Homeschooling High School -- a book list

I have been puttering around on a reading post for the past few days but realized that glumping all the books I've read so far this year into one long post probably wasn't the best I could do.  In the first place, most of the books have had to do with homeschooling junior high and high school. A giant list of these books doesn't make for the most interesting reading post, but it probably does deserve a post of its own, especially considering I promised one a long time ago.

Anyway, here's my list of books, with a few highly subjective notes:

Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook: Preparing Your 12- to 18-Year-Old for a Smooth Transition

One of the most helpful books of the group. Clear and encouraging, with a more eclectic and unschooly feel than some of the others, peppered with stories from homeschoolers in "How We Did It" sidebars, and full of examples of actual transcripts and essays created by homeschoolers who applied and were accepted to various colleges, including some of the Ivies.  On the other hand... the transcript examples in particular were all chosen from kids with high SAT scores, and after reading the book you may panic because you have no idea how your child is going to be involved in all those "eye-catching" activities when you live in the middle of nowhere and have the needs of 5 younger siblings to consider as well.  In that case, remind yourself that it will be okay and start breathing again.

And What About College?: How Homeschooling Leads to Admissions to the Best Colleges & Universities

Cafi Cohen's first book, which I picked up used before I bought the one mentioned above. If you have the Homeschooler's Admission Handbook, you don't need this one.

Homeschooling High School: Planning Ahead for College Admission (New and Updated)

This is another book worth having.  It includes the results of a survey of college admissions officers regarding the strengths and weaknesses of homeschoolers who'd applied to their colleges, what they looked for in a homeschooler's high school education, application, etc. It also includes a brief section on special needs, more about transcripts, and how to design high school classes, write course descriptions, etc.

The High School Handbook: Junior and Senior High School at Home

I like this book because it also deals with junior high.  In fact, I really like the way Mary Schofield thinks of junior high -- as a time to do more work in basic skills for kids who need it, and a time to try out high school without actually being in high school.  In other words, if kids are ready for high school level work, let them; if they're not, don't worry about it.  But junior high is a good time to experiment with record-keeping, planning, and the forms study will take during high school.  Not very unschooly, but with lots of good advice for the planning impaired who may need to plan for a child who needs planning.  Not that I would know anything about that.

Senior High: A Home-Designed Form+U+La

I think that Barb Shelton's book may have been one of the very first books about homeschooling high school specifically.  You can find it used now.  Basically, it contains a lot of forms to use in planning high school classes, making transcripts, etc.  Her style is very chatty, and that makes the book longer than it probably should be.  I liked the other books better, but you know, I think it is important to be aware of the fact that Barb Shelton was one of the first wave of homeschoolers, who had homeschooled teens during the 1980's.  I did find it interesting that she set up five years of high school for her kids, basically naming 8th grade as another year of high school.  Since it seems like that's what a lot of homeschooled kids are doing anyway, I wonder why we don't often think of the 8th grade year in those terms?

CHC's High School of Your Dreams

This is basically a big collection of resources for different subjects (earth science, biology, theology, etc.) often studied in high school, to help you in planning your own courses.  If you need a big book of lists, it might be helpful.  If you don't... there's really not much more to the book than the lists. It won't really help you in the process of making plans very much, and it has very little advice on how to do high school.  It does put much more emphasis on students who may not want to pursue a college education, so if your child fits that profile, you may find some good resources here.

Well, that's about it. I am awaiting delivery of From Homeschool to College and Work: Turning Your Homeschooled Experiences into College and Job Portfolios, which I'm interested in because I really liked Allison McKee's other book, Homeschooling Our Children, Unschooling Ourselves.  But now that I know some of the basic details of the end-process, I've spent more time mulling over how junior high and high school should be approached from a philosophical standpoint.  Considering that it is so easy to fall into the "traditional" trap when reading about college admissions... and also considering that whenever I think about "requirements", I get my homeschooler dander up... how does one approach the high school years? Fodder for another post, of course... 

 

Comments

[Marilyn]

Thanks Angela - this is a great list.

[Tonya]

Thank you for sharing this list - just what I was looking for.