Well - tomorrow begins our second semester of High School.  It's going so much smoother than I ever imagined.   I did make a quick trip to the Homeschool Store and grab a few new things.  One of the books is The High School Handbook by Mary Schofield.   It gives some great advice on what courses to decide on and how to put your 4 year plan together.  It also offers a plan for Jr. High.  Of course - it is complete with forms to copy, etc.   

Last summer I spent hours (days and weeks) reading Barb Shelton's Form-U-La book.  Here's the comparison between the two:

Barb's book is scattered.  Lot's of info, scripture, forms - but not in an orderly fashion.  She offers alot of great ideas, but you really rack your brain trying to filter through all of it.  Barb is really big on counting hours too, which is tough to do on some subjects.  However, she has alot of forms and a great form for recording hours on the subjects that you can do that with (like P.E. or Music). 

Mary's book (the one above) is put together in an orderly fashion.  She does give scripture to back up each subject (great to have these references).  She lays out the order in which you need to put together your plan.   Much easier to read than the other book.   Mary does not recommend counting hours - she says it's too much trouble and takes away from enjoying what you're doing.  

 ***the only thing that I don't like is her credit system***   She is confusing (to me) because she gives credits in increments of 10 instead of 1.  Let me explain:

Whereas I give 1 credit for a full year course  - she gives 10 credits.   I give .5 (or 1/2 credit) for a one semester course - she gives 5 credits.    At the end my child has 22 credits - hers would have 220.I'm not sure why she chose this - I think she might have said that it's easier to divide amongst the years. To me it's confusing and it might be confusing on a transcript.  Regardless of the credit system, she still has alot of good advice on putting together the plan.

For those of you who enjoy knowing what others are planning - here is a list of my family's Graduation Requirements:

Bible                               4 (credits)

English                          4

Math                               3

History                           2.5

Science                         2

For. Lang.                     1

P.E.                                1

Electives                       2

Fine Arts                        1

Life Skills                      1

Total Credits to graduate  21.5

My son will actually have more than required in Music and P.E.  but that's no problem. 

it's great to get the plan on paper and know where you're going.

Hope this is helpful to some of you who are facing the high school years.  It's really nothing to worry about.  Good planning - good records - good resources.  That makes all the difference.  And of course - lots of prayer!

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