The Plan

I have to mail in a list of the curriculum we plan to use this year to our oversight group.  This has always been easy, because up until high school it's just a matter of writing down the names of the books I hope to use and -- done!  That was easy.  (I want one of those 'buttons' from that office supply place)  But of course with high school, we have to include our plan for credits.  The core subjects are straight forward, but I had to think much harder about how many credit hours Harrison will be able to complete in things like Bible and Phys.Ed. for which we're not using a "standard" textbook.  Then there's the issue of Electives, Fine Arts and Technology.  It is downright strange for me - a very spontaneous, seat-of-my-pants person - to try and come up with a four-year plan that includes all the required courses and is still somewhat practical. 

 

These are the minimum requirements set forth by our oversight group for an academic diploma:

 

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  1 credit - Bible
  
  


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  4 credits - English (must include Literature and Creative Writing)
  
  


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  3 credits - Social Studies (U.S. History + two others)
  
  


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  3 credits - Math (Algebra I + two others)
  
  


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  2 credits - Science (Biology + one other)
  
  


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  1 credit - Physical Education
  
  


• 
  
  1 credit - Technology
  
  


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  1 credit - Fine Art
  
  


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  5 credits - Electives (any course not required to fulfill another requirement)
  
  

And now - our plan for this year:

 

• Bible - Faith Lessons from the Holy Land series - 1/2 credit


• English - Alpha Omega Lifepacs (+ literature) - 1 credit


• World History - self-developed - 1 credit


• Math (Pre-Algebra) - Saxon Algebra 1/2 - 1 credit


• Biology - Apologia - 1 credit


• Phys.Ed. - co-op class - 1/2 credit


• Photography (Fine Arts) - online course - 1/2 credit

Figuring out how many credit hours we would log in Bible and Phys.Ed. was harder than I'd first thought.  LOL  Apparently many students spread their 1 Phys.Ed. credit over four years, earning 1/4 credit each year.  I figured with the gym class plus the extra sports Harrison does, he should easily be able to log 60 credit hours in one year. 

 

The Fine Arts requirement is a challenge for us, as Harrison was just not interested in any of the options.  He finally picked out Photography as something that he would be interested in, and I think that's a good match for him.  He is always taking my camera and shooting pictures, and he did a Caravan elective badge in Photography a few years ago, and enjoyed that.  So... how to find a way to make that a high school credit course.  Hmmmmm... I looked at the community college offerings, but for this semester the classes (online and in-house) had already started.  And were kind of pricey anyway!  And I really was not interested in driving him across the county for a class once a week.  Thanks to an online friend's google search  (Dini), we think we've found what we want - an online <a href="http://www.home.earthlink.net/~kastellby/photographyforhomeschoolers/index.html">Photography for Homeschoolers</a> course.  It's designed to be completed in one semester and would be worth a half credit.  I thought the price was reasonable too, which is a big consideration.  Here's the hitch - we'll have to acquire another camera, as mine do not have manual focus and shutter speed.  (I'm the classic "photos for dummies" model - strictly point and shoot  LOL)  So.... I listed that as something we're going to do this year, starting in second semester.  That gives us some time to look for a camera at a price we can afford. 

 

Now it's time for school.  Spencer was up already but not feeling good, so I'll have to see how he's doing.  Maybe he'll get some time off today.