How to make high school fun

[Hunter's Moon]

I don't mean less rigorous. I mean more fun. Obviously, subjects I dislike (Math and Science) I can't really make much fun. I'll just have to trudge through them.

 

But do you do anything with your high schoolers that might be considered fun or that they enjoy?

[In The Great White North]

Rabbit trails. On whatever floats your boat. Everyone is different.

 

For extra brownie points, try tie them into all your other subjects and come up with a few field trips.

[regentrude]

But do you do anything with your high schoolers that might be considered fun or that they enjoy?

 

Well... my DD does actually enjoy math and physics and thinks algebra 2 is great fun. She also thinks reading Herodotus and Homer is fun. So to her, most of her school work is enjoyable.

 

Here are a few suggestions for you:

To make history more enjoyable, you could supplement with historic fiction of the period, documentaries, living history events. You could design your own assignments and do research projects about topics you are interested in and present your findings to friends and family. You could add a practical assignment and make costumes or clothes of the period (not that this adds academic rigor - but it may be just fun for you if you like these kinds of things)

To make English more enjoyable, you can pick books you enjoy reading (all literature is selection, so there should be something). You could add film adaptations, watch live plays if you study drama, find fun creative writing assignments. You can even make writing persuasive essays fun by picking a controversial topic and playing devil's advocate. you could found your own debate or drama club.

To make foreign language studies more enjoyable, you can read books in the language, watch movies and find native speakers to converse with.

For anything, you could see if you find interesting lectures and presentations, either live or on CD/DVD and hear experts talking about their field.

 

Even if you do not like science, you can make it fun by finding a topic you are interested in and working on that in detail. I do not believe that there is absolutely nothing at all in the scientific world that you could develop an interest in- "science" is such a broad category, you might want to think about it some more and come up with something.

What subject do you particularly enjoy and are excited about?

[Hunter's Moon]

What subject do you particularly enjoy and are excited about?

 

Thank you for all the suggestions.

 

I enjoy History and English most.

 

I really like the making clothes from that time period idea.

[Hunter's Moon]

Rabbit trails. On whatever floats your boat. Everyone is different.

 

For extra brownie points, try tie them into all your other subjects and come up with a few field trips.

 

This may seem like a simple enough concept, but could you please elaborate?

 

For example, I am a knitter. Would knitting baby booties like women did in the pioneer days and such be an example of tying a rabbit trail into my subjects?

 

That may be a bad example though.

[Chris in VA]

How about attending some SCA events (historical reenactment stuff)?

A rabbit trail? Finding more information about an area of interest--like maybe researching and making authentic recipes after reading about the pioneers, or learning about a certain practice or geographical place, or investigating an artist who was alive at the time you are studying, or...you get the idea. Setting aside some time to pursue an interest that is turned up can make the academic work a lot more fun. Think of a gardener who, while preparing the soil, unearths a mysterious brooch, and then researches the former owner of the home to see if it's hers...The garden is the goal, but the rabbit trail leads to something else worth pursuing!:D

[lisabees]

Think of a gardener who, while preparing the soil, unearths a mysterious brooch, and then researches the former owner of the home to see if it's hers...The garden is the goal, but the rabbit trail leads to something else worth pursuing!:D

 

Love it! :001_smile:

 

Allow yourself time for following these rabbit trails. If something fascinates you, read more about it. Set aside a Documentary Day every week - watch anything you would like (netflix is wonderful for this). Set aside a certain time or day, every week, to work on an independent study project. Take advantage of homeschooling, since you've never done this before. Watch TED Talks, read the newspaper every morning, listen to an NPR show you like, take a field trip every month, learn something new.

 

Do you have a favorite period in history? Learn everything you can. What they wore, what they ate, what their schooling was like.

 

If you could make a difference in the world, how would you do it? Start now. Volunteer for your cause. If there isn't an organization, start one. Read Nicholas Kristof's columns in the NY times. Eye opening.

