How To Homeschool In High School #6 | My Favorite Middle & High School Curriculum | Our Blessed Life

[@EricaLucasLoves]

Is a portion of her day self-paced or independent? Do you teach face to face daily? I’m trying to visualize for my own kids!

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

Erica, this is a fantastic question. Really at this age most of the the curriculum is meant to be independent for the student. So for most homeschooling moms, their role will change in high school. But you could teach it if you wanted to. Katie does most of the book work/computer work by herself. We discuss what she’s reading and the drafts of her papers. I do read some, but not all of what she is reading so that we can have good discussions. I lead all of her biology labs for the her and the students in her co-op. Most of our daily interaction with homeschooling her at this age is discussion based rather than what you would think of when you think of teaching. I also help her find her own answers when she’s stuck in any subject. I want her to learn how to learn anything she wants independently as an adult. That is really the goal of my homeschool for her-for her to learn research and independent study skills for college and beyond. You can learn anything that way. But I should qualify that Katie is a self starter and not all kids are. She doesn’t need me to motivate her.

[@EricaLucasLoves]

Our Blessed Life awesome answer. Love this approach for a self starter.

[@shelly-annsanfilippo2302]

Thank you so very much, this is my first time ever commenting on anything on-line. I really felt compelled to share my appreciation and support for the wonderful work and resources you have shared. The videos you post and well structed and detailed. This has been my most challenging school year and it was not enjoyable. I have been seeking the Lord for wisdom and guidance. I believed that God has used you to help me. This is my 3rd year homeschooling, we are with a Charter Homeschool in CA. My children are in 7th and 4th grade. My son is taking Algebra 1 Saxon ( live on-line) this year. We will not be using Saxon for Algebra 2.or Saxon 6/5 for 8th or 5th grade for the same reasons you stateed in your video. We will look into the resources you have posted. Also, thank you for sharing your school calendar and Home School Planet. I haven't come across any other posting or videos that has really helped me find top educational resources that I could lay out in such a comprehensive way to work for my family as in such a real way. This is just my personal experience. I know that their are other good resources out there. Thank you!

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

Thank you so much! 💕

[@HomeSweetHomeschoolLife]

This is so helpful as I am thinking ahead to middle school.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

Thanks!

[@FieldsFullHouse]

This is such an informational series! It has blessed me so much!

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

I’m so glad!

[@JodisCreativeCorner]

Saxon math is the math the boys did. Love all the resources you shared.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

It is a very solid math program! Thanks!

[@PenniesAndSalt]

Thank you so much for focusing on the upper grades! There honestly isn’t very many KZbin or blog resources out there compared to elementary. My oldest will be in Middle School in a year and a half so I’m trying to go ahead and get ideas for middle school. This is sooooo helpful in seeing the big picture! ❤️❤️❤️

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

You’re welcome! I hope you enjoy the middle school years as much as we did!

[@FieldsFullHouse]

I've saved this for my reference since I'm starting to plan high school for our oldest!

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

I hope it helps!

[@OneBlessedMess]

This was so helpful for the high school years! Thank you for sharing!! ❤

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

Thanks!

[@LivingWithEve]

I have heard that too about Saxton. Unfortunately, it's popular for this in my area and most kids and Moms hate it.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

Living With Eve I say love/hate because it is such a good strong program but unfortunately it makes many kids hate math (even those that had loved it).

[@leilani9130]

@@simplejoyfilledliving Exactly!

[@HomeSweetHomeschoolLife]

I know I say this in all these videos, but this is so helpful.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

Thank you!

[@mamatofive1]

It was so helpful to hear through your experience! Thanks for sharing all the details...I’ll be coming back to videos like this as our kids get up to these higher grades! 😊

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

I’m glad you found it helpful!

[@LifeintheMundane]

“How should we then live” should be required reading for all high schoolers that’s a great series I did it in high school too.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

Yes, it was great! I think The Screwtape letters should be too.

[@PenniesAndSalt]

I hope we can utilize duel enrollment for a few classes when my kids get to that point as well. Such great, thorough information.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

Thanks!

[@MommaonMission]

Love this! The high school years intimidate me but I’m glad to have other KZbin mommas going before me to learn from!

