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Online Homeschool High School Poetry (No Teaching Involved)

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I was given this product for free. All opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. When I do accept a product it’s because I’m giddy to tell you about it. Read my full disclosure here. Now on to the fun!

When my boys entered the high school years I admit feeling intimidated to teach poetry. Besides fighting my sons’ perception that poetry is too emotional and for girls only, I struggled with the humdrum way I was taught poetry in high school. When I saw that Literary Adventures for Kids had an online homeschool high school Poetry & a Movie literature course, I couldn’t wait to get started on it with my third teen.

Poetry Study for Homeschool High School

Movies, an online self-paced course, and a hands-off approach to teaching the Poetry & a Movie literature course piqued my interest. My son not so much. However, by using this course I’m so tickled that I’ve been able to ignite my son’s interest in poetry. This course has easily become one of my favorites and must-haves for teaching high school teens poetry.Online Homeschool High School Poetry (No Teaching Involved). When I saw that Literary Adventures for Kids had an online homeschool high school Poetry & a Movie literature course, I couldn't wait to get started on it with my third teen. Click here for this fun high school course!

Overview of Poetry & a Movie

Let me back up first and give you a bird’s-eye view of this super course:

  • it’s self-paced and online
  • there is no physical product and my high school teen loved to pick up and go at his leisure
  • the literature course has 10 units
  • it is a study of the master poets and their poetry
  • it is a study of the poetic devices or literary elements
  • videos are scattered throughout
  • it has a grammar component
  • it’s designed to give your teen the broad strokes of literary elements so there is no overwhelm
  • you can purchase the books used in the course or borrow them from your local library
  • a movie suggestion is included for a unit end celebration
  • there is flexibility to use this course as a full high school credit, one-half of a language arts course, or enrichment

One more thing I want you to know before I move on is that this super course is hugely discounted from Nov. 23 to December 2. Hurry!!
Be sure to NOT miss this!

Holiday Sale Poetry and a MovieAlthough studying literary elements is the foundation of poetry over prose, I couldn’t take that usual approach with my son. Another roadblock of high school programs is that most use a textbook method. My son is an auditory learner.

You know my struggle through the years with him because taking notes doesn’t work well with him. I need to blend different styles of teaching to fit his need to learn in a way that appeals to him and make this course a challenge. Taking information in through audio works extremely well. The Poetry and a Movie course uses an eclectic method of teaching by combining video, text, and real books. Win!

Besides searching for courses that match his learning style, I had to overcome his perception that poetry is not manly. If you have boys you know what I mean. Challenge on.

Instead of picking up another boring textbook about literary devices and beginning there, the course begins with a series of videos about what is poetry. I won’t ruin the videos for your kids, but I heard a chuckle or two from my son.

Using the living book in the course that is suggested as a spine or frame for this course is what my son loved. Remember, a spine is normally a living book that is the foundation on which a course is built. That is another win for the course because real books should still be used in high school.

Now that I had my son hooked on the course, the next step was to choose a master poet that would help my son let go of his negative perception of poetry. Before I tell you what I did, it’s important for your teen to cover the master poets in order. If this is your middle or high school teen’s first introduction to the beauty of poetry, don’t skip ahead like I had to do.

I was tickled to see Edgar Allan Poe listed as one of the master poets. We moved right to his poems first because my son needed to understand that poetry is not just about love; poetry is about real things in the world like cruelty, war, nature, despair, and friendship.  Because the powerful words of Poe were the first ones that inspired me, I was almost sure his words would not make my teen yawn. It worked.

Next the unit moves on to helping your teen define literary devices by using video to teach them and giving examples. At this point, your teen will set up his poetry notebook. Poetry, Literary Elements, and Trivia are the tabbed sections in the notebook.
Poetry and a Movie PINGuide your teen to help him set up the tabbed sections because they give your learner a way to break down learning into meaningful and fun parts. After all, learning poetry should have an organized approach so as to not miss one tiny detail. The teacher in me needs to be sure my son comes away from high school with a foundation in literature and appreciation for figurative language and not just analytical writing. The trivia section in the notebook helped my teen to see that poetry is lively, upbeat, and challenging.I mentioned before that this course uses many different teaching styles, but it equally incorporates different homeschool approaches. The study of poetry is both a classical and Charlotte Mason feature. Charlotte Mason touts studying one artist or composer for a while. Studying one master poet thoroughly is the same approach in this course. Instead of quickly shifting focus, poetry requires lingering on words and digging deep for the intentions of wordplay by master poets. After my initial fast forwarding to a point in the course to hook my kid on poetry, we benefited from staying focused on one poet for a considerable length of time. Mastery is also a unit study feature and that was one huge benefit for us in this course.

Having a culminating activity like watching a movie together or having teatime with your teen keeps it fun. Of course I didn’t dare mention teatime to my boy, but popping some popcorn and lighting the fireplace before a movie made it memorable. Although the course is designed so that your teen can learn independently, don’t miss out by not reading the poems together.Poetry is supposed to be read out loud. Mentoring your teen doesn’t stop in high school. If you want him to appreciate figurative language and rhyme, then he needs to hear your voice. I enjoyed reading the poems out loud with my teen, but you don’t have to. Another benefit of the program is that he can read it along side the narrator on each video. I have to admit, my voice was no substitute for the narrator reading “The Tyger” by William Blake. Your teen will love listening closely as the poem is read to him.

Although you can use the course for writing lessons, my goal was to use the time to kindle my son’s appreciation for poetry.

 5 More Things You Should Know About Poetry & a Movie

One/  The specifics of the course are the introduction, the master poets which are Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake, Edgar Allan Poe, Walt Whitman, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Langston Hughes, William Wordsworth, William Butler Yeats, Dylan Thomas, and Robert Frost. The last section is a Final Project writing essays.

Two/  You will need to determine beforehand how much credit you will assign to your teen. Of course this depends on how extensive you want to use this online language arts course.

Third/ Each poet has been planned for a month-long study. Because I wanted to get the flavor of the course, we initially skipped around as I explained earlier. Now, my son prefers to cover one master poet in-depth.

Four/ There is unlimited access to the course and I see this as a huge savings. 

If you don’t know by now, curriculum for older kids is more expensive. We’re preparing teens for adulthood and curriculum shouldn’t just impart knowledge or rote facts; it should stir a teen’s mind to be included in the bigger picture of life after high school. Teaching a teen how to think using poetry as an analysis cements beautiful thoughts in our kid’s mind and reciting poetry is a memory aid to use into adulthood. You don’t want to miss covering poetry and it’s especially fun when there is no stress planning.

In addition, this course can be used in a few different ways to get your money’s worth. The master poets and literary elements can be introduced in middle school. In high school, use the course again, but fold in the grammar and essay components for high school credit. It’s a two-fer.

The best part is that you can use this with all of your younger kids. What a deal for a course that is prepped and ready to go.

Five/ Literary Adventures for Kids is owned by a homeschooling family. You know how much I prefer curriculum prepared by a homeschooling family because they get it when we need curriculum easy to teach and that appeals to a variety of learners. Another win for me.

Poetry & a Movie may be a good fit for your family:

  • if your child needs multiple approaches to learning
  • if your child prefers using real books instead of a textbook
  • if you want to foster independence with your middle or high school teen, but want your child to have a framework to follow
  • if you fear teaching poetry and want to learn alongside your teen
  • if you prefer an online self-paced course over a physical product
  • if you need a course prepped and ready to go with minimal teacher planning

Bottom Line: I’m extremely delighted with Poetry & a Movie and any apprehensions I had that my teen son may find poetry only a girl’s subjects has been put to rest. Hearing him repeat part of the poems he learned as he goes through his day is a proud mama moment.

I am so pleased with this course and I just can’t think of anything that needs to be changed. I would highly recommend it if you have a teen that needs to learn outside the box, but don’t have time to prepare a unit study. Poetry & a Movie is a keeper in my home and I plan on going over it again both as a standalone course and to use as a review tool. I look forward to seeing my son build on the foundational skills he learned in this poetry course. This has been a rewarding experience and has helped my son enjoy learning to write and read poetry!

Thanks to Literary Adventures for Kids for this excellent product to serve the homeschool community!

Don’t forget to purchase this at this huge discount from Nov. 23 to December 2.

Go on over and give it a look see. I’ll know you love it as much as I do!

How to Purchase It.

►Product Name: Literary Adventures for Kids – Poetry and a Movie
►Website: Literary Adventure for Kids/Hide the Chocolate
►Grade Level: 7th grade and up
►Type of product: These is an online course. No physical product will be shipped to you.
►Price: 124.99, but there is a significant savings right now from Nov. 23 to December 2. Hurry!!

Holiday Sale Poetry and a MovieAlso, you’ll love these other helps for high school:Online Homeschool High School Poetry (No Teaching Involved). When I saw that Literary Adventures for Kids had an online homeschool high school Poetry & a Movie literature course, I couldn't wait to get started on it with my third teen. Click here for this fun high school course!

Hugs and love ya,

Get It Over and Done: How Do Homeschoolers Graduate Early

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

When one of my sons told me he wanted to be over and done with high school, I was setback. I felt like a failure especially because we’ve homeschooled from the beginning. I wanted him to love the academic part of high school as much as my other graduate, but he had a different mindset. I know homeschoolers graduate early all the time and it’s not a surprising fact, but my kid was not having any part of accelerated academics or it seemed like it at the moment. To me, he had the get it over and done with attitude.

Looking back now after my older sons have been graduated for a few years, I have a different view of the get it over and done with mindset.

At the time a kid cops this attitude, it seems like his whole future will be ruined. I’m here to tell you that is not always so. You need to look past your initial gut reaction if it’s negative; try to remember years later when you are having coffee together as besties this will be a memory for the right reason.

Your kid’s journey can still go from mediocre to memorable, but only if you handle this stage reasonably.

Moving Past the Four-Year Homeschool High School Plan

Look at these 3 points you need to think about. Then, I have a few tips and tricks.

