By LeeAnn Bernier-Clarke MEd, NCC, NCCC

Time: 30 minutes

What Will My Child Get From This?

• A chance to get in touch with what classes are required for graduation and college admission
• A plan of action to keep you on track
• An opportunity to discuss elective course possibilities with your parents
• A chance to evaluate where your child currently stands in completing high school and college admission course graduation requirements

Before you sit down with your child:

• Read Choosing the Right Course
• Get a copy of your child's high school required curriculum. You or your teen can get this from the school guidance counselor
• Some counselors have blank templates on which to design a four-year schedule. They will gladly provide these upon request
• Some state departments of education mail out planning guides, including required courses for high school graduation, to your home when your teen starts high school
• You can locate high school graduation requirements on the Internet on state, school district or individual high school websites
• Also get a copy of your teen's high school list of all available courses from the guidance counselor
• Check out college admission requirements on a few college websites and compare them to your teen's high school graduates requirements. Be sure to include one state and one private institution

Step by Step

1. Before your teen starts their freshman year of high school (or anytime thereafter), sit down together and write out a mock four-year schedule of courses for high school. Begin with courses required for high school graduation at your teen's school
2. Compare those required courses with college admission course requirements from one state and one private institution
3. List the number of periods in a school day under each of the four high school years
4. List required courses first under each school year. You should have at least one space in the freshman (first) year and as many as four in the senior (fourth) year available for electives
5. If your child is in a magnet program, fill in the leftover time slots with magnet required courses
6. Review Glynnis's advice on course planning with your child
7. Discuss elective options
8. Fill in the elective time slots with potential class choices
9. When you finish, you will have a flexible schedule of courses for the full four years of high school

Follow-up Activities

• File your teen's mock four-year schedule in a safe place
• From time to time, take it out, review it together, evaluate progress and alter as needed