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

They are the most fun of all the homeschooling years!

[@RockSimmer-gal4God]

We love the good and the beautiful as well. I’ve not thought of tests for high school as we do discussions at the mo.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

You definitely can grade in other ways, but tests make it easy.

[@bytesofmemory]

Thanks for all of the recommendations. I think you are right about some classes being not enough but then things like Mystery of History being over the early elementary heads! I am starting to look at what we will be doing next year for 8th grade and I am going to be looking at a lot of these things!

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

I'm glad it gave you some ideas. I hope your planning for next year goes well!

[@FieldsFullHouse]

I am thankful that you are sharing so much homeschool info on the higher grades! My oldest will be 9th grade this year. I plan to do TGATB.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

I hope you enjoy the high school years as much as we have!

[@leilani9130]

I love how I can reference your videos to my families. I just had a family looking at Shorrmann Math.it look like we might go that route too.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

Thanks!

[@adventuresineducation2207]

Thank you! This is so helpful!😃

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

You’re welcome!

[@gardenia77]

Would you do a video on the process the kids use to learn to draw the world map? Do they use latitude and longitude grids or do they just practice it free hand? I am wanting to do this with my son this year. Thank you!

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

You can do it either way. What helped us the most was the Draw the World Books. I have them linked here: a.co/8QpXYBx

[@RussellsLovingLife]

This was so helpful because Bailey will be in 6th grade this coming year. He also does not like to write in school. I will look into the Good and the Beautiful language arts for him.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

I would say stick with Saxon through pre-Algebra if you can. It will pay off. But it takes more time.

[@RussellsLovingLife]

@@simplejoyfilledliving Thanks! I will do that. 😊

[@diaryofahomeschoolmama9191]

This was so helpful! Thank you!

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

I'm glad you found it helpful!

[@LivingWithEve]

This is so awesome that you did High School curriculum. I could never get into classical conversation for so many reasons, but so do remember their intense mapping skills. I love the CS Lewis books. ❤️

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

We love them too!

[@AbidingHomeschool]

What is your plan for English in 12th grade? TGTB only has 3 years, so I'm trying to figure out how to plan it out.😊

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

Katie is in 12th grade this year. She’s taking dual enrollment courses and was very prepared using TG&TB high school 1-3. Last semester she took English 101 and this semester she’s in English 102. It has been an extremely smooth transition.

[@simplycece]

I know this video is old, but have you considered her testing into college math or possibly Clep testing out of college algebra? Asking because math doesn't change from highschool to college, you just do it in a shorter amount of time. I used Saxon through algebra 1, then dual enrolled for college algebra in 10th grade and breezed straight through it. Ended up getting a math minor in college. Just hoping to save you a little time and money in case you didn't know. Community colleges usually have placement tests to put you in math..at least in Texas they did a few years ago when I went through the system. Just saying since She might be ready to dual enroll into precalc or possibly calc 1.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

Yes, she finished calculus this year as a high school junior. Next year she will dual enroll and they will test her to place her in the correct class.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

I love your sweater! So we used to do CC. I’ve seen your video why you no longer do it. Director burnout...yep. I was an SR. A year later, I’m still burnt out. (Of course my first SR year was during a pandemic also...😂 maybe that contributed, but I digress.) You say here that you feel the TGATB is very strong in Lang arts etc. but you had said that CC wasn’t strong enough. I’m curious why you think CC wasn’t challenging enough bc you’re the first person I’ve ever heard say that. Most I’ve heard say it’s too rigorous.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

In my opinion it was a lot of work, but not rigorous. There was a lot of reading but no time to dig deep into the literature because so many books were assigned. There was very little progression in the persuasive essay style from 7th-9th grade and no other writing styles were taught at all. This is just my observation and a lot of people would disagree. I was a Challenge A director so I was hands on with the curriculum. In my experience the students were overwhelmed mostly by the volume of work rather than the rigor.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@simplejoyfilledliving that’s a good point. Workload vs challenging. I agree with the only writing persuasive essays probably bc they did so many other styles in the essentials program and assume you already had that writing under your belt. We tried to continue using Lost Tools this year, but my son needed help still. So I quickly switched to TGATB and he’s still progressing in writing. I do like Lost Tools a lot though. But I can’t do both. 😬 There are so many excellent curriculums out there.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

I liked LTW too, just wanted my daughter to have a mix of styles as she nears graduation. We still use the persuasive style for some of her papers, just not all. But we didn’t use LTW at the same time as TG&TB However she still had the book and would refer to the checklists if needed. Hope that makes sense.