 

Try 15 minute exercise videos every day, if you're not very physical. On Demand has them available.

 

Start a blog, about one of your passions. Or just about your life.

 

Find a pen pal from another country. I thought there were some reputable ones mentioned on the board(?).

 

Take time each day to write. Creative writing, journal writing, etc.

 

Are you enjoying your electives? DS is enjoying psychology. Linguistics would be fascinating.

 

Take school somewhere else every week. Go to the library, a coffee shop, a bookstore.

 

Search local colleges for interesting speakers. Go on college visits.

 

Join or start a book club.

 

Take pictures. Of anything. Of everything.

 

Allow yourself time to explore. Take this year to open up to the world around you, instead of staying cooped up in your home.

 

Ds is struggling with that a bit. He's in the same situation as you - a junior who started hs this year. It can be lonely.

Edited November 8, 2010 by lisabees

[Lori D.]

- Incorporate something you enjoy doing into your schedule so you have something to look forward to.

(work on a novel; hand crafts; dog training; cooking; gardening; computer software project; compose music/songs; etc.)

 

- Take a course that allow you develop a personal interest or possible career field interest, or just for fun.

(Parks & Rec. class such as pottery, martial arts, dance, etc.)

 

- Volunteer once a week to get out and meet people and help others.

(Red Cross, soup kitchen, tutor younger students at a local library, animal shelter, nursing home/elder care home, etc.)

 

- Do an internship / apprenticeship in a field of interest to you.

 

- Enjoy a short-term online podcast course or "webinar" class to develop a hobby or out of personal interest (ex.: Creative Live has free live webinar classes (which can also be purchased as download) on photography, watercolor, digital filmmaking, various computer software and other topics)

 

- Get involved in a homeschool group.

(fun activities such as student council, social events, volunteer opportunities and other socializing opportunities; educational activities such as a co-op, field trips, "shadowing" for a morning or a day a person in a career you are interested in, etc.)

 

- Get involved in a community group of some sort.

(Fiction Writing group or club; Society for Creative Anachronism or other History Reenactment group; book club; Junior Orchestra; Community Teen Theater or Christian Youth Theater; Youth Choir; Teen Pact or Youth & Government; National Forensics; etc.)

 

- Join an after school club or sports team.

(Deka; Junior Achievement; Chess Club; Debate Team; tennis, softball, volleyball, or other sport; etc.)

[Teachin'Mine]

You can make science more fun. Do you have a science museum you can get to? If you do, check out their website and see how much it costs for an annual membership for a student. If it's reasonable, you can go there fairly often and have some fun with science. It's a great way to meet other homeschoolers too. :)

 

ETA: If you can get there, it might be fun to volunteer there. Other places to think about are aquariums, zoos, art museums, any place that you'd like to spend some time. Check around for volunteer opportunities, or for good membership rates.

Edited November 8, 2010 by Teachin'Mine

[Lori D.]

Thank you for all the suggestions. I enjoy History and English most. really like the making clothes from that time period idea.

 

 

Perhaps expand your interest into a hobby, a job, or educational elective credit that you schedule as part of your school day through one of these historical clothing sites:

 

Historical Costume Services (Randolph MA)

MA Historical Society

Cloak & Dagger Creations (Littleton, MA)

 

 

Or enjoy a field trip to a historical society or museum with historical clothing, which might lead to making a contact that leads to volunteering / helping as a docent, or historical recreation, or creating historical clothing, or...

Westwood Historical Society, 19th Century Clothing Exhibit

 

BEST of luck! Warmly, Lori D.

[LunaLee]

Here are some things I am having dd do this year to make it a little more "fun".

 

US History:

-She's making a scrapbook with a friend who is also doing US History. They each are doing their own books, but working together. She scrapbooks her textbook, so a two page spread (or more) covers one chapter. If she can't think of anything on her own, I have a list of things she can do; summarize the chapter, pictures of presidents for that time period, important vocabulary, a timeline of important events, and one thing she's found interesting in her reading.

