Reprinted with permission from “The Home School Manual,” 7th edition by Ted Wade, Gazelle Publications, 11560 Redbud Trail, Berrien Springs, MI 49103, 616-471-4717, http://www.hoofprint.com/.
 
How to use this curriculum outline
 
I have not included this listing to show you specifically what to teach but as a reference for comparison. Home teaching is naturally in danger of achieving too narrow a range of objectives on one hand and focusing on certain details at the expense of foundational learning on the other. Success on standardized tests is not sufficient evidence that your child is learning the most important material. Such exams measure only the bare essentials – the common elements all children need. Compare this list with what you plan to teach, and consider expanding in selected areas you feel are important.        The items on these lists are not of equal importance. Some can be dealt with in a ten-minute discussion. Others need a long time. Some items are mentioned at one level that should be dealt with during more than one school year. They are generally arranged from simple to complex, so during the first part of the three years spanned by each grouping, you would expect to cover topics earlier in the list. Some topics are appropriate at another time, and some may not be of importance at all for your child. The math section, for example, seems to me to be a little ambitious, at least at the higher levels.        You would not normally cover all the subject areas on this list. For example, the advanced math classes are taken (and needed) by only a few. Many do not study a language and few would study more than one. Not that all these things are useless, but in a typical program of eight years for elementary education and four for secondary, there simply is not enough time to learn everything that might be valuable. Also children who have difficulties with learning need not be pressured. For example, if your child needs to spend a long time on the important math concepts in high school should you expect him or her to be taking two years of a modern language? Not usually, but to learn just a little Spanish could be fun and would provide a basis for later development. Some students would want to spend more time in a technology area and less in the more academic courses.        The topics were composed by studying the list available from World Book Educational Products, a state department of education list, a Christian school system list, and a few additions of my own. Although the topics are typical for US schools, many or most elements are common to what children and youth learn in other countries. You may want to select areas to cover and check them off when adequately learned.        If you would like a copy of the World Book list, contact Educational Services Department, World Book Educational Products, 101 Northwest Point Blvd., Elk Grove Village, IL 60007.
HIGH SCHOOL
 
 High School , Character Development — Bible
You will want to structure this area following your own beliefs. I suggest concluding with a study of biblical principles for courtship and establishing a home. Below are a few topics to include.

• Origin of the Bible
• Grouping of Bible books
• Literature in the Bible; different writing styles
• Christ in all the Scriptures

High School, Art and Music

• God as the source of beauty
• Drawing and sketching
• Landscape and architecture
• Photography
• Pottery
• Sculpture
• Design principles of printed pieces
• Understanding what brings visual appeal
• Opportunity to develop basic skill in playing an instrument
• Singing
• Listening to music
• Changes in styles of music over the centuries
• Danger of harsh and heavy-beat music

High School, Business Education
Areas include

• Accounting
• Business management
• Computer technology and literacy
• Keyboard skills
• Word processing and desktop publishing

 
High School, English (Language)
Ninth grade English

• Vocabulary development
• Grammar review
• Enjoying various types of literature
• Composition: punctuation, paragraphs
• Library skills
• Evaluation of media programs
• Reading skill improvement (if needed)

Tenth grade English

• Note taking skill
• Etymology, Dialects
• Selected literature analyzed
• How word meanings and grammar change
• Writing a research paper
• Writing poems, plays, etc.
• Genres
• Persuasion and argument in listening and speaking
• National folklore

Eleventh grade English

• Knowing what is significant from lectures and reading
• Process of writing; expository and fictional writing
• Critical analysis of what is heard and read
• American (or national) and cross-cultural literature
• Empathy in listening
• Analyzing techniques and purposes of speakers
• Determining motive in communication

Twelfth grade English

• Various types of practical writing from memos and letters to ad copy and business reports
• Writing with purpose, clarity, and interest
• Speaking with purpose, clarity. and interest
• Nonverbal communication
• English literature
• World literature
• Publishing
• The Internet

High School, Mathematics
Math courses are usually consistently defined so are not described much here.
Grade 9, Algebra 1
Basic aspects of the topic through sets, quadratic equations and probability.
Grade 9, General mathematics Usually for those who do not take algebra
Grade 9, Consumer math
May be part of general math or a brief additional course if not learned well in middle school.
Grade 10, Geometry
Including logic, postulates, theorems, mensuration, and transformational geometry
Grade 11, Algebra 2 Including vectors and probability
Grade 11 or 12 (electives)