[@OurHOMEschoolPlan]

@@simplejoyfilledliving yep! That’s good to know. We did refer to IEW checklist a lot even with LTW (for the grammar and style checks). Does TGATB have checklist like that in their LA curriculum?

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

They usually break the papers up in steps rather than a checklist.

[@HomechoolbythePond]

Love it! You actually answered my main question right at the end! haha I was wondering if while using the religious perspective for science she learned the theory of evolution! I love that you also decided to include it! I would love to teach Madison both views so she can decide for herself what she believes happened.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

Yes we studied both sides extensively from 6th-9th grades. That last book was heavily creation biased just so you know.

[@favored4life]

Love all your videos; I'm binge watching if you haven't noticed. Do you think TGATB is sufficient for literature? My daughter didn't like Essentials in CC.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

If you follow it as written and add the 2 additional novels that you choose in addition to the 5 included novels, then yes. We use it as a spine and add 7 extra novels and 2 extra papers for honors credit. In my state they are looking for 12 novels and 12 papers for honors credit.

[@favored4life]

@@simplejoyfilledliving oh ok. Do you know anything about Gather Round? I think it's comparable to TGATB.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

@@favored4life Gather Round is very different from TG&TB. It is unit studies that you piece together to make a full year. They cover all subjects except math. I love the idea of Gather Round, however it is much harder to get required credits in high school using only Gather Round and just adding math. I like to add in their mini units here and there for fun but I don't use it as a full curriculum because of the credit problem. Gather Round has a Facebook group where you might learn more about it. Also Home Sweet Homeschool does videos on Gather Round but her son is only entering 6th grade this year. She hasn't had to navigate high school credits yet. In my opinion, the ideal fit for Gather Round is a large family with ages that span K-early middle school. And that is only because by late middle school many homeschool kids are already earning high school credits.

[@beckyw5715]

Curious to know if you compared BJU to Abeka? Also, have you considered Notgrass History?

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

We really haven’t compared BJU to Abeka. We looked online only (never had the textbooks for BJU). We did consider Notgrass. Katie decided not to use it because she didn’t like the history and literature together. Personally, I think it looks great. But since she’s the one using it, I let her make the final decision from options I’ve selected.

[@favored4life]

@@simplejoyfilledliving I like how Notgrass incorporates both English and history. Of course I can barely find high school reviews for it.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

@@favored4life Notgrass is very literature based, which is great if your student loves reading!

[@favored4life]

@@simplejoyfilledliving yes she does. I'm sorry, did I miss what you are using for writing? Is it TGATB?

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

@@favored4life Yes, TG&TB includes literature and composition.

[@SusanEvans]

I love "Mere Christianity" by CS Lewis. Anyone who wonders in Christianity is reasonable would do well to read it.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

Yes!

[@ajohnson2376]

There are quite a few negative reviews at Amazon for Masterbooks World History. Though they say it is easy for both the parent and student. Can you please let us know what you think of those negative reviews? I am looking for a History as well as a Language Arts curriculum for our freshman daughter. I would not mind it being easier than too hard but would like to know first. Do you think we should first do the American History? I will research the good and the beautiful language arts since you recommend it.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

I looked and see all positive reviews for the revised teacher text and a few negative reviews for the prior edition student text. I can’t find the revised student text on Amazon. We enjoyed it. I added projects to it to bring it up to honors level and to add some research based work.

[@ThisMotherhoodJourney]

We seem to be opposites! We didn’t love Saxon for younger grades but do for high school & the didnt live TGTB high school English, but you did. 🤣 Once again though, I love how thorough you are!

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

I love how many choices there are so we can get exactly what our kids need to be successful!

[@EverydayBlessings]

In South Carolina do you need to provide transcripts or test into college level classes?

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

You have to have use a transcript for juniors and seniors and PSAT score for sophomores usually.

