The GED is a convenient home education ‘exit solution’ for unschooling families. Find out how to prepare for the GED tests.
We regularly get questions from unschooling families like this email:
“We have been unschooling for almost nine years and our eldest child has just turned 14. My husband says we need to start focusing on preparing her for school leaving exams.
Where should we begin? What would you recommend as a starting point?”
Here’s Shirley’s reply about unschooling and the GED:
Well done for giving your family such a unique educational experience. I find it rather a pity that as home educators, we need to “jump through hoops” to show society that our children have mastered a prescribed set of skills and passed a standardised test. However, achieving a certification gives children a sense of achievement and it is a milestone which marks the end of this season in their lifelong educational journey, so it does offer that benefit, besides opening doors to future opportunities.
To give children a rich and generous education that will prepare them for any type of school exit exam, I recommend that you keep doing all that you do but also start to focus on the traditional subjects that will be tested such as Maths, English, Science and Social Studies. You can use any curricula or other resources of your choice. Also, read aloud together daily and continue with any other subjects, skills, hobbies or interests that your child already has.
The article, What to Do Before the GED offers some recommendations for curricula to cover the four subjects for the GED, but the recommended curricula are also just as suitable if you later choose any other school exit exams. By the time each child reaches about age 15, (or later), together you should evaluate the options and decide which type of school exit exams he or she should take. This will be easier if the child has a clear idea about the future career path they would like to pursue, but at this age, they are often not sure and so you should keep as many options open as possible.
The GED in combination with the SAT (an American college entrance exam) is accepted at all eight universities in New Zealand and it’s also widely accepted internationally. Read our university success stories.
When preparing for the GED tests, it is important to know that the GED does not test memorisation skills and knowledge of a prescribed curriculum in the same way as traditional school exams. Rather, it tests SKILLS, especially reading comprehension and critical thinking skills, but also a host of other related skills in each subject. The test format is similar to a comprehension test, in which the candidate must read with understanding and then, using the information provided in either a textual passage, a graph, a diagram, chart or map etc., choose the correct answer from a multiple choice selection. There is no need to memorise facts or study hard the night before a test!
In the Reasoning Through Language Arts test, candidates will have to type an argumentative essay. This is one of the biggest challenges of the GED. It takes time to develop and master good essay writing skills, so you should start on this as early as possible. Also start practicing touch typing!
To sum up, in the early teens, you can continue education that suits your child and progress at your own pace as you introduce a few curriculum products to develop the skills required to take the tests. You can still avoid replicating school-at-home, even if some lessons in a few subjects are a little more structured than before!
You certainly don’t have to compromise the amazing lifestyle of living and learning together that your family has been enjoying. Simply introduce the resources needed for GED prep and add them to the things your children do each day.
Your teen could also choose to pursue some of the valuable activities and (non-academic) life experiences that will bolster her resumé: 10 Things Every Teen Should Do Before the GED
For 15 year olds (or Year 10 students) we offer the GED Beginners course, which is an online study programme which covers Maths and English. Check it out by taking a 5-day free trial (no obligation, no payment details required!)