High School curriculum #1 By Mary 8/20/2009 1:23:36 PM Hi. I found the Everything Homeschooling website about a year ago and have just kept it in the back of my mind all this time. I have a son who is starting 10th grade this year. I do not have a science curriculum for him yet. He did physical science last year. We are doing more of a living books approach for history, and while we have a grammar curriculum, it is terribly boring. School has become somewhat of a drudge.(Is that the right term?) I need to liven things up not just for the high schooler but for my other children as well. My questions are these: 1. Can I use Everything Homeschooling resources as the sole source for high school science? If so, how do you make sure you do enough to give credit and that the material is sufficient for a college bound teen? How do you catagorize activities into different areas such as biology, chemistry etc. and still make sure you have covered enough for a full course if you are doing different things in all different years? 2. Are the links in the weekly assignments to websites to read about the topics on the computer or for worksheets to print out? In other words, to use this site will the student spend a lot of time on the computer researching? 3. Are all previous lessons from other years also available to subscribers? 4. Do weekly lessons flow from week to week? For example, do the lessons for this week follow up on the lessons from last week or any other previous weeks? 5. Are all subjects touched on every week? I would appreciate any help with these questions and also any advice from anyone who has "been there and done that". Thanks so much! Mary Re: High School curriculum #2 By Editor 8/21/2009 6:15:09 AM Hi Mary, As an editor of www.EverythingHomeschooling.com, I'll try to answer all your questions. Please feel free to e-mail me at Sherri@EverythingHomeschooling.com, if you have additional questions, too. First, for most people, it's helpful to understand that homeschooling isn't "school at home." Rather, it's a lifestyle, a natural part of everyday living and learning. If homeschooling tries to follow a "school format," the results can be disappointing, as well as boring. Children/people simply don't learn well, if they are bored and have lost interest in learning, or in the way topics are presented for learning. Therefore, fun, flexibility, and following one's interests are key. This doesn't mean that one needn't learn algebra, or needn't learn how to write a proper sentence, or needn't learn the anatomy of a frog. These things can easily be learned in a fun and interesting manner in the home environment. Then, while learning these topics, take the opportunity to branch off into other interesting areas, as well. In school, while learning a topic, children might think, "Oh, I wonder why or how...." But they rarely get the opportunity to find an answer to their questions. The teacher keeps them on-task, or the bell rings, or they are otherwise interrupted, and that key learning opportunity -- finding an answer to their question -- is gone. But, in the homeschool, one can spend as much time as they like, sating their curiosity and finding the answers to their questions, so that learning is never-ending. Now, to answer your questions: 1a. Yes, you can use www.EverythingHomeschooling.com for your sole curriculum in all subject areas. Any books that you might want and need can be obtained from your local library. For instance, there are numerous books in the library covering biology and chemistry, along with illustrations of experiments and educational projects to do in your home. Our Weekly Lessons in Science (and all other subjects) provide online resources, in case you are unable to get to the library or prefer not to use the library. Here, you'll have the convenience of using online reference materials and hands-on project ideas for all your subjects. 1b. For credits earned, keep a High School Transcript. This can be printed from our Homeschool Forms page. Also, request the current High School Transcript from your son's high school, then add to it, as he completes each subject. It's quite simple. I can explain this in more detail later, but, in most cases, a half credit is earned in a subject in one semester. So a full credit is earned for a year's study in that subject. After 4 years in high school, a student can normally acquire 24 to 26 credits. (Many homeschooled high-school students acquire credits quicker, and some graduate a year earlier than they would have in a traditional high school.) 1c. To categorize subjects and topics, print out our Weekly Planner Logs, also available on our Homeschool Forms page, and jot down what your children do each day. Or, if they're old enough, have the children write down what they do each day. For instance, if they dissected a frog, that's Biology. If they synthesized water, that's Chemistry. (We provide loads of links to science experiments in all branches of the sciences.) 2. The links in our Weekly Lessons include resources for reading about topics, as well as hands-on projects, as well as worksheet resources. You or your children can spend 10 to 15 minutes on the computer, researching or reading about a topic, or you or they can spend 30 minutes. For all 6 Subject Areas on our site -- Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, Science, Life Skills/Health, and Arts/Music/Crafts/Hobbies -- there are 5 to 7 activities for each area, sometimes more. This provides plenty of learning activities for each week. And, more importantly, it provides lots of extra ideas for pursuing areas of interest, so that children can acquire even more knowledge about topics that interest them. 3. Rather than providing "previous lessons," our staff updates lessons each year. This is because material, resources, and links change from year to year, and we prefer to keep all material fresh. In addition, this format keeps children more interested and excited about learning, when the material is updated, fresh, and timely. 4. Some of our Weekly Lessons do flow from week to week. Others incorporate interesting games and new hands-on ideas, that keep learning fun. However, our Weekly Lessons are based upon "national curriculum guidelines." Yet, they are also flexible and wide-ranging, to help keep education interesting to children. 5. Yes, all subjects are covered every week. As mentioned above, we cover all 6 Subject Areas on our site -- Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, Science, Life Skills/Health, and Arts/Music/Crafts/Hobbies -- with at least 5 to 7 activities for each area. This provides lots of learning activities each week -- in each Subject -- and, more importantly, it provides lots of opportunities for taking the ideas and running with them! If I can answer any further questions, please e-mail me at Sherri@EverythingHomeschooling.com.