Top 6 High School Curriculum Choices

Finding a good fit in curriculum is very exciting. These past few years, I have explored and found some great matches for my children and myself. In this post I hope to share the best high school curriculum I have found so far in my journey.

Why is curriculum important?

Curriculum serves as a tool in crafting your child’s high school story. Their education is one aspect of this story, and it’s a very important aspect. What books they read, what world-view they study, and who influences their thoughts will guide your child’s ideas and learning. The freedom to chose these influencers is a gift and responsibility. Take the opportunity to choose wisely.

Finding the right match for you and your child will make a great difference in how enjoyable your high school days can be. This match is determined by your child’s learning style and by your teaching style as well. Each child is unique, and one excellent curriculum may not fit a sibling as well as it did your first-born for example. Be continually studying your children and how they learn so that you can prepare them for high school (and life!) with the best tools.

The 6 Best Homeschool Curriculum for High School

Compass Classroom offers many excellent courses and homeschooling resources, but both the American Literature and American History take a spot in my top 5 list. In American Literature, the instructor Ben Crist is both engaging and descriptive. His thoughts on the readings are spoken from a biblical perspective that is both caring and educated. The reading list includes great American classics such as:

• The Last of the Mohicans
• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
• The Red Badge of Courage
• Little Women
• The Great Gatsby
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• and more!

In addition to the booklist, additional short story & poetry reading assignments are made available for download, as well as a teacher’s guide, and an online portal for discussion. Both the publisher and the instructor are quick to reply to questions via e-mail, and I very much appreciated this support!

I think it’s helpful to note that my Freshman son, who has not studied literature in a formal classroom or curriculum before now, is greatly enjoying this course. Though his favorite subjects are math and science, his interest is engaged with the lectures and he enjoys discussing the readings in our every-day conversations.

Dave Raymond teaches this course on American History in the form of a story. Each day, your child can enjoy an 8-10 minute video of the instructor relating historical stories along with graphics, music, and sound effects. He is both and engaging and passionate, relaying the true American story from a biblical perspective.

Each day also includes reading and questions that can be answered in written pages or discussed around the dinner table. Each lesson includes a Portfolio project to be created along the way, and every few weeks a larger assignment is given. These include a speech, a colonial map, a paper, and a finale project of the student’s choice of topic and medium.

Again, my son is very engaged in the lessons as he studies this course. He is not just learning facts, but he is remembering stories in the lives of Christopher Columbus and the Duke of Earl; Stories of hardship and stories of heroism. Stories that hold a deep importance to our heritage and to the greatest story that God is telling throughout human history.

Math; the dreaded subject!

My experience with Math in homeschool has been a challenging yet enjoyable experience. Most dread the subject of math – having to teach it, having to grade it, having to do it at all! I personally enjoy math (I always have!), and so teaching math to my oldest has been similar to a hobby; enjoying the challenges that come up, and cherishing the times spent together.

My oldest used Abeka’s math curriculum from K5-6th grade, and he loved it! The curriculum was hard and heavy at times, but he embraced the challenge. If your child loves math (and a challenge), I would encourage you to tackle the challenge of Abeka’s math curriculum for his elementary education.

In 7th grade, we made a big switch to Dr. Shormann’s DIVE educadium. We began with Saxon Pre-Algebra, which is now Shormann PreAlgebra. The course involved the Saxon books and 15-30 minute video lessons available in an online portal. I had to grade the pages myself with this format. It was hard work, but very good work for my math-loving student. He learned to take notes. He learned to not only correct his math mistakes, but see it as an opportunity to learn. He enjoyed it very much.

Since he was a younger pre-algebra student, he took his time and finished the course in a year and a half. The next step was Shormann’s Algebra 1 Integrated with Geometry, which he began during his 8th grade year.

Math: the solution

Taking the time to learn the math and not rush through it has made such a difference for my son. This timed-approach prepared him for upper-level math and science in so many ways. He has taken to Algebra 1 like fish to water. His note-taking skills are excellent, and his understanding of math concepts is exceptional. I believe this is due to Dr. Shormann’s methods in this curriculum he has created.

