Class Offerings

In Form I Children’s Choir, students age 7 to 9 sing and perform hymns, folk songs, and other classic choral works. Students learn the basics of vocal technique, sight-reading, and music theory, along with musical games. The program focuses on music appreciation, enjoyment, and the glorification of God through music. In addition to weekly classes, choir students have the opportunity to perform in assisted living facilities, and they participate in special performances at the fall and spring showcases.

Bluebonnet Home Scholars also offers Form II Children’s Choir (ages 9-12)  and Youth Choir (ages 12-18).

Forest School allows students to have (mostly) unstructured outdoor play time while learning at the point of interest along the way. Charlotte Mason was a strong advocate of encouraging extensive hours of child-directed free play and exploration, especially in the early years. In Forest School, outside exploration is child-led, resulting in an emerging rather than a prescribed curriculum. Children are allowed to take risks and are guided by their teachers in how to take those risks appropriately. The agenda and lesson for each day will vary based on the natural phenomena available and the students’ interests. Informal lessons may take place on an individual level as well as in periodic group lessons. As much as possible, the teacher will aim to weave in informal, age-appropriate lessons throughout the day in subjects as varied as geography, botany, biology, physical education, music, and the scientific method.

In this interactive, multi-sensory, hands-on class, Form 1 Students delve into phonics and cursive penmanship, discover and apply spelling rules with grade-level spelling words, learn parts of speech, practice oral reading, and hear and recite classic works of poetry. With our commitment to incorporate the best of both classical tradition and contemporary research, this course uses researched-based best practices for helping students of all abilities and grade levels. Instruction will be individuated for students at various levels within Form 1. As space allows, parents of younger students are encouraged to arrange to sit in whenever possible to enjoy learning and engaging in the activities together with their students.

This class keeps it kinetic as beginning students (Form 1-a) use large motor skills to draw cursive letters and multi-letter phonograms in salt boxes and to water-paint them on the sidewalk before moving on to fine motor skills with pen and paper. Students will play games and relays, compose original sentences, and listen to beautiful literature read aloud.

Learning outcomes include growth in the foundational operations of language—listening, speaking, reading, and writing—as students learn to read so they can read to learn.

“Historically cursive was taught first to our nation’s children. Today, reading and dyslexia experts are rediscovering that teaching cursive first–before print or manuscript–improves long-term penmanship skills, helps children learn to read, virtually eliminates reversals, and enables children to read what is written by others. Cursive First introduces children to writing numerals, the cursive alphabet, and the most common phonograms of the English language.”

Cursive First will be used in conjunction with the coordinating instruction in Spell to Write and Read by Wanda Sanseri. Both curricula can be used with the beginning reader and writer or with older students transitioning from print to cursive.

BHSC will offer parents free ELA training at the beginning of the school year.

Note: A placement test is required for all students entering ELA classes at BHSC for the first time levels 1-b and above. For pre-writers entering the Form 1-a ELA class, no placement test is required, but parents are asked to assess the student’s writing readiness.

Bluebonnet is pleased to offer full courses in mathematics for Form 1 students at the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade levels, completing our full 1st grade through Calculus math program. At Bluebonnet Home Scholars Collaborative, the study of math is rooted in wonder. Students are invited to delve deeply into the beauty of math and to undertake mathematical study as an act of worship in which they can catch a glimpse into the mind of God.

From the publisher’s website: 

Dimensions Math® PK–5 is our flagship Singapore Math® curriculum. With its rigorous content and engaging visuals, it’s easy to see why it’s our most popular program. Written by a team of Singapore math educators and experts with more than 100 years of combined classroom experience, Dimensions Math PK- provides a deep elementary math foundation. This is a refined, comprehensive series that meets the needs of today’s students and educators.

Pre-requisite testing is required for placement.

In this weekly 2.5-hour block class, our youngest learners enjoy a kaleidoscope of delights for the mind, ear, eye, heart, and hand:

Hymn and Recitation—Students sing a traditional Hymn and recite Scripture together as a large group. We focus on one Bible passage for 8 weeks, and one hymn for 4 weeks. This passage is also recited and the hymn is sung together in the Lunch Assembly. Also, students are invited to prepare a short poem, Bible verse, or passage of interest to recite for the class.

