Figuring Out ELA for Homeschool High School

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Figuring Out ELA for Homeschool High School. Figuring Out ELA for Homeschool High School Why is English/Language Arts SO confusing? Why is it such a huge credit? ELA is the most complicated credit for each year of homeschooling high school. This credit has so many topics to cover in order to prepare our teens for effective thinking and communication as adults. But don't worry, we've got you! Join Sabrina, Vicki and Kym for a fun discussion on ELA and how to handle it. Let's start with the basic information for you to remember. All credits are not created equal. We know it's not fair that English/Language Arts is like five credits rolled into one credit: * Literature * Writing * Vocabulary * Grammar * Speech/Public Speaking It's a huge credit! So let's see if we can clarify the components and make it a little easier to manage. We LOVE to help! SO here goes! Let's talk about Literature. It's NOT just a book list. What goes into a the Literature component for high school? * You could approach it from several different ways: * You can mix and match genres or * Specialize in a topic for the year (British Literature, American Literature, World Literature) * Your teens should read an appropriate number of books (each teen is different, so the number will vary) that are challenging. The purpose of these books are to learn analysis and critical/inferential thinking skills. * We recommend Literature Study Guides for at least one book per month in this category (more for Honors-level students). * We highly recommend Literature Study Guides that DON'T kill the book by overteaching and busywork. (Our teens, and the teens we have taught over the years, helped 7SistersHomeschool.com's team create guides that build skills but build them in meaningful, no-busywork ways.) * Your teens should read an appropriate number of other books (again, each teen is different, so the number will vary) that are: * not necessarily as challenging, * are reading for pleasure, * are part of their Bible reading or * supplement other subjects. Let's talk about Writing. It's NOT just essay writing. What goes into a the Writing component for high school? Homeschool high schoolers will need to write essays, yes. Essays (especially the basic five-paragraph essay) help teens capture their thoughts, then concisely and clearly present them. Essays at this level, are exercises to develop thought-presentation skill. Teens then need to expand their skills in capturing and presenting thoughts in the form of research papers. In order to write a longer paper, like an MLA, APA or Chicago-style research paper, teens also need to learn to do research, present it in an appropriate format and cite it. * MLA papers defend a thesis, so is like a researched, in-depth essay. * APA are descriptive,