JEJE Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 Since High School is looming on the horizon (my oldest is in 8th grade), I've been thinking about our family's homeschooling goals. It is important to me to provide the children with an interesting, unique education -- an education that is different from what they would receive at our local (struggling) High School. I want to capitalize on their interests, strengths, and future goals. What type of "out of the box" classes have you created for your children? I am looking for unique ideas to get my creative juices flowing. My children are interested in all sorts of things, so all ideas are welcome :) A few things I am considering for my oldest: * A Movies as Literature course (+ reading/analyzing/comparing the books) * A science course in Animal Behavior (she wants to be a therapeutic riding instructor - I took a similar class in college, as did dh in vet school) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathmom Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 I'm excited to do the MIT OpenCourseware courses in Kitchen Chemistry with my son. We are going to do them either along with his ChemAdvantage Advanced Chemistry class or after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 One of the threads I remember for a while back is this on senior projects. I know you aren't asking about big projects, but there are many terrific ideas in this thread. I have taken the interests of my kids and created courses by adding books for them to read and requiring they keep a log of their work, or perhaps write a reflective essay on what they are doing or produce some kind of final project for the semester. My oldest had many of these unique courses as he is my most out of the box kid. For instance, he took a cinematography course where he had to read a couple of books, watch movies (we were doing Movies as Literature that year, too) and he filmed a couple of projects too. His essays for Movies as Literature were more about the cinematic techniques than the literary elements. We kept a log of his volunteer hours for "community service" courses. He also had letters of thanks from his mentors, and he made some videos about what he did. My younger ds had a course last semester called "career exploration". He apprenticed with an electrical engineer friend, soldering circuit boards, testing boards, doing a few projects, too. He also visited the engineering department at a local university, and wrote some essays about what he was doing. BTW, in many California schools require volunteer work for graduation. The charter school through which we homeschool offers credit for these volunteer hours through courses such as "community service" "career exploration" or "community learning". In order to get credit though, there has to be some kind of final project, whether a paper or presentation (power point, video, or poster). Check out that thread I linked and brainstorm with your kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 I don't know if you have boys, girls, or both so this may not work for you. This year I am putting together a Jane Austen literature elective for my 11th grade dd and three of her friends. Not sure yet what I'm going to call it. I haven't got it all worked out but they will be reading one Jane Austen work a month along with a couple books I've picked up on Jane Austen's works and Jane Austen for Dummies. We will also be learning/doing some things that Jane Austen or her characters might have done...silhouettes, dances, some of the card games mentioned in the books ("Hearts, Mr. Collins!!), etc. We will also add in some movie watching (of course) and how modern culture has taken Jane Austen's works and put them in our era...this will include the movie "Clueless" and the book "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." For writing, we are contemplating them keeping a blog of their thoughts throughout the year. They will work on making their own Regency era gowns (in our co-op sewing class, NOT taught by me) and then the culmination of the year is a planned trip to a Regency Ball nearby at the end of the year. We are pretty excited about it all! Now I have just got to get some sort of syllabus ready for them all.:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEJE Posted July 29, 2010 Author Share Posted July 29, 2010 These are incredible ideas! Thank you all for responding :) I am getting very excited about the opportunities available for my highschooler! By the way, I have girls and boys. Starting next year, we'll have someone entering high school about every 3 years for the next 13 years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southcarolinamom Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 My 16 yo son wants to do a cooking class in 12th grade, so we are using 2 of Alton Brown's cookbooks. I love how Alton Brown explains things on TV - it's very "scientific." His books are the same way. My son loves knowing the "why" of how things work. :) It will be a one semester class using 1. I'm Just Here for the Food (cooking) 2. I'm Just Here for More Food (baking) We are calling it Culinary Arts on his transcript. I'm also letting him take a 4 hour Saturday morning cooking or baking class at our local community college - $50 for 4 hours, taught by a master chef. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 Posted on the other boards, but in addition to that.. Clothing design (history and science and art) Women in history/ science Makeup artist and chemistry (history and science and art) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhea Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 I don't know if you have boys, girls, or both so this may not work for you. This year I am putting together a Jane Austen literature elective for my 11th grade dd and three of her friends. Angel, that sounds wonderful! If we lived near you I'd be begging to participate. :D Here's a link to the Real Jane Austin in case you haven't run across it yourself. Rhea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 I've been reading the book Critical Lessons, thanks to rec from this board. I'm in the middle on a chapter on Home and was inspired to jot some notes on teaching a class something like...the psychology of Home, the history of home... unsure of how to title it. We've also been looking at homes for sale. My dh is a carpenter and I'm amazed at all the fixer uppers for sale. Beautiful old homes in such disrepair, but that soap box is for another thread. ;) Anyway I thought it might be good to form a class around several things: the evolution of housing Housing from different cultures Literature like Robinson Crusoe, Swiss Family Robinson (those that have had to make their own housing) Construction history and techniques (IOW go to work with dad) History of American Home styles How to maintain a home (things like how long appliances should last, how to do minor repairs and maintenance, budgeting for repairs) Maybe a project when you price items for a new home, like appliances for a kitchen, estimates for fixing a roof The economics of home ownership Green living volunteer hours with Habitat for Humanity or another housing charity Very real world applications. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted July 29, 2010 Share Posted July 29, 2010 Angel, that sounds wonderful! If we lived near you I'd be begging to participate. :D Here's a link to the Real Jane Austin in case you haven't run across it yourself. Rhea My dh would love to live in Alaska :eek: I told him no way :lol: Thanks for the link, I had NOT seen it! We are all looking forward to this, I hope it goes as well as I envision in my mind:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmom97 Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 oh no - where did the post I was almost finished with go? Forgive me if this is a repeat - I'm really new, and somehow my post just disappeared... anyway, we did Field Biology this year. I loved that we learned a LOT about our area. There are college level syllabi you can find online, or you can just put something together yourself, which is pretty much what we did. Field identification, field journaling, tracking changes through the seasons, learning about the "original" medicine cabinet in our plants - lots of different options. You might have a local conservancy group that would like to have your homeschooler put together a brochure about plants/wildlife, too. we didn't do them, but you can also do soil composition and water quality labs. What I loved was we got to be outside, we learned about the ecology of our area - and now I recognize the birds that come to our birdbath and ALL the plants that I see on my hikes through our canyons!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asta Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 The National Weather Service has an entire course (free) online called Jetstream. We're combining it with a lab from the American Meteorological Society for a Meteorology science course. I talked about a book called The Literary Book of Economics on the K-8 board: you read classic books about different econ periods the same time you're doing Econ w/ Economics in One Lesson. In short, there are certain books out there that are "representative" of certain time periods in economic history (think: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair). If you line them up, they become a sort of "economic history of the United States." They are *technically* fiction, but they represent actual events of a given time period. So you get English Lit, Economics, and American History all rolled into one. asta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Togo Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 (edited) I have the Movies as Literature and plan to use it with our daughter. Both of our son's freshman English courses required movie reviews, and this course would have been excellent prep. Btw, Julie Bogart at Bravewriter has a movie packet which not only looks at the literary elements of the movie but also technical/production qualities. Since our son's college profs provided little instruction for the movie assignments, he relied on Julie's product to write his papers. In addition, many majors require music or art appreciation courses. Our son took music appreciation and had to attend local music productions and write many 2-page music reviews. Fortunately, he has a music background so this was fun for him. Also, I used Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers with our sons and plan to use it with our daughter. The projects; i.e. rent, food, utilties, etc., help students see the big picture of life beyond school. I haven't figured out exactly how to go about this with dd, but the group projects in our son's speech class were difficult for him. He was comfortable preparing and presenting his speeches, but