HIGH SCHOOL for HOMESCHOOLERS
Courses by Year
If you are a high school student looking for curriculum and materials to meet your graduation requirements and are not necessarily interested in taking any college-level exams at this time, you can still use the free resources at this site to design an excellent course of study.
The following list of courses is built from recommendations for high school students in Florida public schools, but can be followed by any student, regardless of location, provided that the student is operating within the laws of accountability for his state.
Before you begin, be sure to read the general information on the GETTING STARTED, STUDY JOURNALS and NOTES ABOUT THE CURRICULUM pages.
If you are intending to complete your high school studies and take the college-level exams, you will want to also read THIS PAGE to see a sample of what exams to take to earn a degree. This is only an EXAMPLE of what exams could be taken to earn. You should speak with an official academic adviser at your school of choice before choosing all of your courses, to make sure the course of study you design will meet the latest standards and requirements.
Freshmen who have sufficient math skills should skip the general mathematics course and instead use the following schedule: algebra 1, algebra 2 (found on the same page as algebra 1), geometry, statistics.*
Freshman Year
1. English 1
2. Western Civilization 1
3. Earth Science
4. General Mathematics
5. French 1, German 1, OR Spanish 1**
6. Art Appreciation (1 semester)
7. Art - Drawing (1 semester)
Sophomore Year
1. English 2
2. Western Civilization 2
3. Biology
4. Algebra 1
5. French 2, German 2, OR Spanish 2** - continue studying your language of choice.
6. Computer Technology & Website Programming (1 semester)
7. Health (1 semester)
Junior Year
1. English 3
2. US History
3. Chemistry
4. Geometry
5. Geography
6. Ethics (1 semester)
7. Critical Thinking (1 semester)
Senior Year
1. American Literature
2. Essay and Thesis Writing
3. US Government (1 semester)
4. Economics (1 semester)
5. Physics
6. Statistics
7. Elective - choose 1 full year or 2 semester classes from the electives list found on the main page.
GENERAL RESOURCES:
Free planning forms - including blank calendars, logs, subject planners.
Donna Young Website - Homeschool Planners and Organizers
High School Exit Exams - Exit exams covering English/Language Arts, Science, Mathematics, and Social Studies/History. (Warning: This is a LARGE file that may take some time to download.)
Blank Transcript
Transcript Example: by Subject - for students who study only one or two courses at a time
Transcript Example: by Year - for students who study by a semester/yearly schedule
Printable Diploma***
* In many high schools, math courses are taught in the following order: algebra 1, geometry, algebra 2, and then another upper level math such as trigonometry or calculus. THIS WEBSITE explains why this is, and why it is not necessary to "sandwich" geometry between the two algebra courses.
** These three languages were chosen because there are corresponding CLEP tests. Please note for any student intending to attend a traditional college or university: Most schools look for 2 - 3 years of study in ONE language, rather than shorter studies of multiple languages. Also note that the majority of higher education institutes do NOT accept sign language to fulfill their foreign language requirements. If you are not interested in the CLEP tests, you may also want to see the CLASSICAL EDUCATION page for links to Hebrew, Greek, and Latin as alternative language choices.
*** Homeschool College USA is not an accredited school and does NOT issue official transcripts or diplomas. These forms are provided for examples for homeschooling students only.
