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HOMESCHOOL JUNIOR YEAR PLANS

I have an 11th grader. A junior. What is happening?? I started homeschooling Noah 11 years ago, taking it one year at a time and here we are…almost done! Even though he’s my oldest (and guinea pig baby), and it’s painful to admit he’s this old already, I still want to share our homeschool junior year plans. There’s so much I don’t know about homeschooling high schoolers, but I try my best. And I try to put the emphasis on his person rather than his achievements, so I’ll lead with that.

It’s not my goal to raise four kids who can ace a test, rattle off a million memorized facts, or receive the highest scholarship. My goal is to raise four kids who are SECURE in who they are, who have book smarts AND common sense, and who are happy and living for their purpose in life.

With that said, Noah’s homeschool junior year plans are based on not having a 100% sure plan for after high school. Totally normal and I’m not stressed about that at all! But admittedly, I did get a bit stressed trying to plan his year with him because I didn’t want to miss something.

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After talking with the owner of a local homeschool store though, she made me realize that whatever gaps he might have, he can make those up his senior year when he has a better idea of his path after high school.My son is a homeschool junior and we've been making some plans! Here's all our curriclum and class picks and our homeschool junior year plans.

You can read our other homeschool plans for this year: my 5th and 7th graders in one post and my Kinder in another. Yes, that’s a lot going on in our house…K-11th…save me.

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Noah’s Homeschool Junior Year Plans

You can also listen to the homeschool plans on my podcast here:ย 


Since we are our own school, I’m not worried about how many credits Noah has because he has plenty. Right now, he’s on pace to have 26 by the end of his senior year, which is more than enough. I started by filling in his schedule with one more math and one more lab science because most colleges want you to have at least three of each of those.

Homeschool Junior Year Plans: Math + Science

Math is something I’m actually super excited about this year…because it’s going to be so easy on my part! Noah will be doing Saxon Algebra 2 along with Nicole the Math Lady’s amazing videos.

(Math = 1 credit)

Noah needs one more science credit. For the last two years, I’ve had him take lab science with a local co-op and it’s worked great. This year though, my friend Mary at Not Before 7 told me about this resource called Mr. Q’s Lab Science: Advanced Chemistry. The belief is that you can learn everything you need to know about chemistry from your kitchen. There’s also an elementary version of this too if you don’t have a high schooler yet.

I’m really excited for this one because it looks totally doable to do at home…no dissections involved! There are quarterly tests and worksheets included too, plus a student text and a parent text. You can print out the first chapter if you want to check it out first.

(Science = 1 credit)ย 

Noah’s Junior Year PSEO Classes

PSEO is a dual enrollment program that high schoolers can take advantage of with some colleges. We are lucky to have a great co-op that meets once a week and serves as an administrator for the college. They go over content for the week and then the student has to perform the rest of the required work online on their own.

We were unsure if we wanted to partake in these classes, but when all is said and done, Noah will probably have 12 college credits…for next to nothing, price-wise. And he can take even more PSEO classes next year if he chooses to. We’ll see how this first semester goes!

Here’s the classes he’ll take…two in the fall and two in the spring:

  • College Writing & Research (ENG 1510)
  • General Psychology (PSY 130)
  • Public Communication (COM 1515)
  • Introduction to Literary Analysis (ENG 1512)

(Total High School Credits: 4 Total College Credits: 12)

Music and Leadership Classes

Noah has been diligently teaching himself how to play acoustic and electric guitar for about a year now. He finds people on YouTube that give good instruction videos, figures out chords on his more and puts together his own songs. Since he has clocked well above the 120 hours needed for a credit, I’m giving him an A and a music credit for this year. ๐Ÿ™‚

(Arts = 1 credit)

Leadership is another one of those “classes” that he’s been naturally working on this summer. He went to a camp over the summer that was 100% focused on leadership. They had to perform lots of different tasks, make plans, and more. They learned about goal setting, delegating jobs, and how to set up an action plan. It was a really great experience. He’s been reading through the material from the camp over the summer.

When we start school, I’ll give him a few books on leadership to read over the course of the year and maybe a podcast to listen to a few times a month. I still need to look for those, but so far, I’ve chosen these books for him to read. I’ll let him choose two to read.

(Elective = 1 credit)

More Homeschool Junior Year Plans

These planning posts always look so neat and tidy, but in all actuality, there are many facets to our day that I couldn’t possibly tie up into one “planning” post. I’m sure you know what I mean. Here’s a few more resources and activities we’ll be using and doing for Noah’s junior year.

  • Boy Scouts…he’s on pace to receive Eagle ranking in under a year…yay!
  • Backpacking/Hiking/Camping…he just went on a big backpacking trip and he’s hooked! He’s such an outdoorsy kid.
  • Tinker Crate is always a fun thing to do on rainy days. All three of my big kids love this. You can read my review on it here.
  • Curiosity Stream is another great save for a rainy day and your kids are “bored.” We ALL love Curiosity Stream…read about it here.

Mama Plans for a Homeschool Junior Year

Guys, bring me chocolate. Bring me even more in a year from now. It’s all feeling so real!! Not about school itself really, but this whole motherhood gig in general. I think about Noah leaving home and I’m super sad about it, y’all. I know he’ll make good choices and I know he’ll do great out there in the big ol’ world…honestly, this part gives me a lot of reprieve…the seeing what he’ll do thing, because I know he’s here for a rich purpose.

My heart is already feeling a bit wilted, but here’s MY plans for Noah’s junior year.

  • Be as present as humanly possible. Set better and more clear work times and don’t work during non-work times. I’m feeling the time ticking and I don’t want to miss things because I was filling my Facebook feed or answering emails.
  • Take in the webinars, workshops, and info about college, so that I can be his advocate and informer…
  • …but be easy on myself if I miss things. I’ve never done this before and I have to have grace with myself.
  • Listen more and be open to late night discussions when teens are feeling like talking.
  • Teach Noah life skills in a natural way…have him join me in making dinners so he can see how simple recipes are made, let Noah look on while I balance our budget so he can see how one works in real life, etc.

I’ll be ok. Sad, but excited. And I’ll be here to tell you all the things I wish I would’ve known on the other side ๐Ÿ˜‰

Read more of our homeschool plans for this year in these posts:

You also might like reading these posts on curriculum:

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