-She's also researching her family history and tying that into her history scrapbook.

-I'll be having her do a photo essay (because she has a passion photography) when we get to the gold rush. Since we live close to where it started she'll have no problem coming up with things.

 

Chemistry:

-She is making a photography "exhibition" of the elements. An idea I got from a book called Molecules at an Exhibition. She finds something made up of an element and takes a picture of it and types up a little summary of the element.

-I also have her do mini reports on occupations related to chemistry.

-When we get to the section of the text that deal with medicinal and organic chemistry, she'll be reading some non fiction related to that and making a poster that covers what she learned. We'll probably also do some "experiments" with aromatherapy or make your own face masks and that kind of thing.

 

Math:

-After she's done with Life of Fred (her main algebra text) I'll be having her do some hands on, real life activities. I haven't done the specifics yet, but last year when she did Geometry I had her make a tesselation and an art project based on shapes in nature.

 

If you like fashion, you could easily tie that into all of your subjects. You could present it in a scrapbook or a powerpoint presentation, or just make your own little book and take it to Kinkos and have it bound...

 

For more ideas you can just Google "Subject projects". That'll get you started.

[Hunter's Moon]

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful ideas!

 

Last night I decided I was going to get up at 6:30 to start exercising more. I did field hockey my Freshman and Sophomore year and unfortunately couldn't do it this year because of my sinus/allergy issues.

 

At one point, I was volunteering at the animal shelter, but our car broke down. Should be fixed in the spring. When I turn 18 though, I plan to volunteer at Shriner's which is right around the corner from me. That will look good for my career choice as well.

 

I really liked the idea about the photography exhibition of the elements, LunaLee!

 

I also liked the idea of tying family history into history. There is actually a whole site devoted to my father's last name. Apparently, it isn't very common and only a handful of people have carried over the name. Unfortunately, he doesn't know his father's side, and that stopped me dead in my track when I was doing the free trial of ancestry.com.

 

Thanks everyone!

 

Keep 'em coming if you have anymore!

[Ester Maria]

All of those things - scrapbooks, photography, etc. - are good ideas if you have lots of time on your hands and you're willing to spend that time trying to tie school to those. Keep in mind, however, that that way of "making it fun" actually prolongs the school day, since those are the type of activities that are usually done in addition to the formal work, not instead of it. I suggest doing it for the things you LOVE rather than for the things you aren't crazy about.

 

If you're really bored with school, I suggest a radically different approach: the one of "sucking it up and doing it" and thus allowing yourself more genuinely free time for whatever interests you might have. Sometimes the best approach isn't about trying to make everything fun, particularly the things you don't like, but about doing your honest, fair shot at those, "doing your job" - and spending the rest of the time free. :)

 

(I still owe you that reply for Italian. I didn't forget, I'm just disorganized lately. Will add more Italian-specific suggestions then. :))

[memphispeg]

If you like English and History, you can tie them together with Science (and thus probably Math) by looking at the history of science during the time period, or what sort or ecology there was, or what sorts of foods were grown/eaten/cooked, or what sort of public health issues there were.

[Nan in Mass]

You could do a research paper on knitting, either through the ages or around the world. Did you know that people all over the world knit but that they do it in different ways? Some even have a holder at their waist for one needle. I did a little research on knitting when I was trying to solve a tiny family historical puzzle. We knit weird in my family GRIN (funny twist) and I tried to track down why. My grandmother taught me to knit. She said she was taught to knit this way because it was supposed to be faster and they needed to knit fast to make socks for the soldiers in World War One. But when I happened across a German woman knitting, she didn't knit quite this way. She showed me how to get rid of the twist, but when I knit something that way, it didn't look like something "knit" to me (it looked machine made) so I went back to doing it my old way, which was easier anyway. At that point, I thought perhaps some nice dull church lady had mangled the Red Cross directions, but I kept wondering about it. Eventually, I met a knitting expert who said she had seen people knit like I did and so I set about tracking down the origins of this type of knitting. All the libraries I have been in had a number of books on knitting, usually at least one of which was about historical patterns or knitting patterns from someplace far away.

