Request a CatalogContact Us
 0 Items
Home > Support > Curricula > My son is interested in veterinary medicine. How do I implement HSYD?
 
 
Question:

I am still trying to choose the text for ninth grade from HYSD. The past two years, we have used CHC curricula. This year is different. Under each subject heading, there are texts listed, such as the Merit Badge series from the Boy Scouts, and I know that these are small books that probably do not have enough material to last a year and count as a full credit. I want to be sure to cover all that is needed. He wants to be a veterinarian and I know that this translates to a lot of college and I do not want him to suffer because I did not cover enough material. Also, can you help me with deciding which classes are for ninth grade? For example, should Biology be in tenth grade? If so, which one is for ninth? Which English and History is for ninth, etc? I would appreciate your help.

Answer:

AMDG+

Dear Parent;

How proud you must be of your son, and what a gift to be homeschooling so that his science courses may be tailored to his interests.

First, you are correct to want to cover as much material as possible so that he will be well prepared for college. Yet, this can be done easily over four years without burnout for either student or teacher.

If he is a good student, he could easily study Biology in ninth grade, followed by Chemistry in tenth, and Physics in eleventh grade. For his senior year, he may wish to avail himself of materials available online from Texas A & M's Instructional Materials Service.

Further, your son might wish to log onto Texas A & M's home page. Type in 'veterinary program' in the search box, as Texas A & M has a highly regarded veterinary program. He may enjoy seeing what is available to him right now!

In addition, while a single title from the Merit Badge series would not comprise a complete course, your son might find that doing a few of the courses would give him a surprisingly good introduction to animal science, and further spur his interest in his chosen field of study. These courses could be taken for credit at any time during his high school years.

For English, I would recommend half a year of Jensen's Format Writing and half a year of literature of your choice for both ninth and tenth grades. In eleventh and twelfth grades, you may find that your son will need no other writing than the Possible Essay Topics included in the High School of Your Dreams Guidebook.

As far as history is concerned, it doesn't really matter if your son begins with US History or World History or American Government, as long as he studies each subject before completing high school.

Ultimately, I assure you that if your student is motivated, and has the freedom to pursue these courses, he will do very well in college indeed. [Remember that most public high schools offer no courses in Animal Science or Zoology, so your son will have the advantage of additional preparation.]

Let me share a personal experience. I am acquainted with a student who was homeschooled for 12 years. She entered the rigorous nursing program at Franciscan University of Steubenville never having studied biology, chemistry, or physics at home. Instead, she learned those subjects in college, and graduated with a degree in nursing.

Now, I would not recommend entering college without some background in these subjects, but my point is that a motivated student can learn the subjects necessary for his chosen field while in college. [One might also note that only one in three students graduates with the degree he set out to earn when he arrived at university. Certainly, it is possible to change fields and start 'cold,' as these students do, if the student has the motivation.]

Sometimes, those four years of high school can loom large at the beginning, perhaps because, for the first time, we are thinking in terms of four years rather than one. Imagine how overwhelmed we would have been in kindergarten to think of all the territory that we had to cover between first and fourth grades: Numbers, addition, subtraction, borrowing, carrying, multiplication, division, fractions, and so on for each subject. But, just as with the first four years of elementary school, we have four years to cover the academics necessary for a sound high school education, one year at a time.

I would encourage you to take a quiet, relaxing hour to sit down with a steaming cup of tea [or maybe iced tea!] and read the introduction in the High School of Your Dreams Guidebook. It lays out clearly an effective approach to study that has been used successfully by homeschooling families for many years. I think the program will serve your son well; you have an exciting and rewarding four years ahead, one year at a time!

May God bless and guide these years,

Nancy Nicholson

   
© 2024 Catholic Heritage Curricula