[@stacyfausett5436]

Great information overall but honestly as a mom with just 1 you have created a load of work which would be unrealistic in a family with more students. I can see why you left Challenge because it is very rigorous especially in Literature but Challenge 1 itself is a huge year.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

I actually homeschool two children, not one. I don't think Katie's schedule this year was unrealistic at all. It was a more aggressive schedule because she took all honors level classes. I think each family has to decide on their own if they want to pursue honors, AP, or dual enrollment, because you are correct, those classes do require more work than regular college prep classes. I have a separate video on why we left Challenge, and there were many reasons, but it was not because it was too rigorous. We found it lacking in many areas and Katie needed more. That is why we supplemented Challenge in 7th grade-9th grade with additional curriculum.

[@DadsBoyz]

Ahhh, the love hate relationship with saxon math is real! We switched to Foertser’s Algebra 1 which was great. She didnt have to do Geometry?

[@DadsBoyz]

Oh i see on the geometry! Thats awesome

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

Geometry is integrated with Shormann Math (and Saxon too) so you get a geometry credit after completing Algebra 1 & Algebra 2. Otherwise she would have had to do a separate geometry class.

[@priscillavelazquezs]

@@simplejoyfilledliving I know this video is old, but I’m confused about the credits. Are you actually paying for accredited courses? or are you just keeping record of what you do and showing it to a high school? I’d like to homeschool my daughter in 9th grade, but Is it allowed for parents to not have accredited courses before they graduate? Would colleges accept that? I’ve done Abeka 4th grade unaccredited and not sure that that unaccredited counts when done in High School. Just confused!

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

@@priscillavelazquezs as a homeschool parent you can sign up for an accredited school or you can assign credits on your own based on your state’s homeschooling law. Most people assign credits on their own. A 1 year high school class is 1 credit and a semester long class is 1/2 credit. It got some things like PE where you count hours, 150=1 credit and 75 hours = 1/2 credit.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

@Priscilla Saravia And yes, colleges accept unaccredited courses. My daughter has been accepted into college for dual enrollment based on her homeschool transcript and has also been accepted with a scholarship awarded for attending next fall as a freshman.

[@milasherman3887]

I'm loving all your videos. I hope this is ok to ask but I've seen that the TGTB is LDS. We attend a non denomination church although they are more baptist. What about you? We are doing Shormann Math and science for our 9th grader so watching your videos is really helping me decide on all the other requirements. We live in Texas and this is our first year homeschooling. Kind of starting late since we pulled our kids out of public school. I appreciate any feedback. Thank you.

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

I was concerned about that too at first. We are also Baptist. Here's my 2 cents (although I believe everyone has to decide for themselves). I haven't seen any LDS doctrine in any of the materials we have used so far. We have used 3 of the history books, language arts (a couple of elementary levels and HS 1-3), as well as handwriting levels 1 & 2, and several science units. They are not the only curriculum that we use. If I compare it to Abeka or Masterbooks (which we have also extensively used), I wouldn't say it is overly Christian. What I mean by that is that in Masterbooks and Abeka, you get a come to Jesus message often. This is not the case with TG&TB. Instead you get a low key message that God made the world, God is good, and that you should be kind. Nothing about the saving grace of Jesus. But I am ok with that because I handle that outside of handwriting and language arts. I have heard that Jenny Phillips has hired proofreaders to ensure that her curriculum is not even accidentally LDS leaning. I now know this to be true because a dear friend of mine (who is a strong believer) is employed by TG&TB as an editor and a writer. She told me that one time she was reviewing a language arts revision and did not like a poem that was included in it because it implied that works save rather than Jesus. She told the person over her, who sent it to Jenny, and Jenny called her and thanked her for bringing it to her attention and the poem was removed from the book. With all that being said, it definitely will not cover Bible, but it is good curriculum. One additional note: they do not take a young earth or old earth stand in science. They leave that to the parent to address. I hope this helps.

[@milasherman3887]

@@simplejoyfilledliving wow thank you so much. Yes it helps a lot. Do you have a video on what you used for 9th grade?

[@ourfamilyvideos7283]

Why honors?

[@simplejoyfilledliving]

If your student does some honors classes, the GPA is 1/2 point higher than regular college prep classes. So if your student is strong in a subject it is something to consider.