Curriculum Planning - High School

"What about algebra...and chemistry?" parents sometimes ask themselves when considering homeschooling at the high school level. And I don't mean only parents whose children have special needs. I mean homeschooling parents in general.

Do you need a college education to teach high school? Let me just reassure you that I don't have a college education...and I've graduated four kids from homeschool high school and all have been accepted into college. My kids were invited into the honors program, on the honor roll in college, or given a scholarship. Now, at the moment, I'm not talking about blind or visually impaired children, just about homeschooling in general. My visually impaired son Peter is just beginning high school this coming fall. But I know I can do it, I know he can do it; and I believe you can do it too, if you and your child feel called to do this and you are willing to learn.

Is that "willing to learn" scary? Does that mean we have to learn algebra and chemistry (or whatever subjects are difficult for us)? Maybe; maybe not. Can your spouse teach it? Can you hire a tutor? Can your student handle a co-op class or community college class? Can you use a self-teaching program and just help a little without total mastery of the material on your part?

Once you decide you want to homeschool for high school, you will want to plan your curriculum. Does your daughter want to go to college? If she doesn't right now, might she change her mind later? Might she be able to "make the grade"? If not university, might she consider a vocational school or technical school or community college program?

Or does your son have additional disabilities severe enough that he would just be doing well to get through high school? This will make a difference in the program you decide on. If your ultimate educational goal for your child is a high school education, you might want to use the Hadley program...or use another program geared for just getting through high school. Or you could find out the minimums for high school for your state or district and use those to make up your own program. (You can usually find this on the web).

If college is a possibility, even remotely, you'll want to look into what colleges require for entrance. Although there is some variation, much of it is the same from one college to another.

Then you can set up a flexible plan for the coming four years (if your child struggles or has setbacks, you can take more than four years if you need it).

Now I'd like to ask if you'd like to help out here, if you have blind or visually impaired children getting ready for high school, in high school, or having graduated from high school. Could you share in the comments section a little about what your plans are or what's worked for you? It can be as short or as long as you'd like. Thanks so much.