Our High School Plan still have a few gaps

[nitascool]

I've been working on our highschool plan with my son over the last few months. We live in Ohio and most of the "homeschoolers" around here who do continue into high school age are actually just doing the public school online program. So not much help on what needs covered each year... anyway, here's what we've come up with so far.

 

Grade 9
Math: Geomatry (Math-U-See)
Language Arts: (Micheal Clay Thompson)
    Grammar- The Magic Lens Vol.1 & Practice 1
    Vocabulary- Word Within a Word 1
    Writing- Academic Writing 1,
    Poetry: Poetry and Humanity
    Literature- Search (MCT)+ we have a list of 30 books to read *trying to decide how many need to have papers attached and how many just need to be read and discussed, he won't read them all I'm sure.
Science: Apologia Physical Science and Notbook and extra CD 
History: History of the Ancient World + Study Guide
World Geography: Expedition Earth (haven't decided for sure)
Logic: Traditional Logic I
Computer: Codecademy, Typing course (forgot the name), Power point
Shakespear: Merchant of Venice, Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, Henry IV part I, Henry IV part II, Henry V, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, King Lear
Foreign Language:

Art: Homeschool Art Appreciation 1hr per week, Artist study (same time period as history), Art Lessons 3hrs per week, Sketching, Perspective Made Easy on his own, Cartooning & Anime, he will also do a shading book. Work on portfolio

Music: Homeschool Music Appreciation 1 hr per week, study of chant and classical music, Composer study

Grade 10
Math: Algebra 2 (MUS)
Language Arts: (MCT)
    Grammar- The Magic Lens 2 & Practice 2
    Vocabulary- Word Within a Word 2
    Writing- Academic Writing 2
    Poetry- Poetry, Plato, Beauty,
    Literature- Autobiography (MCT) + Book list of 30 to choose from (again not sure how much writing we should require)
Science: Apologia Biology
History: History of the Medieval World
U.S. Government: Road Trip USA Journey Across the United States
Logic: Traditional Logic II
Computer: Codecadamy, Java Script and Flash
Shakespear: All's Well That Ends Well, Much Ado about Nothing, Taming of the Shrew, Henry VI part I, Henry VI part II, Henry part III, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello
Foreign Language:

Art: Homeschool Art Appreciation 1hr per week, Artist study (same time period as history), Art Lessons 3hrs per week, Acrylic painting classes, texture lessons, Work on Portfolio

Music: Homeschool Music Appreciation 1 hr per week, study baroque, study of composers

 

Grade 11
Math: Pre-Calculus
Language Arts:
    Grammar- Magic Lens 3 & Practice 3
    Vocabulary- Word Within a Word 2
    Writing-  Academic Writing 3, Opus 40  
    Poetry-Poetry, Plato, Truth
    Literature- Book list classics 30 to choose from (again not sure how much writing we should require)
Science: Apologia Chemistry
History: History of the Renaissance World
US Government:
Logic:
Computer: Codecadamy, Programming language
Shakespear: As You Like It, Love's Labour's Lost, Comedy of Errors, Measure for Measure, Henry VII, King John, Pericles, Anthony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Macbeth
Foreign Language:

Art: Homeschool Art Appreciation 1hr per week, Artist study (same time period as history), Art Lessons 3hrs per week, Oil Paint, Modern Art, Work on Portfolio

Music: Homeschool Music Appreciation 1 hr per week, study of jazz, blues and big band, composer study

 

Grade 12
Math: Stuardship
Language Arts: One Year Adventure Novel (http://www.oneyearnovel.com/)
Science: Apologia Physics
History: History of the Modern World
Psychology:
Logic:
Computer: Codecadamy, College course
Shakespear: Merry Wives of Wndsor, Tow Gentlemen of Verona, Winter's Tale, Richard II, Richard III, Cymbeline, Timon of Athens Titus Andronicus, Troilus and Crssida

Foreign Language:

Art: Homeschool Art Appreciation 1hr per week, Artist study (same time period as history), Art Lessons 3hrs per week, water color painting classes, Sculpture, Work on Portfolio

Music: Homeschool Music Appreciation 1 hr per week, study of modern music, composer study

 

 

[elegantlion]

Have you outlined how many credit that would be a year? Honestly, it looks like a little too much. The sort of guideline is one credit equals between 120-180 hours of work, that's about an hour a day per subject. 

 

The reality is at the high school level you simply cannot do it all. Just a look at 9th grade you have two social studies credits and two heavy literature courses. 

 

Have you looked at Ohio public high school requirements to get an idea of what they do, not that you have to follow that, but if college is the goal these are worth looking at. 

 

kind of template I'm using is 4 x 4 (4 years each of English, Math, Science, and History/Social Studies) 1 fine art,  & 2-4 foreign language, plus electives. 

[AmyontheFarm]

It looks heavy to me also, but that might just be my perspective.  Here's the link over to where I posted mine schedule for critiquing.

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/505731-critiques-needed-on-my-high-school-plan/

 

[dhudson]

I agree that it looks pretty heavy. I over bought and over estimated my ds' first year in high school and every year after that, as a matter fact. High School takes a lot more time and each year I find myself cutting things. I think we have done 7 - 8 credits a year.

[Amethyst]

You're planning on doing both History and Geography in the same year? And then History and Government the following 2 years? Are you planning on combining into one Social Studies course for 1 credit, or two separate classes for 2 credits? It's your school so you can do whatever you want, and maybe your students love social studies, so I'm not saying to not do that, but it sounds like a lot to me.

 

Also, how much grammar and vocabulary do you plan to do? Once my kids hit high school, they pretty much have grammar down or not, kwim? And in my opinion vocabulary is much more meaningful in context. So, if you really feel like you need vocabulary, I would tie it into what your student is currently reading. (And remember to freestyle vocab as it comes up in real life.) Generally, I've put English I, II, III, and IV on transcripts and that includes any literature, writing, and poetry. Again, it's your school and maybe you all love Shakespeare, but are you planning to have a separate course of Shakespeare for an extra credit. Me? I try to put one Shakespeare in every course, but really I'm not sure why this guy deserves so much attention. There are plenty of other outstanding authors. Some exposure to Bill for the sake of cultural literacy, but a whole course? No thanks! But again, it's your school.

 

Does Ohio require that much art and music every year? Or do you have a student that loves those? In PA I'm not required to do it every year, so it changes per student interest.

 

And what about Physical Education. It's required here and just a great idea to build healthy habits. Health class is also required here, what about there?

[Musicmom]

My 2 kids are in college now, so I've been through the high school planning twice, and observed how reality matched up (or not, and often not) with my plans.  Speaking as the queen of overly ambitious high school plans,  :blushing:  I think this looks very heavy--to the point of unrealistic.  I really don't think you will be able to do all this, and it would be pretty overwhelming to try.  

 

Just going off my own experience, I would suggest scaling back, something like the following:

 

--Roll Shakespeare into the Literature portion of English, and pick at most 2 plays per year.  Poetry should also be rolled into the Literature portion.  Then you need to pick a limited number books and balance all 3 of these pieces so that they don't take more than an hour or so per day.  It takes time to read and time to discuss.  If your ds is a voracious speed reader, you can always add more if he runs out of what you planned.

 

--Your English has a lot of pieces... grammar is good and helps greatly on the SAT & ACT; just make sure it takes no more than 10 minutes per day.  Same for vocab.  In fact, unless it's very short and you're seeing stellar vocab increases from doing it, you might want to consider dropping this piece in favor of picking up vocab from reading college level materials (vocab encountered in context usually sticks better.) For writing, I'd keep the Academic Writing for sure, and then either use your lit for the assignments or only do a very few papers on the Lit books--you'll have to balance that carefully.  Remember too, that in 10th and 11th grade, you will probably want to spend time preparing for the writing portions of the ACT and SAT--that takes time and practice.

 

--If you find that Lit and English combined take 2 hours or more, and really need that time, you could consider listing them as separate on the transcript.  That is what I did--listing my literature courses as 1 credit and my writing courses as 0.5 credits.  It did not raise any eyebrows for colleges, but I would definitely NOT list 2 credits of English in any year.  That could look padded.

