Your high school and postsecondary educational options

As a homeschooler or unschooler, you probably already know that you can issue your own diploma. Your teen can also enroll in a distance learning program to earn a diploma from an accredited high school or take the GED test. There are some other options, too. I know several homeschooled kids—as well as high school drop-outs—who did this and then went to college by age 16, graduating by 20. Every one of the young people I know who did this is a happy, successful person, too—whether they are serving the community as a social worker or jumpstarting nonprofit organizations (both real examples).

A friend of mine shared the link to Pacific Sands Academy, where teens can create their own academic paths to follow, graduate with an actual diploma and continue to unschool all at the same time. Adults can even get their diplomas if needed, too. There are plenty of other examples like this, too—such as the program at Global Village School.

There’s also thousands of free online courses you can take from colleges all across the globe to further your education. A lot of employers are accepting certificates from these places as proof of education, so be sure to create a portfolio to use in your job hunting.

There are also hundreds of resources as UnCollege that you can peruse, from internships to starting a business to traveling options to what to do with the same amount of money you’d use for a year of college (only on a more meaningful experience). I think UnCollege may be one of the most revolutionary and needed websites of our time.

Of course, teens who want to become doctors and such do have to go to college. What does your child want to do? So far, my daughter wants to work at St. Louis Bread Company and Target as a teen, explore the world, rescue animals and become an archeologist.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia