The Case for Homeschool Vocational Training
By Katie Roehrich
You’ve heard of STEM, which takes traditional topics like math and science and weaves them into an interdisciplinary approach to learning; but what do you know about CTE and how it relates to homeschool vocational training?
Vocational tech or career and technical education (CTE) offers contextualized learning for students—ways for them to master technical and academic content by applying it to a specific industry or career path. CTE offers students hands-on learning that focuses on solving a problem or undertaking a project that is reflective of an authentic, real-world challenge. Students with kinesthetic learning styles especially enjoy CTE opportunities.
Vocational Training for Homeschoolers
Ever wondered about the relationship between homeschool and trade school? CTE prepares students to be career-ready by teaching abstract academic skills in combination with technical, job-specific skills. CTE includes, but is not limited to:
- Architecture
- Construction
- Transportation
- Logistics
- Automotive maintenance
- Hospitality
- Tourism
- Manufacturing
- Agriculture
- Natural resources
- The arts.
CTE addresses the skills gap by training students to enter high-growth industries with tangible and transferable credentials. Skilled trades are the hardest jobs to fill in the United States.
Students have become highly educated, but many lack the skills needed for building infrastructure or for joining a growing healthcare industry.
For the last few decades, societal opinion in the U.S., including that of parents, has emphasized the importance of a four-year degree. While there are many jobs that benefit from a bachelor’s or master’s degree, many important and necessary careers require a skill set that can be learned in less than two years and mastered through an apprenticeship and on-the-job training.
Students can find locations of reputable trade school options near them here.
Although clearly not every student is destined or suited to attend a four-year university, our society tends to hold this as the ideal. A mindset shift may be required here.
Apprenticeships in the UK are much more widely available. Take a tip from some experienced apprenticeship coaches on interviewing skills that apply equally as well to any job interview.
CTE and Homeschool Vocational Curriculum
Homeschooled children spend approximately three hours per day studying to keep themselves on grade level with their public schooled peers. That’s three times less than average-schooled children. This also means that homeschooled children spend less time studying what doesn’t interest them, so there are more hours in the day to study and learn what does.
High school students also gain the ability to work independently as they gain maturity.
So how can those extra hours be used to benefit your homeschooled student, as well as your family as a whole by engaging them in activities that lead to job skills? Simple. Chores!
Even something as seemingly simple as learning how to keep house can lead a child toward their interests and potential career paths. Doing laundry becomes part of an elective lesson in fabrics, color palettes, mending and potentially an interest in fashion, tailoring or costume design.
You don’t have to be highly skilled in any of the vocational training career options in order to instill curiosity and learning opportunities in your student’s school day. In fact, it’s a great way to expand your own interests and skill set!
Many car and bicycle maintenance tasks are relatively simple and require only a few tools or materials. Teach your students to change the oil in the family car, how to change a car or bicycle tire and the process for cleaning and lubing a bike chain—and these tasks become a gateway for a career in automotive maintenance or as a bicycle mechanic.
Master a free accounting software such as FreshBooks and teach your budding accountant or entrepreneur about billing, accounts receivable and how to set a business up for filing quarterly taxes.
A Change in Apprenticeship Laws and Regulations
The shortages of specifically-trained workers has cut across multiple job sectors, from construction trades to agriculture, manufacturing, information technology and healthcare.
In recent years, apprenticeships have been few and far between. Of the 146 million jobs in the United States, about 0.35 percent, or slightly more than a half-million, were filled by active apprentices in 2016.
In June 2017, President Trump signed an executive order to roughly double the taxpayer money spent on learn-to-earn programs from $100 million to $200 million. The money would be diverted from existing job training programs. Industries are given the freedom and flexibility to design apprenticeships that suit the rapidly-changing technologies used.
The U.S. Department of Labor sets standards, and organizations like the National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3) connect community colleges with industries seeking highly-skilled recent graduates.
Fortunately, apprenticeships in Texas may be eligible for Pell Grants and early eligible applicants are likely to receive financial aid. Have you considered investigating homeschool apprenticeship programs?
CTE in Texas
In 1999, the Texas Administrative Code that directs the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) and admission into proprietary schools {Section 807.2(41)} was modified to include homeschool students. The code now defines secondary education as “successful completion of public, private or homeschooling at the high school level or obtainment of a recognized high school equivalency credential.”
So no vocational tech or career and technical education should be denied to homeschoolers. THSC successfully advocates on behalf of member families facing discrimination to admission to such programs. Join today for this benefit and many others.