 

--Regarding the social sciences, your history looks good.  I just wouldn't add an additional social science each year, especially not a time-consuming one! If Geography is quick and easy, it may work; otherwise, it's a candidate to drop.  Also I would recommend doing US Government (for .5 credits) during only one year--the year you hit early American history--not over 2 years. For senior year, I think Psychology might be too much to add on top of history.  A 1/2 credit course in Economics, though, spread over the whole year, might work.

 

--You have a lot of art and music planned for each year (especially art.) Is your ds particularly gifted in art and/or possibly headed towards art in college?  If so, then I would keep the art for all 4 years as is (My kids did intensive violin and piano all 4 years of high school.)  If not, then I'd suggest doing Art just one year.  For music appreciation, I'd suggest doing that just one year also, on a year you are not doing art (or if you ARE doing art every year, do music appreciation on a lighter year and streamline it so it's not too time-consuming.

 

--Logic and Computer will be a lot to do concurrently.  Can you schedule the Computer studies for the years after Logic?

 

--For 12th grade math, I'd suggest either Calculus or Statistics instead of stewardship.  Either one of those would look better to colleges and be more useful in college (esp if he does AP.) If your ds might go into a field requiring math, go for the calculus.  If he's not headed for something requiring math, go for statistics.  I'd suggest covering stewardship on the side as a part of life skills.

 

--You'll need to add a foreign language; I see you have a spot for that.  Those will be 1 credit per year.

 

--Finally, I'd recommend you go through and figure out credits for each subject and add them up for each year of high school.  I would suggest keeping your credit load to a maximum of 8-8.5 credits per year (7 or 6 is better.) That works out to 32 or so credits total for high school which is well above what most high schools do.  Any more can sometimes look padded to colleges. You may have to make some tough choices.  We had 8 and 8.5 credits on some of my dc's years, and I will tell you, it did not leave much margin in their lives!  I also found that too many subjects could get a little overwhelming at times--just in the sheer number of things the dc had to do each day.

 

These are just my top of the head suggestions--I hope it's helpful.  I know you will come up with the best plan for your ds's needs and abilities!  :001_smile:

 

 

[nitascool]

This has been very helpful... I kind of thought we were over loading the day a bit. The suggestions were great.... here is what we are thinking.

 

Our son wants to meet the Honors Criteria for a high school Diploma,

When we started planning they had a different list. I just checked today (as someone mentioned) and it has changed for the better (a little more simplified) .

Here are the Criteria

Earn four units of English; (Only question is what a reasonable requirement for reports/essays/research papers would meet the four units)

Earn at least four units of mathematics which shall include algebra I, algebra II, geometry and another higher level course

Earn at least four units of science including one unit of physics and one unit of chemistry;

Earn four units of social studies (I didn't realize history/government were social studies the old requirements stated you had to have 3 history and 1/2 gov/civics classes each)

Earn three units of world languages (he doesn't care what language(s) he studies, but we are leaning toward Spanish simply because it would be useful)

Earn one unit of fine arts; (there are 17 Visual Art classes he could choose from as well which would add an extra 4.5 credits a year to his transcript, he will not likely choose to do all 17 choices, he has no real desire to be a jewelry designer, for instance).

Maintain an overall high school grade point average of at least 3.5 on a four-point scale up to the last grading period of the senior year (not sure how to accomplish this as an independent homeschooler who has never tracked grades aside from Math); or

Obtain a composite score of 27 on the American college testing services' ACT assessment (excluding the optional writing test) or a combined score of 1210 on the College Board's SAT verbal and mathematics sections (excluding the required writing section). (We'll probably just do this)

 

 

His career choice since he was 6yo has been something in the Arts, but he also has a strong interest in becoming a writer as well.

 

[Mom22ns]

Two things:

First, I would suggest that you look, not only at the Ohio high school graduation requirements, but the admissions and graduation requirements of the college he will want to attend. For example, if he wants to get an English (writing) degree from Ohio State or a nearby LAC that might interest him… what will he need and what will he have to take while he is there. I would have concerns like, if he has taken pre-calc his Jr year, then how will he do after taking a year off (stewardship) before having to take x level of math at the university. If X level is College Algebra, it may be no problem. If x level is Calc and that is the minimum all students are required to take (the state U won't have that, but some LACs will) he may be in trouble with only MUS Pre-Calc over a year before. 