When one of my sons told me he wanted to be over and done with high school, I was set back. At the time a kid cops this attitude, it seems like his whole future will be ruined. I'm here to tell you that is not always so. You’ll love these tips and tricks when your teen wants to be over and done with homeschool high school. CLICK HERE!

One/ Try to understand what your teen is thinking about regarding his future.

Don’t jump to the conclusion that get it over and done means laziness or lack of motivation. It may be right now, but your teen’s maturity level is still changing.

Too, after I had an in-depth talk with my son, I understood his reasons for wanting a simple framework so he could graduate early.

At the time, my husband had just suffered a terrible health set back and all of my kids matured significantly that year. I have mixed feelings on my kids giving up some of their carefree childhood years, but that is another thread.

All of my kids understood the fragility of life and my son was ready to navigate his future. He wasn’t content for choosing subjects each year for a four-year high school program. He wanted to plot what was absolutely essential so that he could graduate.

I needed to focus more time on letting him explore what he wanted to do for the future. Doing that partially satisfied his feeling of uneasiness.

Have you seen these two great resources, Career Exploration for Homeschool High School Students and What Color is Your Parachute for Teens?

  

That brings me to my next point which is you have to be ready when homeschooling high school to decide what is your bottom line.

Two/ Rise to the occasion and decide what is your bottom line for graduation requirements.

I’ll admit it. I was unprepared for my minimum requirements because for so long my son was filling all of my requirements. I want you prepared.

Here is a general rule of thumb;

So choose a number of credits, but base it on subjects that will benefit your teen the most.

Three/ Be creative and think outside of the 4-year plan. Mix and match community college with online courses and self-guided learning.

Although I’m on board with any of my kids wanting to get a start on their career or college path, I wasn’t prepared for an alternative route other than the CLEP route I had prepared for him.

The point I’m making is to understand clearly what your teen is wanting to do. More listening than talking was hard for me. Not easy, but I did it.

My son knew the value of preparing for a career; he was just ready to get on with it now, not later.

There are many ways to fill high school graduation requirements besides the four-year plan.

  • Decide what courses your teen will take and remember that community college can be a great advantage for teens who want to progress. For example, your teen can take two years of basic math and take two years of math at the community college. It’s called dual enrollment. Ages vary by college. He’ll receive college credit at the same time. This option made both of my older sons feel that they had choices. Your goal of high standards and your teen’s goal of moving on can be met. You just need to be sure you and your teen understand all the options.
  • Although this is the son that normally prefers hands-on and interactive learning, he enjoyed using PAC (Paradigm Accelerate Curriculum) because they are a set number of booklets or worktext to complete. Instead of unrestrained exploring, my teen had a definite finish to the course. No extra books were required for reading. Do the worktext and be finished. This went a long way to making him feel that he could see a definite finish.
  • Also, I had to determine my goals for language arts. Reminding myself that we had spent many years with quality literature, I was happy to find the Dover Literature Guides a great fit. They promoted self-learning and independence. Questions are right there in the book for literary analysis. It was up to my teen and me to decide how many to read for literature purposes. What is a good rule of thumb for how many books a teen needs to read in each grade? Some providers choose anywhere from 15 to 20 books for the year with about 6 being used for analysis. Again, you determine based on your child’s interest how many he should read and how many should be for analysis.
  • Lastly, don’t forget dvd based learning and easy online courses like HippoCampus and Khan Academy to fill whatever else you may think your teen needs in order to complete his high school.

Can Homeschoolers Graduate Early?

Look at some of these insider’s tips, tricks, and things to know if your homeschooler graduates early:

  • Your teen may be ready to move on with his career choice, life choice, or college choice. If so, balance his high school subjects as much as possible so that you don’t close the door to any future opportunities. This means decide your bare essentials for graduating. Two years is a good start — two years of language arts, two years of science, two years of math, and etc. Most states have relaxed homeschool laws which means you determine the number of credits and prepare the transcript. If your state does not require a certain number of years or credits, then design your transcript.
  • There is nothing wrong with taking a gap year. Let your teen take off a year. Although gap years normally happen at the end of a senior year, your teen may be ready now to explore his future choices. When we moved to South America, unintentionally, it turned out to be a better thing for my discontented teen than I realized at the time. I knew the whole family would benefit, but I had no idea. The shift in focus allowed him a break, it put emphasis on the family, and it gave him a shift in focus he needed at the time.
  • Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think any parent is prepared for having a teen hanging around the house with no direction and too much time on his hands. Discussion needs to be had about why you’re agreeing to shorten the time. Whether it means your teen is wanting to move ahead with his career choice or college track, there needs to be a plan. If you and your husband decide to switch gears and try the direction your child is wanting to go, you need clear expectations and consequences. I knew my son was wanting to go ahead and start taking his college courses on line. With that choice he made, my son felt like he was moving faster toward his goals, but he also understood that he wasn’t graduating early to hang around the house with idle hands.
  • If your child wants to graduate early to be done with school because of his attitude, it’s an uphill battle, but winnable. If that is the case, I recommend that you cut back his academic load, allow him some time to pursue work. Mix in some community college classes so he is with adults and gets a taste of the real world. Try to not shut down communication, but don’t make any promises you’re not willing to keep. For example, if he doesn’t learn now that he has to finish what he started, he will take the easy way out in a lot of decisions as an adult. By easing up on his academic load, you’re giving him time to mature too. He may need time to decide the direction he wants to go and hopefully you’re guiding him to what you want for him too.

