What Can a Homeschool High School English Course Include?

What Can a Homeschool High School English Course Include?

You’ve found some books you’d like your student to read. You have a writing program in mind—or perhaps one that’s already working well.

Then someone mentions vocabulary. Someone else recommends a grammar course. And now you’re wondering whether you need to add three more things to a week that was looking perfectly reasonable five minutes ago.

What actually belongs in high school English?

I’ve been seeing this question in homeschool Facebook groups. It’s a useful question whether you’re planning your first high school course or adjusting something you’ve taught for years.

A homeschool high school English course can connect reading, writing, language skills, and discussion. How you bring those pieces together can reflect your student’s needs, your family’s approach, and your goals.

You don’t necessarily need a separate program for every piece. But it helps to know what each resource is contributing—and where you want to give your student more practice.

Where do you start?

Before adding another resource, ask:

“What do I want my student to be able to do more confidently by the end of this year?”

Perhaps your student can talk about a book for twenty minutes but struggles to put those thoughts into a paragraph.

Perhaps they write comfortably but tend to make a claim without explaining why they believe it.

Or perhaps the basics are going well, and you’d like them to explore more challenging texts and different perspectives.

Those are different starting points. Your plans can reflect that.

Choose a few specific goals. “Get better at writing” is a little slippery. “Organize an argument and support it with clear reasons” gives you something you can work toward.

You may find that your current resources already support those goals. You may spot one area that needs more attention. Either way, you have a better reason for your next decision than adding something because it appeared on someone else’s list.

What can the reading part look like?

Novels can certainly have a place, but high school reading can also include short stories, poetry, plays, essays, speeches, and nonfiction.

You might connect literature with history, explore a theme, follow a particular genre, or choose a mixture. Your student’s interests and your family’s values can help guide those choices.

Alongside “What should we read?”, consider “What could we explore through this?”

A short story might give you plenty to talk about: Why did the character make that choice? Would your student have done the same thing? Did the ending change how they felt about it?

Two articles about the same subject could spark a completely different conversation. Why do the writers disagree? Which one makes a stronger case?

You can spend more time with some texts and move through others more lightly. And some books can simply be enjoyed. Every book doesn’t need to arrive with an essay attached. More on that in my next post.

What kinds of writing can you include?

This is where it’s easy for the assignment list to grow.

Essays, research papers, creative writing, responses to literature…there are plenty of possibilities. You don’t have to give every kind of writing equal attention at once.

Before choosing an assignment, ask yourself: What do I want my student to practice here?

Maybe it’s explaining an opinion clearly. Maybe it’s organizing information so someone else can follow it. Maybe it’s using evidence rather than expecting the reader to take their word for everything.

That helps you choose both the assignment and what you’ll focus on when you read it.

And leave some room for revision. Finishing a paper is an accomplishment, but going back and making it clearer is part of learning to write, too.

You might say, “I understand your point here, but I’m losing you in this next part. OK, walk me through this one.”

Once they explain it, you can help them work out what the reader needs on the page.

Writing can also connect with history, science, or another interest. If your student has plenty to say about ancient civilizations or how an engine works, that gives you something to work with. You can still teach organization, clear explanations, and supporting details through that subject.

Do you need separate grammar and vocabulary programs?

If you have something that works, keep it. You don’t have to change your approach because someone else uses a different one.

You can also work on grammar through your student’s writing, or combine the two approaches.

Suppose sentences keep running together in a draft. Spend some time on that particular skill, practice a few examples, and then come back to the writing.

You don’t need to fix the entire English language before lunch.

The same flexibility applies to vocabulary. A dedicated resource might suit your student. So might exploring words you come across while reading.

“What does that word mean here?”

“Why do you think the writer chose it?”

“Would it sound different if we replaced it?”

A student may know a definition and still be unsure how to use the word. Those conversations give you a chance to work on both.

Where does talking about books fit in?

There’s quite a bit happening when a student explains what they think, listens to another interpretation, and goes back to the text to reconsider.

That conversation can happen with you, in a co-op, during an online class, or with a tutor.

You don’t have to come prepared with twenty questions and an answer key. Start with something you actually want to know:

“What did you make of that ending?”

“Did you believe the character when they said that?”

“What made you think so?”

You may disagree. That can be useful, too. You can each explain what led you to your interpretation and see whether the text supports it.

There’s still a place for writing. But a good conversation can help a student discover an idea worth writing about.

How do you fit all of this into the week?

This is the part where you look at the list and wonder whether English is supposed to occupy the whole day.

You don’t have to do every piece every day.

You might spend one session reading and talking, another developing a response, and another revising it. Vocabulary or a grammar skill could fit into that work.

A longer writing project might need more time for drafting and less new reading that week. A literature unit might have a different rhythm.

If your curriculum already gives you a workable schedule, wonderful. If you’re putting the pieces together yourself, look across several weeks rather than trying to squeeze everything into Tuesday.

Are your main goals getting attention? Does your student have time to practice? Is the workload manageable?

Those questions can help you decide whether something needs adding—or whether you already have enough.

How can you see progress?

Save a few pieces of work so you have something to look back at. An early draft, its revision, and a later assignment can tell you quite a bit.

Perhaps your student used to state an opinion and stop. Now they explain why.

Perhaps they needed help organizing every paragraph. Now they can make a plan and get started.

Perhaps they’re beginning to notice when a sentence doesn’t say what they meant.

Those changes matter, even when there isn’t a dramatic jump in the grade.

You’ll also want to check any credit, reporting, or admissions expectations that apply to your student. This post is about planning the learning; those details will depend on your situation.

What if one part keeps getting difficult?

You can like your course and still need help with one piece of it.

Maybe your student enjoys the books, but writing about them keeps becoming a sticking point. Maybe essays take far longer than you expected. Maybe you’d both appreciate someone else helping with revision.

That doesn’t mean you need to replace everything.

At Ms. Virginia’s English Lab, I work with middle and high school students on reading and writing, including homeschool students. We can focus on a particular speed bump and build on what you’re already doing.

Explore online tutoring at Ms. Virginia’s English Lab.

And if you’re currently staring at six open curriculum tabs, start with your student and a few clear goals. You may find you can close a tab or two.