 

Second, be sure to recognize these plans should be flexible. As he comes close to a decision on what he wants to do or what college he wants to go to, you may realize the requirements are more or less in some areas than you had thought, be prepared to adapt.

 

Finally, just a matter of opinion, I would not make the One Year Adventure Novel your 12th grade Language Arts Credit. He should have a Language Arts class that is based on literature and writing. Use OYAN as a creative writing elective. Ds did it in 9th and I did give him a full credit for it. He did Other Worlds this year and I will give another full credit for that. He works a good 2 hours a day on these (because he loves writing and is a slow perfectionistic writer) and they are credit worthy, but I think colleges are going to have an expectation of what should be covered in 12th grade English class and creative writing alone isn't it. Again - just opinion. 

 

 

[PeterPan]

Nita, are you coming to the Cincy convention in a month?  You'll get to meet more Ohioans who aren't doing cyberschool for high school. :)

 

Also, have you signed up for Lee Binz's stuff?  She gives free workshops, free ebooks.  You DEFINITELY want to sign up at her site.  How to Homeschool High School | TheHomeScholar.com

[PeterPan]

Two things:

First, I would suggest that you look, not only at the Ohio high school graduation requirements, but the admissions and graduation requirements of the college he will want to attend. For example, if he wants to get an English (writing) degree from Ohio State or a nearby LAC that might interest him… what will he need and what will he have to take while he is there. I would have concerns like, if he has taken pre-calc his Jr year, then how will he do after taking a year off (stewardship) before having to take x level of math at the university. If X level is College Algebra, it may be no problem. If x level is Calc and that is the minimum all students are required to take (the state U won't have that, but some LACs will) he may be in trouble with only MUS Pre-Calc over a year before. 

 

In Ohio homeschoolers are now eligible for the PSEO DE without enrolling in the ps system, so it's likely once her boy hits his junior year some of her plans will shift up.

[Lori D.]

Welcome to planning for high school! :) It's exciting and scary all in one, isn't it?

 

As previous posters have mentioned, it looks like you have too much material for 1 credit classes, and in the Literature and Social Studies areas, you've listed 2 credits per year.

 

You may find it helpful to gauge how much realistic to accomplish in non-textbook classes such as English and History, by thinking in terms of credit-hours. ROUGHLY, one full credit is 120-180 hours of work.

 

The minimum comes from the Carnegie credit, which is 120 hours of of in-class contact time with an instructor. (My understanding is that it is assumed there will also be outside-the-class hours, too.) The maximum comes from the school system way of thinking: 1 hour of class a day x 5 days a week x 36 weeks of the school year = 180 hours. (Actual classes run only 40-50 minutes, BUT there is homework, which brings it back up.)

 

So, for each full credit your student is taking, estimate 1 hour of work per day. Esp. for a 9th grader, you want to be careful to not suddenly shoot up in workload and burn out your student before the end of the first semester of high school. Think about what your specific student really can DO in a day.

 

For example: Our DSs could not handle more than 6-6.5 hours of concentration on school a day. We also wanted to have time for extracurriculars. And "down time" to pursue personal interests. So, 6-6.5 hours meant 6-6.5 credits. We did do a work over several summers, which combined over the 4 years to squeeze in 1 more credit. But that was the limit of our DSs' abilities, needs, and interests. So, realizing that helped me plan our credits accordingly.

 

It's also helpful to look at the table of contents of a standard 1-year (1-credit) program to get a feel for how much material is usual to cover. That way you don't try to do too MUCH and still call it "1 credit" -- not fair to your student!

 

Gently, I think this is a case of "eyes bigger than the stomach" -- wanting to do it all. ;) But, we all do that. So now you are at the stage of combining, cutting, and honing your high school "wish list" into what is realistic.

 

Another thing we all tend to do when our first homeschool student hits high school is to try and have it all planned out in advance -- exactly what credits, and even down to what program to use for each credit. While it is GOOD to have an overall game plan, very gently, it's important to hold on to that plan very lightly.