Folksong—Students learn folksongs to sing together. Songs come from a variety of time periods, cultures, and languages. Some include movement or games to play together. We focus on one folksong for 4 weeks.

Nature Study—Students take nature walks outside and also observe and study objects from nature brought to class by the teacher. Students are encouraged to bring specimens from nature for study also. We study the specimens through discussion, nature journaling, and interaction with the object. Students explore various parts of nature and their environment through observations based on rotating themes.

Artist & Composer Study—Students study classical music and works of art through observation (attentive looking and listening) and discussion. They also practice copying master paintings both by sight and creating their own interpretations based on the pieces of art. Students are presented with a variety of artists and composers each year. They study four artists and four composers with a total of 15-16 distinct pieces of artwork and musical compositions, 3 or 4 works from each artist / composer.  Artists and composers are carefully selected to include featured men and women from a broad variety of time periods, cultures, countries, backgrounds, and creative styles.

Handicrafts—Students learn a variety of handicrafts and the proper techniques that apply to each. We spend roughly 4 weeks on each handicraft. Some handicrafts we have done in the past have included: origami, kirigami, sewing, embroidery, rock painting, weaving, loom knitting, and beading.

Math Games—Students play a variety of math games to reinforce math concepts that they are learning at home and in class. Students practice various math concepts with rotating themes in a fast-paced group game, puzzle, or activity called “Five Minute Math”.

In this multi-sensory and interdisciplinary block class, students learn Latin through song and play, hear and narrate living history stories, study art and artists related to the history they are studying, and make their own original works of art in response.

History: Bluebonnet Scholars offers history on a rotating three-year cycle with studies synchronized across Forms 1 through 4 (grades K through 12th) so that all students are studying the same time period together.

For Form 1a (Kindergarten and grade 1), students follow a gentle, living books approach to history, incorporating various living picture books that help medieval and modern history come to life in the imaginations of young students.

For Form 1b and 1c (grades 2 to 3), the history spines are as follows:

• Cycle Year 1: Ancient History (2023-2024) (creation to c. 476 AD)—The Story of the World, Vol. 1
• Cycle Year 2: Medieval History (2024-2025) (c. 476 AD to 1368)—The Story of the World, Vol. 2
• Cycle Year 3: Early Modern History (2025-2026) (c. 1368 to 1850)—The Story of the World, Vol. 3

Art: In addition to the narrative history books, the Form 1 students also study art/artists chronologically through the Artistic Pursuits Early Elementary series and make creative works of their own in response.

Latin: Form 1a students enjoy a gentle introduction to Latin studies, learning songs, hymns, prayers, nursery rhymes, and poems in Latin using Mater Anserina and Lingua Angelica.

Students in Form 1b and 1c use Song School Latin from Classical Academic Press. Form 1b LHA uses Song School Latin Book 1, and Form 1c uses Song School Latin Book 2.

Science Form I at Bluebonnet Home Scholars Collaborative uses materials from a variety of sources including TOPS Science, The Good and The Beautiful, Sonlight Curriculum, Elemental Science, and living books. The hands-on, discovery-based curriculum harmonizes with our gentle, Charlotte Mason approach while still offering substantive coverage of the subject at an age-appropriate level. Students will use scientific practices in collaborative groups to implement simple experimental investigations as well as communicate valid conclusions through both speaking and writing/drawing.

Concepts covered follow a three-year thematic cycle:

Cycle Year 1 (2023-2024): The Solar System, rocks and minerals, animals, and plants
Cycle Year 2 (2024-2025): Physical properties of matter, the water cycle, weather & seasons, land forms, changes to the Earth, and natural resources
Cycle Year 3 (2025-2026): Force & motion, forms of energy, pressure & buoyancy, engineering (ramps, levers, pulleys, gears)

Using interactive and conversation-driven learning, this course lays the foundation for learning to speak Spanish fluently. Students in kindergarten through 3rd grade enjoy a multi-sensory approach to learning as they sing, make art, and converse. In order to gain mastery and grow toward fluency, students are expected to complete some work outside of class each week such as playing Spanish games, listening to Spanish songs and passages, and completing some light coursework. As an integral part of the learning process, students are asked to record themselves speaking and to submit their recording to the teacher each week.

