One of the keys to getting big merit-based college scholarships for your homeschooler is to include all of your student's early high school credits. This can demonstrate they have achieved more than the minimum college requirements. There were certain subjects where we were able to exceed the basic college requirements without too much effort.
For example, my youngest son exceeded the minimum for social studies credits because he studied economics all the time for fun, and he also exceeded the fine arts credits because he took piano every year. Neither one of those things was hard for him, they were things he really enjoyed doing.
If you do that, you're going to find out pretty quickly that kids might rack up quite a few credits. It's not unusual for homeschool kids to have 35 or possibly even more credits. Although your local public high school may say "High school graduation for college prep is maybe 22 or 24 credits," if you were to look at a highly rigorous high school, it's not unusual for those kids to have 35 or more credits. If you have more than the minimum recommended credits, you are not required to graduate them.
Remember, if you follow a rigorous curriculum. It's a win-win situation. Even if they don't get a big scholarship they can end up smarter and better educated. Just by studying topics more in depth, they may be able to pass college level exams, like AP or CLEP. Those can reduce the number of years they have to go to college. Even if they don't get a scholarship, you will save money by paying for fewer years of college.
Again, you want to make sure to finish four years of English, four years of math, four years of social studies, including world history, US history, economics, and government, three years of science with at least one of those a lab science. For big scholarships, you probably want to have three or four years of lab science. Colleges want to see two or three years of a single foreign language. You should set your goals for three years of foreign language. Colleges also want to see two years of P.E. and one year or more of fine arts with electives that add up to 24 or more for a regular college prep education. To get the REALLY big scholarships, your goal should be to exceed that model.
For example, my youngest son exceeded the minimum for social studies credits because he studied economics all the time for fun, and he also exceeded the fine arts credits because he took piano every year. Neither one of those things was hard for him, they were things he really enjoyed doing.
If you do that, you're going to find out pretty quickly that kids might rack up quite a few credits. It's not unusual for homeschool kids to have 35 or possibly even more credits. Although your local public high school may say "High school graduation for college prep is maybe 22 or 24 credits," if you were to look at a highly rigorous high school, it's not unusual for those kids to have 35 or more credits. If you have more than the minimum recommended credits, you are not required to graduate them.
Remember, if you follow a rigorous curriculum. It's a win-win situation. Even if they don't get a big scholarship they can end up smarter and better educated. Just by studying topics more in depth, they may be able to pass college level exams, like AP or CLEP. Those can reduce the number of years they have to go to college. Even if they don't get a scholarship, you will save money by paying for fewer years of college.
Again, you want to make sure to finish four years of English, four years of math, four years of social studies, including world history, US history, economics, and government, three years of science with at least one of those a lab science. For big scholarships, you probably want to have three or four years of lab science. Colleges want to see two or three years of a single foreign language. You should set your goals for three years of foreign language. Colleges also want to see two years of P.E. and one year or more of fine arts with electives that add up to 24 or more for a regular college prep education. To get the REALLY big scholarships, your goal should be to exceed that model.
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