Texas has now launched 60x30TX, a strategic plan in higher education aiming to position the workforce in Texas among the highest achieving states in the country and in the global marketplace. 60x30TX is entirely student-centered and its aims include:
- 60 percent of young adults (25-34) will hold a postsecondary credential by 2030
- All graduates will have marketable skills regardless of major
- No student will graduate with debt exceeding 60 percent of their first-year wages.
In Texas, 77 percent of all high school students take at least one CTE course, and one in four students takes three or more courses in a single program area.
To help you tailor homeschooling curriculum for your CTE-bound student, use the lists of required courses that many colleges provide on their website (you can get a general feel for the expectations of a vocational training program just by reviewing course requirements).
You can then investigate appropriate vocational courses for homeschoolers. Use this as a guideline to discuss career goals with your students and to lead them toward their personal interests.
CTE May Not Be the Final Answer
While some countries (particularly in Europe) stress vocational education that develops specific job-related skills, others like the U.S. emphasize general education that provides students with broad knowledge and basic skills.
But now, critics are suggesting that if people acquire skills that are finely tuned to current employment opportunities, they might not be particularly prepared to adjust to new technologies. For example, as businesses grow larger, technology improves and worker needs transform; people with vocational training may be more likely to be out of the labor market later in their lives.
However, the benefit of a well-rounded technical education is the emphasis on transferable skills. Vocational training is not only the hands-on, obvious skills of building, fixing or creating.
No, perhaps even more important are the intangible skills acquired through CTE-focused learning: confidence, creativity, good communication, adaptability and curiosity.
As technology advances, manufacturing plants close, how we use natural resources continues to change, industries become obsolete, and the workforce ages, homeschool teachers can prepare their students for a dynamic career and the confidence to grow and change as our society’s needs do.
7 Resources for Homeschool Vocational Training
- Woodshop for kids
- Auto Maintenance Curriculum
- Cosmetology Curriculum
- Agriculture Curriculum
- Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (an internship program for college and technical students with medical, engineering or environmental health backgrounds).
- The Texas Workforce Commission list of certified Texas vocational and career training providers
- National Coalition of Certification Centers: Find where to get certified for careers in aviation, construction, horticulture, energy, transportation and more!
The Case for Homeschool Vocational Training
By Katie Roehrich
You’ve heard of STEM, which takes traditional topics like math and science and weaves them into an interdisciplinary approach to learning; but what do you know about CTE and how it relates to homeschool vocational training?
Vocational tech or career and technical education (CTE) offers contextualized learning for students—ways for them to master technical and academic content by applying it to a specific industry or career path. CTE offers students hands-on learning that focuses on solving a problem or undertaking a project that is reflective of an authentic, real-world challenge. Students with kinesthetic learning styles especially enjoy CTE opportunities.
Vocational Training for Homeschoolers
Ever wondered about the relationship between homeschool and trade school? CTE prepares students to be career-ready by teaching abstract academic skills in combination with technical, job-specific skills. CTE includes, but is not limited to:
- Architecture
- Construction
- Transportation
- Logistics
- Automotive maintenance
- Hospitality
- Tourism
- Manufacturing
- Agriculture
- Natural resources
- The arts.
CTE addresses the skills gap by training students to enter high-growth industries with tangible and transferable credentials. Skilled trades are the hardest jobs to fill in the United States.
Students have become highly educated, but many lack the skills needed for building infrastructure or for joining a growing healthcare industry.
For the last few decades, societal opinion in the U.S., including that of parents, has emphasized the importance of a four-year degree. While there are many jobs that benefit from a bachelor’s or master’s degree, many important and necessary careers require a skill set that can be learned in less than two years and mastered through an apprenticeship and on-the-job training.
Students can find locations of reputable trade school options near them here.
Although clearly not every student is destined or suited to attend a four-year university, our society tends to hold this as the ideal. A mindset shift may be required here.
Apprenticeships in the UK are much more widely available. Take a tip from some experienced apprenticeship coaches on interviewing skills that apply equally as well to any job interview.
CTE and Homeschool Vocational Curriculum
Homeschooled children spend approximately three hours per day studying to keep themselves on grade level with their public schooled peers. That’s three times less than average-schooled children. This also means that homeschooled children spend less time studying what doesn’t interest them, so there are more hours in the day to study and learn what does.
High school students also gain the ability to work independently as they gain maturity.
So how can those extra hours be used to benefit your homeschooled student, as well as your family as a whole by engaging them in activities that lead to job skills? Simple. Chores!