Ancient History & Geography will combine living books, narration, timeline, and maps to help students create connections between ancient history and the world around them.

Students will read, narrate, and discuss passages from The Story of the World Vol. 1 & 2 as well as various passages from the Bible.  There will be weekly at-home reading assignments given so the students have the best possible opportunity to participate in class discussion and extend their learning to maximize the value of class time.

In addition, each week students will spend some time observing and tracing world maps relevant to the course material.  Students will have the opportunity to understand how specific nations’ borders changed as they journey through history, as well as identifying major features on a map. Students will have the opportunity to research and present one person from Ancient History in a year-end “Who’s Who of History.”

Bluebonnet Scholars offers history on a rotating three-year cycle with studies synchronized across Forms 1 through 4 (grades K through 12th) so that all students are studying the same time period together. Spine texts for Form 2 (grades 4–6) History are included below:

• Cycle Year 1: (2023–24) Ancient through Early Medieval History (creation to c. 860 AD)—The Story of the World, all of Vol. 1 & part of Vol. 2
• Cycle Year 2: (2024–25) Medieval through Early Modern History (c. 860 AD to 1797)—The Story of the World, part of Vol. 2 & part of Vol. 3
• Cycle Year 3: (2025–26) Modern History (c. 1797 to today)—The Story of the World, part of Vol. 3 & all of Vol. 4

Students will explore a variety of art media and techniques and deepen their understanding of the elements of design as they respond to historical master artists with their own original work. In each unit, students will learn a new visual art technique and create original imaginative work with a variety of mediums such as acrylic, and tempera paints, ink, pastel, crayon, metal, and clay. Students will come to understand the elements of design through practice. They will evaluate their own work based on simple rubrics, and seek to improve as they are able. Students will also have the opportunity to present and share completed artwork.

The bestselling Cambridge Latin program provides an enjoyable and carefully paced introduction to the Latin language, complemented by background information on Roman culture and civilization. The story begins in the town of Pompeii shortly before the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 and follows the fortunes of the household of Lucius Caecilius Iucundus.

Meeting over the lunch period every other Tuesday, students will learn skills and strategies of the game of chess by studying under an experienced teacher and playing together. Each semester concludes with a chess tournament.

NOTE: Chess Club is offered on alternating weeks and meets at the same time and on the same days as Form 2 (upper elementary) Game Club; students in grades 4 through 6 must choose either one or the other, not both.

In Form II Children’s Choir, students age 9-12 sing and perform hymns, folk songs, and other classic choral works. Students learn the basics of vocal technique, sight-reading, and music theory, along with musical games. The program focuses on music appreciation, enjoyment, and the glorification of God through music. In addition to weekly classes, choir students have the opportunity to perform in assisted living facilities, and they participate in special performances at the fall and spring showcases.

Bluebonnet Home Scholars also offers Form I Children’s Choir (ages 7-9) and Youth Choir (ages 12-18).

Forest School allows students to have (mostly) unstructured outdoor play time while learning at the point of interest along the way. Charlotte Mason was a strong advocate of encouraging extensive hours of child-directed free play and exploration, especially in the early years. In Forest School, outside exploration is child-led, resulting in an emerging rather than a prescribed curriculum. Children are allowed to take risks and are guided by their teachers in how to take those risks appropriately. The agenda and lesson for each day will vary based on the natural phenomena available and the students’ interests. Informal lessons may take place on an individual level as well as in periodic group lessons. As much as possible, the teacher will aim to weave in informal, age-appropriate lessons throughout the day in subjects as varied as geography, botany, biology, physical education, music, and the scientific method.