Dr. Shormann teaches each lesson on a digital whiteboard for the student to watch. He encourages the student to pause, rewind, re-watch, and take their time with the lesson. The example problems are worked out in the lesson as well. Following the video, the student has 20 questions to answer. These questions cover the new material and cycle through the old concepts, much like Saxon’s method. Each question is graded the moment after it is answered, and there are links to both lessons and examples for each concept. This is most helpful when studying. The lesson is automatically graded in the online portal, and the student is ready to tackle the next lesson.

Quizzes and Exams are all included in the portal, as well as an extensive teacher’s guide, quiz study guide, and exam study guide. The steps are laid out very clearly. This method works very well! I’ve been impressed, and I’m eager for my son to continue into the higher levels of math with Dr. Shormann as his guide.

Another excellent approach to mathematics comes from Teaching Textbooks! If your student is either uninterested in Math or not as quick to grasp the concepts, Teaching Textbooks offers an enjoyable and comprehensive approach. Their 4.0 online portal is quick to load, full of color, and easy to use with access to explanations, lessons, gradebooks, hints, and more.

In my experience over the years with Abeka Math and Saxon Math, I have found the grading of papers to be the most time-consuming. (More so than the actual lessons sometimes!) The online aspect of Shormann Math and Teaching Textbooks completely changes the drudgery of grading into a simple process. It is done for you! You even receive an e-mail when your student has finished the lesson.

These online portals grow your child’s independence and ownership of their education. It’s a win, win!

Check out their sample courses online, offering 20 sample lessons for each course! Having the free samples has been a “fun” math source for my daughter in addition to her math study in a book. Teaching Textbooks has been a game-changer for so many families. Check them out at their website, teachingtextbooks.com. You will be so glad that you did!

When it comes to High School, some subjects can become an immediate intimidation for a parent. Science can be one of those subjects! For those of us who feel we are ‘in over our heads’ when it comes to Science, Dr. Shormann can provide an excellent answer. This is the first course in a line of exceptional science courses taught by Dr. Shormann:

Not only is the course complete with video lessons, and video labs, but it is all automatically graded for you as your student completes the questions and the exams. The material is excellent, and the format and functionality is smooth and comprehensive. It’s the best of both worlds.

Each science course counts as a one-credit High School class (with lab included!). Though your child is not in the actual lab or handling the actual devices, their involvement with the video and the lab workbook (download provided) is counted as the same.

Based on our experiences with the Junior High level Earth Science course and the ICP Science for High School, we are very pleased with this curriculum in our course of study. My oldest enjoys the material, remembers the material, and truly wants to become a scientist one day! For all those science-minded students, be sure to check into Dr. Shormann’s online courses.

Of all the Grammar workbooks we have browsed and sampled over the years, Fix It! Grammar takes the cake. Both my Middle School child and High School child enjoy the challenge and story line of this curriculum. The series contains 6 books. Each book builds in difficulty and deeper explanation of grammar concepts.

Each book follows a story, and each day introduces another sentence in that story. The student is asked to find various parts of speech, homophone errors, punctuation placement, clauses, and more. After labeling and editing the sentence, the student then re-writes the sentence at the bottom of the page. By the end of the year, they will have re-written the entire story.

The daily sentence also contains a vocabulary word and space to add an illustration. (This is my daughter’s favorite part. She’s the visual learner!). Undeniably, this grammar homework (solving a puzzle) is their favorite assignment for the day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Curriculum is a very intentional choice for you and your teen. The beauty in homeschool is the opportunity to help shape and influence them as you study the curriculum together. Take those opportunities seriously. Choose curriculum that excites your teenager in their education. Engage in the studies with your children. You will be so blessed in the process!

What are some of the BEST High school curriculum you have found? I would love to hear about what you’re learning in your homeschool. Please comment below and share your top curriculum choices with me. Thank you for reading!

Keep Walking Friend,

Christina