Help! I need a primer on High School curricula

[birchbark]

My oldest is teetering on the edge of high school and I'm feeling a little  :willy_nilly:  I think the thing that is intimidating me the most right now is my lack of knowledge on high school curriculum options. I've been schooling for a while now and feel like I have a good handle on K-8 curricula. High school, not so much. Of course I'm familiar with Abeka and BJU and big providers like that. But I've always liked to custom-piece our yearly lineups and I need more info on individual programs and courses. Can anyone point me to a thread or web page that gives a good list? I see there are Biology and Chemistry threads pinned, so I will check those out. And I'll continue to poke around on Lori's motherlode thread.

 

I'd also like to hear if anyone has a particular course that they feel is especially excellent. You know, those "don't miss" ones that you plan on having all your children take.

 

 

 

 

[Lori D.]

There are actually SO many options these days, asking for ideas could actually end up with you feeling more overwhelmed than you feel right now. ;)  Perhaps if you could give us a general idea of your homeschooling philosophy and your goals for high school (and beyond), that could help us better match up ideas for you. For example:

 

- What have you used in the past that has worked well? What about it worked well? Does it have high school levels so you can continue to use it?

- What have you used in the past that did NOT work well? What about it did not work?

- Does your student have any special needs? (gifted/advanced, or, late bloomer/learning issues)

- Do you prefer secular or faith-based materials?

- Would outsourcing be of interest or a possibility?

- Will AP (Advanced Placement) be of interest or a possibility?

- What are your student's strengths, interests, possible career leanings, or college of interest?

 

I find these 3 threads to be especially helpful for planning high school:

- Could you point me to a list = list of types of high school classes by subject

- High school curriculum -- where do I start? = how to decide what credits to do, and then how to select specific curriculum

- High School "Time Table" = deadlines and what to do / when for high school

 

For ideas of what curriculum is out there:

- Cathy Duffy reviews

- HSLDA high school curriculum (predominantly lists Christian resources)

 

And of course, a search (by "tag", and by "words") will pull up threads with great suggestions. For example:

- What math options are there where I do NOT have to be the teacher

- Suggestions for Gov't and Econ courses

- What's a good choice for high school Geography?

- Can I get suggestions for "Fine Arts" credits

- Top outsourced classes tried and true?

 

You may also find you get a lot more responses as you post individual threads asking for specific recommendations for math, or another thread on writing… etc.

 

Welcome to high school planning! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

[birchbark]

Well I guess it's good there are plenty of options! I was afraid the number of options would plummet when reaching HS as so many send their kids to brick and mortar at that point.

 

To answer Lori's questions:

 

- We have used a whole book/Classical/CM approach up til now. It has worked well, but I'm also wanting to expose my student to more traditional texts and lectures during HS. He is in his first online class this year, a composition course from Potter's School, and it's been great. Definitely will consider that for HS, but just want to have an idea of what else is out there, you know? We love our math, but it only goes through 9th grade.

 

- We haven't ended up with too many curriculum losers in the past. IEW was a bomb. Too formulaic. One thing I'd like to avoid is having too many subjects going on at one time. We've tried it before and that definitely doesn't work.

 

- No special needs.

 

- Secular or Faith-based is fine.

 

- Definitely interested in outsourcing some, but not all, subjects. Writing and Science seem like good candidates. DH is good with math; I think we'll be fine there.

 

- AP: not sure

 

- Student is interested in aviation, film-making, and computer programming. DH and I like the idea of Hillsdale College, but I'm not sure DS is a liberal-arts kind of guy. We'll see.

 

 

Thank you for the links Lori! You are so good at providing leads for the newbies. 

[kiana]

I guess here's what I'd recommend:

 

1) Make a tentative list of courses that you would like to not miss. For example, for me, it would look like this:

 

Math: Algebra, Geometry, Algebra 2/Trig, Statistics

Social Sciences: World History, American History, World Geography + Religions, Economics

Science: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth/Environmental Science

 

Your courses might be different, but you see where I'm going?

 

Then start thinking about what order you'd like to do them in. Then start thinking about the curriculum you're going to use to cover them.

 

I think that by looking at the curriculum first and not what your end goals are, you're putting the cart before the horse just a little bit. 

[Mom22ns]

Then start thinking about what order you'd like to do them in. Then start thinking about the curriculum you're going to use to cover them.

 

I think that by looking at the curriculum first and not what your end goals are, you're putting the cart before the horse just a little bit. 

 

I'll add, once you've made your list of what to cover and the order, then start looking for the first year. So once you know where you are starting in math, start searching Algebra, Geometry, or Algebra 2 threads. The same for science, once you've decided what class your dc will take first, then start reading the Biology or Physics or ?? threads. You can definitely still put together each piece year by year. I think most people here do, although there are certainly some that base in MFW or something that covers several subjects and gives them a core they stick with all 4 years.

[clementine]

I think my first plan was to read a couple of books on homeschooling high school, just to get my mind set on the fact that this is do-able.  Books that break it down into bite-size encouragement slowly put my mind at ease.  Then I made a 4 year (very changeable) plan - this is what she'll take in 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th.  If you outsource and schedules conflict, what you thought might be a 10th grade class may become an 11th grade class.  Also, as they grow and their interests change, you may change things too.  

 

Once I have that sort of set, I start to research individual curriculums.  Read reviews, look at sample pages online, google like crazy....and search these forums.  

 

You can do this!!!  

 

 

[birchbark]

Sorry for this late response-- we were at the Circe conference this past week. We are in the process of reading homeschooling HS resources and making a list of goals, but I was still hoping for a master list of curriculum to work off of when we are ready to select particulars. Lori's link to HSLDA's list of curriculum is the closest I've seen to what I am looking for. I realize I can do individual searches on the forum here but I was hoping I wouldn't have to read through gazillions of threads right off the bat. 

[Mom22ns]

Sorry to disappoint you, but there is no master list. If you are looking for a homeschool specific list, you might find something, but most people don't limit themselves to curriculum published just for homeschoolers at this point. Many use college text books, public school text books, open courseware, MOOCs, and more. The choices are quite endless. This can be overwhelming, but it is wonderful to know the options really do open up at this level.