Miss E is heading into her sophomore year and we are fully immersed in plans and discussions about what she is going to do for her classes. While as her parents we have a general plan, we definitely allow her to make some choices. So, with the discussion just about complete, I am going to share with you her choices.
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ART – Located on SchoolhouseTeachers.com, Digital Art and Product Design is on the agenda. It sounded really interesting to Miss E and so she jumped at that title. We have to find the right computer program that will work with the class and her laptop but then she will be ready to go.
MATH – We are using CTCMath. At Home Dad and I really like the look of the program and have decided that this is what we will use for the girls this year. Miss E is starting with Geometry but we have given her the choice of changing over to Algebra II when she gets to a point of frustration with Geometry and then moving back. This freedom means that she will have an out when she begins struggling but if she doesn’t struggle too much, she will fly through Geometry and onto Algebra II.
HISTORY – Miss E has chosen two things for this year. First is completing the Home School In The Wood study of the Middle Ages. Then she will move back to Pathway to Liberty World History Year 4. She really liked the way the program was set up and she found the books that she was using in addition to the program fascinating. I liked the way it all worked together and will be her World History credit.
MUSIC – We are scheduling a time to be evaluated for vocal lessons this year. She has wanted to do voice lessons for a year or so and we will make it happen this year. She has begun a bit of music history and appreciation with Zeezok Music Appreciation Book 2 (review to come but we used their Book 1 a couple of years ago).
PHYSICAL EDUCATION – Dance, dance, dance. Miss E is very involved in dance classes and will be dancing a number of hours each week this year, taking 5 classes and assisting in several more.
LANGUAGE ARTS/LITERATURE – Miss E is going to start out with YWAM Biographies. She found a missionary study book titled To Every Nation from Not Consumed that is going to guide some of the reading and I have written a plan for her to follow which will have her doing a written assignment on at least half of the biographies and designing a final product on each one in addition to the study book she will complete. I will try to post more specifically about what she is doing with this. When she finished the biographies, she will move on to Illuminating Literature: When World Collide by Sharon Watson. We liked the Illuminating Literature: Characters In Crisis that she did last year so this will follow it, as the biography study may only be about a half credit when she finishes. We’ll see. For grammar, she is going to use the Easy Grammar Lessons (review coming soon). It take 5-10 minutes a day and is comprised of exercises that help with review and improvement of writing, which is part of our focus this year.
SCIENCE – We were able to review CrossWired Science a few months ago. Miss E really, really liked CrossWired Science. She wants to work on completing both of the Global Topics contained in the program currently and we hope they will add more before she finished those and she can continue on in that. She will use the calendar for progress included on the CrossWired Science page. If she finished that in about October with nothing else added yet, she will search SchoolhouseTeachers.com for a class or go back to Supercharged Science, which we will still have access to at that point.
SIGN LANGUAGE – We are also still struggling with this one. There is a class on SchoolhouseTeachers.com but she is beyond it. She is far beyond any of the classes we have found online. She is working on some assignments that her sign teach from last year has given her and she is teaching her youngest sister this year for the Lads to Leaders program. We are pursuing a few days of internship or helping with the preschool sign language story time at the library. We will see where those take us.
That is one full class load, if you ask me. But, honestly, Miss E had a hand in every decision and is pleased with all of them and delighted about many of them. Sophomore year – here she comes!
I would love to see what other high schoolers are tackling this years. Feel free to drop me a list in the comments or drop me a link to your own blog post. I’d love to visit.
Blessings,
Lori, At Home.
Tagged: curriculum, electives, high school
At Home 
Perhaps for some of her signing she can help at retreats or church meetings that are open to the public and need interpreters? I don’t know… just trying to think of ways that might continue to challenge her. Could she befriend someone who is deaf?
Great ideas, though we honestly don’t run across too many folks who have hearing impairments.