List of High School Electives
High school electives are those courses outside of the core curriculum that give students the opportunity to explore specific areas of study they are interested in. Electives are crucial to helping students discover their passions, narrow down the subjects they’re not that interested in, and get the most out of their homeschool experience.
On this page, you will get an overview of the homeschool electives offered in Time4Learning’s online high school curriculum. You’ll also get a better idea of what colleges are looking for in terms of electives and info that will help you guide your teen as they choose between elective options.
Why Are Electives Important in High School?
Band, yearbook, computer science—when we look back on our high school experience, it is those non-core courses that we realize may have truly shaped the people we’ve become. That’s why the choice of high school electives courses are so important. Not only do they give a teen the opportunity to explore future careers, but they can sometimes provide personal insight into talents and passions high schoolers never even knew they had!
Electives provide value to your high school career by:
- Offering a glimpse into new interests and abilities.
- Providing a well-rounded education that blends arts, life skills, and vocational studies with core courses.
- Preparing you for individual college course requirements.
- Personalizing your overall education.
- Giving you insights into potential future career paths.
How Many Electives Can You Take in High School?
The number of elective classes in high school is determined by each individual homeschool family. While most colleges typically expect between 5-7 elective credits during high school, homeschoolers are certainly not limited by these averages. Homeschool families have the freedom to explore any number of interests, skills, and career paths through elective studies.
How to Choose High School Electives
For students with college aspirations, the decision of which electives to take in high school may be influenced by individual college requirements. Some universities, for example, require two high school fine arts credits for admission. If your homeschooler has his or her eye on specific colleges, it is a good idea to explore the admission requirements of each when making your yearly course selections.
Certainly, not all high school electives for homeschoolers should be dependent upon college obligations. In determining which electives to take, your high schooler should consider:
- Future careers of interest
- Life skills they want to improve
- Self-improvement goals
- Personal interests they want to investigate
List of Electives for Homeschoolers
Time4Learning offers 15 online high school electives that members can choose from.
- Environmental Science
- Intro to Communications and Speech
- Art History I
- Concepts in Probability and Statistics
- Intro to Art
- Computer Applications – Office 2019
in addition to these electives available via your monthly subscription, high school students can also access these middle school electives:
- MS Computer Science
- Online Learning and Digital Citizenship
Time4Learning also offers the option to sign up for a foreign language course. Students have 10 languages to choose from including French, Japanese, Spanish, and German.
Why Choose Time4Learning’s Homeschool Electives?
The 15 elective courses offered to Time4Learning members give students an opportunity to explore new subjects or delve more deeply into subjects they are already familiar with. High schoolers can pick and choose between courses that teach everything from healthy eating to the qualities of art to states of human consciousness.
The online electives feature reflective writing assignments, interactive activities, and a variety of learning scaffolds, such as read-aloud and digital note-taking tools. Each one is designed so that students can work independently and progress at their own pace as they learn new concepts.
Here are just some of the reasons why thousands of homeschooling families choose Time4Learning for their high school electives courses:
- Engaging lessons, instructional videos, virtual labs, and more make learning fun.
- Lesson plans give parents detailed information on every lesson and activity.
- Different learning styles are supported by multiple platform tools: transcripts, video lessons, translations, and interactive assessments.
- 24/7 access means students can learn on their own schedule.
- Activity planners and curriculum calculators help students work independently and stay organized.
- Automated grading and recordkeeping means parents don’t have to spend time grading assignments or tests.
- In-depth reports also help parents create an accurate transcript for their high schooler.
- Our courses are designed to work well for different homeschooling styles as well as support students with special needs.