We homeschool year round and our new school year has just begun. This year marks a huge transition in our home with one child entering junior high and another entering high school. Though we are not beginning new educational resources or curriculum until August, July provides us with an opportunity to reflect on what resources we have enjoyed, what courses we will be taking in the coming school year, and what resources we want to purchase.
We are excited for this new school year. With both kiddos increasingly independent in their studies, I trust we’ll be learning a wide variety of skills and material. Below are a few of our tried-and-true favorite educational resources and a couple we look forward to adding to our curriculum.
Educational Resources for Teens
If your child is interested in Minecraft, architecture, languages, or you name it … you can transform your child’s interests into a fun lesson. Keep scrolling to check out what’s new and what’s popular.
What’s new?
3D Animation Course – My son is passionate about Minecraft and is intrigued by the 3D character animation concepts in this year-long online course where he learns to create animated short movies using his favorite Minecraft characters. How cool is that!?
Mixing with the Masters: A New Twist on the Old Masterpieces – My daughter and I just love Alisha’s style and are delighted to learn about the masters through her mixed media art workshop. Mixing with the Masters is the first of several volumes that will be released over the course of this year and the next.
Beginning Architecture Course – Frank Lloyd Wright never had it this good! This three-part series of Beginning Architecture online course is the perfect gift for young Lego and Minecraft enthusiasts like my son.
North Star Geography Online Class – We absolutely LOVE the geography curriculum by Tyler Hogan. Now North Star Geography is offered as an ebook and audiobook, automatic grading of each lesson’s quiz & mapwork, and a direct helpline with the author. Perfect for an on-the-go family like us!
What’s popular?
Learn to Code with Minecraft – One of my son’s favorite things to do is to modify the Minecraft game with special mods. With this year-long online course, kids learn Java programming skills to code their own Minecraft mod from start to finish. They will delight in watching when their work results in a unique, shareable Minecraft mod that they built from scratch.
Life of Fred High School Math Books – Say good-bye to drill and kill exercises. We’ve been using Fred since middle school and my kids love the approach. Instead of nothing but dry exposition and endless drill exercises, they contain fun stories about Fred Gauss, a child prodigy math genius.
Online Language Program – My daughter loves languages and has set out to add Italian to her repertoire. Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to include foreign language into your next year curriculum. Choose from Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Russian or ESL English Videos, songs, and games help learners become bilingual or trilingual FAST!
Tegu Blocks – I don’t know about your kids but mine still enjoy playing with blocks from time to time, especially when they are watching their young nieces and nephews. Tegu Blocks are magnetic wooden blocks and are just the right size for on-the-go fun. If your teen is an entrepreneur who enjoys babysitting, Tegu Blocks are a fabulous addition to his “bag of tricks”.
The Ultimate Middle School Digital Resource – The Ultimate Middle School Package provides you with 24 comprehensive educational resources for Sixth through Eighth Grade in the areas of Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies! Includes both the Student and Teacher’s Edition!