High School Notes

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Why not take the high school years to help them discover and develop their God-given gifts and interests? This will help them know themselves and be better attuned to God’s leading. How do you discover and develop gifts and interests in high school? Here are 6 ideas: 1. Pray with them. Sometimes teens get stressed because they think they have to figure out the future on their own. If they can pray with you, they will learn how to seek God and to trust Him for guidance. 2. Ask, “Who do you admire?” Sometimes God leads teens by sending role models. 3. Evaluate talents. Have them interview friends and family with this question, “What do you think that I am good at (helping, sports, academics, music, crafts, cooking, writing)?” Have them ask themselves the same question-and answer it kindly (sometimes teens are WAY too self-critical and miss the things God is trying to show them). 4. Evaluate academics. Help them look over the last couple of years’ transcripts or portfolios. What are favorite topics, subjects, events, projects? What were the least favorite? 5. Define values. Help your teen define his/her values. This means- “What is important to you?” Is it money for cars and vacations (or fashion statements)? Is it dinner with family each evening? Is it low-stress work environment? Is it a chance to travel or to compete? (A student who wants to eat dinner as a family each day should not go to med school. A student who wants to drive a BMW should not go into psychology). 6. Examine interests. Ask your teen, “If the computer crashed and all your schoolwork and chores were done, what would you do for the afternoon?” This helps your teen examine

Transcript of High School Notes

Page 1: High School Notes

 Why not take the high school years to help them discover and develop their God-given gifts and interests? This will help them know themselves and be better attuned to God’s  leading. How do you discover and develop gifts and interests in high school? Here are 6 ideas: 1. Pray with them.  Sometimes teens get stressed because they think they have to figure out the future on their own. If they can pray with you, they will learn how to seek God and to trust Him for guidance. 2. Ask, “Who do you admire?” Sometimes God leads teens by sending role models.  3. Evaluate talents. Have them interview friends and family with this question, “What do you think that I am good at (helping, sports, academics, music, crafts, cooking, writing)?” Have them ask themselves the same question-and answer it kindly (sometimes teens are WAY too self-critical and miss the things God is trying to show them). 4. Evaluate academics. Help them look over the last couple of years’ transcripts or portfolios. What are favorite topics, subjects, events, projects? What were the least favorite?  5. Define values. Help your teen define his/her values. This means- “What is important to you?” Is it money for cars and vacations (or fashion statements)? Is it dinner with family each evening? Is it low-stress work environment? Is it a chance to travel or to compete? (A student who wants to eat dinner as a family each day should not go to med school. A student who wants to drive a BMW should not go into psychology). 6. Examine interests. Ask your teen, “If the computer crashed and all your schoolwork and chores were done, what would you do for the afternoon?” This helps your teen examine what is really interesting. The best-case scenario is for your teens to have a job that will allow them time for interests OR include their interests.  7. After these discussions, you might want to help your high schoolers find some shadowing experiences or even an apprenticeship in some interest areas.  This will help them know whether they ACTUALLY like the career. I know one teen who wanted to be a vet until she shadowed for a week… 8. Try MyNextMove.org (FREE from the US Department of Labor) for a career interest test. 9. Help them check Occupational Outlook at the US Department of Labor’s website. It tells what the job market will probably be like in the future.  10. Tell them that the most important thing to do (besides praying) is to DO something.

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 As my older kids’ youth pastor said, “It is easier to move a rolling truck than a parked one.” God is in the “directing paths” business- so get moving! 

A Vision for Homeschooling High SchoolMany of us who are on the precipice of homeschooling high school started this journey when our children were very young. We have already been homeschooling a long time, but are nervous about navigating the high school path. Some of us are at the beginning of this journey and have chosen to pull a teen out of school and are beginning the homeschooling journey with high school.

No matter how long you have been homeschooling, you need a fresh vision when you begin high school with your teen. Without a vision for the high school years, a mom can quickly become consumed by fear and doubt, not to mention stress.

