A Different Approach to High School Chemistry and Biology

Someone recently wrote to my homeschool group's email list asking about high school chemistry. She said, "I’m not sure that I can teach high school chemistry at home, it wasn’t my favorite subject.  How did you handle this subject at home and can you recommend an avenue of support for a class like this?  I can probably do it, but not without some outside support."

Many people suggested our local co-op's classes which use a series of popular Christian textbooks. Since I am on the leadership team of the co-op, I do realize that many people love these textbooks, but they haven't been right for our family. I wanted to give her a different perspective. This is what I wrote to her:


We have not used science textbooks for high school or junior high in our homeschool. I personally feel that they are too much like "school" and that is one of the things I want to avoid - doing a subject a certain way, just because that's how it's done in school. My own personal (and apparently unpopular) opinion is that most high school science textbooks do a poor job of actually teaching science concepts, as they are bogged down in detail and overly complex. Since none of my kids (so far) has shown an interest in science careers, I feel comfortable giving them a basic grounding in the topics. If I had a child that wanted to enter a science field, I would ensure that they received a thorough education to prepare them for college level courses.

My daughter in 11th grade is currently using Chemistry 101 from Timberdoodle - http://www.timberdoodle.com/Chemistry_101_p/101-375.htm. She likes it. It is a DVD-based curriculum with a printable "guidebook" (textbook). A suggested schedule with additional activities is included, which we follow quite closely. She is also using the Quality Science Labs MicroChem kit - http://www.qualitysciencelabs.com/chemistry-labs/microchem-kit-standard-edition/ - to provide the lab portion of this course. My daughter is currently working through this kit as well. I highly recommend it as it contains EVERYTHING you need other than common household items like granulated sugar or a black marker.

She also used the Biology 101 DVD course, along with a dissection lab taught by a friend of mine.  http://www.timberdoodle.com/Biology_101_p/101-365.htm

My oldest son used Switched-on Schoolhouse for Chemistry - http://www.aophomeschooling.com/product/12sos1100s/. He liked it well enough, but I wanted something different. He also used the Quality Science Labs MicroChem kit since I didn't think the SOS lab simulations online were thorough enough. He is taking Chemistry in college right now and says his high school course was adequate for preparation. For his Biology, we muddled through a course I put together myself after we realized how much we did not like the traditional textbook approach.

I hope this helps some of you figure out your options for high school science courses.

WE DID IT! GRADUATION!

My oldest child graduated from our home school today! David has always been educated at home. He has worked hard through the years, especially on his math and writing.

David was awarded an academic scholarship to attend college where he plans to study Mechanical Engineering. He would like to work in the robotics field. David also will continue studying Tang Soo Do karate and plans to earn his black belt in in 2015.

David wrote this to be read aloud at the commencement ceremony. (They required it to be written in the 3rd person.)

David thanks his father and mother for devoting their time and energy to teaching him and for standing beside him and guiding him even when it was difficult. David thanks his Karate instructors for working with him and building his confidence, patience, and strength, both mental and physical. David also thanks his family and friends for supporting him throughout his life and and giving him their most valuable resource of all; their time.

Planning a High School English Credit

What constitutes a high school credit and what can be used to meet credit requirements? Several conversations I've heard have led me to believe that many homeschooling moms are unaware of how to meet high school graduation requirements in general and for English classes in particular.  

Below is some information on how to decide what goes into a high school credit. But keep in mind that learning doesn't have to look a certain way to be education (or credits).

HSLDA offers this information about how much work should be included: 
"For courses that do not use a standard high school-level textbook (perhaps you are putting together your own unit study, or you are using an integrated curriculum), log the hours that your child spends completing the course work. One credit is approximately 120-180 hours of work. The upper end of this range (180 hours) is usually
appropriate for lab science courses, while 150 hours is the average for a year long academic course such as English or History. Don't become legalistic in keeping track of each minute, but generally, when evaluating credit for an academic course, a good rule of thumb is 50 minutes a day, 5 days a week for 36 weeks, for a one-credit course. Logging hours is a good method of determining credit for elective courses such as art, music, sewing, carpentry, web page design, etc. The lower end of the range (120 hours) is fine for elective courses. For a half-credit elective, log approximately 60 hours; for a quarter-credit elective, log approximately 30 hours."

