High School Overview (draft)

Since I can't plan for just one year especially for high school, I'm going to write out notes for an overview. Like my Year 9 post, this will be a draft, subject to revision.

Latin --

Just continue with Henle plus anything else I can pull in. My dream would be an online course but that is just a dream right now. We will miss PowerSpeak. Online Latin courses for homeschoolers are proliferating and getting more user-friendly. We'd have to have the $$$ though. My dream is to put Latin, logic and theology together. I'm not sure if I can do it though.

Religion --

Either follow the MODG syllabi for using the Father Laux books, or go through the Quest for Happiness series. I'm going to do it the Kolbe way, though, alternating spiritual classics integrated with the historical time period with the doctrinal reading.

History -- (integrated with Literature and Religion)

1. Ancient History
2. Medieval History
3. Renaissance to Modern History
4. American Government and Economics

Literature (see above)

The fourth year we'll have a kind of "seminar" approach (see Thomas Aquinas College curriculum) where we basically cover anything I think worthwhile that I hesitated to have him tackle in earlier years because of immaturity.

English

This will just be English 9, 10, 11, 12 -- I liked K12's four strand approach of literary analysis, grammar, vocabulary, and composition. They had the students doing short writings almost daily connected with history and literature, and vocab and grammar about twice a week, and lengthier compositions about monthly where the process took several days.

I will really miss the literary analysis program! They had a nice prelection -- comprehension -- analysis -- review format. We did sometimes cringe a bit at some of the response questions -- a bit squishy for both of us, but we could easily tweak. But it is so nice to have it laid out. K12 has downloadable high school scope and sequences.

Science

Labs once every week or two.

1. Biology and Natural History -- a 2 year course. Basically, the way I did it with Liam -- just alternate the text with the readings and projects of the Natural History course, which all my kids have really appreciated.
2. Chemistry
3. Physics

Mathematics

Geometry
Algebra II
Trigonometry

These 3 courses will take 4 years and I'll alternate with other things. I like K12's "optional" days for subjects where you catch up/slack off/work on something supplementary/review. I'll try to have a Euclid unit every now and then.

Electives and Supplementary

(This is sort of a general checklist to remind me of things I either covered, or DIDN'T cover, with my other kids)

• Computer Programming
• Study Skills (a unit at the beginning of every year)
• SAT prep (every spring)
• Driver's Ed
• Spiritual Retreat
• Career/Vocational unit (one in freshman year, maybe another in junior year)
• Life Skills -- focus on handling finances (probably in junior or senior year)
• Kitchen Skills
• Paid Job or Apprenticeship
• Volunteer/Service project
• College Application process
• Health (a graduation requirement)
• Geography Intensive
• Music
  
• Art