A vision for high school grounds us and gives us confidence to keep moving.

So how do we find this vision?

When I began my homeschool journey fifteen years ago I went through a process with God. Years before, I had been involved in a summer of culture studies. One of the things we learned was “envisioning.” Envisioning is a process of picturing the end—sort of an imagining of where you would like to end up. Once you have this picture of where you are going, you can plan your route. So at the beginning of our homeschool journey, I felt God leading me to first envision where we were going.

I began with reflection and prayer. The next step was to begin envisioning what I desired my children to be like at the end of our journey. What sort of people did I think they would become? What lifestyle and characteristics did I want to impart to them? What kind of character would they have? What will they love? Where will their giftings take them? I thought through these things for each child. Then I knew where we wanted to go and worked backward from there to plan our course of action.

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This proved to be such a wise place to begin. Of course, all God’s plans are. {grin} The vision that God planted in my family through this process proved to help me navigate the maze of learning styles and curriculum choices without losing my sanity.

Then we reached high school…

This plan I had mapped out was set into motion when my oldest child was five years old. Now that he was beginning high school (a decade later) I wasn’t so sure that I still had a clear picture of the route he should take. It was time to reassess. I revisited the envisioning process and asked God to give me a fresh vision for his high school journey.

I am so glad that I reassessed at the beginning of his high school years! I was feeling a bit overwhelmed at the thought of how to prepare him for college and studying his field of interest. A fresh look at his interests, his talents, his giftings, and where God may be calling him really helped me to begin to see how to guide him down his path.

We all need this fresh reflection at the outset of the high school years—whether we have been homeschooling for 9 years or 2 years. The high school years are important, and they are so much different than the years preceding them.

Your time with your high schooler will be much more productive and much less painful if you have a vision not just for homeschooling… but for homeschooling high school.

“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Proverbs 29:18, KJV

If you would like to find out more about envisioning and forming a vision for your homeschool (whether you’re just beginning or reassessing at the beginning of the high school years), grab a copy of my ebook, Finding Your Vision: Beginning (or Continuing) Your Homeschool Journey With the End in Mind. The book walks you through the process step by step. It is free for subscribers but you can also buy the pdf version if you would rather not subscribe.

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10 Resources for Homeschooling High School

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If you’re a fellow blogger or a writer, you know that I was supposed to use an exciting headline to draw you in. Something like, “10 Secrets about Homeschooling High School” or “10 Books for Homeschooling High School That Will Rock Your World,” not something boring like “10 Resources for Homeschooling High School.”However, if you’re a regular reader, you know that I’m quite the honest sort. So, maybe you won’t be surprised when I tell you that homeschooling high school with my poor guinea pig first child was a bit of a bumpy ride. We didn’t really find 10 resources that will rock your world – well, not 10 that rocked hers, anyway.

What we did do was stumble around a bit and find a handful of resources that we truly loved and a few that were not the best fit for Brianna, but that I still liked well enough to try to tweak for Josh and Megan. So, while I’m not ready to update my Top Picks list for high school just yet, I am ready to tell you about 3 or 4 resources that are on my “most definitely will use” list and 6 or 7 others that will get very careful consideration for Homeschooling High School, The Sequel.

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This post contains affiliate links. See full disclosure policy for more details.

Uncle Eric Books

Y’all may be getting tired of hearing it, but we love the Uncle Eric books. This is one resource that’s on the “definitely” list. We’ll be using the Uncle Eric books to homeschool high school with my younger two. These books will be the spine for some of our history, as well as government, civics, and economics.

Easy Grammar and Daily Grams

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We have long loved the Easy Grammar and Daily Grams books. We’ll be using their Ultimate Series to keep all those grammar rules fresh in the kids’ minds through high school.

Teaching Textbooks

I’ve heard pros and cons for Teaching Textbooks, but they’ve worked well for us. I foresee us using them all the way through high school, unless…well more on that in a minute.

