Ben continued with debate this year and piano as extracurriculars and really honed in on his major interest-film production. By the end of the year, we had made three visits to different colleges and he went on to participate in a film production camp which solidified his first choice college. I wish I could go back and do a lot over with him but as I worked on transcripts and course descriptions, I was more happy than not with the choices we have made for his high school career.
This is what he did this year.
Early Church History—When the Church Was Young: Voices of the Early Fathers by Marcellino D’Ambrosio and On the Incarnation by Athanasias He provided written responses as well as writing a paper on Athanasias. He also participated in a webinar with Katarina Kern of Belmont Abbey about On the Incarnation. I put this course together and Ben and I both really loved it.
American Government and Economics—I started using this guide by The Classical Historian but my the time we had gotten to the Economics part, I was pretty much doing all the planning and assignment myself. However, the resources and online links were entirely worth it and very helpful. The primary text for government BasicAmerican Government by Clarence Carson was not my favorite and I wouldn't use it again, particularly for a student like Ben who is very interested in government and politics. But I loved the primary economics text: Lessons for the Young Economist by Robert P. Murphy. We also used Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nation’s (condensed) and other selected primary sources. We had great discussions, and Ben turned in written and oral summaries; two short papers; and a final 8-min video on “HowTeddy Roosevelt Brought America Out of the Gilded Age.”
American Literature—Center for Lit The Scarlet Letter,
Huckleberry Finn, The Red Badge of Courage, The Great Gatsby, To Kill A
Mockingbird, Peace Like a River, as well as selected Hemingway Short
Stories, Flannery O’Connor Short Stories, and 19th
Century poets. Discussion and three papers on The Scarlet Letter, The
Red Badge of Courage, and The Great Gatsby. We really liked the 8 online discussions and the learning materials and reading choices. The writing piece was more frustrating with policies that weren't always clear or communicated well, but the feedback on writing was really helpful.
Algebra II and Trigonometry—College Algebra with Trigonometry, Seventh Edition Textbook by McGraw-Hill. Online streaming course by Dale Callahan I'm so grateful we found this course. Having a rubric, assignments, and online instruction made my life easier, especially as I was in over my head on a subject I don't know well.
Chemistry with lab—Elemental Science provided the guide and resources. CK-12 Chemistry by Wade Baxter, Ph.D. has a lot of editing errors--answers don't always line up with the questions, and the material was very high level. It took some trial and error to determine how to test and grade on my part, but the labs from the Home Scientist were great and Ben enjoyed this course from a student perspective more than I did on the teacher/administrator.
Health and First Aid— Total Health: Choices For A Winning Lifestyle by Susan Boe. Kyrie and Ben took this course together and I was thankful for a book that helped me remember all those things we needed to cover that I wouldn't think of teaching because I know them. This covered health from a physical, mental, social/emotional, and spiritual perspective and gave us great discussion material. I added in American Red Cross certification in First Aid, and selected internet sources on world view and Christian views on sexuality. We had class discussion, a food journal, two power point presentations, and time management planning.
Music Composition and Film Scoring—Composition
and Film Scoring 1 and 2 by Jason Allen, Ph.D. (online video instruction on Udemy). I required written responses to lessons to solidify
material; Ben listened to lots of film scores and his final project was a film score to accompany a clip from a TV show. He was also taking piano lessons and getting further instruction there.
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