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!

Making the Decision

Wow.  I can hardly believe it.  It started as a suggestion at a violin lesson--we chewed on it, prayed over it, considered the possibility, then thought some more.  For about the fortieth time Mr. Moes said, "you could homeschool."  He has been telling us for two years that Emily would have more time to practice her violin if she homeschooled.  

Homeschooling is familiar territory for us.  We did it for Emily's kindergarten through 6th grade school years.  School--the traditional classroom kind--cropped up and surprised us as the right thing to do for 7th grade.  Now, once again, just when we thought the final transition was made, and we were locked in for two more years at the local junior academy, we find ourselves in the homeschool world once again.  And excited about it!!

It's hard to pin down the decision to a single factor.  Emily's two years in school were GOOD.  She had excellent teachers.  Besides traditional academic subjects, she learned non-academic things she wouldn't have learned at home.  And some of them were good ;-)  She had the opportunity to work on projects cooperatively in groups, the chance to mentor peers, exposure to different teachers, and the chance to experience a highly structured environment with strict deadlines and concrete parameters.  Emily really enjoyed receiving recognition for her achievements (by someone besides mom and dad--yawn!).  She learned to type with correct fingering!  She went from a super-fast hunt-and-peck typist to clocking in at 110 wpm.  Mrs. Johnson, her keyboarding instructor, still doesn't believe Emily came to school not knowing how to type.  Emily's finished work in math turned out much neater for school work than it had for homeschool, and she learned that she is profoundly motivated by grades.  Wow, she's turned into a super-organized person!  That would have surprised me two years ago; not a big profound surprise, but an eyebrow-lifting one.

Some of our decision to homeschool was based on our warm memories, and the desire to be in charge of scheduling.  It is so fun to plan schedules and curriculum!  I love scanning resources, reading reviews, evaluating samples, and figuring out what will work best.  When Emily went to the classroom two years ago I had severe withdrawal pain as homeschool catalogs arrived, and there was nothing to buy!  It was hard, too, to be fairly uninvolved in the educational process for two years.  She is such an independent student that her parents had almost no part to play!  I guess that is what we were paying tuition for. . . but I love learning along with her.  I hated history in school, and now I love it.  I'm still waiting for that to happen with math!

It was hard to tell Emily's good friend Heather that she wouldn't be at school with her in the fall.  I think it was harder still to tell Lance, her homeroom teacher.  He has become a cherished mentor.  I've always been good at doing what people expect, and it's hard to swim against the current.  It's funny, though, because at this point we're not wondering if we've made the right decision--we believe we have.

The next entry will be about curriculum choices.  We won't address the "s" word in this entry--that's bound to crop up in the future.  "Socialization" (with a capital S) is one of the favorite criticisms of homeschooling, and we're homeschooling an only child!  Loneliness, and solitude, and boredom, oh, my!!