Let's take English for example, since I teach writing classes and moms often ask me about how to earn an English credit. A high school English credit should include writing, reading, listening, and speaking. Stated another way, I would include composition, literature, vocabulary, and oral language skills. Some other skills to consider are: literary interpretation,  the vocabulary and analysis of poetry, cross-cultural literature, and the analysis of plays, just to mention a few.

A nice outline of 4 high school English classes can be found here (grades 9-10) and here (grades 11-12). For my Michigan readers, you can peruse the Michigan Curriculum Framework to see what the Department of Education has chosen as goals for students of various ages. Specific Course/Credit Requirements for Michigan high schools have also been put together for each high school grade. Other states have similar documents which you can find online. However, for the homeschool student, I would consider these as a framework. For the parent who doesn't know what to do, these course requirements can give you a clear idea of what is ideally taught in Michigan high school English classes. 

The key to remember is that YOU are the one who gets to decide what your student takes. You can choose what counts for the class. You give the grades, you write the transcript, etc... As I said before, learning does not have to look a certain way. Homeschooling gives us the freedom to decide what to teach. 

Now for some specifics... I will list some practical ways a British Literature class I co-taught at our local homeschool co-op could have been used to earn a high school English credit. You can use this same method to help you figure out credits for any high school class.

Remember that HSLDA recommends about 150 hours for an English class? Let's see if we can come close to 150 hours with our Brit Lit class.

We assigned five novels to be read outside of class time. Audiobooks of the novels total about 58 hours. (By the way, free classic audiobooks are available copyright-free at librivox.org, and I highly recommend audiobooks for those who prefer other activities to reading.) Some may read faster or slower, but the audiobook length gives me an appropriate number to decide how long a student might take to read the selection. 

Each student also completed a poetry mini-report which I estimated would take about 3 hours to prepare. Students gave their reports in front of the class (fulfilling the oral language portion of the English requirement). 

Our class met for 14 hours in class and  we also met for 15 or so hours to watch and discuss the film adaptations of the novels. That brings us to 90 hours already just with the class as planned, more than enough for a half-credit class. I would consider this the literature portion of the class, keeping in mind that a full English credit should also include composition, vocabulary study, and oral language skills. 

So, what else can students do for the remaining hours for a full credit? I would recommend a large quantity of writing, also known as composition. Writing, writing, and more writing! If a student wrote an assignment for each of the five novels and spent three hours working on each one, that's another 15 hours. I would consider it important to also assign at least one longer paper or project that should take much longer to complete, but 3 hours per paper is a probable estimate for an essay. 

The class traveled to experience a Shakespeare play performed at a university. We also put together an end-of-the-year presentation for our co-op program (another oral language component). This added at least 10 more hours to the total.

What else can be included? How about 6 hours working on vocabulary and 6 hours studying for tests? We offered one optional novel inc lass that could include another 11 hours of reading time. Since our co-op only meets September through early April, my own children will continue their lessons through late May, so I assign them one or two more books to be completed on their own. That brings us to 138 hours, leaving 12 hours for you to fill as you like. 

The remaining hours could be used for review, study, further reading or writing, or a research paper, depending on your desires. Keeping a reading journal is a good idea! Some other possibilities could include vocabulary quizzes, more writing topics, tests, viewing another performance, and any other appropriate activities, each to be evaluated by you. 

By the way, it is definitely acceptable to list your student's high school English classes simply as English 9, English 10, etc... on his transcript. Public high schools commonly list credits that way. You can also list the courses by content if you prefer, such as American Literature and Composition, World Literature and Composition, British Literature and Composition, Creative Writing, etc...


If this information has helped you, please leave a comment as to what specifically was helpful. If you have any questions, I would be glad to try to answer them as well.

Self-Directed Learning?

Our home education has recently looked a lot different lately than it has in the past. I used to set up all the children's assignments for them every day. I haven't had time lately to oversee every bit of the learning as I had previously and I struggle with that reality, wondering if they are at a disadvantage now, if they would be better served in a traditional school, if children truly need adults to tell them everything they should be learning.