 

You'll be amazed at how much your student changes from year to year during high school, so what credits your student will need/want/fit with their future career path will change. So it's very likely you may need to change your "master plan" of your 4-year high school credit plan down the line...

 

Also, what specific curriculum is working now or works in 9th grade may end up having to change to something completely different later on into the high school years. So, esp. with curriculum choices that are 2, 3, and 4 years out -- write them in PENCIL so they can easily be adapted as needed. ;)

 

And a final reason for flexibility in making your overall plan: all kinds of opportunities -- extracurriculars, online class offerings, local opportunities, etc. are going to pop up throughout the next 4 years; you'll want to be flexible enough to bend you "master plan" enough to take advantage of those opportunities! :)

 

 

In case it is of ANY help, below are some ideas -- they are JUST suggestions, so please take with a grain of salt! :) Only you know what your most important goals are, what your student's needs are, and what is most critical to include in your homeschool high school journey. Welcome to high school planning! :) BEST of luck, Lori D.

 

 

GRADE 9

 

suggestions:

- condense/simplify so you're not trying to do too many things for just 1 credit

- note: in high school Language Arts is called "English"; it is composed of about 1/2 Lit, 1/2 Grammar; optional = a little Vocabulary, and a little Grammar review as most students have completed Grammar instruction by 9th grade and now apply the Grammar to their Writing -- but the bulk of English credit is Lit. & Writing)

- optional: can have a separate Vocabulary program, OR, combine efforts and work with words from the Lit.

- condense literature to a reasonable amount for part of the English credit

- is your student really into Art? if not, then I would only plan on one year of Fine Arts; if your student is "into" Art right now, then 9th is a good time to do that credit

- optional: a majority of colleges require only 2 years of foreign language, but some require 3, or even 4 years; so if you feel pretty confident your student will only need 2 years, then that gives you wiggle room to wait on the foreign language, and leave more time for extracurriculars 

 

a possible schedule:

1.0 credit = Math (MUS Geometry
1.0 credit = English

(Lit = Search (3 works) + 4 to 8 other books + a few units from Poetry & Humanity + 1 or 2 Shakespeare plays)

(Writing = Academic Writing 1)

1.0 credit = Science (Apologia Physical Science)
1.0 credit = Social Studies

(History: History of Ancient World -- approx. 4 hours/week)
(Geography: Expedition Earth -- approx. 1 hour/week)
0.5 credit = Logic: Traditional Logic I
0.5 credit = Elective: Computer (Codecademy)

1.0 credit = Fine Arts:

(Music Appreciation -- 1 hr per week)

(Art Appreciation -- 1hr per week)

(Art Lessons -- 3hrs per week)

TOTAL = 6.0 credits

 

 

GRADE 10

 

suggestions:

- consider saving the MCT Autobiographies to match it up with your American History year

- what is the Gov't program you have listed? Or is it an actual family road trip? Exciting! :) But I don't quite see how that counts as a credit, esp. for Gov't...

- depending on how separate Fine Arts studies of composers and artists went in 9th grade, you may just want to add 20 minutes a week to the History study, and focus on a composer and an artist, rather than trying to whip this up into a full or partial separate credit; that also would free up time for a credit based on your student's developing interests, or to include Health, PE, or other credits...

- if no electives of special interest have arisen, then it's a good time to start a foreign language

 

a possible schedule:

1 credit = Math (MUS Algebra 2)
1 credit = English (Lit & Writing)

(Literature: Autobiography (3 works) + 4 to 8 other books + units from Poetry Plato Beauty + 1 to 2 Shakespeare plays)

(Writing = Academic Writing 2)
1 credit = Science (Biology)
1 credit = Social Studies

(History: Medieval)
(U.S. Government: Road Trip USA)
0.5 credit = Logic (Traditional Logic II)
0.5 credit = Elective: Computer (Codecadamy)
1.0 credit = Foreign Language:

1.0 credit = Fine Arts OPTIONAL -- only IF an interest/passion of the student (could be an Elective instead)

TOTAL = 6 to 7 credits

 

GRADE 11

 

suggestions:

- very rarely have I heard of a high school student doing more than 1 credit of Logic; if it is a passion of the student, then you're likely going to be looking for a college level (and dual enrollment) Logic class to progress further

- starting to get pretty far ahead in planning on specific curriculum; consider just penciling in types of credits to cover

- online classes, dual enrollment, or AP classes/tests may be something to consider at this point, depending on how the student's future career path is beginning to take shape...

