High School Credits

When you plan your child's home high school curriculum, you will want to know what courses are required.

If you are preparing a high school program that is not college-preparatory, you will want to find out what's required in your particular state...unless you are using a correspondence course that issues a diploma, and then, of course, you can follow their program.

Here's a somewhat typical high school curriculum:
English - 4 units
Social Sciences - 3 units
Math - 3 units (may include bookkeeping, accounting, consumer math, as well as Algebra or Geometry courses)
Science - 3 units
P.E. and health - 1 unit
Electives to bring the total to 21 or 22 units

Hadley School for the Blind does issue a diploma, and their program requires the following credits for graduation:
English - 3 units
Science - 2 1/2 units
Math - 1 1/2 units
Social Studies - 2 units
Electives - 7 units
Total of 16 units

The Hadley high school program, as you can see, if not college preparatory, but it might be a viable option for someone who struggles academically and just wants a diploma, for example for students with some types of multiple disabilities.

If there is any possibility that your child may pursue a college education, check into the specific colleges that are in your local area, or that your child may be interested in, to find out what credits are required.

Here is a somewhat typical example of a college preparatory program for high school:
English - 4 units
Social Sciences - 3 units (of which one must be American history)
Math - 3 units (must include Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Geometry)
Science - 3 units (of which one or two must include lab work)
Foreign Language - 2 units
Electives to bring the total to 21 or 22 units

Some of the requirements vary from one college to another; for example, some colleges require two years of foreign language...but some smaller colleges do not. Some require a year of performing arts or art appreciation of some type. Also, if your child is planning on a math or science major, an additional, more advanced math course may be required, such as trigonometry or calculus.

Curriculum Planning - High School

"What about algebra...and chemistry?" parents sometimes ask themselves when considering homeschooling at the high school level. And I don't mean only parents whose children have special needs. I mean homeschooling parents in general.

Do you need a college education to teach high school? Let me just reassure you that I don't have a college education...and I've graduated four kids from homeschool high school and all have been accepted into college. My kids were invited into the honors program, on the honor roll in college, or given a scholarship. Now, at the moment, I'm not talking about blind or visually impaired children, just about homeschooling in general. My visually impaired son Peter is just beginning high school this coming fall. But I know I can do it, I know he can do it; and I believe you can do it too, if you and your child feel called to do this and you are willing to learn.

Is that "willing to learn" scary? Does that mean we have to learn algebra and chemistry (or whatever subjects are difficult for us)? Maybe; maybe not. Can your spouse teach it? Can you hire a tutor? Can your student handle a co-op class or community college class? Can you use a self-teaching program and just help a little without total mastery of the material on your part?

Once you decide you want to homeschool for high school, you will want to plan your curriculum. Does your daughter want to go to college? If she doesn't right now, might she change her mind later? Might she be able to "make the grade"? If not university, might she consider a vocational school or technical school or community college program?

Or does your son have additional disabilities severe enough that he would just be doing well to get through high school? This will make a difference in the program you decide on. If your ultimate educational goal for your child is a high school education, you might want to use the Hadley program...or use another program geared for just getting through high school. Or you could find out the minimums for high school for your state or district and use those to make up your own program. (You can usually find this on the web).

If college is a possibility, even remotely, you'll want to look into what colleges require for entrance. Although there is some variation, much of it is the same from one college to another.

Then you can set up a flexible plan for the coming four years (if your child struggles or has setbacks, you can take more than four years if you need it).

Now I'd like to ask if you'd like to help out here, if you have blind or visually impaired children getting ready for high school, in high school, or having graduated from high school. Could you share in the comments section a little about what your plans are or what's worked for you? It can be as short or as long as you'd like. Thanks so much.

Planning Curriculum - Science

For high school science, I am so happy that the textbook series we love offers many of their books read orally on MP3 CD's for an additional $15.00. An MP3 CD is different from the MP3 that you might normally think of. It's a disc, just like a CD, but it holds more and can be tracked more easily from chapter to chapter. Some CD players can play an MP3 CD (but not all can). When we were last in the market for a new one, an MP3 CD player was not all that expensive. However, you can also simply play an MP3 CD on your computer's CD Rom drive. The high school science series that works for us is a teachable, creationist set of textbooks written specifically for homeschool families by Dr. Jay Wile. I see that Dr. Wile has also written books for 7th and 8th grade now. You can learn more about all of these books at the Apologia Press website:
http://apologia.securesites.net/store/

The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired offers a number of science resources at their website: http://www.tsbvi.edu/Education/index.htm#Subject

For elementary age students there are a number of textbooks on the homeschool market. But alternatively we might read good science books from the library (and have our child listen to tapes from the Library of Congress, National Library Service).

Nature walks and home science experiments are particularly good for capturing the interest of children, who usually learn better about the real world around them than just from reading a book. They can feel the textures of different leaves, feel the different textures under their feet, hear the sounds of nature.

