First Year Homeschooling High School

A lot of people are either curious or confused (or both) about homeschooling high school. It is rare for me to hear true negative comments about homeschooling but I have heard 'Why would you homeschool high school science, are you a scientist?'. People who might homeschool in the future wonder which curriculum choices we are using and how long things take.

Here is a list of what Tobias does for 9th grade work in a week:

1. Math - Algebra 1 from Khan Academy  (free)
2. Biology - from Guest Hollow (free) We are using some of the recommended books, plus a few others such as 'Microbe Hunters'. We do experiments and use a microscope
   
3. English - Grammar, Literature, Poetry and Shakespeare from Ambleside Online (free plans, we buy the books or get some from the library). WordUp! videos from Compass Classroom about Latin and Greek root words and vocabulary, we watch 1 video per week.
   
4. Spanish - Duolingo.com (free), 1 hour of Italki.com tutor per week, and watching various videos and podcasts
5. History, Current Events, Constitution, Geography, Biographies - American and French Revolution from Ambleside Online (free), World Watch News, a study of the Constitution, and many other books. Depending on how much he completes in these areas this year and next, it will probably be listed as more than one class on his transcript
   
6. PE  - archery, pickleball, skiing, trampoline, mowing, and some health/nutrition documentaries
7. Art - ceramics, calligraphy, misc. other projects and some documentaries about artists and architecture, studying works by Tintoretto, Monet, and Suerat
   
8. Bible - Old and New Testament readings, a biography of William Carey, 'Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus', 'Taking God at His Word', 'Mere Christianity'
9. Music/Orchestra - attending concerts, practicing violin, and attending orchestra class, studying composers
   
10. Computers and Information Systems -  Programming projects that he wants to do, and he studied for and passed the Information Systems CLEP test using the resources from Modern States (free)

 You may have noticed that many of these resources are free! I'm super thankful for the generous people that have put together so many free resources. Free resources are the most flexible because you don't have to feel obligated to use them completely or exactly as written. However there are also very worthwhile paid resources and I think it would be very hard to homeschool high school for free or a tiny budget, because the library often doesn't have a lot of these books. 

How long does it take? Probably 3-3.5 hours of focused morning academic work (may include an outdoor or snack break and some chores or violin practice), plus ~1-2 hours of less intense afternoon work which could mean working with more breaks, some easier subjects, or attending something outside the house like orchestra. Sometimes we work on a subject in the evening if he needs one on one help which is harder to come by during the day.

I hope that is helpful for those who just have a hard time imagining what high school looks like at home, or who are nervous about doing it themselves in the future.