In this course, Form 2a, Form 2b, and Form 2c students will learn and apply spelling rules, review parts of speech, diagram sentences, practice penmanship, practice oral reading, and read and recite classic works of poetry. With our commitment to incorporate the best of both classical tradition and contemporary research, this course uses researched-based best practices for helping students of all abilities and grade levels. Instruction will be individuated for students at various levels within Form 2. Learning outcomes include growth in the foundational operations of language—listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

BHSC will offer parents free ELA training at the beginning of the school year.

Note: A placement test is required for all students entering ELA classes at BHSC for the first time levels 1-b and above.

Bluebonnet is pleased to offer full courses in mathematics for Form 2 students at the 4th, 5th, and 6th-grade level. At Bluebonnet Home Scholars Collaborative, the study of math is rooted in wonder. Students are invited to delve deeply into the beauty of math and to undertake mathematical study as an act of worship in which they can catch a glimpse into the mind of God.

From the publisher’s website: 

“Dimensions Math® PK–5 is our flagship Singapore Math® curriculum. With its rigorous content and engaging visuals, it’s easy to see why it’s our most popular program. Written by a team of Singapore math educators and experts with more than 100 years of combined classroom experience, Dimensions Math PK- provides a deep elementary math foundation. This is a refined, comprehensive series that meets the needs of today’s students and educators.”

Bluebonnet’s Math 6 course offers the student a transition from an arithmetic approach into an algebraic concept of real-world problem-solving. Beginning in the fall, students review basic math concepts and skills such as whole numbers, fractions, decimals, ratios, rates, and percentages. Students extend their understanding of numbers by learning about positive and negative whole numbers, fractions, and decimals. Beginning in the spring, students explore algebraic concepts such as writing and evaluating algebraic expressions, equations, and inequalities; coordinates and graphs; area of plane figures; volume and surface area of solids; and displaying and comparing data. Many topics covered offer a chance for students to make connections to their daily lives through algebraic expression, and to explore how the beauty of math enables man to simplify the complexity of the world.

Pre-requisite testing is required at all levels for math placement.

Students will develop strategizing and critical thinking skills as they enjoy collaborating and discovering a wide variety of games together, including card games, board games, and other pursuits. This club will incorporate a high level of student leadership in selecting and learning various games, while emphasizing sportsmanship, fair play, and the importance of encouraging one another in learning new challenges.

Form 2 Game Club (for upper elementary students) meets every other week during the lunch hour on Tuesdays. (Note that Form 2 Game Club is offered on the same dates and at the same times as Chess Club; students may be enrolled in either one or the other, not both.)

Both beautiful and useful, handicrafts allow students of all ages to develop skills while improving habits of attention, orderliness, and tenacity. Mrs. Estes will help students experiment and develop skills with several different handicrafts over each semester. Previous handicrafts have included weaving reeds, corn husks, and fabric, paper crafts such as quilling, hand sewing, leather and wood crafts, kite making, and more.

The instructor works with each student to personalize projects at the student’s level of ability and experience. By the end of the semester, students will have created both decorative and practical items including an item for charitable donation and/or gift-giving.

This class meets every other week for Forms 2-4, with Form 2 alternating with Math Club, and Forms 3-4 alternating with Nature Journaling.

In this literature and vocabulary-based class, students will explore the founding myths of Greek and Roman civilization. Reading stories from mythology, students will develop their Latin reading comprehension and their understanding of how Latin and Greek vocabulary has shaped the English language. Our textbook will also review fundamental vocabulary and grammar concepts, as well as provide an introduction to different types of Latin literature. The course will also include vocabulary games and other collaborative activities. Students will have the option to take the National Mythology Exam, Level 2 as part of this class.

Students are introduced to basic Latin vocabulary and culture as they follow the adventures of Minimus the mouse throughout the texts. In the Minimus: Starting Out in Latin text, students meet minimus and an actual Roman family who lived in Vindolanda in ancient Britain. We will explore Roman culture, history, mythology, and other aspects of Roman life while learning the fundamentals of Latin grammar.

Owl pellet dissections, live butterfly studies, and microscope adventures are a few of the activities that await fifth- through eighth-grade students in this fun, hands-on class.