• Trigonometry
• Calculus
• Computer programming
• Accounting
• Statistics
• Number theory

 
High School, Thinking skills

• Propaganda and nationalism
• Techniques of persuasion
• Role of feelings in decisions
• Accountability for decisions
• Inductive and deductive reasoning
• Ethical and moral standards
• Logic (learned partly in geometry)
• Bias in using statistics

High School, Social Studies
Areas commonly covered in US high schools are

• World history,
• US history and government,
• World and US culture (including geography)
• Economics

Significant items within these areas follow:

• World geography; map and globe skills
• US Constitution; risks and purposes for amendments
• Labor and management
• Ethnic groups and minorities
• Timelines for US history from the colonial period through the Civil War
• Timelines for US history after reconstruction (after the Civil War)
• Rationale for why historical events occurred
• Societal solutions for health care, housing, energy, etc.
• Decisions that influenced history
• Changes in world regions and factors that influence them
• Stories of people in the more recent history of the country
• World economy and markets; influence of the US
• Economic indicators
• Monetary and fiscal policy influence on problems such as unemployment and inflation
• Economic growth and government in developing countries
• Social science issues discussed intelligently
• Cultural influences on perceptions
• International exchange
• Federal form of government, advantages and disadvantages
• Relative merits of American presidential and parliamentary systems
• Social science survey with chosen procedures and analysis
• Alternatives to public issue decisions
• Cultural diversity, benefits and challenges
• Analysis of personal resistance to application of democratic values
• Issues and events of major periods after the Civil War
• Analysis of later history of the country
• Service activity experience in the community or abroad
• Political reform
• Influence of events in one place on other parts of the world
• Branches of government, balance and tension
• Human rights and American democracy
• Foreign policy in light of national interests
• Planning of personal financial and other resources

High School, Science
Typical science courses are

• Earth science and astronomy
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Physics

Possible topics

• Ecological relationships among species
• Wave properties, wave interaction, and
• Doppler effect
• Energy and the formation of stars
• Reproduction of multicelluar organisms
• Air movements in the atmosphere
• Assemble or investigate mechanical and electrical devices
• Energy changes in heat transfer
• Production of electrical current by magnetic fields
• The sun and other stars
• Plate tectonics theory
• Disease diagnosis and prevention
• Disease organisms
• Stability maintenance in organisms
• Cells specialized to carry out particular functions
• Agriculture and ecosystems
• Energy changes from physical, chemical, and nuclear changes
• History of certain scientific concepts
• Glaciation (past ice effects)
• Force on an object produces an opposing force
• Energy conversions in simple machines
• Atoms described by parts and charge
• Discuss evolution and natural selection
• How cells function
• Understand measurement limitations
• Energy conservation during transformations
• Types of cells
• Comparisons of objects by mass, volume and density
• Climate changes over a long time
• Observing the universe; technology
• Gather and synthesize information from books, etc.
• Genetic transfer in reproduction
• Discuss scientific topics being able to summarize what others have said and develop ideas by asking appropriate questions
• Form hypotheses and suggest tests for them
• Conservation of mass in physical and chemical changes
• Chemical changes from rearrangement and motion of atoms and molecules
• Design and conduct science investigations
• Experiments to compare speed and direction
• Elements studied by families
• Sound waves and sound properties
• Weather prediction
• Chemistry and cells
• Water below the earth’s surface
• Changes from changes in DNA
• Organisms classified by the five-kingdom system
• Nuclear changes
• Discuss waste disposal and the environment
• Sound reproduction systems
• Colors, wavelength, and vision
• Ecosystems and events that change them
• Our solar system in the universe
• Climate and the hydrosphere
• Seasons and astronomy

High School, Industrial Technology
Development of knowledge and skills one or more areas including

• Construction
• Medical or biological technology
• Graphic arts
• Electronics
• Photography
• Agribusiness
• Auto repair
• Clothing design
• Culinary arts
• Computer aided design
• Computer programming and management
• Sales
• Bible instruction

 
High School, Physical Education

• Physical fitness and health
• Aerobics
• Sportsmanship
• Competitive sports (optional)
• Water safety
• First Aid
• Outdoor, noncompetitive, sports: Acquatics, Cycling, Hiking, backpacking, Jogging

High School, Modern or Biblical Language
Usually two years are needed for practical ability.
Goals are proficiency in Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing