High School Electives for Homeschooling

High school electives go beyond the core classes of English, math, science, and history. Electives supplement the educational years with classes that interest the child and prepare them for adult life.

State Requirements

Before your child enters high school look online to find what is required for graduation in your state. Some states require certain classes for electives. An example is having a physical education credit.

College Requirements

Most colleges require at least two years of a foreign language. Sometimes they require more math or science credits. Some colleges want more. Some colleges require as much as four years of math, four years of English, and four years of a foreign language. Have your child check the requirements of college of his choice before or at the beginning of his freshman year.

Classes that Interests Your Child

Sometimes a child has an interest in a job or subject. My son liked computers and took classes on repairing them. He was able to take classes to get certified in computer repair. For every interest there are classes that can apply.

Also your child might be good at music or art. It would be a shame for your child to stop playing the piano just because he planned to go to college.

Life Skills

Even if your child does not plan to go to college he still needs a well rounded education. Your child needs to be ready for adult life, so teach him some life skills. We all need to be able to take care of our selves.

Your teenager should take classes in health and physical education. He should know something of nutrition and disease. He should be able to fix nutritional meals. He needs to also learn to exercise.

Teenagers need to learn to take care of a bankbook and finances. No matter if your child plans to go to college or not he will need some instruction in finances. He will need to learn how to balance a checkbook. He will also have to have a working knowledge of buying credit and long term loans.

Depending on your family there may be other life skills that you think are important to learn. I feel that children should learn a skill that would help them make money. Some children would be good at crafts. Others can play an instrument and can give lessons to younger children. Some might start business on the internet.

There are other life skills. Some people value gardening or sewing. Some people live on farms so farming would be an important skill to pass on.

Lists of Electives

Here is a list of other classes that do not fill the English, math, or science requirements.

• Accounting
• Agriculture
• Art
• Business
• Creative writing
• Computer science classes
• Debate
• Drama
• Foreign language
• Home Economics
• Horticulture
• Industrial arts
• Journalism
• Keyboarding
• Music classes
• Nutrition
• Photography
• Physical Education
• Sign Language

Also look at creating courses that take into consideration your child's extra curricular activities or job experience. You can be creative when it comes to high school electives. Homeschoolers are not bound by what the public schools require. You can easily adapt non-traditional classes to meet college requirements.

If you do not know how to teach an elective you can find people to help you at through your local homeschool association. Another option is to take classes at a junior college. Some classes can also be taken online.

Our children can get so involved with taking high school elective classes that they forget to work on the core subjects. If they plan to go to college remember that they need so many credits in English, math, science, and history.

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