 

Did you know that in the early 1800's in New England, knitting was done only on very very thin needles? I learned that at Sturbridge Village. That is a good, nearby place to go for a field trip. It is expensive, though, so you probably would want to investigate student discounts.

 

Your public library might have season passes to local museums. You "take out" the pass for the weekend the same way you take out a book and it allows you to get into the museum for free or at a discounted price.

 

In general, the fun part of school comes from the "extras". If you are just plugging through a textbook on your own, answering the questions, there will be no extras. Textbooks usually don't say things like, "Stop studying this now and do a project this week." Unless they are homeschooling textbooks, they usually assume that a teacher is using bits and pieces of the textbook, adding in projects and papers and extra reading. When you homeschool, you have to do that for yourself. One way to do it would be to look at your textbook, pick a few of the chapters you are the most interested in, and instead of doing the questions for that chapter, just assign yourself a paper or project instead. (You would still read the chapter.) If it is a longish project, then you probably are going to have to just-read the next chapter as well, so you have time. Does that make sense? Then pick something you yourself think would be fun to do for the project. Projects take extra time, so try to make sure you aren't trying to do one of your science projects the same week (or weeks) you are trying to do your history projects. I made English more fun for my children by letting them substitute art projects for some of their papers. You can watch a familiar movie in your foreign language by changing the DVD settings or read some TinTin books or something. To make time for those, skip grammar or vocabulary or one of other daily drill type subjects. Between all those things, you should be able to do something fun every week.

-Nan

[laughing lioness]

Our outdoor campus has free classes- you just need to call and set it up. Xcoutnry skiing, orienteering, etc. The local state college has a rock climbing wall. Local homeschoolers go ballroom dancing on Friday evenings. We participate in drama camp and a One ACt Play festival. TeenPact has an awesome state class (1 week during your states legislative session- go to www.teenpact.com) and great alumni classes all over the county. Patrick Henry (and other colleges) host homeschool camps in the summer. Campaign-always tons of fun with a group, esp if it's a cause or a canidate that you really believe in.

[Rosie_0801]

How about attending some SCA events (historical reenactment stuff)?

 

 

Ha! I'm not the only one telling you this! :D This would be your kingdom of residence:http://www.eastkingdom.org/

 

If you join up, be perky, help out a lot, then see about being a lady in waiting, getting apprenticed or both. That will have you hanging around with lots of adults who will teach you things and write references for you when you need them.

 

Rosie

[Hunter's Moon]

Ha! I'm not the only one telling you this! :D This would be your kingdom of residence:http://www.eastkingdom.org/

 

If you join up, be perky, help out a lot, then see about being a lady in waiting, getting apprenticed or both. That will have you hanging around with lots of adults who will teach you things and write references for you when you need them.

 

Rosie

 

Lol, I would love that!

 

Thanks! Definitely looking at these.

 

The only ones I found when searching were in Boston and Salem, of course so I'm glad to see this.

[swimmermom3]

Hey Stephanie, Regena (mcconellboys) has talked about some of the things she has done with regards to chemistry. Do you have a brewery, winery, or distillery that your folks would be willing to take you to to learn about the chemical processes involved? Water treatment plant? Books on kitchen chemistry. Anything you bake in the kitchen will involve a chemical reaction. Read some biographies on famous chemists. There are some fascinatingly brilliant nutcases out there.

 

For math, do you have an opportunity to watch the Teaching Company course, The Art and Craft of Mathematical Problem Solving? Pick a rabbit trail in those courses you dislike and turn them on their heads by trying a different approach.