One thing that I wish I’d done sooner is contact my friend who teaches high school algebra. Having her do a bit of tutoring with Brianna on the concepts that were proving a bit difficult has really been helpful.

CurrClick Live Classes

Brianna has been taking Spanish this year using the CurrClick Live classes. We have both been so impressed. (Just as an aside, Sra. Schere is fabulous! I have never met a more encouraging instructor in my life. She has completely changed Brianna’s outlook on learning Spanish after a bad experience a couple of years ago. If you get a chance to sign your kids up for one of Sra. Schere’s classes, I highly recommend that you do so.)

My plan right now is to have Josh and Megan take Spanish through CurrClick Live for high school. As for my “unless” on Teaching Textbooks, I’m seriously considering CurrClick Live for high school math. One thing that Brianna and I both really appreciate about the live classes is that she can ask questions of a real, live person when she doesn’t understand something. I’m thinking that would be really great for high school math.

Apologia Science

Apologia science didn’t work well for Brianna. However, I can’t help but feel really good about the courses for high school. So, we’re giving Apologia General Science a trial run with  some tweaks for Josh and Megan this year to see if it might work for them for high school. The two main things I’m trying are:

1) Using the audio CD so that they can listen as they read along in the book to help with comprehension.

2) Sitting in on their science lessons so that I fully understand what’s going on in case there are questions. I found that when Brianna started getting

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into some of the more complex science topics (with biology), it was kind of like trying to jump into complex math when I hadn’t been following along. It took me some reading and catching up to be able to explain the concepts. That caused frustration for both of us that I’m hoping to avoid during Round 2.

Biology and Chemistry 101

Biology 101 came highly recommended by a friend. When I found out there was a Chemistry 101, I had to get it, too. Brianna is watching them this year as a refresher and to cement any concepts that she might have missed. I plan to watch them with Josh and Megan when they get to high school.

At this point, I’m not even worried about meshing the topics with Apologia, necessarily, but, rather, just watching the videos as we go through the two science classes and letting the concepts click as the kids hear them repeated in their textbooks or on the videos.

Dave Ramsey’s Foundations in Personal Finance

I really like Dave Ramsey. He’s funny, so he keeps the attention of kids and adults alike as he shares financial truths that everyone needs to hear. I think that every American teen should view the Foundations in Personal Finance series before graduating high school. It’s that important. I’d love to see my kids avoid the financial mistakes that Brian and I made early in our marriage – mistakes that we’re just now finally starting to overcome.

I’ve got Josh and Megan’s workbooks stored in our school cabinet, just waiting for high school.

WriteShop

As it stands right now, WriteShop will be the writing program that we use through high school. Brianna enjoyed it and found it very helpful. Josh did well with it last year. I’ve started him and Megan on it this six weeks. No complaining about writing, so far. That’s always a plus.

History Odyssey

I’m hoping that my friends at Geography Matters will keep one step ahead of us as they continue adding to the Trail Guide to Learning series. Since

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the first middle school book (Journeys to the Ancient World) is just coming out this year, though, I’m not sure they will. If they do, we’ll keep going with Trail Guide. If not, History Odyssey will be a serious contender.

I wrote a review of History Odyssey a few years ago when Brianna used it. I really like that it ties in literature, geography and writing with history (You already knew that, right?) and I thought that Level II was challenging enough for most high school students. It even included a year long research paper assignment, if I remember correctly.

Zeezok Publishing

I like a lot of products from Zeezok Publishing, and their American Government course for high school is one of them. Bonus: It’s a DVD series with a student workbook, so there’s very little planning or input needed from me.

If you’re homeschooling high school (or have in the past), what are some of your favorite resources?

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The Ultimate List of High School Credit Courses

* Updated 8/14/13

The time is here… Transcript Time. First stages are unfolding and I’ve found myself with burning eyes from researching online.

