Homeschool Planning for Beginners: COS

Step Three: Course of Study

Updated March 14, 2023,
Donna Young

For some of us, the course of study is part of required record-keeping. Even if it is not, the course of study is a record of your final decisions regarding the selected books for each subject. If more books are selected throughout the year, be certain to add them to this record.

What is a Course of Study

For the purpose of this four-step guide to planning, the course of study is a list of subjects and the books used. That is usually enough to put on a course of study unless you are required to also list the particular parts of a subject. You might have already listed those particular parts on your Goals Form from step one of this series.

The Course of Study Form

The course of study form should have the child's name, school year, and grade. The form that may be printed from this page features three columns. The column headers are Subject, Books/Materials, and Notes. The lower part of the form is ruled. This particular layout is not ideal for everyone.

Course of Study free printable

8th Grade Example
9th Grade Example

See this page for more printable files, most of which require a subscription to print. Course of Study Forms

High School Course of Study

While you may make a course of study for each year k-8, year by year, the 4-year high school course of study needs to be made before high school begins. Don't let that scare you. I understand that the mere thought of homeschooling through high school makes a homeschool parent teacher a bit nervous, but making the course of study is not a big deal! Just make it! I have a special course of study form for high school and it is relatively painless to fill out. It is easier to fill out the checklist first.

There are steps to take before filling out the high school course of study and those steps are listed in the high school section of donnayoung.org beginning at this web page. Homeschooling High School