows and matures you will begin to take notice of how their natural tendencies, their strengths, and weaknesses can funnel them into a certain area of study and help them avoid pitfalls. 

In your journey through the high school years, I highly encourage parents to help their growing adult to assess their interests and consider how they map to a future field of study. Brainstorm and discuss with your student their likes, dislikes, and personal interests. Consider having your high schooler take a career / capabilities assessment. The result of these assessments will highlight the strengths and interests of your student and how these can map to areas of study. As your student identifies areas that they'd like to pursue, consider having them meet with a professional in the exact field that they have an interest in to learn  more about. There are many "day in the life" videos on YouTube that your student can watch and take notes on as they consider the areas that interest them. The point is, give them exposure to help identify and guide them along their course of study in high school. 

As you identify and narrow down which fields of study your child has an interest in, you can use this information to plan out a year by year plan of study for your child's high school years

Many of these areas are general areas of course work, but the depth with which your student needs to take these courses will vary based on their interest and strengths and can help highlight what electives your student may want to pursue each year. 

A student that knows that they want to enter into the field of History may not necessarily need to follow a mathematical path up to Calculus in the area of Math, but they may fill out their high school plan with varying historical studies and even more advanced courses that include community college history courses. 

A typical course may include the following set of credits:

4 credits – Language arts (literature, composition, grammar, vocabulary)

3 credits – Social studies (geography, U.S. and world history, government)

3 credits – Mathematics (algebra, geometry, consumer math, trigonometry, calculus, etc.)

3 credits – Science (physical science, earth science, biology, chemistry, physics)

4-8 credits – Electives such as Bible, music, physical education, home economics, health, typing, computers, woodworking, or art

3 credits - Foreign Language

1 credit is approximately 120-180 hours of work. The upper end of this range (180 hours) is usually appropriate for lab science courses, while 150 hours is the average for a year long academic course such as English or History. (Visit HEAV for further examples of Programs of Study). 

For each year of high school, you can develop a plan where your student accrues a credit(s) in each subject area based on their interest for the year. 

For example, in your student's freshman year of high school they may desire to study American Literature (Language Art credit), U.S. History (Social Studies credit), Algebra (Math credit), Biology (Science credit), Spanish (foreign language credit), and do two electives in Bible and Music. Hours can easily be logged on a daily basis to record their hours of work completed for each area of study. 

Once a plan of study is put together, you can investigate sources for your student's high school curriculum. There is a vast array of options to pick from for curriculum, whether it's an online course, a local community college course, a course available at a co-op, or an off-the-shelf course that your student completes at home. 

Popular high school curriculum companies that offer a complete high school curriculum of study from 9th-12th grade, includes Sonlight, Abeka, and BJU Press, just to name a few. 

The focus of each year of your child's high school classes can be tailored based on their areas of interest and the level of intensity with which they desire to study. 

I debated posting some example plans of study, but I don't want to encourage anyone to be pigeon-holed into a specific framework because each plan should be tailored to each individual based on their goals for their future. 

You can certainly search online for example homeschool high school plans to gain ideas on format and layout for your student. 

A parent can also refer to their local state's requirements for high school graduation to assess what subjects are sought after and the number of credits desired for each year of high school for a "standard" diploma vs. an "advanced" diploma. 

As a homeshooling parent, you have the freedom to help guide and tailor your child's high school plan based on the investigative work that you've done with your student. 

As a prior manager in the technical world and mentor to working professionals, I always encouraged people in the workforce to follow the path that they enjoy and find fulfillment.

If you can discover what you love doing and can find a way to do it for the rest of your life, then your career will never, ever feel like work.