Electives
Discover Homeschool Electives With Power Homeschool
What Are Homeschool Electives?
Electives are courses students take outside their core subjects. They can include anything, from art to health and world languages. While many people associate electives with a high school education, they are much broader in practice and available from the elementary level.
Electives for homeschoolers are often more varied than those offered in a brick-and-mortar school. You and your family can craft a curriculum to match their learning style, skills and interests.
Enhancing Your Child’s Education
One of the many reasons more parents are switching to homeschooling is the extensive range of elective subjects. Electives are vital for every child’s learning experience, allowing them to explore new avenues and become well-rounded, accomplished graduates. You have plenty of choices to add value to your child’s education, from elementary school to electives for homeschooled high schoolers.
As the official provider of online Acellus® courses, Power Homeschool offers hundreds of electives for every student. As a parent, you have multiple opportunities to set your child up for success.
The Benefits of Electives in Homeschooling
From homeschooling high school electives to expanding elementary horizons, elective subjects offer many benefits to students of all ages.
- Enhanced convenience: Many parents choose a homeschooling model for practicality. Elective classes supplement your child’s education without the need for additional travel.
- Variety and personalization: Geography often limits elective choices. However, Power Homeschool offers hundreds of Acellus® courses in various elective subjects. This selection allows your child to learn about anything that sparks their interest with a curriculum that suits their unique needs.
- Boosted creativity and critical thinking: When your child steps outside the boundaries of course subjects, they can stretch their imagination. Core subjects encourage your child to be creative and problem-solve, allowing them to grow critical skills for later life.
- Elevated confidence: Every student excels in some subjects and struggles with others. Electives inspire your child to find new things to enjoy outside their core curriculum. For example, if they are passionate about music and find math challenging, a music class can boost their abilities in both areas.
- Improved student engagement and motivation: Allowing your child to pick subjects they like brings a much-needed spark of joy into the learning experience, keeping your child motivated and engaged. Your child also has the option to investigate future careers, molding their academic choices around their skills and passions.
Power Homeschool Elective Courses
Power Homeschool offers electives from elementary grades through high school. Our extensive range of Acellus® courses includes options to align with every child’s skills.
STEM
Science, technology, engineering and mathematics classes are ideal for any child pursuing an in-demand career. These develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills while sparking children’s curiosity.
The Acellus® STEM-10 course is a 10-year program that prepares students for STEM-oriented careers. The program begins in elementary school and continues throughout high school, giving your child a solid foundation they can rely on throughout their lives.
Health
Health electives are an excellent starting point if your child dreams of making a difference in a wellness-related career. Choose from multiple health-related Acellus® courses, including physical education for those interested in sports and high school health and medical terminology courses for those looking to go to college and study medicine.
Art
Children are endlessly imaginative, and art electives can be a valuable way to nurture students who find joy outside technology and the sciences. The best thing about art electives is that students can take them at any age, from kindergarten through high school. Younger children can explore the Acellus® elementary art course — a dynamic, immersive experience designed to ignite creativity from an early age.
If a student’s love and talent for art persist, they can move on to high school electives for homeschooled students like AP Drawing. This course gives them a comprehensive understanding of drawing skills and physical and digital work submissions. It’s outstanding for any student interested in pursuing a career in the arts or adding to their skill set.
Music
Music is an excellent elective for all students. Music training can enhance your child’s language, math and spatial-temporal skills — abilities that transfer to many other areas of life. Lay the foundation in elementary school with the Acellus® Introduction to Music appreciation course, designed to broaden children’s perspectives by immersing them in various musical styles’ history and cultural significance. High school students can further their skills with courses like Music Appreciation or AP Music Theory.
Career and Technical Education Courses
Power Homeschool’s CTE courses can prepare your child for a career, regardless of the direction they plan to take after high school. Power Homeschool offers many options, including electrical technology, accounting and business management.
World Languages
Students with a flair for languages can excel in the job market. Power Homeschool offers Acellus® courses in several languages, including Spanish, French, German and Portuguese.
Collaborative Theater
The Acellus® collaborative theater course focuses on the different art forms that come together to tell a story on the stage. It’s an ideal choice for students interested in the dramatic arts, as it covers onstage, backstage and the design elements that create a complete production.
Fundamentals of Design
This yearlong course introduces students to modern design through 3D printing. Students will cover the entire 3D design process, from coming up with design ideas to developing them into a finished product.
What Makes Acellus Courses So Effective
PRISM DIAGNOSTICS
Prism Diagnostics® identifies specific deficiencies in students’ understanding of core concepts and responds immediately with Customized Personal Instruction (CPI) videos for that precise deficit. The result is that every student receives personalized instruction – right at the moment when they need it most.
Vectored Instruction™
Vectored Instruction™ enables students to master foundational skills they are missing that are prerequisites to success in their current course of study. Vectored Instruction fills in the gaps while keeping students within their credit-level course, enabling them to complete their coursework with passing grades and get on track for graduation.
Balancing Core Subjects and Electives
Striking the balance between core subjects and electives depends on your child. Consider how much time they must spend each week on core subjects to achieve their benchmarks. Some students breeze through core subjects, while others need more time to understand and retain the material. From there, you can review how much time you and your child can spend on extra subjects.
Each student has different preferences for integrating electives into their daily schedule. In some cases, electives break up the day and mentally energize your child for core activities. For other students, they may be a distraction, best left until the end of the day as a reward for completing required coursework.
Choosing the Ideal Electives for Your Child
Your child’s homeschool elective curriculum must encourage them to use their interests and passions whenever possible. Here are some tips for selecting enriching electives.
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- Involve them in the process: No one knows more about your child’s passions than they do. Letting them pick their classes gives them ownership over their education and increases motivation.
- Consider their career goals and interests: Electives let students explore their interests, which can influence your child’s path after high school. If your child dreams of becoming an artist, a musician, a doctor or a software developer, you can choose electives based on those ambitions.
- Try something new: Electives provide new avenues for students, and they may discover hidden talents along the way. Encourage your student to challenge themselves and stay motivated.
- Strike a balance: Electives should supplement your child’s core subjects. In some cases, they can even complement students’ extracurricular activities. When you choose wisely, you can free your child’s time while allowing them to pursue their interests.
- Keep them age-appropriate: Electives should give your child confidence and motivation. A class that’s too challenging for your child will have the opposite effect. Power Homeschool offers hundreds of age-appropriate options with our Acellus® courses.
Find the Best Electives for Your Child With Power Homeschool
Homeschooling allows you to try various electives and tailor your child’s curriculum. Power Homeschool’s leading online homeschooling platform empowers you to shape your child’s academic experience. Create the ideal curriculum by choosing from hundreds of professionally filmed Acellus® courses.
Browse our courses and find the ideal electives for your child, or enroll and experience the joys of Power Homeschool today!