Don’t let something that could potentially break the peace you have with your teen wreck your household.

Teens still very much still try to push the bounds or limits.

If you’re firm on what your absolute minimum is most teens given some time will come around to seeing things from a reasonable standpoint.

If your teen sees that you’re trying and you’ve said you want the best for him, you need to be willing to let him start making decisions for what is best for him.

And remember this, which was the hardest thing for me at the time — as long as you maintain a close relationship with your teen and show him your positive attitude toward learning, he can return to whatever path you’ve laid out for him.

Now that my son is close to finishing college at his pace, on his own terms, and I add giving a hundred percent and advancing with excellent grades, anything he told me in his teen years pales into comparison.

It wasn’t the end, it was just the beginning of him taking control.

 

When one of my sons told me he wanted to be over and done with high school, I was set back. At the time a kid cops this attitude, it seems like his whole future will be ruined. I'm here to tell you that is not always so. You’ll love these tips and tricks when your teen wants to be over and done with homeschool high school. CLICK HERE!

Also, I have many other tips to share with you. Don’t get overwhelmed, you’ve got this:

Hugs and love ya,

Modern U.S. and World History High School Literature

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I stalked the mailman waiting for these books. I was given this product for free and I was compensated for my time. However, paid for my time does not mean paid off or that a company will receive a glowing review. I don’t roll that way. ALL opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. When I do accept a product it’s because I’m giddy to tell you about it. Read my full disclosure here. Now on to the fun stuff!

Let’s face it! Whether you’ve homeschooled your kids from the beginning or started part way through, choosing high school literature can be intimidating. Until I started using Beautiful Feet Books a few years back, I made the high school years unnecessarily stressful. You want the peace of mind knowing you prepared your teen well by using great books whether he chooses a career or college track.

So using modern U.S. and world history literature by Beautiful Feet Books not only filled a general literature credit Tiny needs, but also allowed us to meet a modern world history credit.

Too, don’t miss the awesome giveaway below!

How to Narrow Down Your High School Literature Scope

Understanding that you have to have goals or reasons other than needing literature in high school makes it easier to narrow down your choices for literature and curriculum providers.

That may be an obvious statement, but there are many factors that you want to consider when choosing a program for your junior or senior teen.

Let's face it! Whether you've homeschooled your kids from the beginning or started part way through, choosing high school literature can be intimidating. You want the peace of mind knowing you prepared your teen well by using great books whether he chooses a career or college track. You’ll love these high school literature books along with the literary analysis. CLICK HERE to read about this curriculum!

I have several reasons for using and believing in Beautiful Feet Books:

  • foremost is our love for literature-based history to avoid a boring and blah approach to history,
  • thought-provoking books which may conflict with our world view or tug at my teen’s emotions are part of my job in preparing him for adulthood,
  • the role of the teacher is valued, respected, and encouraged with this curriculum to shape the teen’s understanding,
  • as the supervising teacher, I need to be the one to decide when and how we will deal with sensitive adult themes,
  • all of my sons need to be exposed to literature which may be covered in higher education,
  • a passion for history of any time period is awakened and appreciated through the use of living books, and
  • although non-fiction is important for a framework of facts, advanced literary criticism happens when a teen selects from excellent fiction literature to analyze.

My reasons may or may not include classic books, but they always include good books or living literature.

Too, having the opportunity to cover modern world history was not something I even thought about covering with my first high school graduate.

Sticking to the commonly held belief that high school teens need to have an emphasis on American history or U.S. government, I over emphasized those time periods with my first graduate.

Of course, hindsight gives you perfect vision. So I knew with my second and now third high school teen that I could tailor and tweak to suit their needs because Beautiful Feet Books  is flexible when it comes to covering history.

Most of the middle school and high school curriculum includes two history eras. I never appreciated this fact until I switched from a strictly classical approach to a more eclectic approach with an emphasis on unit studies.

At first notion, this dual history period approach may seem hodgepodge. However it’s quite the opposite for a true historian. And there are two main reasons.

1.  Past history and today’s current events always have multiple world powers and key players in action at the same time. 
While it’s true that an in-depth study of any civilization would make a fascinating study, my goal for high school is for my sons to have a framework of key events in a time period.

2. Being able to pull back and look at events happening in the world at the same time helped my teens to make a meaningful connection to what they’re learning.
Juniors and seniors especially have the maturity now to see that one area of history is part of a much larger piece of the history puzzle. Being able to pull back and see the broad strokes of history like the events in the U.S. and world history simultaneously works well for both a history lover and history hater.

