What to add to achieve an Honors level class?

[bnbacademy]

Ds may have flexibility in supplementing his courses to add an Honors level to them.  He might be allowed to negotiate the Honors requirements, like an independent study option. What did you add to your high school homeschool program to raise it to the Honors level for these subjects: Biology, Algebra 2, Social Studies, English, and Spanish 2?

 

Any book or supplemental program recommendations?

 

TIA,

[bnbacademy]

Sorry, he is in a private high school and in 9th grade. Because of its small size, they cannot offer accelerated classes, but utilize an Honors option, which is assigned by each teacher. The academic advisor told me that this option is somewhat flexible between the teacher and student.  I am hoping to find an independent study program, rather than just added homework.

[Gil]

If he's in school, I would take a look at the course descriptions for each class, then see what I could add in. Maybe for each unit of math, he can do a short essay on a proof or the motivation behind that section, he can keep a weekly journal and maybe do a 2pg essay in Spanish on some topic on top of his regular Spanish work, that sort of thing.

[TiaTia]

From a homeschooling perspective, I think what distinguishes Honors Biology from an on-level course is not just more curriculum content, but a focus on scientific thinking and student responsibility.  Preparing with the SAT Subject Test in mind gets you to the right place in terms of coverage and gives you a decent background of terms and concepts, but spending some time researching topics that interest YOU and using your head to apply the knowledge is what takes it to the next level.  

 

For Honors Biology, some things I've included:

• Lots of labs, with lab reports that emphasis thinking through experimental design (even for cookbook/demo labs, where students should make some choices and talk through the "why" -- not just the "how" and safety stuff)
• Time carved out for students to select and read a NON-textbook on any biology topic of their interest; followed by brief reaction paper & presentation
• Enough time fiddling with microscopes to get proficient with the controls, feel confident preparing slides, and practice finding and sketching living and non-living specimens of interest
• Selected Nowicki lectures from Teaching Company, with Cornell Notes practice
• Weekly scientific articles and 2-minute presentations (students may choose their articles from professional, peer-reviewed journals OR from popular periodicals, as long as choices are recent & relevant to the week's reading)

The last two items help make up for some of the limitations of using a major publisher's high school level textbook (which otherwise can be very convenient for the ancillary materials and lab ideas).

 

So, if DS is already taking a decent core course at school for biology, you might look at the syllabus with him and help him figure out what he'd like to do with additional primary/secondary research and reading.  The more student-led, the more hands-on, the better.  So, when his curriculum hits ecology, he could do some freshwater macro-invertebrate monitoring; when it's about animal behavior, he could read Konrad Lorenz; or when it touches on human health, he could test your household water.  Turning in data tables, a full lab report, or a reaction paper might give the teacher what's needed to deploy the "honors" option at the school.

[EndOfOrdinary]

This seems like something your student should be figuring out with his teacher, not something Mom should be doing. If he is an honors student, the level of personal motivation needs to be there to have such a meeting and be accountable one on one with the teacher.