But I still balk at the idea of traditional school. I like having my kids at home. I like seeing what they are working on. They like being here. And I think that education can be more than me giving them lists of workbook pages to accomplish and choosing their books for them. But I'm not the nature-study-science-experiment-hands-on kind of teacher either. Never was, even when I taught school. I'm more pencil-and-paper, more books-and-internet.

So, what's the compromise? We've been trying to hit the right balance of self-directed learning. It hasn't quite happened yet. I am still struggling with it. What I WANT is them to love to learn things and love to read and love to write and love to spend their time in productive enterprises. And I see glimmers of it. But it's not as much as I'd like nor as rewarding as I thought. Maybe that's just life, eh?

Here are some things I've been looking at about self-directed learning.

Self-Directed Learning
From the Older Kids column, by Cafi Cohen, originally published in the May-June 1996 issue of Home Education Magazine.

Beach High School: Freedom for self-direction

Life Learning Magazine

I'm trying to get a sense of what it looks like for other people, especially in the high school years. Isn't this when a student should find a passion? Something that grabs all his interest and that he wants to master? I want to see that happen. I'm tired of apathy and tired of "this is the stupidest book ever".

Any thoughts? Input?

Ninth Grade Planning Lunch

Today I took David to lunch at McDonald's (his choice) to discuss his high school curriculum. I thought it wise to include him in the planning rather than just telling him what I want him to do.

So, here's what we ended up deciding for his 9th grade year and some ideas beyond that.

MATH - He is doing Algebra I already and should finish before the end of his first semester of 9th grade. He will begin Geometry in the fall and will do two math courses in his ninth grade year. As soon as he finishes Algebra I, he'll begin Algebra II. He should finish Alg2 by December of his 10th grade year, giving him 3 math credits in those two years. I want him to have as much time as possible to do Trigonometry and Calculus. He likes Math-U-See and so we'll continue with that curriculum at least through Algebra 2. Four credits are required.

LANGUAGE ARTS - He likes IEW well enough and so he'll do SICC-B for the composition segment of his 9th Grade English. We'll also get an ACT/SAT prep book and choose vocabulary out of that. For literature, he wants to read The Silmarillion and I suggested Beowulf as a companion piece of literature, since Tolkien wrote the Sil and translated Beowulf. We'll fill in this study with short stories and poetry if necessary. (I was impressed he picked The Silmarillion, even though he knows it is challenging!) We'll plan the rest of his Language Arts at a later time. Four credits are required.

SCIENCE - David was quite satisfied to follow the suggested course of study from Apologia. He likes the Apologia textbook he is using now and so he'll be doing Biology in the fall. 10th grade will be Chemistry, 11th grade Physics, and 12th grade Advanced Physics, since he likes to understand how things work and move and this will help him in his career goals, possibly computer programming or engineering. Three credits are required, but we'll do four.

SOCIAL STUDIES - David is completing a 9th grade level survey of American history right now (Sonlight 100). He'll finish that up next fall, thus earning his 1 required American history credit. He plans to take a World War II class at co-op next year and we'll flesh that out into a half-credit study. A Career Explorations class is also planned for co-op and we'll also work that into a half-credit for social studies. In 10th grade, he'll do World History (required) and in either 11th or 12th, he'll do Civics and Economics (also required). History is one of his least favorite subjects, but he will end up with four credits rather than the required three.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION & HEALTH - This is the sticking point. David is going to give it some thought and come up with a plan. He thinks he could run several days a week and come up with some other activities to include in a PE class to equal the necessary 150 hours for his one required credit. I've asked him to have that planned by the end of the month.

VISUAL, PERFORMING & APPLIED ARTS - David has already planned to learn stop-motion animation, so he will plan out a year-long course in this. I'm looking at a couple different resources to buy. He won't be taking the monthly drawing class next year, so I'll use that money to invest in what he needs. He will be keeping a log of what he does to earn his credit and will have one or more stop-motion videos at the end of the class. 1 credit is required and this will fulfill it. However, I'd like him to continue studying visual and applied arts since his career path will likely go that direction.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE - We are deciding between Japanese and Danish, with Spanish as a back-up plan. Japanese because it is one of the top 10 languages in the world and with David's interest in computer programming and animation, it could come in handy. Danish would be a possibility since he'd love to work for Lego and all Lego development happens in Denmark. Spanish is the second most widely-spoken language in the world (far behind Mandarin Chinese) and thus another wise choice. He considered Chinese and also thought briefly about German. We are going to do a short exploration of Japanese using a resource at our library, to see how it clicks with him. We'll probably buy Rosetta Stone. Two credits are required. (Well, they will be eventually.)