Life Science at Bluebonnet Home Scholars Collaborative uses Exploring the World of Biology by John H. Tiner, along with the accompanying materials from Memoria Press. The curriculum harmonizes with our gentle, Charlotte Mason, nature study approach while still offering substantive coverage of the subject at an age-appropriate level. Concepts covered include classifications, bacteria and protista, fungi, plant life, energy, digestion, insects, arachnids, aquatic life, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

Delightful games and healthy competition will help Form 2 students gain speed and accuracy with basic math facts. Students will learn strategies to aid them in deftly solving mental math problems, and the class will read aloud inspiring stories of real-life mathematicians.

This course does not replace the student’s main, traditional math class but rather serves to deepen and enrich the student’s understanding and appreciation of math. This class has little to no homework. (For information about Bluebonnet’s full course offerings for 4th through 6th-grade math, see here.)

Prerequisites: understanding of the four basic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) with single-digit integers.

Math Club 2a will emphasize learning about the lives of notable mathematicians and their discoveries while cycling through games and activities that reinforce concepts introduced or expanded upon in standard 4th-5th grade mathematics coursework. This class meets every other week, alternating with Handicrafts.

Math Club 2b and 2c will build upon the skills reinforced in the previous level (not a prerequisite) with greater emphasis on solving more complex types of problems and strengthening skills from typical 5th-6th grade mathematics coursework. These classes will also learn about the lives of notable mathematicians and their discoveries. This class has no prerequisites, but students should have a strong foundation in memorization of multiplication tables and multiple-digit addition/subtraction. These classes meet every other week, alternating with Handicrafts.

Modern History & Geography will combine living books, narration, timeline, and maps to help students create connections between modern history and the world around them.

In the History portion of the class, students will build beautiful keepsake Record of Time notebook binders and follow the narrative of history through The Story of the World, Volumes 3 and 4. They will read, narrate, and discuss passages from Story of the World and possibly other living history texts. In addition, students may work on developing outlining skills as they build their timeline of world history with illustrations and notes. There will be weekly reading assignments that are generally two chapters per week in the Story of the World text. Reading at home is essential to being able to successfully follow the class lesson and narration discussion and so that the students will be able to complete the time period under study by the end of the academic year.

Bluebonnet Scholars offers history on a rotating three-year cycle with studies synchronized across Forms 1 through 3 (grades K through 10th) so that all students are studying the same time period together. Spine texts for Form 2 (grades 4–6) History are included below:

• Cycle Year 1 (2026–27): Ancient through Early Medieval History (creation to c. 860 AD)—The Story of the World, all of Vol. 1 & part of Vol. 2
• Cycle Year 2 (2027–28): Medieval through Early Modern History (c. 860 AD to 1797)—The Story of the World, part of Vol. 2 & part of Vol. 3
• Cycle Year 3 (2025–26): Modern History (c. 1797 to today)—The Story of the World, part of Vol. 3 & all of Vol. 4

In the Geography portion of the class, students will study and reproduce maps as well as possibly read, narrate, and discuss portions from living geography books in a rotating three-year cycle:

• Cycle Year 1 (2026–27): Geography I (Middle East, Europe, & North Africa); Prisoners of Geography: Our World Explained in 12 Simple Maps (part); and living geography read-aloud books
• Cycle Year 2 (2027–28): Geography II (Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas); Prisoners of Geography: Our World Explained in 12 Simple Maps (part); and living geography read-aloud books
• Cycle Year 3 (2025–26): Geography I Review (condensed review of Middle East, Europe, & North Africa); Prisoners of Geography: Our World Explained in 12 Simple Maps (part); States and Capitals; Don’t Know Much About the 50 States; and living geography read-aloud books

In addition, every week or two students will spend some time working on maps. Students may have an opportunity to research and present on one country or historical person of interest in a year-end World Fair/Who’s Who.

NEW in 2025 for students age 10 to 18!

In musical theater, students will sing, learn acting techniques, learn the fundamentals of jazz-based dancing, and participate in performance. They will engage in fun acting games, analyze story structures, dive into music study, and memorize various lines both for our yearly performance and for isolated scenes. All students will have the opportunity to develop and practice their acting skills.  Musical theater not only teaches professionalism but  develops confidence in speaking, acting, singing, and dancing publicly in a performance setting. Students will practice blocking, learn about costuming, stage makeup, and set design.  Additionally, students will experience being a cast member and learn about cultivating teamwork. We are looking forward to a wholesome environment full of love, goodness, truth, and beauty through our study of and participation in great works of theater and music!

