Planning High School for non-academic artistic child

[Closeacademy]

I'm starting to look at what path my youngest wants to follow.  She's decided against college (it's really not for everyone) and has an artistic bent.  She is also interested in stuff that most high school students don't study.  Just wondering if anyone else has a kid like this and how are you helping them to follow their dreams while still helping them to at least be employable when the homeschool journey is over.

 

For 9th grade we're looking at:

 

Art history and design (mainly Eastern art) and applied art in different mediums but mostly drawing

East Asian history, geography and Culture (pretty much Japan, China and Korea although we may move on to Southeast Asia and India at some point)

Japanese

Reading books and composition

Biology with possibly a rabbit trail of in-depth study of birds

Pre-algebra

Computer programming

Violin--her 4th year

and possibly Taekwondo

 

 

Do you have one that is taking a different adventure in life?  What's your child's main interests that you are letting them explore?  And if you had a child like this and followed their path, how did it all work out in the end? 

Edited February 23, 2016 by Closeacademy is me

[Lori D.]

One thought that occurs to me is to take a look at what DD will do AFTER high school graduation, either as direct-to-work employment, or, as post-high school training required for the work she would like to do. Even for artistic non-academic students, additional schooling or training after high school is very frequently required to further hone artistic skills -- often at an art academy or 2-year school for specific training in the arts or digital media or other. Find out what are the admission requirements for those types of schools, and what kind of portfolio they require, so you have all of your high school years to include those types of courses and to build up a portfolio of what she needs to make sure that the doors she wants to go through after high school stand open for DD. :)

 

During the high school years, in addition to making sure DD is receiving quality instruction and training in art (drawing) and design principles, I'd suggest branching out a bit and including some coursework with digital media as well -- the Adobe creative suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.), and if she becomes interested in animation, include some exposure to animation software as well.

 

You might also include some very practical coursework on consumer math and personal finance, and possibly marketing or entrepreneurship, as SO many people working in art and design fields are independent contractors and absolutely need some basic business math/bookkeeping skills, money management as a life skill, and an ability to know how to market/advertise to get themselves out there in order to be hired.

 

 

BEST of luck in your artistic high school journey! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Closeacademy]

Thanks.  I've actually got her signed up for some Adobe photoshopping classes through the library.  Lol.  We've been looking at animation classes as well and her programming class is about drawing.    But I'll look at adding in the consumer math & finance.  I was thinking of making my older DD take something like that too.

[Mom22ns]

My oldest was a bit like that. His interest was creative writing and he was also interested in all things Japanese. What we did about that... We followed a standard math, science, history, English sequence and made all his electives fit his interest. He did a full credit of creative writing every year in addition to his standard English credit. He did 4 credits of Japanese - 2 Irasshai and 2 at the local State U. Our goal was to let him explore his creative side while still making sure he was ready for whatever came next.

 

How that worked out... He is in college with a double major in Writing and Multimedia Production and considering throwing in an Asian Studies minor because he has already met the foreign language requirements for it lol.

 

 

[Holly]

My DD is very artistic as well.  I do want her able to attend college if she chooses to later on.  The credits for graduation aren't far from credits needed for college, so I don't think it's unreasonable to have her take the "college-bound" path.  I've let go of the idea that she needs Biology & Geometry as a freshman.  While that seems to be standard (or the minimum for homeschoolers), it was the Honors schedule when I was in high school (not that long ago).  I am worried about how math & science will go...not to mention writing research papers, but I don't think these things are asking too much of her, and i think it is important.

 

Here is her 9th grade plan, but I am still tweaking it a bit:

• Harmony Fine Arts--music & history appreciation spread out over 4 years, also scheduled with Artistic Pursuits for the first 2 years. 
• Art 1: Artistic Pursuits High School Book 1, Drawspace.com lessons, nature journaling
• Latin (her request): Visual Latin 1
• MUS Pre Algebra/Algebra I--I'm hoping to get her through Algebra I next year, but it may not be possible.  I do want her to at least get through Geometry & Algebra II before graduation.  We may use MUS's Stewardship program (or find a Statistics program)
• Science: Apologia schedule, but starting with Physical Science for grade 9.  I hope to at least get through Biology & Chemistry, plus book of her choosing for 12th grade.
• English: Possibly grammar (if still needed next year), Beyond the Book Report parts 1 & 2, LOTR/Hobbit book study (her request) plus a couple other books of my choosing, vocabulary?, Spelling Wisdom 3 (2nd half)
• History: SCM's Early Modern Times alongside their Visits to North America geography program