But What About Prom? Homeschooling through High School

It's amazing to me that prom is one of the first things people think about when the topic of homeschooling high school is discussed.

I went to public high school and I didn't go to prom. Know what? I survived.

Other things that come up often in these discussions of what a homeschooled child will miss in high school? Sports, letter jackets, class rings, yearbooks. Do ANY of these things have the least relevance to the actual purpose of school? An education is, of course, what I mean.

If education is mentioned, it's usually in the context of "how will you (the homeschool mom) ever teach chemistry?"

So, many people give up before homeschool high school ever begins. But for me, those social events are not important enough to change our goals as a family. And there are ways around the seeming inability to teach an advanced subject.

Last night, I joined a gathering of homeschool parents sharing ideas about homeschooling through high school. My son David will be entering ninth grade in the fall, so this is a very relevant topic for me. So much information was shared that we decided to make this the first of a series of meetings on the subject. I'll attempt here to give a brief overview of the discussion.

The speaker, Connie, is a local woman who has 2 daughters in college and one son still being homeschooled for high school. She began with a reminder to take our children's learning styles into consideration when designing their course of study. Something else important is to pray for wisdom and for God to remove any fear regarding the issue. She gave us a long list of things to do, such as set goals, keep good records, help students become self-learners, and many more.

Many options are available to homeschooled highschoolers beyond the typical mom-teaching model - pre-packaged curriculum, online academies, community college, private tutors, courses on DVD, co-ops, and more. Don't forget to use Dad as a resource also. And yes, you can learn along with your student, but the most important thing to remember is that you are teaching your child HOW to learn.

Take time to plan out your child's course of study before high school begins. Outline the classes before making any purchases. Stay organized. Connie showed us a binder she had kept for one of her daughters. Every time she received anything to do with her education, she put it in the binder in a page protector - letters thanking the girl for volunteer work, newspaper clippings, transcripts from classes, certificates from outside organizations, etc...

Recordkeeping is essential. Write everything down. Keep up with your grading and gradebook.Eleventh grade is a time for college applications, so you'll need complete records then. Don't wait for senior year. Start out right and things will go smoothly.Remember to keep track of ALL extracurricular activities. Colleges want well-rounded students.

We talked a lot about testing - MME/ACT, SAT, AP, CLEP, Iowa, Stanford - but I am not going to go into that here, at least not now. Those things change a lot, and some things are state-specific. Others vary according to what college you want to enter. The best recommendation about testing is to check with the colleges or trade schools your child is considering and find out THEIR desires regarding test scores, as well as other attributes they are looking for in applicants. Also remember that some tests can be taken more than once for a better score.

Transcripts are important. You will create your own. There is software available for this, but you can use a form you create or modify. It should be ONE PAGE. Put the GPA (grade point average) on it. List the classes your child took and the credits earned. Have the transcript notarized. (usually free at your bank)

The meeting lasted about two hours and there were lots of questions. We plan to have more meetings delving into different areas of this huge topic, so stay tuned for more information! I'm sure I've forgotten some of the most important information, so go check out the handouts.

Hand Outs passed out at the meeting:

MI Dept of Education New High School Grad Requirements (Class of 2011), 2 pages

http://www.sofhomeschool.com/support/newMMC.pdf

Connie's great notes (4 pages)

http://www.sofhomeschool.com/support/notes.pdf

A No Nonsense Conversation (2 pages),

http://www.sofhomeschool.com/support/nononsense.pdf

Resources: Web Sites and Books for Homeschooling Through High School (1 page),

http://www.sofhomeschool.com/support/resources.pdf

Sample Transcripts & Report Card:

1 Sample Transcript:

http://www.sofhomeschool.com/support/transcript1.pdf

1 Sample Report Card:

http://www.sofhomeschool.com/support/reportcard1.pdf

Excel Spreadsheet Transcripts - plug in the numbers & it will calculate for you!

http://www.homeschool-curriculum-savings.com/homeschool-transcript-template.html