Emma Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 OK, so I'm new and confused:001_huh: We are a K12 family and after my post a few days ago about online, accredited high school courses I'm really beginning to panic. IF I decide NOT to use an online school, what are the most popular (both Christian and secular) curriculum choices for high school? Has anyone used NAHRS for a diploma/transcript? What are your children using and enjoying? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Your question is really wide open. What is "best" for one family may not be "best" for another. Even what is best for one child may not work for another. Thus, I make the following suggestions: This is the WTM board. Read TWTM if you have not already. Scan the archives. You will find some interesting discussions on literature, history, mathematics, science curricula, etc. Then you can ask specific questions on what might work for your family. Enjoy the journey, Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veronica in VA Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 We use Kolbe. It is classical and since we are Catholic, it works for us (you don't have to be Catholic to use it, though). Kolbe allows some flexibility to change their course plans which we really like. Some of my favorite curriculum for high school: The Well Trained Mind and The Well Educated Mind. (Nan in Mass has some wonderful posts on how to use them if you do a search). English: Analytical Grammar - the first grammar curriculum I have liked. Vocabulary cartoons IEW writing Hewitt's Lightning Lit - very simple to use History/Literature: Sonlight - my daughter's all time favorite and what we are using now for history and literature Notgrass - we used American history and might use their government class. Very easy to use. Science: Apologia Physical Science, Biology, Chemistry Conceptual Physics Math: If you have a child who is mathy, you might want to use Jacobs math or Forester or another one. My daughter likes math and used to struggle so we used Math Relief Algebra I, MR Algebra II, and Math U See geometry. I'm sure others will have some great ideas. Veronica Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 OK, so I'm new and confused:001_huh: We are a K12 family and after my post a few days ago about online, accredited high school courses I'm really beginning to panic. Don't panic. Just get informed. The Hive is a great place to start. Spend hours & hours (literally) reading old posts. There is so much great information here. You will learn more than you wanted to. :) IF I decide NOT to use an online school, what are the most popular (both Christian and secular) curriculum choices for high school? Has anyone used NAHRS for a diploma/transcript? What are your children using and enjoying? Chalkdust Algebra series PH Bio Exploring Life Lingua Latina Intro To Logic to name a few. How old are your kids? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emma Posted December 13, 2008 Author Share Posted December 13, 2008 Thanks to everyone so far. Please keep the responses coming my way. My kids are young still, (12, 9, 4) but we'll be looking into high school in just 1 more school year. I take it it's not a decision to make lightly... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaLisa Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 My kids are young still, (12, 9, 4) but we'll be looking into high school in just 1 more school year. I take it it's not a decision to make lightly... :) First of all -- welcome! You know, home educating through high school seemed so daunting when my oldest was in the middle years. On one hand, it is daunting. And yet, really, it's just one more step from what you are doing in 8th grade. As Jane suggested, I would highly suggest reading TWTM if you haven't already. It will open your eyes to many possibilities in high school and lay out choices in curriculum. Then, before you really research curricula, I would ask these questions: Where do I want my dc to end up? Are our post-high school plans for college, vocational school or a job? What kind of college are my dc likely to go to? What is my teaching style? What has been successful so far (what do I like) and what do I want to change in our home school? What is my underlying philosophy of home education? What are our long-term goals and vision? Then start gleaning from this board. This board regularly discusses curricula from logic to driver's ed to on-line courses to every kind of homegrown elective imaginable! Lots and lots of info here and several late nights reading old posts should give you more than enough info to make your eyes glaze over! HTH, Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle_WA Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 (edited) Hi Emma I have 7 children - ages 3 to 16 - and we've homeschooled from the start. My favorites that consistently work are: For writing - IEW - Institute for Excellence in Writing (My 16yo just scored in the 99th percentile on her PSAT for writing and reading comprehension so I *know* IEW works!) For math - Teaching Textbooks (We use Math-U-See for the early grades because TT is only available for 5th grade and up right now but as they become available for lower grades we will switch to TT.) For science we use the Apologia Sciences - elementary all the way up to high school - there's no comparison! For handwriting we use the Getty-Dubay Italic handwriting series (my daughter's handwriting went from terrible to beautiful within a few years of using that series. It was amazing to see. For logic and thinking, we follow the Bluedorn's recommendations - http://www.fallacydetective.com/articles/read/learning-logic-at-home/ . We are reading and learning alot from the "Uncle Eric" books (economy & govt.). For history, I'm not as confident. I think the best thing I've done has been to read A Child's History of the World by Hillyer aloud to them twice through. And my children have had access to some of the very best literature out there. They know a ton of history - way more than I do, sad to say. But I'm learning right along with them and my enthusiasm for learning is contagious to them. =) HTH Michelle in SW WA Edited December 13, 2008 by Michelle_WA to clarify Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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