Choosing Curriculum

Before we could decide on what textbooks to use, we had to sift through a lot of information. I studied the California education code, high school programs, and boarding academy honors programs. I also studied admission requirements for homeschoolers at any college I could think of. In California, homeschooling is not recognized in the education code. To homeschool within the law, families must take one of the following routes: enroll their children in an independent study program, or a charter school, or create their own private school. Over the years we have used each system. We decided that for the high school years a charter school would be the safest, and would confer the most benefits. We also had to spend some time deciding how important we believe the "university A-G courses" are to Emily's future. (We decided they are not.)

English language arts
geometry
health
home economics
education and career planning
PE
violin
French

In addition to the above courses, Emily will take piano lessons, and be involved in a concert band, choir, handbell choir, and youth symphony. She'll also study religion, but won't receive credit because she is enrolled in a public school. We researched the colleges Emily is likely to attend, and they want to see religion on the transcript. To accommodate this requirement, we plan to keep a detailed portfolio of all subjects she's studied, volunteer work, musical experiences, and work experience.

For English, we decided Bob Jones University Press has a good program with their "Writing and Grammar". It's rigorous and thorough, and the book is a "worktext", which we like. We will use separate study guides for literature, and are kicking off the school year with our favorite Shakespeare comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream. In October we have a trip to Ashland planned, so we can see the live production of this play at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

We're excited about the geometry text, because it looks so user-friendly. It's from a publisher called "Teaching Textbooks" and it's designed for the homeschooler doing independent study. . .a good thing, since I never aspired to be a math teacher (and would certainly never qualify!). It has numerous instructive CD's, and support for every aspect built into the program. Prior to this we have relied on Saxon math, and the "DIVE into math" CD's. In 7th grade, Emily's teachers suggested she accelerate the pace, and finish algebra 1/2 during the summer, and do algebra 1 in 8th grade. She did so, with two other classmates, and they used the DIVE together. (BTW, we read that California will require all 8th graders to take algebra 1 by the year 2010. What happened to the good old days when algebra was a freshman course? Did we all turn out too stupid?)

For health we are using Lifepac's "High School Health" booklets. We are also using Lifepac for home economics. It looks thorough, and I look forward to a refresher course! We're also using a sewing book called "Stitches and Pins" which starts with the most basic sewing. I think everyone should have a few of these skills under their belt!

French will be covered by the Rosetta Stone program.

For world history we're using "Streams of Civilization" volume 1. It's a highly readable text, with enrichment activities that look fun. We'll also include supplemental reading for each era, and history DVD's from Netflix when they're relevant to our studies. The first supplemental historical novels are "The Golden Goblet" and "Mara, Daughter of the Nile". It's funny--I hated history in school, and now I love it!