Are your teens history buffs? Why not earn History Elective credit for homeschool transcript.
History Elective Credit for Homeschool Transcript
One of my homeschooling high schoolers was a real history buff. He quickly finished off his required four credits in history and still wanted more, so he developed his own credits in Russian history, World War II, and I-can’t-remember what else. Here is how he created the World War II credit:
He read the following books:
- The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
- Night by Elie Wiesel, Speeches of Winston Churchill (read and also listen to audio versions)
- Great Escapes of World War II (I can’t find this out of print book anymore)
- PT 109: John F. Kennedy in World War II by Robert Donovan
- Hiroshima by John Hersey
- Several from the library stacks.
We listened to pop music of the era, watched old newsreels, and found some recordings of old radio shows to listen to (all courtesy of the public library.)
Plus we watched a number of documentaries (on PBS) and movies on the topic. All of these together added up to 68 hours.
A few of the movies we watched included:
- Bridge Over the River Kwai
- South Pacific
- Inn of the Sixth Happiness
- Saving Private Ryan
- A Bridge Too Far
- The Longest Day
- Patton
- The Hiding Place.
So his book list which included 8 books (with a corresponding reaction paper) plus 68 hours gave him an elective history credit. He did not need to record levels because this was an elective history and only core requirements need levels recorded.
You can construct an elective history in this same way:
- Read 8 books on a topic and follow up with a reaction paper or study guide
- Log 68 hours of educational experiences
For more resources to help you design some electives for your homeschool high schoolers, check out these posts:
- Get a solid understanding of electives in this post on electives that is part of our Authoritative Guide series. (This is an in-depth series of posts on how to homeschool high school. Check it out!)
- Here is the link to our no-busywork, just useful information, vocabulary, and comprehension Study Guide for The Hiding Place.
- Watch Sabrina’s vlog on the Usefulness of Literature Study Guides.
- Need more inspiration for helping teens understand how meaningful and important it is to study history? Check out this on why History is boring and how to make it better.
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History Elective Credit for Homeschool Transcript
This looks amazing. How did you learn (or did he learn) to put something together like this?!
That’s the joy of homeschooling, Janessa! We can explore our interests. I’ll bet you have done some creative things also.
This is a very informative and useful post. Thanks for linking up!
My pleasure!
Hey, Susan,
If you think about it, comment back here and let me know what kinds of things your son does for his elective history credit 🙂
This is great! My son loves history too and I was wondering how to structure some additional courses for him.