High School Subjects

Science

We follow the standard sequence of Biology, Chemistry and Physics for high school science. The biology and chemistry courses include a lab component. In addition, we offer elective courses in computer science topics including Web Design, Android App Development and Full-Stack Programming.

Biology

Biology is a complex and fascinating subject, and an area where technology and discoveries are perhaps more transformative than any other field of science today.

We use CK-12 Biology, an open source multimedia textbook, as a framework. This covers all the topics taught in a standard high school biology course at an on-grade level. For students looking for additional challenge, we also include a Great Courses option which provides a series of college-level lectures on molecular biology.

For the lab component, we include a homeschooling biology lab manual written by a popular DIY biology enthusiast. Your weekly schedule page coordinates lab sessions with topics covered in the text.

Note that you will need to purchase or have access to a microscope as well as other materials for the lab sessions. We have included suggestions for where to purchase them in the book description.

We round out the course with a selection of popular science books which present the latest advances in various facets of biology in a thorough and entertaining way. These include explorations of genetics and gene editing, forest ecosystems, animal senses, neurobiology, and a biography of the scientist who developed CRISPR. The books show how biology is a rapidly progressing field which will have a major impact on the future of humanity.

Chemistry

As with biology, we use the open source CK-12 Chemistry for High School textbook as a framework. For students looking for additional challenge, we also include a Great Courses option which provides a series of college-level lectures in advanced chemistry.

For the lab component, we include a homeschooling chemistry lab manual written by a popular DIY science practitioner. Note that you will need to purchase or have access to equipment and supplies for the lab experiments. We have included suggestions for where to purchase them in the book description.

Physics

Physics is possibly the most intriguing of the academic subjects, as it deals with questions like the ultimate composition of matter, and the origin and fate of the universe.

This course starts with the excellent Physics and Our Universe series of lectures from Great Courses, which covers both Newtonian physics and more advanced topics. We also include the high school physics course from Khan Academy as a less challenging alternative.

Students then proceed to a series of popular science books on quantum mechanics, astrophysics, string theory and cosmology.

The course ends with a research paper on a topic in physics of the student's choice.