For my history lovers, it gives them additional topics for rabbit trails. For my one history hater, (yes I can’t believe I had a child that came from me that wasn’t wild about history) he got an overview of key events without overwhelming him about details which didn’t interest him.

That is exactly why I love the way Beautiful Feet Books designs their courses. All of the benefits of teaching it to adjust to each of my teens likes and dislikes along with my need for minimal teacher prep makes it a superior high school literature program.

The Nitty-Gritty of Modern U.S. and World History Literature

I know you want the nitty-gritty like I do. Look at what this level includes and the details:

  • it’s designed for Junior and Senior levels of high school,
  • it covers American and modern world history from the 1850s into the 2000s,
  • you can award one American history or modern world history credit and one general literature credit,
  • it’s a one year study, but we go a bit longer because we school into the summer and we like to spread it out,
  • it is Christian-based, but as with all of their literature and questions, it’s easier than some other providers to tweak to what I want my sons to know,
  • these beautiful books: Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Rifles for Watie, The Red Badge of Courage, Virginia’s General, Up From Slavery, Around the World in Eighty Days, A History of the Twentieth Century, The Jungle, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Yanks are Coming, Stalin: Russia’s Man of Steel, No Promises in the Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird, Hitler, Churchill, The Hiding Place, Night, Unbroken, Victory in the Pacific, Hiroshima, Lost Names, America and Vietnam: The Elephant and the Tiger, Red Scarf Girl and The Kite Runner, 
  • and it has a general literary analysis study. My goal was to be sure that Tiny had a general grasp on literary concepts. We used another language arts resource to enhance this one. Although literary analysis is very important to me at this age, it can be fun. For us that means learning it from books we love.

My emphasis on literary analysis leads me into another valued part of this curriculum which deserves the spotlight and it’s the Study Guide or teacher’s guide.

Modern U.S. and World History Literature Study Guide

I hesitate to call it just the teacher’s guide because at this age your teen needs to be independently delving into the Study Guide. Of course, it’s a teacher guide too.

Because the Study Guide is jam-packed full of teaching tidbits, supplements, and background information, you’ll want to take your time understanding how it’s set up.

The Study Guide is divided into five history periods:

  • Part I. Antebellum and the Civil War
  • Part II. Reconstruction, the Industrial Revolution, and the Turn of the Century
  • Part III. The First World War, the Depression, and Segregation
  • Part IV. Building Towards War, the Second World War, and the Atomic Age
  • Part V. The Struggle for Freedom in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

To help your student hone his ideology and principles there are themes in each section.  Some of them are:

  • A Study in Freedom and Responsibility,
  • A Study in Conviction and Triumph,
  • A Study in Fortitude and Forgiveness,
  • A Study in Ambition and Courage,
  • and a Study in Conscience and Fairness.

In addition to the extensive notes in the Study Guide with background information, points in each lesson guided us on each discussion.

After reading the books like Stalin: Russia’s Man of Steel or Virginia’s General: Robert E. Lee and the Civil War it made for some great discussions about topics like freedom and prejudice. I loved having the themes to guide my teen to comprehend the theme in each book which is a part he has struggled with in the past.

Because my high school kid worked on his own on part of this, I have to rely heavily on the Study Guide for the answers, questions, and some of the background information. Although it’s not easy to flip back and forth between time periods and books, you can easily with the way this is laid out.

Also, some of the books my son read right away and wanted to delve deeper into those topics. World War II is one topic that my son knows well and never gets tired of talking about. Besides reading the books in the curriculum by Albert Marrin, one of our favorite history authors, the Study Guide has more recommended books and videos in the back to feed my son’s love for the Second World War.

Yet another reason I loved using this is that we needed more help in literary analysis. I’ve never been keen on assigning book reports although I know they have a practical purpose which is to train a child to write critically in the older grades.

Because I’ve never forced Tiny to do a formal book report, but have worked on reading a lot of good books I needed to be sure he has a good grasp on literary concepts.

There are six books highlighted to use for literary analysis:

  • Uncle Tom’s Cabin,
  • The Red Badge of Courage,
  • To Kill a Mockingbird,
  • Night,
  • Hiroshima,
  • and Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood.

Learning literary analysis should be repeated like grammar and it’s best taught in context or while using examples from literature. As an example, earlier I mentioned ideologies listed in each section. The reason this was important is because even at this grade level students can still get confused between the plot of the story and its theme.

Exposing my sons to the basic elements of fiction like plot, setting, character, point of view, mood, and theme are the foundation of literary analysis, but I wanted to be sure we touched advanced concepts as well.

In addition, there are some literary concepts that can’t be recognized until your child is older.  Some figures of speech and poetry devices confuses my teen. So the books used gave him a good overall grasp of basic and advanced concepts.

It’s not necessary to break down every novel, but it’s important to choose a few to do. I try to be balanced when teaching literature analysis because I don’t want to suck the joy out of reading, but it’s important for our teens to become critical thinkers too.