- if the student is heavily Humanities-based in interest, then plan on 4 full years of History

 

a possible list of credits:
1 credit = Math: Pre-Calculus
1 credit = English (Lit & Writing)

1 credit = Science (Chemistry)
1.5 credits = Social Studies

(History = 0.5 to 1.0 credit -- most colleges only require 2 credits of History, so this may be optional)
(Government = 0.5 credit)
1.0 credit = Foreign Language

1.0 credits = Electives

TOTAL = 6.5 credits

 

 

GRADE 12

 

suggestions:

- definitely at the "just penciling in" required credits and possible credits

- outsourcing may be a very big part of this year

- if the student is heavily Humanities-based in interest, then plan on 4 full years of History; otherwise, this might flex to make room for developing career interests / requirements for specific college of interest

- I'd only recommend the One-Year Adventure Novel if you have a student really into creative writing -- and if so, then you'd likely want to be using this program much earlier in high school to encourage the student's interest

 

a possible list of credits:
1 credit = Math (possible: MUS Stewardship)
1 credit = English (Lit. & Writing)

1 credit = Science (possible: Physics)
2 to 2.5 credits = Social Studies

(possible: Psychology = 0.5 to 1.0 credit)

(possible: History = 0.5 to 1.0 credit)

(possible: Economics = 0.5 credit)

1 credit = Foreign Language

1 credit = Electives

TOTAL = 7 to 7.5 credits

 

[nitascool]

So I'm looking at

4 credits of English- which would include Grammar, Vocab, Writing, Poetry and Literature for 120-140 hours total

4 credits of Math - Algebra- Pre-calculus

4 credits of History (no geography)

4 credits of Science (maybe only 3)

Maybe 1 year Music

Maybe 1 year Logic

Maybe 2 credits total of Computers

Maybe 2 1/2 credits of PE

And lots of time for Visual Arts

[Lori D.]

So I'm looking at

4 credits of English- which would include Grammar, Vocab, Writing, Poetry and Literature for 120-140 hours total

4 credits of Math - Algebra- Pre-calculus

4 credits of History (no geography)

4 credits of Science (maybe only 3)

Maybe 1 year Music

Maybe 1 year Logic

Maybe 2 credits total of Computers

Maybe 2 1/2 credits of PE

And lots of time for Visual Arts

 

:thumbup:  Pretty much, that's it! :)

 

English is the one subject that you usually hit more like 160-180 hours to make one credit, because the reading and writing both are such time-intensive pursuits, so you might want to allow for that in your daily scheduling. :) We probably averaged more like 75-90 minutes/day for English (5 to 6.5 hours a week on Lit & Writing)...

 

A lot of people go with the "4x5 plan" (lol) and then add some extras -- that would be 4 years each of the 5 major high school subjects:

1. English

2. Math

3. Science

4. Foreign Language

5. Social Studies (History, Geography, Gov't, Econ, etc.)

 

What you're ultimately planning for is blending any state requirements (if any) for high school graduation, with college admission requirements. (Note: Ivy League schools, top tier colleges, and competitive/selective schools will require more credits AND usually want to see some AP (Advanced Placement) classes -- see this chart, on the Homeschool Success website run by WTM Boardee Barbara H).