Even something as seemingly simple as learning how to keep house can lead a child toward their interests and potential career paths. Doing laundry becomes part of an elective lesson in fabrics, color palettes, mending and potentially an interest in fashion, tailoring or costume design.
You don’t have to be highly skilled in any of the vocational training career options in order to instill curiosity and learning opportunities in your student’s school day. In fact, it’s a great way to expand your own interests and skill set!
Many car and bicycle maintenance tasks are relatively simple and require only a few tools or materials. Teach your students to change the oil in the family car, how to change a car or bicycle tire and the process for cleaning and lubing a bike chain—and these tasks become a gateway for a career in automotive maintenance or as a bicycle mechanic.
Master a free accounting software such as FreshBooks and teach your budding accountant or entrepreneur about billing, accounts receivable and how to set a business up for filing quarterly taxes.
A Change in Apprenticeship Laws and Regulations
The shortages of specifically-trained workers has cut across multiple job sectors, from construction trades to agriculture, manufacturing, information technology and healthcare.
In recent years, apprenticeships have been few and far between. Of the 146 million jobs in the United States, about 0.35 percent, or slightly more than a half-million, were filled by active apprentices in 2016.
In June 2017, President Trump signed an executive order to roughly double the taxpayer money spent on learn-to-earn programs from $100 million to $200 million. The money would be diverted from existing job training programs. Industries are given the freedom and flexibility to design apprenticeships that suit the rapidly-changing technologies used.
The U.S. Department of Labor sets standards, and organizations like the National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3) connect community colleges with industries seeking highly-skilled recent graduates.
Fortunately, apprenticeships in Texas may be eligible for Pell Grants and early eligible applicants are likely to receive financial aid. Have you considered investigating homeschool apprenticeship programs?
CTE in Texas
In 1999, the Texas Administrative Code that directs the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) and admission into proprietary schools {Section 807.2(41)} was modified to include homeschool students. The code now defines secondary education as “successful completion of public, private or homeschooling at the high school level or obtainment of a recognized high school equivalency credential.”
So no vocational tech or career and technical education should be denied to homeschoolers. THSC successfully advocates on behalf of member families facing discrimination to admission to such programs. Join today for this benefit and many others.
Texas has now launched 60x30TX, a strategic plan in higher education aiming to position the workforce in Texas among the highest achieving states in the country and in the global marketplace. 60x30TX is entirely student-centered and its aims include:
- 60 percent of young adults (25-34) will hold a postsecondary credential by 2030
- All graduates will have marketable skills regardless of major
- No student will graduate with debt exceeding 60 percent of their first-year wages.
In Texas, 77 percent of all high school students take at least one CTE course, and one in four students takes three or more courses in a single program area.
To help you tailor homeschooling curriculum for your CTE-bound student, use the lists of required courses that many colleges provide on their website (you can get a general feel for the expectations of a vocational training program just by reviewing course requirements).
You can then investigate appropriate vocational courses for homeschoolers. Use this as a guideline to discuss career goals with your students and to lead them toward their personal interests.
CTE May Not Be the Final Answer
While some countries (particularly in Europe) stress vocational education that develops specific job-related skills, others like the U.S. emphasize general education that provides students with broad knowledge and basic skills.
But now, critics are suggesting that if people acquire skills that are finely tuned to current employment opportunities, they might not be particularly prepared to adjust to new technologies. For example, as businesses grow larger, technology improves and worker needs transform; people with vocational training may be more likely to be out of the labor market later in their lives.
However, the benefit of a well-rounded technical education is the emphasis on transferable skills. Vocational training is not only the hands-on, obvious skills of building, fixing or creating.
No, perhaps even more important are the intangible skills acquired through CTE-focused learning: confidence, creativity, good communication, adaptability and curiosity.
As technology advances, manufacturing plants close, how we use natural resources continues to change, industries become obsolete, and the workforce ages, homeschool teachers can prepare their students for a dynamic career and the confidence to grow and change as our society’s needs do.
7 Resources for Homeschool Vocational Training
- Woodshop for kids
- Auto Maintenance Curriculum
- Cosmetology Curriculum
- Agriculture Curriculum
- Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (an internship program for college and technical students with medical, engineering or environmental health backgrounds).
- The Texas Workforce Commission list of certified Texas vocational and career training providers
- National Coalition of Certification Centers: Find where to get certified for careers in aviation, construction, horticulture, energy, transportation and more!