Simply requiring my son to write down the term, define it, and explain it to me is a simple method, but it’s the same one I’ve used since I first taught him to read. Too, we wrote a few on index cards for review because just writing it down once didn’t mean he remembered it. Making a notebook like we have as we’ve used Beautiful Feet Books work best for us.

In addition to the literary concepts we focused on, we also chose a few of the essay topics. Essay writing was not my exact focus for him because we’ve done a lot of writing. When we wanted to, however, the Study Guide made it easy for us to choose writing topics.

The Study Guide is much more than an question and answer guide. It is the backbone at this level and it’s all-inclusive.

Our Experience with Modern U.S. and World History Literature by Beautiful Feet Books

Even at the high school level, there is no one-size-fits-all curriculum. As the parents, we still have to be involved when choosing the right curriculum for our teen.

This is my third high school teen to use Beautiful Feet Books because I love their literature and easy approach to teaching. I’ve never been disappointed with the high quality literature, guides, and help for the teacher. This level is no exception.

As the teacher, I don’t think you ever stop worrying if you’ve prepared you teen enough for whatever track you ultimately decide.  However, I do know that my first two sons are doing well in college after using Beautiful Feet Book. I know my third teen is equally well-prepared.

You’ll love reading these other posts for how I used

How to Purchase It.

►Product Name: Modern U.S. and World History pack
►Website: Beautiful Feet Books – BFBooks
► Don’t Miss: The Getting Started page. It’s been such a helpful guide for me through the years.
►Type of product: These is a physical product but the study guide is available as a digital download too.. From their site: This brand-new study features excellent literature for this tremendous span of American and World history from 1850 into the 2000s. This one year study is recommended for 11th and 12th grade. Students will learn a multitude of essential events, concerning political figures, technological advances, social climates, wars, ideologies, and movements all with in-depthstudy notes, discussion and comprehension questions, vocabulary, web links, and essay questions that encourage the mature student to evaluate, think critically, and express their thoughts in writing. In addition to the historical study notes, we have also included essential literary analysis on the finest works of literature in the study.
►Price: Regular Price: $298.09 15% OFF! BFB Price: $253.95.

Let's face it! Whether you've homeschooled your kids from the beginning or started part way through, choosing high school literature can be intimidating. You want the peace of mind knowing you prepared your teen well by using great books whether he chooses a career or college track. You’ll love these high school literature books along with the literary analysis. CLICK HERE to read about this curriculum!

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How To Homeschool Middle School – Why Eclectic Of Course!

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Whether you’re utterly excited or fear that you’re woefully inadequate to homeschool middle school, one thing is for sure. Homeschooling middle school can be some of the best years to homeschool.

From homeschooling a 6th grader who is still so full of eagerness to a 8th grader who is ready to debate on a moment’s notice, there are no dull moments in the middle school years.

Besides watching the unfolding of a young child into a teen, it’s also the time your child is still flexible. It’s the perfect time to try an out of the box approach.How To Homeschool Middle School - Why Eclectic Of Course! Whether you're utterly excited or fear that you're woefully inadequate to homeschool middle school, one thing is for sure. Homeschooling middle school can be some of the best years to homeschool. Click here to read these tips!

First, let me back up a minute. When I approached the middle school years I had thought it was my time to have it easy as the teacher.

Knowing that kids are more independent at this age, I wanted relief in the way of a boxed curriculum.

3 VALUABLE TIPS WHEN TEACHING HOMESCHOOL MIDDLE SCHOOL

However, as each son entered the middle school years, I learned several valuable lessons,

  • one was that the eclectic homeschool style approach was needed now more than ever before;
  • that I shouldn’t have listened to naysayers who said we needed to give up hands-on learning or lapbooks;
  • and I should have dabbled more into life skills and high school credits.

From teaching Mr. Senior 2013, I learned that subjects like the three Rs are the mainstay of these grades too.

Subjects don’t change significantly in middle school, but the approach to how you choose curriculum does.

For example, just because you used one math program with your child up to this point doesn’t mean it is the right one for middle school.

You need to take more time choosing curriculum and subjects.

Here is a very valuable piece of seasoned advice.

Up until middle school, you should choose curriculum based on your teaching style because you are wearing the teacher hat exclusively. Now, you need to choose curriculum based on your child’s learning style.

Beginning in about sixth grade you want to gently turn over the teaching reins to your child.

I can’t recall an exact moment with each of my sons where I could unequivocally pinpoint a time and say, “This is the exact moment my sons were independent.”

Middle school independence is a gradual process.

This is the time to explore alternative options.

Don’t wait until high school for out of the box elective where you don’t have as much flexibility to change courses in midstream.

HOMESCHOOL MIDDLE SCHOOL SUBJECTS GUIDE

Look at these subjects and options for curriculum that worked for us or that we currently like.

Homeschool Middle School Reading

Kids in the middle school are at varying maturing abilities.

Unlike the early grades where you focused on phonics, at about the fourth grade a child should be ready to move away from direct phonic instruction.

Don’t worry if your child is not, I just want you to have a rule of thumb. I had two that were ready to move away and one not so ready.