 

However, for the vast majority of homeschool high school students, it usually looks something like this

4 credits = English

4 credits = Math

3-4 credits = Science

3-4 credits = Social Studies

2-4 credits = Foreign Language

1 credit = Fine Arts

0-3 credits = possible full / partial credits for Computer, Health, PE, or other requirements

2-6 credits = Electives (which can be additional Art, Music, History, etc. credits, and/or vocational/tech credits, and/or credits of subjects of personal interest to your student or that are leading towards a career path)

 

 

DO keep a list of all your ideas for specific curriculum, as you'll want to refer to that each year as you're planning; you may also find yourself jotting down additional ideas that you run across and think would be a good fit; you may also find yourself having to cross off a program that turns out to be a dud for your student -- ug! hopefully not many of those! Then you have your list for possible substitutes. And, you can always save the "dud" for another student/another year -- different programs are a fit for different students! :)

 

Good luck as you continue your homeschool planning, and ENJOY your high school adventures! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

[elegantlion]

It sounds like you've been discussing this with your son which is great. I've tried to leave a little wiggle room in our schedule as my son's interests change or become more solidified. For instance, I had planned on teaching Latin through high school, he wanted Japanese as his foreign language and next year wants to add in another language. 

 

I spent a lot of time reading on this board, trying to decide what was non-negotiable in our overall 4 year picture and where I could be flexible. My son was born negotiating and it's come in handy to have a good handle on what I believe are the minimums for our school. The good news is that it doesn't all have to be decided before you start. 

 

I'm currently weeding through a binder I made of ideas for high school, some have worked, some haven't. It's kind of bittersweet since we're halfway through this high school journey already. 

[PeterPan]

So I'm looking at

4 credits of English- which would include Grammar, Vocab, Writing, Poetry and Literature for 120-140 hours total

4 credits of Math - Algebra- Pre-calculus

4 credits of History (no geography)

4 credits of Science (maybe only 3)

Maybe 1 year Music

Maybe 1 year Logic

Maybe 2 credits total of Computers

Maybe 2 1/2 credits of PE

And lots of time for Visual Arts

I haven't looked at Ohio's ps diploma suggestions, because as homeschoolers we aren't bound by them.  Those are pretty standard amounts for the most part, but that PE is nutso high.  You typically have something like 1/2 credit PE and a 1/2 credit health, or 1 credit PE, 1/2 credit health, with PE being done two days a week for 2 years to get that full credit and health being done either one semester daily or a year at 2 days/week.  Those are pretty typical amounts, and personally I think health is pretty important.  I don't think it's worth much if you pick up some insipid curriculum that says nothing, but there actually are important topics to cover.  A health class gives you the chance to cover them.

 

Have you looked at the PSEO stuff yet and thought about if you'll want to take advantage of it?  Also, some colleges offer DE 1/2 price for online classes, meaning he could jump start his degree his junior and senior year.  Either of those could change some of your plans.  

 

Most people front load the grunt stuff like PE, health etc. to 9th and 10th, leaving 11th and 12th to reflect the dc's interests.

 

A year of geography can count as social studies/history credit, no problem.

[Angie in VA]

What you're ultimately planning for is blending any state requirements (if any) for high school graduation, with college admission requirements. (Note: Ivy League schools, top tier colleges, and competitive/selective schools will require more credits AND usually want to see some AP (Advanced Placement) classes -- see this chart, on the website run by WTM Boardee Barbara H).

 

Lori, did you mean to link the site? I don't see a link, but would like to. Hint, hint. ;)

[Lori D.]

Lori, did you mean to link the site? I don't see a link, but would like to. Hint, hint. ;)

 

LOL! Done. :) Homeschool Success homeschool high school requirements chart, courtesy of Barbara H :)

[Michelle My Bell]

Wow, some excellent advice here ladies. I am posting just so I can refer back to these posts in the future. I also live in Ohio, have graduated one and have four more coming along.

[Angie in VA]

LOL! Done. :) Homeschool Success homeschool high school requirements chart, courtesy of Barbara H :)

 

Thank you! I have already publicly professed my deep love for you, right? 

 

Lori D. rocks!

[Lori D.]

Thank you! I have already publicly professed my deep love for you, right? 

 

Lori D. rocks!

 

But really, in this case it is Barbara H rocks! ;) I just linked you to her great resource -- and by the way, her website is chock-ful of great articles, tips and helps! :)

[Angie in VA]

But really, in this case it is Barbara H rocks! ;) I just linked you to her great resource -- and by the way, her website is chock-ful of great articles, tips and helps! :)

 

Yes, Barbara H rocks too, but I wouldn't know about her or her site if it weren't for you!