students choosing right electives

Electives Matter: How to Help Your Child Choose the Right Ones

Whether home-schooled or in a public or private school, elective courses enrich your children’s education—and are an important part of their preparation for life. Helping your student choose the right electives enables them to focus on their academic goals. Moreover, you are helping them open their minds to new subjects that could lead to a career.

Elective options often are more limited for young students in elementary school. Yet, parents, on the lookout, may find opportunities for their kids like learning an instrument or participating in special art, choir, or gym activities. These electives give your student the chance to have fun and work on skills that expand their breadth of education—making them a well-rounded student.

In middle school and high school is where the real fun begins. Music classes, foreign languages, business classes, and home economics are just a handful of the electives your student may have to expand their education. Parents should encourage their student to utilize elective courses to explore topics of interest and discover their talents. A high school elective course in business, for example, might be the introductory class that puts your student on the pathway to a degree in human resources or accounting. And a basket weaving class may provide needed clarity on your student’s future as an artist.

Contact your school to get a list of all offered electives to discuss with your student. Together,  use the course list to tentatively map out your child’s electives for the next few semesters. Keep in mind that interests may change, or schedules may not accommodate every elective. So, you’ll want to prioritize choices to match student’s schedule.

While electives might be exploratory in nature, electives should also be intentional in their use to help guide students in preparing for future plans. Colleges programs and trade schools, for example, have different prerequisites. While a liberal arts degree will likely require a foreign language, a shop class elective is the ticket to a welding apprenticeship. It may be beneficial to meet with your student’s guidance counselor to discuss your child’s plans after graduation to determine what electives can best prepare them to meet their goals.

If your child is being home schooled, electives look different. In fact, home schooling provides parents with a unique flexibility to create an elective curriculum that suits their student’s interest and career plans. Map out what elective courses your student is interested in and consider working with a co-op to see if other students would be interested in completing the course.

Electives offer students and their parents the chance to customize their education. And as parents, you have insight into your student’s strengths and weaknesses and can encourage them to select the electives that will best fit their needs and help them reach their goals.