Look here at How to Transition a Child From Reading to Literature.

I focused on about 3 or 4 books with direct reading instruction. This means we delved deeply into them.

On their own, my sons read way more from my list, but about 4 books was all I could do each year where I questioned them significantly.

Remember there is a difference between a child narrating back a story and learning the elements of fiction and figures of speech.

Understanding where I was headed in the middle school grades helped me to see what teach in reading.

For example, in high school your child will be focusing on certain authors and literature in specific time periods.

In middle school, focus on learning genres and the basics of elements of fiction. This tool he will use as lens to pull up close and examine literature in high school.

Look at what you want to zero in on and use this free page which explains a bit about each one.

  • Plot
  • Setting
  • Character
  • Theme
  • Style
  • Point of View

The point I’m making is although it’s important for them to read at this age, it’s equally important to delve deeply into a book and expose kids to a variety of genres.

Homeschool Middle School Writing

If you chose to teach cursive writing like I did, then you’ll want your child to practice daily.

Writing journals, hands-down has been the best tool I’ve used to encourage writing. The focus is on writing creatively and free from a judgmental eye.

Most of the time my sons chose to share their daily sentences or paragraphs with me, but I didn’t ask or didn’t grade them, only praise them.

Composition is quite a different thing. For example, although we may brainstorm one day and not do much handwriting on our current topic, writing in their journal each day ensured continued practice.

Again, the best way is to mix and match curriculum to suit your child’s strengths and weaknesses.

Resources prepared and used by other homeschool teacher moms is another secret at this age.

If I’m going to start handing over the teaching reins to my child, I needed resources by homeschool families who understood my need.

We loved using WriteShop because it’s written specifically with homeschoolers in mind.

Not only did it have lots of teaching background notes for me, but it was the first top notch writing curriculum my first middle school son used on his own.

Homeschool Middle School Arithmetic

Don’t get discouraged if your middle school kid is behind in math. I had one like this and two ahead at their grade level.

For the one son behind, I added in straightforward practice.

Although math apps can be helpful for drills, my struggling math guy needed to write and see the work.

The Key to . . . Math Series have been some of the best no fluff straight forward practice books I’ve ever used. They’re such timeless helps.

The books are a set of consumable non-overwhelming books on one math topic, like fractions, which progress from the easiest concept in Book 1 to the hardest concept in the last book.

Some packets have 10 books others are smaller.

Middle school was the year I switched from Teaching Textbooks, which I thought was ahead of Math U See, and back again to Math U See. Teaching textbooks was not ahead in my experience from K to 12th grade math.

Although Teaching Textbooks explained step by step, mastery is my goal and Math U See taught mastery. I guess the main difference is that Math U See does not go by grade level but by concept. That is my preferred way of teaching.

Choose what is best for your child at each grade. I didn’t use MUS or Teaching Textbooks at the lower grades.

Also, remember to add in fun hands-on math to teaching. Kids this age can still be cuddly and cute. (ha, ok.)

Look at Making Math Count for Middleschool When You’re Not the Math Mom and 25 Creative and Tasty Edible Math Activities that Keeps Learning Fun.

And then living math is one of the best ways to incorporate it into every day learning.

Kids want a reason for why they have to learn math. Don’t make it boring and humdrum.

Grab an idea from this living math book below from another talented homeschool mom which makes teaching middle school a cinch.

Our Journey Westward
Homeschool Middle School Life Skills and Electives.

And one of the BEST parts of homeschooling middle school is the time to explore and even get credit in middle school. Yes electives are something fun and doable at this age, so explore them.

Middle school is also the time to narrow down what your middle school kids may want to jump into deeper in high school. The only way to do that is to do a wide range of fun and practical skills.

Give them time to explore while making it practical. For example, teach your child how to write out a check.

Yes, my young adult kids still need to use a check once and a while and remembering how to do it can be a struggle.

It’s easier to use a debit card, but that’s not always great for record keeping. How to change a tire and check a vehicle’s oil are important skills to teach them as they approach driving age.

We also love to explore different types of art. We love doing chalk art.

We’ve used another resource by a homeschool mom which is Chalk Pastel because of the variety of books and teaching helps she has on her site.
Art for All Ages Bundle
Even cooking has been added as part of our science and history and a new one we’ve been trying out is SkillTrek.

It gives us a set of life skills from A to Z. Now is the time to learn this stuff before your kids tell you they know everything.

Wait, I mean now when they still do what you say!

I wanted to give you this quick glance at the middle school years. Soon, I’ll be adding more specific posts to help you.

What are you wrestling with right now in middle school?

Also, look at these super helpful tidbits:

How To Homeschool Middle School - Why Eclectic Of Course! Whether you're utterly excited or fear that you're woefully inadequate to homeschool middle school, one thing is for sure. Homeschooling middle school can be some of the best years to homeschool. Click here to read these tips!

Hugs and love ya,

Homeschooling High School: Curriculum, Credits, and Courses

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.


