Delight-Directed High School {Crew blog hop}

Addison is sometimes asked why she likes homeschooling for high school. One of the reasons she often mentions is that she has the ability to pick her own classes and isn't limited to the classes offered at a particular school. As a homeschooler, she can choose to pursue her own interests.

For Addison's freshman year of high school, she has chosen (or helped create) the following elective classes:

1. Music Theory and Performance

Addison performs with the Advanced Choir in the Tucson Girls Chorus. Although they rehearse for at least two-and-a-half hours a week and have multiple performances throughout the year, we weren't convinced that it warranted a full music credit on her transcript. This year, she added a music theory program from Breezin' Thru Theory. She finished the theory program recently, and we've all been amazed at the amount of technical music concepts that she has learned. (I'd give an example, but most everything she's talked about lately is at a level way above my music experience.)

2. German

My only real requirement when we were discussing a foreign language was that she choose a course with had computer-instruction because I have long forgotten most of my high school Spanish and college French courses. She chose German because she was born there. Right now, she's has an online subscription to Tell Me More, and I just realized that she can supplement that program with free language resources from our local public library (both Mango and Pimsleur).

3. Computer Programming

Addison is writing her last program for her TeenCoder Java programming course, and then she'll start Android programming. Perhaps the best thing about these classes is that she learned that she enjoys programming. I'm not sure that's a field that she ever seriously considered before.

4. Home Economics

For the first semester, Addison finished the You Can Sew! program that we reviewed. She chose her own pattern and fabric to complete a skirt (including a zipper) for her final project.

For the spring semester, she'll practice her cooking skills. Instead of finding a pre-made curriculum, she designed course requirements that included cooking a specific number of dishes. Last Saturday night, she made nearly the whole meal herself. (I took pity on her and watched over everything while she went out for a run.) She'll also create a week-long meal plan and grocery list as part of her work.

5. Physical Education

I don't honestly know if most high school students are still required to take a physical education course, but Addison is earning a half-credit in P.E. this year by tracking her swimming laps and running. She's also running a 5K race with me next weekend.

Now that I've typed all of this out, I'm thrilled to see just how many of Addison's interests that she's allowed to pursue as part of her high school education.

Not only can she choose her own subjects, we've found that homeschooling allows her to have enough free time to choose other outside activities. She still has time to volunteer at church and work on events for the upcoming Leadership Training for Christ convention. Although she reads a lot for school, she still finds other books to read just for fun. Right now, she's working on Les Miserables and Gone with the Wind.

Sounds like homeschooling through high school is a pretty good deal for Addison, especially when she gets to pursue her own interests alongside her required classes. Delight-directed teaching may look different for younger children, but Addison is proof that Delight-Directed classes are wonderful for older students too.



To see what everyone else is blogging about, you can either visit the main page on the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog, or you can just click on another link from the list below. We're all looking forward to sharing encouraging words and new ideas this week!