This year, pending enrollment, we hope to perform the Sound of Music—Youth Edition. If enrollment is lower than the minimum cast size, we will be doing a spring show of one-acts!

NOTE:

Musical Theater Auditions Policy

After the class reaches a certain enrollment threshold, students will be selected from the waitlist via auditions and not by first-come order.

This class invites students to learn how to slow down and to attend to nature through observation, asking questions, research, and drawing.  After a short drawing lesson and nature reading, students will study a landscape or an object from nature to capture in a nature journal. On every “tolerably fine day,” students will be encouraged to take their journals outdoors to explore, observe, and record details from trees, flowers, bushes, birds, insects, rocks, or any other natural creation that intrigues them. When weather prevents outdoor time, the instructor will bring specimens into the classroom for study.

While students will gain experience working with a variety of drawing mediums such as graphite, charcoal, pen, pastels, and watercolor, the focus of the time will be on sketching with graphite and brush drawing with watercolor. Additionally, students will have the opportunity to present and share nature journaling pages they completed outside of class on their own.

The teacher will be referencing Anna Botsford Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study, Peterson Texas Field Guides, various living nature books, and John Muir Laws’ How to Teach Nature Journaling during class.

This class meets every other week for Form 2 and Forms 3-4, alternating with Art Explorations (Form 2) and Handicrafts (Forms 3-4).

In the Artist & Composer Study portion of this class, students encounter works by master artists and composers in this multi-sensory class. Over the course of the year, students learn about the lives of 4 artists and 4 composers and study multiple works from each. Students gain a listening repertoire of over a dozen classical scores and receive over a dozen full-color art prints, which they study in class through group discussion, written narration, and notebook drawings.

In the Plutarch & Shakespeare portion of this class, the class will read, narrate, and discuss passages from Plutarch’s Lives and Shakespeare’s plays. Over the year, students will read two of Shakespeare plays and two of Plutarch’s lives, studying one of each per semester. Students will have the opportunity to dramatically read selected passages, to reenact key scenes, and to prepare and recite optional memory work.

Science Form II at Bluebonnet Home Scholars Collaborative uses materials from a variety of sources including TOPS Science, Sonlight Curriculum, The Good and the Beautiful, Elemental Science, and living books. The curriculum harmonizes with our gentle, Charlotte Mason approach while still offering substantive coverage of the subject at an age-appropriate level. Students will use scientific practices in collaborative groups to implement simple experimental investigations as well as communicate valid conclusions through both speaking and writing/drawing.

Concepts covered follow a three-year thematic cycle:

Cycle Year 1 (2023-2024): The Solar System, rocks and minerals, animals, and plants
Cycle Year 2 (2024-2025): Physical properties of matter, the water cycle, weather & seasons, land forms, changes to the Earth, and natural resources
Cycle Year 3 (2025-2026): Force & motion, forms of energy, pressure & buoyancy, engineering (ramps, levers, pulleys, gears)

Using interactive and conversation-driven learning, this course will lay the foundation for learning to speak Spanish fluently. Students will engage in a variety of activities beneficial for both new and experienced students together in the same class. Through dynamic classroom interactions, students learn how the language works—how language components can be put together in different ways to understand, speak, read, and write in everyday life.

In order to gain mastery and grow toward fluency, students will be expected to complete some work outside of class each week such as listening to Spanish audio recordings, speaking practice, and completing some light coursework. As an integral part of the learning process, students will be asked to record themselves speaking and to submit their recording to the teacher each week.

Let your students’ imaginations soar while exploring fascinating subjects and learning to write with structure and style!

The Institute for Excellence in Writing’s Frontiers in Writing Lessons offers a “wide variety of adventures” to “supply a rich foundation for imaginative and enjoyable writing.”