So far I’ve come up with a list (which I borrowed from parts of the Florida Department of Education’s course listing of all 9th-12th Grade and Adult Education course names).

Here’s the total list (and how many credits each class is worth):- note my italic comments below each one, because some just needed to be discussed -

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Intro to Art History (.5)Art in World Cultures (.5)Art History & Critique I (1)Art History & Critique II, Honors (1)Studio Art I (1)- My kids took a Mixed Media class last year, and I’m counting it as my Studio Art I credit on the transcript -Studio Art II (1)Ceramics & Pottery I (1)Ceramics & Pottery II (1)Drawing I (1)Drawing II (1)Drawing III, Honors (1)Film I (1)Film II (1)Film III, Honors (1)Visual Technology I (1)Visual Technology II (1)Visual Technology III, Honors (1)Creative Photography I (1)Creative Photography II (1)Creative Photography III, Honors (1)Digital Art I (1)Digital Art II (1)Digital Art III, Honors (1)Portfolio Development – Drawing, Honors (1)Portfolio Development – Design, Honors (1)Printmaking I (1)Printmaking II (1)Design & Textiles / Fashion (1)Applied Information & Communication Technology I (1)Applied Information & Communication Technology II (1)AP Computer Science (1)Dance (1)- there were too many different types of dance for me to even list them, and we aren’t particularly interested in this, other than just for fun -Theater I (1)- we did a production Drama class last year, so this would count for Theater I for us -Theater II (1)Theater III, Honors (1)- there were also a lot of technology and behind the scenes classes for Drama, but I am not listing them here -Driver’s Ed (.5)Executive Internship (1)

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- not even sure what this is… ? -Voluntary Public Service- great article about how colleges are looking for community-driven service-minded students if you click over -Personal Career & Development (1)Child Development (1)Accounting (1)Life Management Skills (.5)- hahaha! Homeschool kids are going to rack up on these by the zillions! Check out this list of LIFE MANGMT courses offered at one link I discovered while doing research today… -Personal Health & Safety (.5)Personal Social & Family Relationships (.5)- another one homeschool kids will have in the bag, easy -Parenting I (.5)Parenting II (.5)Humanities Survey I (.5)- according to research, this would be a blend of art, literature, philosophy, architecture, politics, and religion and how these differ by geographical area and through history – namely ancient Greece, Rome, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, and Romantic periods… and then a study of the six major world religions and how these factors influence politics, social climates and cultures… which sounds like a great course to add Apologetics in with! -Humanities II, Honors (1)Religious Studies (1)Divinity (1)- pretty sure this is not a high school level course, or that anyone would want to waste precious high school course credit time on it -Classical Studies (1)- this had a slew of courses listed beside it, which leads me to believe that if you did your research, you could fancify your transcript to be a “Classical Studies” upgrade if you wanted to -Applied Communications I (1)Applied Communications II (1)English I (1)English II (1)English III (1)English IV (1)- still not real confident in what makes an English course honors or not, but I’m diligently taking notes -Semantics and Logic, Honors (.5)World Literature, Honors (1)American Literature, Honors (1)Classical Literature, Honors (1)

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Literature & the Arts, Honors (1)Literature & the Media, Honors (1)British Literature, Honors (1)- We took a fabulous course online for this last year, so even though it’s normally a Senior class, we took it in our Freshman year -Great Books, Honors (1)Journalism 1-5, 5 being an Honors level course (1)Social Media (.5)- seriously? There’s an easy A+ for my teens -Speech I (1)Speech II (1)Speech III, Honors (1)Debate I (1)Debate II (1)Debate III, Honors (1)Writing I (.5)Writing II (.5)Creative Writing 1-5, 3-5 being Honors level courses (1)Writing for College Success (.5)Play Writing (1)Advanced Placement English Language Composition (1)Algebra I (1)Algebra II, both regular and Honors levels (1)Mathematical Analysis, Honors (.5)Pre-Calculus, Honors (1)Calculus, Honors (1)Consumer Math (1)Geometry (1)Liberal Arts Math I (1)- we had a giggle about this course title… sounds like funny math used to skew elections & the economy, am I right? -Liberal Arts Math II (1)Probability & Statistics, Honors (1)- seriously? some people really just need to loosen up -Trigonometry, Honors (1)Music Theory I (1)Music Theory II, Honors (1)- had no idea you could take an honors music theory class -Keyboard 1-4, 4 being Honors level (1)- hopefully Piano counts, surely someone out there has an old fashioned REAL piano still? -Band 1-6, 6 being Honors level (1)Orchestra 1-6, 5-6 being Honors level (1)Instrumental Ensemble (1)

