Good question: Why does it matter? High School Language Arts Requirements.
Why Does it Matter? High School Language Arts Requirements
In my many years as homeschool high school academic advisor, I was often asked this question. Why does it matter?
Referring, of course, to the huge number of components in a English/Language Arts credit. Each year, our local teens are required to include:
- Reading/Literature
- Writing
- Grammar/Language Mechanics/Editing
- Vocabulary
- Public Speaking
- For more on teaching public speaking skills to your teens, check out this post in our Authoritative Guide series.
Why should teens be required to include so many components each year? Here is why:
Fake news- The more teens read and write, the more they develop their brains to think critically. Here’s a thought: Take for example, Billy-Bob, who is a couch potato. One day he decides to go for a hike in the woods. He runs into a black bear. He’s at a disadvantage if he needs to run for his life. Now think about social media: Billy-Bob is reading lots of posts and opinions about current events. If he has never had to exercise his brain’s ability to think critically, he will be literally out-of-shape for using discernment.
Job applications and interviews- Most teens will get a job sometime in their lives. They will need to think quickly and answer tough questions. They might even need to write an essay or cover letter with their application. Reading and writing rigorously through high school helps prepare teens for job application and interview skills because they learn to think and express themselves.
College- Teens who are headed for college need the extensive reading, writing, editing, speaking and vocabulary experiences of high school. College is about using. It really is. They will use these skills in one form or another in every class. Our local teens often come back to us and tell us “Thanks!” for requiring the rigorous Language Arts that they did in high school.
Here is what we require of our homeschool high schoolers for Language Arts each year.
*Reading
Homeschool high schoolers need to read. Teens’ literature experiences can be on a specific topic such as:
Or it can be a mixture of topics (because there’s not one right way to homeschool)!
The number of books read each year will vary according to the student’s age, interests and abilities. (You can find a chart with suggestions for numbers of books in 7Sisters Literature Study Guides.)
Requirements for study guide use varies by supervising organization/umbrella school. Our homeschool high schoolers generally completed one study guide per month and then completed the remainder of their books without guides (unless they had a specific interest).
*Writing
Homeschool high schoolers need to write. Teens’ yearly writing experiences should include:
- Essays
- Research Paper
- Poetry and/or Short Story
- One or more years of Business Writing
- or other specialty writing (such as Resume)
The number of papers written each year will vary according to the student’s age, interests and abilities. You can find a chart with suggestions for numbers and lengths of papers in 7Sisters’ Writing Guides.
*Vocabulary 7Sisters Literature Study Guides include vocabulary from the book.
*Grammar/Language Mechanics/Editing
*Public Speaking
Why Does it Matter? High School Language Arts Requirements
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