The American High School Diploma

Most people assume the GED is the same as the American High School Diploma, but they are two different qualifications. In the USA students from grade 9 to grade 12 do what is called the American high school diploma. Your child chooses subjects, for example, Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Accounting etc. and create an education plan for your child’s high school years. Your child can also include physical education, or a skill such as guitar, piano or art and drama as part of your subject package.
You are awarded 1 credit for 150 hours spent completing a particular subject in a year. You are also awarded 0.5 or 1 credit for sports such as karate, gymnastics, swimming ect. Credits are also awarded for music, art and drama provided 150 hours or more is spent on the activity for the year. You keep a record of your child’s time spent doing these activities. Your child will need a total minimum of 22 credits at the end of grade 12 to be awarded his/her American High School diploma. You can opt to do more subjects or activities which will allow you to have more credits.
You can eventually write the SAT’s which is short for Standard assessment test or ACT’s which is the American College test to gain College or university admission. This is done after achieving your 22 credits or more for the four year period.
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I started researching more on the American High School diploma for my middle son who started grade 9 this year. The more I researched it the more appealing it was to me. My reasons for choosing the American High School Diploma was mostly because of its flexibility of subject choice as well as the inclusion of sport and music as part of your high school package.

Towards the end of last year, I decided to do a zoom consultation with the co-founder of Kairos academy to better understand my son’s options and make an informed decision. In December 2021 I decided to go ahead and register my son with Kairos Academy. Kairos is founded by two South African homeschooling parents. They are affiliated with Homelife Academy in Tennessee in the USA. In my consultation I was guided to choose the ideal complement of subjects for my child’s individual needs. You can also create your own eclectic curriculum.
My subject choices for my son this year are Mathematics ( Shorman Maths), Biology (Apologia), English (The Good and the beautiful as well as Abeka – Grammar), Afrikaans (Woema), Computer Science (Cambridge), South African History (Footprints) and World History (Story of the World).
Each of these subjects will afford him 1 credit for this year. He will also get 0.5 credits extra for The Good and the Beautiful as their English encompasses some Geography.

He will also include karate (he is currently a brown belt) which he does once a week and practices daily. For music he will include guitar which he also does once a week and practices daily. He should cover a total of 9.5 credits for his grade 9 year. This is more than enough credits for the year.

He is also involved in our local scouts. I have registered him for the presidential award which has 3 parts to it. One is a physical activity which he will record every karate practice he attends for 3 months. Two is a skill which he will record his weekly guitar lessons. Lastly, he needs to do community service which we are still deciding which service to get involved in.

This is not set in stone but for now this plan for his high school years is what is working out for us. Continually seeking God’s guidance in every decision, we make for our kids is key. As we trust God, He will direct our path.