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Jazz Ensemble (1)Chamber Orchestra (1)Chorus 1-6, 5-6 being Honors level (1)Vocal Techniques 1-4, 4 being Honors level (1)Music Technology & Sound (1)Eurhythmics (1)- I had to look this up. It’s seriously the most pointless class I’ve ever heard of. -Peer Counseling (.5)- another waste of high school time -Personal Fitness (.5)Weight Training (.5)Comprehensive Fitness (.5)Aerobics 1-3 (.5)Gymnastics 1-2 (.5)Self Defense (.5)Outdoor Education (.5)- looked this one up, too… found a place online offering a course that interchanged these sports depending on the season: Skiing, Hiking, Backpacking, Canoeing, Spelunking, Kayaking, Fly Fishing, Cooking Out, Snow Shoeing, Tree Climbing, Geo-caching, Survival Skills, Mountain Biking, Winter Camping, Mountain Climbing or Biking, Pool Paddling, Rock Climbing, and more -Golf (.5)Swimming (.5)Tennis (.5)Track & Field (.5)Basketball (.5)Soccer (.5)Water Safety (.5)Softball (.5)Team Sports (.5)Volleyball (.5)Physical Education, comprehensive (1)- according to some research I did, I found a syllabus which covered the following topics as part of a comprehensive PE course: health, stress relief, safety, technology applications, sex ed, sportsmanship, nutrition, family consumer science topics such as the environment, human development, community, & fire safety -Research 1-3 (1)- researching just WHAT, exactly, I’m not sure… -Critical Thinking & Study Skills (.5)Cambridge Interdisciplinary Investigations & Critical Reasoning Seminar (1)- name-dropper. -Global Perspectives (1)- minus the agenda -Biology I (1)

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Biology II, Honors (1)Anatomy & Physiology, regular and Honors levels (1)Botany (1)Ecology (1)Zoology (1)Biotech (1)Genetics, Honors (1)Bioscience 1-3, all Honors level (1)Earth & Space Science, regular and Honors level (1)Astronomy Solar & Galactic (1)Environmental Science (1)Space Technology & Engineering (1)Integrated Science (1)- apparently this is just a mixture of different branches of science, and I’m not sure what benefit this course would be -Nuclear Radiation (1)Physics 1-3, 2 and 3 are Honors level (1)Chemistry I (1)Chemistry II, Honors (1)Food Studies (1)- I would have to see a syllabus to figure this out, but it sounds nommy -Marine Science I (1)Marine Science II (1)Astronomy I (1)Astronomy II (1)United States History, regular and Honors level (1)African American History, regular and Honors level (.5)- not sure why we are segregating history, I’m pretty sure we are all Americans -Latin American History (1)Eastern & Western Heritage (1)- really? -Anthropology (.5)Economics (.5)Economics with Financial Literacy (.5)- we are going to use Dave Ramsey’s Personal Finance Class along with our Economics Course in the future -American Economic Experience: Scarcity & Choice (.5)World Culture Geography (1)Global Studies (1)Community Service (.5)- wow, not sure how many hours a .5 credit is worth, but just imagine the possibilities here! LOL -Women’s Studies (.5)- another one I would have to research a syllabus on -

