Wondering what your child’s high school English curriculum will look like? Confused by the abundance of options? Wanting to see a four-year schedule? FundaFunda Academy offers no shortage of high school English courses for you and your child to explore. So, which English courses should your child take during their four years of high school? Read on to find out!
Three Tracks
In large part, the courses your child takes will depend on their skill level. That’s why we offer three different tracks: struggling, average, and advanced.
Struggling
If English is not your child’s strongest suit, or if they don’t like English very much, we recommend the struggling track. It is slower-paced, and the basics are emphasized in freshman year before moving on to longer essays in subsequent years.
Average
The average track is designed for the students who have some experience with the basics of paper-writing and literary analysis, but who are not quite ready for more intense courses. This is our most commonly used track. Students begin with a firm grounding in MLA format before moving on to various literature courses of their choice.
Advanced
Finally, the advanced track is for students who have extensive prior experience with English and who love it. This track cuts to the chase, putting students through their paces with more challenging literature courses from the start.
The Courses
Choosing curriculum is no easy task for any parent. Here at FundaFunda, we hope that, with the right information, you will be able to make the decision that is best for you and your child. Below is a brief description of each of our English courses. That way, you can know exactly what your child will be studying in any given year, and you can use these descriptions to build a schedule that works for your family.
Writing Mechanics
This class is intended for students who need practice with the mechanics of writing. These are the tools they need in order to do well on the ACT and SAT, and also to write papers at college. The class will cover punctuation, grammar, vocabulary, and proofreading using a variety of online, self-grading resources. Students will write several essays, as well as learn to peer review one another’s essays before they are graded by a teacher.
High School English Literature and Composition
This class is designed for 9th grade students and prioritizes learning the basics of writing essays for future high school and college success. It includes an introduction to MLA format, ongoing vocabulary and grammar work, and a comprehensive array of literary elements, genres, and subjects. It is an overall introduction to high school English so students are better prepared for higher level classes.
Exploring Jane Austen
In this 1/2 credit class students will explore the world Jane Austen lived in, read 3 of her novels and compare them to film versions as well as discuss how relevant they are to our lives today. Assignments will consist of asynchronous discussions, video responses, fun projects like creating social media profiles of the characters, and one or two written essays. There will be an optional live discussion at a time that works for most of the class.
Visual Literacy
This 1/2 credit course intends to give students the tools to notice more of the images in their daily life and learn how to critically engage with them. Over the 16 weeks, students will watch movies, television shows, YouTube channels, music videos and look at photos, advertisements, artwork, graphic novels, and websites.
British Literature
Starting in Anglo-Saxon England, this course will reach back in time to some of our earliest literature and study how the written word has been used to convey cultural shifts and political and religious ideas. Students will read novels, plays, short stories, and poetry by the prominent writers of British literature.
American Literature
Starting with the Foundational Literary Period and ending in the Postmodern Era, this class covers all the major writers and poets in American literature. Students will read novels, plays, short stories, and poetry that reflect the ideas, struggles, and achievements of the last 400 years.
Independent Honors English
This class is ideal for the self-motivated, capable Junior or Senior who needs an English credit and cannot attend a class in person. Students will read a variety of works focused around storytelling, which is the foundation of every culture in the world. From reading myths and fables to contemporary novels and memoirs, students will be exposed to a variety of voices and genres, as well as lessons learned from centuries of lived experiences. They will look at how new stories are built from old ones and consider why there is nothing new under the sun when it comes to exploring the human condition.
Need More Options?
Here are some other English options we like:
- Music in Our Homeschool’s Ten Weeks of Shakespeare Introductory Course. This is self-paced and parent graded
- Literary Adventures has many self-paced options for high schoolers
- Seven Sisters Homeschool has a variety of English courses for all four years of high school, as well as study guides for literature books and this course on how to write a research paper
In Conclusion…
This is a lot of information to take in. If you have any questions about any of these courses, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We would be more than happy to assist you in any way that we can. You can email info@fundafunda.com or the teacher listed for a specific class. Good luck on your high school English journey; we hope to hear from you soon!
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