leading a group was difficult. I gave him lots of advice on this because the students were so disorganized and couldn't seem to get their own parts done. I know there are team/duo projects in speech and debate, but I am not sure if dd will time for that. Any ideas? Bonita P.S. Barb Shelton's High School Form-u-la is chockful of interesting ideas for mini-courses and North Atlantic Regional Schools has a booklet you can buy that describes unique course. Edited August 2, 2010 by 1Togo Adding a few ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Nelson in Charlotte Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 If you're brainstorming about "out of the box" classes, I would try looking at the "course descriptions" posted online at some of the more exclusive private/boarding schools. Or some colleges for that matter. Some of them are on a tri-mester system. You obviously will find ones that you wouldn't do, or wouldn't do from the worldview that they do, but there are some neat ideas out there - to get a lot of brainstorming ideas at once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 We will also be using the MIT opencourse work. Kitchen Chemistry, Astronomy, Archaeology, etc. DS #1 is wonderful at free-hand mechanical drawing so he will be doing a practical drafting curriculum we saw for sale through Timberdoodle and then follow that up with something from MIT. Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne_in_TX Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 Wonderful thread, ladies!! Oh, the wheels are turning!! I'm putting together a Christian Apologetics course for my sophomore dd that will cover Basic Apologetics/Faith, the Book of Genesis/Creation, and the book of John/Christ. I'm using: three devotional books by Anne Graham Lotz, God's Story, Just Give Me Jesus, and Pursuing More of Jesus; three Holman Quicksource Guides, Understanding Creation, Understanding Jesus, and Christian Apologetics; and three Lee Strobel books (Student Editions), Case for a Creator, Case for Christ, and Case for Faith. I'm so excited, because I decided to trust the Lord to help me with curriculum choices and this study almost put itself together between the clearance rack at Mardel's and Paperback Swap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grace Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 I would like my dd to become a certified personal trainer her senior year. I haven't figured out the hours yet but classes could include Health, Nutrition, exercise physiology, Anatomy... I have plenty of time to plan it but thought this might fit as "unique High School courses". Grace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skadi Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 Some of our planned electives: Marksmanship - Target shooting with a pistol, rifle and bow. Includes studying weapons throughout history, making your own bullets and experimenting with more 'exotic' weapons like slings, throwing knives, etc. Science in Popular Fiction - Learn about science by discovering how many of the concepts depicted in modern media are faulty. Materials include Superman, Star Trek, and other films via Bad Movie Physics. Myth and Modern Fantasy - Study contemporary epics (Stars Wars, The Matrix, and The Lord of the Rings, etc.) by drawing comparisons to the classical myths, showing that many of the narrative devices and patterns employed then are still used in today’s epics. Physics and the Philosophy of Time Travel - Is time really the linear arrow it is often depicted? What is it about time travel that has fascinated people for centuries? Films and books studied include The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, Back to the Future, and Terminator. Paradoxes, string theory, and other abstract concepts are discussed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 Some of our planned electives: Marksmanship - Target shooting with a pistol, rifle and bow. Includes studying weapons throughout history, making your own bullets and experimenting with more 'exotic' weapons like slings, throwing knives, etc. Science in Popular Fiction - Learn about science by discovering how many of the concepts depicted in modern media are faulty. Materials include Superman, Star Trek, and other films via Bad Movie Physics. Myth and Modern Fantasy - Study contemporary epics (Stars Wars, The Matrix, and The Lord of the Rings, etc.) by drawing comparisons to the classical myths, showing that many of the narrative devices and patterns employed then are still used in today’s epics. Physics and the Philosophy of Time Travel - Is time really the linear arrow it is often depicted? What is it about time travel that has fascinated people for centuries? Films and books studied include The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, Back to the Future, and Terminator. Paradoxes, string theory, and other abstract concepts are discussed. Have you seen The Prestige? That might be a good one to add to one of your electives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizabeth Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 Cultural Anthropology Critical and Historical Approach to the Hebrew Bible Archeology Philosophy Ethics Macroeconomics World Mythology and Cosmogony Constitutional Law Psychology The first four are starting in two weeks. Chocolate? Check. Syllabi ? Check. "It is always 5:00 somewhere" sign over desk? Check. I do hope she shares my unbridled enthusiasm for the social sciences but in any event she will be well rounded in her exposure to liberal arts curricula. She loves Latin and science especially physics. I am hoping to continue with her interests but expand her horizons. There is more to life than reading salacious latin poetry and propelling objects at the neighbors cat in the name of science isn't there??! After dealing with the bureaucratic twits to whom I must answer in the dept of ed here I am thinking of throwing lots of things at a wall myself. I swear the older my daughter gets the more petty" the powers that be" have become. Today I spent 4 hours on the phone debating whether or not she can have the PSAT count as her annual assessment. Seriously as if it is even reasonable to do otherwise?? I lost . Apparently the PSAT exams , CLEP and AP courses are not enough for the local yokels to ascertain that she is indeed making "adequate progress." Their test, the ITED, which is to measure if students are meeting the average is "more appropriate." I suppose it is for their funding from the feds. She is 14. I ask for nothing from the school and teach my own AP courses letting her merely take the test at the local hs. That is the level of ignorance with which I have had to deal today. Rant over. I appreciate your patience. By golly I just realized it is after 5:00 I have an appointment with a medicinal dose of sherry to get the bee out of my bonnet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 I would like my dd to become a certified personal trainer her senior year. I haven't figured out the hours yet but classes could include Health, Nutrition, exercise physiology, Anatomy... I have plenty of time to plan it but thought this might fit as "unique High School courses". Grace You might look into the courses offered by the American Council on Exercise http://www.acefitness.org/getcertified/default.aspx or AFAA http://www.afaa.com/ -crystal (who needs to get back to finishing her training to be a jazzercise instructor) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEJE Posted August 4, 2010 Author Share Posted August 4, 2010 This thread is incredible! Thank you all so much for responding! Not only have I gotten lots of *wonderful* ideas, but I am being introduced to resources I've never heard of before (MIT opencourse as just one example) :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennthmg Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 We did an entire (FABULOUS) year of Shakespeare using the following 3 products in addition to his sonnets (included in the Hewitt products) and plays (we used Folger Library's versions -- excellent) : * Comedy & Tragedy Hewitt Lightening Literature Guides * Brightest Heaven of Invention * Kolbe's Macbeth - The Catholic Shakespeare CD By Dr. Henry Russell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tampamommy Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 I have this sneaking suspicion I am going to wind up developing a four-year course on World Relgions/World Views myself, because so far I can't find anything comprehensive enough for what I have in mind. One of the most important skills we want for our high school students is the ability to discuss/critique/analyze the major world religions and understand how each one addresses key religious/philosophical questions. I don't want my children to learn to do this from an "emotional" perspective, but rather, from an intellectual and logical perspective. It fits right in with the classical education we've aimed for all along. This doesn't dilute the idea of faith. If something is worth believing in, it should stand up on its own merits to analysis and critique. I guess I am surprised that many folks I come in contact with around here disagree with my viewpoint. It's like they are afraid that teaching this information to their young people will cause abandonment of the family's belief system. Why the fear? Most of the parents I've discussed this with believe their children are in God's hands, so why the inexplicable worry? I just don't understand NOT exposing young people to this range of information. :confused:It seems detrimental to their overall life education. They are going out into a world full of people who likely believe very differently than they do. It seems a key life skill to have a knowledge base that can intelligently analyze the pros and cons of each religion, without necessarily agreeing with each one. Likewise, it seems important to see the commonalities across religions. Why wouldn't we want to educate our children about ALL this stuff before they encounter it in their lives? In our homes, we have a perfect opportunity to expose, discuss, debate and challenge each other in a "practice" setting. Then when our wonderful young people go out into the world on their own, they will be prepared to defend what they believe...not because they were just drilled on their family's religious views, but because they really know all the other different viewpoints as well. And not because they just "feel" a belief system is right/wrong...but because they understand its inherent strengths and weaknesses. Can you tell I'm pretty passionate about this topic?:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizabeth Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 :iagree::hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tampamommy Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 When I said "folks around here" in