By the time you reach the high school years, you have some general ideas of how to plan them. Today, in sharing homeschooling high school, I’m giving you a few detailed pointers for curriculum, credits, and courses to steer you in the right direction.

3 POINTERS: HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM AND COURSES

First, look at 3 things I wished I would’ve known before I started.

One/ In the beginning, it’s not necessary to plan all four years.

It’s just not necessary because a lot will change. Your teen will mature and may change the direction of his education or career as he approaches adulthood. Give him some wiggle room.

Have a plan so you can give your teen goals, but analyze each year. Having a framework of courses is much better.

I appreciated reading How to Homeschool 9th and 10th Grades: Simple Steps for Starting Strong to help me stay focused on the start of high school.

Home Learning Year by Year: How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool Through High School was a book I read early on.

Homeschooling High School Curriculum, Credits, and Courses @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

After reading it, I designed a framework and understood that the three Rs are the foundation of any well-laid out high school course.

Look where I share the nitty gritty of that here in my post Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 1 and Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 2.

Two/ Also, I wished I would have used middle school to help my first high school teen explore more subjects he wanted to.

With my second high school son, I was prepared to let him explore more elective type courses in middle school and getting some of the basic math out of the way.

Middle school gives a budding teen time to explore subjects he is interested in. Take advantage of this time to have some fun.

Three/ Something else I didn’t learn until later was to explore more career options and not just focus on academics. After all, your kid is not attending college for life. It’s preparation for life and a career. (well hopefully).

Careers matter and high school is the time to explore careers.

Reading Career Exploration: for homeschool high school students and What Color Is Your Parachute? for Teens, Third Edition: Discover Yourself, Design Your Future, and Plan for Your Dream Job are two books that are real helpful for your teen to go through.

EXPLORING HIGH SCHOOL COURSES

Something else I didn’t appreciate with my first high school teen is the power to be flexible with courses and course descriptions.

I couldn’t think past simply putting English, Math or Science on my first transcript.

Looking back, I know when preparing transcripts that you want to follow some traditional guidelines and keep general course names on the transcript. So those general descriptions were correct.

However, I need to describe the courses specifically.

Just to illustrate, I put Performing Arts on my first two boys’ transcript.

My older two boys took ballroom dancing, but Performing Arts is the general description to put on the transcript.

I had to come up with a description of ballroom dancing.

I started by looking first at the website where my boys took lessons to give me an idea of how to word what they learned.

I put this:

This beginner course is an introduction to the fundamentals of basic dance. In each dance class, students will be expected to participate in warm-ups and learn the techniques of the Waltz and other traditional dances like the Mambo, Salsa and Swing. Along with learning choreography and dance history, this course culminates in a Spring concert performance.

It wasn’t bad for my first description, but like anything that is a first, it wasn’t exactly comprehensive or correct in a sense.

Since then, I learned that I needed to add my grading scale, what books we used, and how I was going to assign credit.

It’s harder to go back and add these things later, but not impossible.

The bottom line is to keep the course name on the transcript general and make your course descriptive detailed on a separate page to produce it if needed.

EASILY WRITING COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Arranging wording to describe your teen course takes practice, but look at these places to help you.

  • An obvious place to is the website where you purchased the curriculum. I find the descriptions super helpful in my course descriptions.
  • I also look at high school course names and descriptions on public school websites. I look for course descriptions similar to the courses that my sons will be doing. This usually gives me some wording
  • Another place I’ve found descriptions in a nutshell is on Amazon. Amazon is great for giving book descriptions and with a few tweaks of adding how I assign credits and grades, a book description can easily turn course description.
  • Too, when I didn’t feel like I got a good overview of a course because some descriptions lacked, I would glance at the table of contents to help me word the description of the course.

HIGH SCHOOL CREDIT CONUNDRUM

It can be overwhelming for even the most organized teen and parent when understanding credits, but I like to keep things simple.

It’s been my experience that some families assign a 30 minute class the equal of a 45 minute class because of the intensity of homeschooling and give the student one credit for a rigorous course like literature or math.

You decide how to gauge your credits and the work ethic of your student.

In addition, you decide to give credit if a curriculum is 70% or 80% complete. Some homeschoolers give credit if it’s 80% complete, others less.

Look at my detailed post here for Homeschool High School–How to Log Hours for High School. It gives a detailed explanation for credits.

Also, I have free forms and show you how to expand the use of a transcript here at my detailed post Homeschool High School Transcripts – Anything But Typical.

You and I know that there is no one right to plan high school. But breaking high school down into manageable chunks keeps the process from being overwhelming.

Begin with a framework of the three Rs in high school, fold in accurate course descriptions as you can, be flexible, keep reading about how to grade and assign credit.

Before you know it, you’ll be a pro for your child – which is what really matters.

Homeschooling High School Curriculum, Credits, and Courses @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus. In sharing homeschooling high school, I'm giving you a few detailed pointers for curriculum, credits, and courses to steer you in the right direction. Click here to grab these super detailed helpful pointers!

You will also love my other tips I have for homeschooling high school below:

Hugs and love ya. You got this!