History At Our House

Announcing the HistoryAtOurHouse High School Program for Homeschoolers!

January 9th, 2009 by mrpowell2

For the past three years, the HistoryAtOurHouse program has been providing an unmatched history program to homeschoolers at the elementary and junior high levels.  Starting in September, for the 2009-10 school year, the curriculum will expand to include a high school program.  Now you can look forward to having your history needs taken care from 2nd all the way to 12th grade!

Key Facts About the High School Program

• Like all HistoryAtOurHouse program levels, the HistoryAtOurHouse high school program will be offered to students anywhere in one of two formats: live lectures via conference-call or recorded MP3 classes via the Internet. 

• Like all HistoryAtOurHouse program levels, the high school program will involve a three-year curriculum rotation of Ancient, European, and American history.  This means that although in many parts of the United States high school is considered to begin in the 9th grade, the HistoryAtOurHouse high school program will be exclusively for students from 10th to 12th grades.  (Students in 9th grade should enroll/stay in the HistoryAtOurHouse junior high program.)

• In order to synchronize the high school program with the other HistoryAtOurHouse program levels, the high school program will begin in 2009-10 with European history.  This will be followed by American history in 2010-11 and Ancient history in 2011-12.

Because the high school program will be designed to propel students into college, it will involve more class time than other program levels, and a wider variety of assigned work, including independent reading, tests, writing and lecturing assignments.  Here are some of the key details:

• The program will involve five hours of lecture material per week–one hour per day, Monday-Friday.  This will include one hour of HistoryAtOurHouse’s acclaimed HistoryThroughArt component. (Live classes for those who qualify will be in the afternoon. The precise timing of classes will be determined by Mr. Powell and parents of enrolled students. An effort will be made to accommodate both East Coast and West Coast participants.  (See below for more information on live classes.)

• In addition to lectures, student work will include preparation for classes through the reading of “primary” and “secondary” sources.  There will be regular paragraph-length writing assignments related to the readings and to in-class discussions.  There will also be regular tests, including essay-length writing. Finally, students in live classes will be expected to deliver three short lectures to their peers and to junior high students during the year.

Participation Tiers and Prerequisites

• Normally, HistoryAtOurHouse offers three tiers of participation to its clients.  [The three usual tiers are Tier 1 (access to MP3 recordings), Tier 2 (once-weekly live lecture access), and Tier 3 (unlimited live lecture access).  For more information on these tiers, click here.] The high school program, however, will only feature Tiers 1 and 3.  There will be no option for students to attend a single live lecture per week. This is because the coordination and grading of assignments for live lecture students will be an intensive aspect of the program; there will be no way to accommodate anyone other than “full-time” participants in the live lectures.

• Tier 1 attendance will be possible in the high school program, as it is for all levels. There will be no entrance requirements for this level. However, Tier 1 students will not be graded students. They will essentially be auditors, who work will have to be monitored and documented exclusively by their parents or homeschool teachers.

• Tier 3 participation will only be available for select students. Students who attend live classes will have to be available for at least 3 out of 5 classes per week, and always make up any missed class (via the recorded archives) before returning to live classes.  The rigor of this scheduling arrangement will help homeschooled students transition from homeschooling to a college setting. As part of the live lecture package, Mr. Powell, the program’s creator and teacher, will hold periodic tutoring sessions with individual students to discuss their work, including their three lectures. To insure that live lecture students receive the attention they deserve, classes will at first be restricted to six students.  As students graduate from the junior program and/or join HistoryAtOurHouse from other trusted programs, Mr. Powell will determine whether or not the class should expand. As greater numbers of students become eligible for live class attendance, academic performance at the junior high level will determine admittance to the live class.

Program Design

The high school program is designed to be the capstone of the HistoryAtOurHouse system of history instruction. The longer the students will have been with the program, the greater the benefits of their participation at this level will be, as it is designed to complete a sequence of work that begins in 2nd grade!

Although, the program is intended to facilitate students’ entry into college–indeed, with advanced credit!–the program is not designed to meet any external standards, such as Honors or AP history requirements. 

Tuition

• Tier 1 tuition for the high school program will be $40/month per student, which includes unlimited access to all lecture recordings of each academic year. Students at this level will also receive reading and writing assignments and tests, but they will not be graded by Mr. Powell. Note that tuition for the high school program is per student not per level–as it normally is for HistoryAtOurHouse classes. This is because the program is far more complex, involves more materials, and students will need and receive more direct support from Mr. Powell, including (where applicable) assistance with college placement.

• Tier 3 tuition (live lecture access) for the high school program will be $150/month per student, which includes unlimited access to all lecture recordings but also five hours of live lecture access, periodic tutoring sessions with Mr. Powell, and full grading of written assignments, lectures, and tests by Mr. Powell.  In addition, Mr. Powell will fully document student work at this level and assist with college placement on the basis of student performance. The tuition for live lectures at this level is higher than for live elementary or junior high classes because it involves five hours of weekly classes and individually assigned and graded work.

Enrollment

Registration for this high school program is open now.  Enrollment is handled exclusively via e-mail.  Parents of students of continuing junior high students and students entering the program from another program should contact Mr. Powell directly at  admin@historyatourhouse.com to enroll.

Yahoo! Group for Parents Homeschooling High School Students

Parents of students currently enrolled in other levels of the HistoryAtOurHouse program and parents of junior high or high school age students who are serious about enrolling in the program are welcome to join a discussion group exclusively created for this high school program. Parents and students who participate in this group will be asked to introduce themselves, share homeschooling stories and provide each other with both moral and practical support on making the transition from homeschool to college. (No “lurkers” allowed!) To join, please click on the icon below.

Posted in Homeschooling Curriculum, History Homeschooling, Homeschooling, European History, Secular homeschooling

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