For her long term high school plans, I hope to enroll her in some local art classes, either at a local art association, the library, or the community college.  For English, we'll just take it year-by-year.  I consider us CM homeschoolers, so I may add in some of our family work on her transcript (nature study, Shakespeare, etc.). She's mentioned wanting to take Japanese, but I'm not sure if we'll get to it.  We already have Rosetta Stone Spanish, and I think it would be more useful.  What are you using for Japanese?  

[DebbS]

My husband double majored in college with a BFA in printmaking and a teaching degree along with a focus in graphic design.  He ended up starting his own advertising and marketing agency earning national awards for his logos and identity pieces in addition to numerous regional awards for his actual ads.  Later on, his company began focusing on more web sites as advertising, p.r. etc moved to the digital world. There are really good jobs for people with some artistic/design sense and illustration abilities. If this would be a possible direction for your daughter, I would recommend having a curriculum that would satisfy college or design school admissions requirements. In addition, you might want to consider an accounting course sometime during the high school years because often people in these kinds of fields often work in small businesses or independently. The same goes for artists. For example, my husband sub-contracted self-employed photographers, illustrators (even for the digital world) and copy writers.

 

I think your transcript easily covers what it needs to for a college bound student so you aren't closing her future options. In fact, it looks pretty challenging! You have math, english, science, history and foreign language covered along with fine arts and music.

 

[Mom22ns]

• MUS Pre Algebra/Algebra I--I'm hoping to get her through Algebra I next year, but it may not be possible.  I do want her to at least get through Geometry & Algebra II before graduation.  We may use MUS's Stewardship program (or find a Statistics program)
• Science: Apologia schedule, but starting with Physical Science for grade 9.  I hope to at least get through Biology & Chemistry, plus book of her choosing for 12th grade.

 

Just a warning, MUS Algebra is a weak preparation for Apologia Chemistry (ask me how I know). Ds took Algebra 2 concurrently, but did Chemistry in the first semester and the math was a challenge. You don't be able to make this science/math sequence work. Do the science of her choosing in 11th and then do Chem in 12th when she is doing Algebra 2. Life will be better. Trust me. :)

[almondbutterandjelly]

My dd does not particularly enjoy school.  She does it compliantly, but it is not her happy, fun time.  She is very good with little kids and she also loves to draw.  Our current plan is an Associates in Early Childhood Education from the local community college (extremely employable plus she really wants to do it) and then if she wants, finish up her 4 year degree (probably Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences in Early Childhood Education) at the local university.

 

While this is the current plan, I don't want to close any doors for her, plus I want her academically prepared to homeschool her own kids some day if she chooses.  Therefore, we are sticking with 4 history/social studies, 4 laboratory sciences, 4 math, 4 english, 4 foreign language.  Plus a couple others to fulfill some requirements, like health, government, and economics.  

 

I will happily pay for decent art classes if I can ever find some (not a lot in our area), so for the moment, I get her expensive art supplies for her to use at her leisure.  She also volunteers extensively at our church, working with the kids.  She is currently teaching a kinder bible class once a week, and she is a puppeteer who performs weekly at Children's Church and twice a year in large puppet productions.  

 

I honestly would love to just let her drop math (her most hated and difficult subject) but she at least needs College Algebra for the ECE major, so we're hoping to study to CLEP out of that at the end of her senior year of high school.  I'm keeping the 4 years of foreign language so she can teach it to her kids some day, even though the state only asks for 2 years.  The state wants 4 lab sciences, and her dad likes science, so he is handling that.  She loves English and History, so we're good there.

 

 

[Lori D.]

...I don't want to close any doors for her… Therefore, we are sticking with 4 history/social studies, 4 laboratory sciences, 4 math, 4 english, 4 foreign language.  Plus a couple others to fulfill some requirements, like health, government, and economics...

 

Not commenting on your plan here, perkybunch -- just using your post as a springboard to encourage everyone about required credits for college admissions… :)

 

Quite honestly, unless you are shooting for a top tier school, or a selective or competitive school the following is perfectly FINE for admissions to the majority of colleges:

 

4 credits = English

3-4 credits = Math (MANY colleges only require up through Algebra 2; some require a 4th math above Alg. 2)

3-4 credits = Science (with labs) (most colleges accept most science subjects -- not many require Biology/Chemistry/Physics)

2-3 credits = Social Sciences (1 credit = American History; some also require 0.5 credit each of Gov't and Econ)

2 credits = Foreign Language (of same language) (Latin accepted by virtually all; ASL accepted by most)

1 credit = Fine Arts

4+ credits = Electives (some colleges want to see some of those be "Academic Electives", which means credits beyond the requirements in any of these areas: English, Math, Science, Social Sciences, Foreign Language)

 

When you remove the Electives, that's only 16 core credits required by the majority of colleges for admission, which works out to 4 classes per year of high school, leaving you room for 1-3 classes of choice each year of high school. :)

 

Also important to note: MANY colleges will also WORK with you if you don't quite meet those credit requirements, especially if your student is applying for entry into one of the Performing Arts or Fine Arts fields. :) As long as your student meets the minimum test score (usually about 20 on the ACT and about 1000 on the SAT), and is only missing 1 credit of Science, Social Sciences, Foreign Language or Fine Arts, the majority of second tier schools, most (non-big-name) public universities, and smaller colleges are all willing to work with you. 

 

Quite honestly, getting into college is NOT the primary reason for the panicked "push" of homeschoolers for rigor and for above-and-beyond number of credits -- it is the desperation to be competitive for the much smaller pot of money -- the scholarships and merit aid -- to be able to PAY for college that forces many families to feel they "must" do more than the list of credits required for college admission.

 

Encouragement and best wishes to all, whatever path your students take after high school! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited February 25, 2016 by Lori D.

[Closeacademy]

For Japanese we are using a combination of materials:

 

1.  Anime in Japanese subtitled in English--she picks up words and phrases from this and becomes familiar with real conversations.

2.  Rosetta Stone

3.  Kanji flashcards and workbooks--I've organized them by subject. 

4.  Genki  textbook and workbook

5.  Various things I find on the internet including youtube videos

6.  Down the road, I'd like to add in more Japanese dramas.

 

My DD is very artistic as well.  I do want her able to attend college if she chooses to later on.  The credits for graduation aren't far from credits needed for college, so I don't think it's unreasonable to have her take the "college-bound" path.  I've let go of the idea that she needs Biology & Geometry as a freshman.  While that seems to be standard (or the minimum for homeschoolers), it was the Honors schedule when I was in high school (not that long ago).  I am worried about how math & science will go...not to mention writing research papers, but I don't think these things are asking too much of her, and i think it is important.

 

Here is her 9th grade plan, but I am still tweaking it a bit:

• Harmony Fine Arts--music & history appreciation spread out over 4 years, also scheduled with Artistic Pursuits for the first 2 years. 
• Art 1: Artistic Pursuits High School Book 1, Drawspace.com lessons, nature journaling
• Latin (her request): Visual Latin 1
• MUS Pre Algebra/Algebra I--I'm hoping to get her through Algebra I next year, but it may not be possible.  I do want her to at least get through Geometry & Algebra II before graduation.  We may use MUS's Stewardship program (or find a Statistics program)
• Science: Apologia schedule, but starting with Physical Science for grade 9.  I hope to at least get through Biology & Chemistry, plus book of her choosing for 12th grade.
• English: Possibly grammar (if still needed next year), Beyond the Book Report parts 1 & 2, LOTR/Hobbit book study (her request) plus a couple other books of my choosing, vocabulary?, Spelling Wisdom 3 (2nd half)
• History: SCM's Early Modern Times alongside their Visits to North America geography program

For her long term high school plans, I hope to enroll her in some local art classes, either at a local art association, the library, or the community college.  For English, we'll just take it year-by-year.  I consider us CM homeschoolers, so I may add in some of our family work on her transcript (nature study, Shakespeare, etc.). She's mentioned wanting to take Japanese, but I'm not sure if we'll get to it.  We already have Rosetta Stone Spanish, and I think it would be more useful.  What are you using for Japanese?