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Engaged Citizenship through Service, Learning (.5)- have no idea what this is, but Texas requires “Good Citizenship” and by my definition, I consider a good citizen one who is morally upright and not apathetic or indifferent to the needs of others – someone who is willing to stand up and do something when it needs to be done, and someone who is going to do the RIGHT thing; that being said, I count a year’s worth of “Good Citizenship” as the following: Bible & Character Training, Political Activism, Current Events Awareness Studies, Service Projects & Community Involvement… and we participate in our community through Teen Court, clubs or groups we are members of and the various volunteer efforts and church involvement opportunities we have -Multicultural Studies (.5)- a grouping of History, Sociology, Political Science, and Social Sciences -World Religions (.5)Philosophy (.5)Ethics (.5)US Government, regular and Honors level (.5)Civics (1)Political Science (.5)Law Studies (.5)International Law (.5)Comparative Political Systems (.5)Comprehensive Law Studies (.5)Legal Systems and Concepts (.5)Court Procedures (.5)Court Procedures Intern (.5)International Relations I (1)International Relations II (1)American Political System: Process & Power (.5)Constitutional Law, Honors (1)Psychology I (.5)Psychology II (.5)Sociology (.5)World History, regular and Honors levels (1)African History (.5)Contemporary History (.5)Jewish History (1)Holocaust (.5)Business Studies I (1)- they had some letters besides this course: IGCSE, which I wasn’t familiar with -Business Studies II (1)Travel & Tourism (1)European History (1)AP US History (1)AP Microeconomics (.5)

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AP Human Geography (1)AP US Government & Politics (.5)AP European History (1)AP World History (1)AP Psychology (1)IB Human Rights I (1)IB Human Rights II (1)- IB stands for International Baccalaureate (courses for a “rapidly globalizing world”… hmmm…) -IB Political Thought I (1)IB Political Thought II (1)Leadership Skills Development (1)Leadership Techniques (1)Study Hall (no credit)Classical Greek (1)Hebrew 1-4 (1)Latin 1-6, 3-6 being Honors level (1)Spanish 1-6, 3-6 being Honors level (1)Language & Literature for International Studies, Honors (1)- this would be language and literature in a foreign language and culture and honors level work -American Sign Language (1)- there were plenty of other languages, but I only wrote down the ones we would possibly be interested in -

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All goofing aside, eventually these cute kids are going to need to look polished and professional for a college admissions board. They are smart, but I want to make sure they have a lot more good things packed away in those minds and hearts before mama has to watch them roll down the driveway with college stars in their eyes. Sniff, sniff.

Depending on what college your kid is interested in attending, I would check with the general admission requirements and the requirements for a particular major/minor program also. According to one of the links below, most colleges require these basics…

English: 4 years Foreign Language: 2 to 3 years Math: 3 years Science: 2 – 3 years Social Studies (including history): 2 to 3 years

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For more information about what colleges are looking for in applicants, how many credits they require, and tips for getting your diploma ducks in a row, check out these links:

High School Course Requirements by About.com

HSLDA High School Academics and Transcript Information / Samples

Lee Binz – The HomeScholar (this is an affiliate link – she’s a homeschool-to-college rockstar!)

Here’s what I am hoping we can list on their transcripts when we are all finished:

Note: M stands for just my daughter taking the course, K stands for just my son taking the course, and H stands for honors level. AP is Advanced Placement, and those courses must be administered by an approved college or fascility and will most likely cost a homeschooler a pretty penny, but might also count towards your college credit. [I'm still looking in to free Texas college credits for some of these classes - will update later!]