my previous post, I did not mean around here on this forum!! I meant "around here" in my neighborhood and community. Sorry if that came across the wrong way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThelmaLou Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 I'm going to let my oldest ds 15 study electronics this year. I feel like a cow on ice, honestly, because I have absolutely no electronics knowledge. This will be completely self-study, so I don't have any lesson plans. I'm "assigning" him 45 minutes daily to work through a book full of electronics projects and information. Here's the book he's going to start with: http://www.amazon.com/MAKE-Electronics-Learning-Through-Discovery/dp/0596153740/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280948374&sr=8-1 If it's not too much of a repeat, he'll continue with this: http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Started-Electronics-Forrest-Mims/dp/0945053282/ref=pd_sim_b_5 I found some kits that were designed to go with the first book, so I won't have to go running around to Radio Shack, etc...to get a bunch of equipment that I'm unfamiliar with. One is a basic electronics toolkit: http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MKEE2 Additionally, the first 11 experiments of the book use this kit: http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MECP1 Experiements 12-24 use this kit: http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MECP2&Show=ExtInfo Kinda pricey, eh? We'll, I'll be buying the book, the basic toolkit, and the first components kit and see how it all goes before I buy the second components kit. This is truly out of my comfort zone, and I'm hoping he's a natural at it, or if not, he'll be able to find someone to advise him when he hits a rough spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathmom Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 We plan for my dd to do the Cornell Ornithology course, which I learned about several years ago on this board! http://www.birds.cornell.edu/homestudy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elinor Everywhere Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 "It is always 5:00 somewhere" sign over desk? Check. By golly I just realized it is after 5:00 I have an appointment with a medicinal dose of sherry to get the bee out of my bonnet. :lol::lol::lol: Too, too bad that you are not where I am. But I grew up in the midwest - maybe we are long-lost relatives? :D:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThelmaLou Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 The National Weather Service has an entire course (free) online called Jetstream. We're combining it with a lab from the American Meteorological Society for a Meteorology science course. asta I love this!!! My son wants to do meteorology as a course. We won't be doing it this year, but probably next year. Will this count as a full year's credit for science? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGK Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 I don't know if you have boys, girls, or both so this may not work for you. This year I am putting together a Jane Austen literature elective for my 11th grade dd and three of her friends. Not sure yet what I'm going to call it. I haven't got it all worked out but they will be reading one Jane Austen work a month along with a couple books I've picked up on Jane Austen's works and Jane Austen for Dummies. We will also be learning/doing some things that Jane Austen or her characters might have done...silhouettes, dances, some of the card games mentioned in the books ("Hearts, Mr. Collins!!), etc. We will also add in some movie watching (of course) and how modern culture has taken Jane Austen's works and put them in our era...this will include the movie "Clueless" and the book "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." For writing, we are contemplating them keeping a blog of their thoughts throughout the year. They will work on making their own Regency era gowns (in our co-op sewing class, NOT taught by me) and then the culmination of the year is a planned trip to a Regency Ball nearby at the end of the year. We are pretty excited about it all! Now I have just got to get some sort of syllabus ready for them all.:tongue_smilie: I just love your idea! Actually, I want to be in the class myself. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SheWhoWaits Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 My ds bought himself a moped with his paper route earnings, but it needs a lot of maintenance. Almost every week something goes wrong with it and his dad helps him fix it. So I will be giving him credit for 1 shop class in moped maintenance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GothicHipChick Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 I'm excited to do the MIT OpenCourseware courses in Kitchen Chemistry with my son. We are going to do them either along with his ChemAdvantage Advanced Chemistry class or after. Hi. I was curious if you've already done this with your DS and if so, how did you implement the course (Kitchen Chemistry)? Are the answers provided in the courseware too? Or did you have have to look it up and discuss it with your child? I guess I just want to get a general idea of how to use a course like this for credit. :001_smile: Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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