Thanks to the TSBVI site, I discovered a website which gives a number of ideas for learning to appreciate science with other senses than visual. This includes a neat page where you can play the sound of different types of birds, each one identified and described. I highly recommend exploring this website: http://www.nhest.org/nonvis.html

You can download a free Teacher's Manual for Adapting Science Experiments for Blind and Visually Impaired Students, by going here: http://www.tsbvi.edu/Education/Manual2.doc

Planning Curriculum - Math

Math is a most important subject, though not my personal favorite. However, I can say that for the most part it has been a joy to teach Peter math.

Everyone's situation is different, and I share with you from ours, but I will also share resources that may help with your own special circumstances, however different they may be from my own.

My own experience is with a child who has low vision, who laughed when he first saw large print, and got mad when pushed to use hand-held magnifiers, but who can read print using a CCTV (video magnifier). So I chose to teach him math over the years using his CCTV. Only more recently have we been working on learning Nemeth code, the Braille for math, with the help of his Teacher of the Visually Impaired. The math text that has worked well for us for elementary school is Skills, Concepts and Problem Solving, published by Continental Press. http://www.continentalpress.com/series_detail.asp?intSeriesID=983&intSubjectID=21 One beauty of this series for someone who is visually impaired is that it has a simple layout and uses one page per day. I was already using this book before Peter lost his vision in the fourth grade. The only thing I would probably do differently, if I had it to do over again, is to replace this book with a Pre-Algebra book for the eighth grade (the grade he is now completing).

To learn Nemeth code, and to get charts to help you with it, as well as lots of other ideas about teaching math to a student who is blind or visually impaired, you can visit the website of the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI). http://www.tsbvi.edu/math/index.htm

For high school, we have chosen to use a series that worked well for my fully-sighted son this year, which was designed specifically for homeschoolers. Peter has liked that he hears his brother's math being explained orally on CD Roms. So we will be trying this for Peter for Algebra 1 this coming fall. I will keep you posted on how well this works out for him. The series is called Teaching Textbooks. Since Peter can use computer enlargement software (ZoomText), he will be able to watch each lesson being worked, as well as hear the lecture. This is not, by the way, a cumbersome video watching a teacher at the chalkboard teaching a classroom. Only the actual problems being worked are shown on your monitor. Teaching Textbooks has books for grades 5-7, Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1 and 2, Geometry and Pre-Calculus. This company can be found here: http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/

If you would like to share anything, please feel free to add it in the comments.

Planning Curriculum

Some parents who are just starting out on their homeschooling journey prefer to use a correspondence course or a packaged curriculum. This, of course, can be a bit more difficult if your child is blind or visually impaired. You might need to get the materials put into Braille or into electronic format (such as cassette or CD), or you might need to read them to your student.

If you are looking for materials in an accessible medium, you might try finding out if someone else has already done this and no longer needs their books. A couple places you might ask include the following Yahoo groups: Sight Exchange or Blindhomeschooler. The only drawback with Sight Exchange - probably only a drawback if you are just starting out - is that you need to donate something before you can receive something. The friendly folks at Blindhomeschooler can sometimes steer you in the right direction to find what you need.

You can also join Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, where they have many books in electronic format or will make those that you need. There is a fee to join, but you can then get access to lots of audible books and textbooks.

To find out more about various curriculum options, you can visit my website or you can visit the very comprehensive A to Z Home's Cool Website. (We both have a webpage specifically devoted to blindness resources as well.)

If you do decide to use a correspondence school for your child, you will want to communicate with the school beforehand about your child's needs. Only public schools are required by law to accept a child who is visually impaired, and some schools might feel it isn't something they can handle. However, you can probably make a difference in their attitude by reassuring them that you will get the work to the child in a form he can use, and get the child's work back to the school in a form that the school personnel can evaluate.

For me, it was easier to just leave the packaged curriculums behind. We pick and choose whatever materials work best for us for any given subject. I will share more about this in a coming post.

Planning for Fall

It's that time of year: time for graduations and picnics, wrapping up the schoolyear, and looking forward to enjoying the summer. Yet it's also time to think about the fall. Maybe we don't want to think about crisp autumn air and falling leaves right now. But we can still start planning what we're going to do about school when that time comes.

Yesterday I placed my orders for my two high schoolers for the coming school year. If you're interested, you can read that post at my personal blog:
http://margmary.blogspot.com/2007/05/were-committed.html

But maybe you don't have high schoolers and consequently aren't remotely interested in what I'm doing for high school. Whatever the age of your child, I would like to share some thoughts with you...some questions, perhaps, that you can ask yourself, whether you're new to homeschool or whether you're a veteran like me.

What method of homeschooling appeals to you for your child? Do you picture your homeschool as being like a school in the home? Do you prefer to have pre-packaged lessons plans and textbooks? Or does a more creative or flexible approach appeal to you? If you tried a more creative approach, would you take the initiative to provide plenty of learning opportunities and to make sure your child learns basic skills?

What religious convictions do you want to pass on to your child? What books, materials or methods will best support your family values? What personal talents and interests do you have that you can you share with your child?

Now, you will want to find what materials are compatible with your preferred methods, beliefs and values. And how you can get those materials in the best accessible medium for your student. There isn't one right answer to these questions and challenges. There is no easy answer for some of them.

In subsequent posts, I will try to explore some of the various options.