FRESHMAN (8.5 Credits)

Subject Curriculum/Course Information

English English I – Writing, Vocabulary, Grammar, & Proofing

English Medieval British Literature

Science Apologia – Biology H + Lab

Foreign Language Spanish I

Math Algebra I

History MOH – Ancient, Classical & Medieval World History & Geography

Visual Arts Studio I: Mixed Media / Drawing I

Visual Arts Black & White Film Photography + Lab

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Theater Drama I: Production/Acting

Good Citizenship

Bible, Politics, Current Events, Service Projects, Teen Court

SOPHMORE (10 Credits)

English English II – Writing, Vocab, Grammar, Creative Writing, Poetry, Proofing

English World Literature/Classical Literature

Science Apologia – Chemistry H + Lab

Foreign Language Spanish II

Math Algebra II

History MOH – Renaissance, Reformation & Nations, World History & Geography

Science Classical Astronomy (K) – with apprenticeship

Visual Arts Printscreening & Printmaking (M) – with apprenticeship

Art/History Art History & Critique / World Religions (Humanities Survey)

Music Piano / Music Theory

PE Personal Fitness

Good Citizenship

Bible, Politics, Current Events, Service Projects, Teen Court

JUNIOR (10 Credits)

English English III

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English American Literature

Science Apologia – Physics H + Lab (K) / Anatomy & Physiology H (M)

Foreign Language Spanish III H

Math Geometry

History All American History- American History & Geography

History American Government / Economics with Personal Finance

Elective Critical Thinking & Study Skills / Social Media & PR

Elective Speech / Debate

Elective Child Development / Parenting

Music Piano / Music Theory

Good Citizenship

Bible, Politics, Current Events, Service Projects, Teen Court

SENIOR (10 Credits)

English English IV

English Great Books H

Science Apologia – Marine Biology

Math Calculus

History Mystery of History – Modern History

Technology AP Computer Science / Programming (K)

Life Management

Creative Foods & Nutrition / International Foods / Home Economics (M)

Visual Arts Creative Photography I / Portfolio Development

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PE PE Comprehensive, Family Consumer Living, Personal Health & Safety

Music Piano / Music Theory

Good Citizenship

Bible, Politics, Current Events, Service Projects, Teen Court

Of course, we are just starting our sophomore year, so this is subject to change, and most likely will. You know the person at the dinner table who loads their plate (eyes too big for their stomach)? That’s me. Implementing things is harder than planning them out. Life gets smack in your way. However, it was really GOOD to do this planning and find out that we won’t be in deep water if I don’t manage to get in all the electives we love before the end arrives without much warning.

We may or may not go in this same order, but this is probably the order we will list these classes on our transcript because they fit the “norm” better this way. For instance, our history program allows for additional reading of classics and original source materials, and studying period art. I’m going to give the kids a credit course for the history and geography portion, the art history (after enough hours are put in), and the literature (in addition to the literature they read for the writing/English course they take).

If we get most of that covered, I’ll be thrilled. If they finish all of this they will have 38 full credits. I know that seems high, but I really want them to learn all this stuff. It is only fair to give them credit for it if we cover it and they do the work required. I refuse to lower my standards because of public school requirements.

Most colleges that have a minimum course credit total requirement are between 18-20 academic units. They just want to see that you have a broad and interesting high school career, made decent grades, and covered all your basics. Well, that, and it helps to sparkle on the SAT or ACT. Add in a letter of recommendation and you are all set.

Since this process is new to me (and totally out of my comfort zone), I would love to hear your advice on finding a really GOOD conservative Christian college that isn’t too far away from our home near Austin, Texas. We looked at Southwestern in Georgetown and besides the cost, I’m afraid that their motto of being focused on “fostering a Liberal Arts Community” could be heavy on the “liberal” part. I wouldn’t know, so if you have any experience there, let me know. It is relatively close and

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the campus is gorgeous. Other options my kids are looking at are LeTourneau and Baylor.

Tell me about your high school planning, transcripting, and college searching! I’d love to touch base with others in the same boat or those who have already crossed all my uncharted waters and came out happily on bright shores!

(who needs to get in bed and stop hyper-focusing on high school planning before she gets bloodshot eyes)