With the support of guided group discussion, brainstorming, and critique, upper-elementary students will learn to write with appropriate structure while enlivening their prose with stylistic flare. Over the course of the year, students will focus on developing vivid vocabulary and sentence variety in a range of compositions including both fiction and non-fiction with opportunities to grow in their reading and presentation skills in a supportive atmosphere.

To receive the full benefit of the writing class, students will need sufficient time and a handful of supplies. In addition to weekly class sessions, students should plan to spend another 1 to 3 hours each week completing assignments at home.

Upper-elementary students will participate in activities aimed to inspire a love of words, sentences, and word-play. With the support of guided group discussion, brainstorming, and critique, students will learn to write with appropriate structure while enlivening their prose with stylistic flare.

Humorous characters, cunning creatures, and meritorious men of history will captivate students as they learn to write with structure and style. Moving through Units 1–7, students will take notes, summarize narrative stories, write from pictures, put together a mini research report, and compose creative essays.

Over the course of the year, students will gain a growing awareness of sentence structure and grammar that goes hand-in-hand with their growing ability to amplify and manipulate the parts of a sentence. We will focus on developing vivid vocabulary and sentence variety in a range of compositions including both fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. As a class, students have the opportunity to participate in ongoing reading and typing challenges to develop skills and habits essential to competent communicators.

In addition to weekly class sessions, students should plan to spend another one to three hours each week completing assignments at home.

Upper-elementary students will participate in activities aimed to inspire a love of words, sentences, and word-play. With the support of guided group discussion, brainstorming, and critique, students will learn to write with appropriate structure while enlivening their prose with stylistic flare.

Ancient historical characters, events, and stories will captivate students as they learn to write with structure and style. Moving through Units 1–8, students will take notes, summarize narrative stories, write from pictures, put together a research report on a historical person or event, and compose creative essays.

Over the course of the year, students will gain a growing awareness of sentence structure and grammar that goes hand-in-hand with their growing ability to amplify and manipulate the parts of a sentence. We will focus on developing vivid vocabulary and sentence variety in a range of compositions including both fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. As a class, students have the opportunity to participate in ongoing reading and typing challenges to develop skills and habits essential to competent communicators.

In addition to weekly class sessions, students should plan to spend another one to three hours each week completing assignments at home.

Upper-elementary students will participate in activities aimed to inspire a love of words, sentences, and word-play. With the support of guided group discussion, brainstorming, and critique, students will learn to write with appropriate structure while enlivening their prose with stylistic flare.

From the Anglo-Saxons to the Renaissance, from chivalrous knights to Genghis Khan, students will improve their knowledge of medieval times while learning to write with structure and style. Working through all of IEW’s Units 1–9, students learn to take notes, retell narrative stories, summarize references, write from pictures, compose essays, and more.

Over the course of the year, students will gain a growing awareness of sentence structure and grammar that goes hand-in-hand with their growing ability to amplify and manipulate the parts of a sentence. We will focus on developing vivid vocabulary and sentence variety in a range of compositions including both fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. As a class, students have the opportunity to participate in ongoing reading and typing challenges to develop skills and habits essential to competent communicators.

In addition to weekly class sessions, students should plan to spend another one to three hours each week completing assignments at home.

Upper-elementary students will participate in activities aimed to inspire a love of words, sentences, and word-play. With the support of guided group discussion, brainstorming, and critique, students will learn to write with appropriate structure while enlivening their prose with stylistic flare.

Honeybees, steam engines, meteorites, and other interesting subjects will captivate Form 2a (4th grade) students as they learn to write with structure and style. Moving through Units 1-7, students will take notes, summarize narrative stories, write from pictures, put together a mini research report, and compose creative essays.

Over the course of the year, students will gain a growing awareness of sentence structure and grammar that goes hand-in-hand with their growing ability to amplify and manipulate the parts of a sentence. We will focus on developing vivid vocabulary and sentence variety in a range of compositions including both fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. As a class, students have the opportunity to participate in ongoing reading and typing challenges to develop skills and habits essential to competent communicators.

In addition to weekly class sessions, students should plan to spend another one to three hours each week completing assignments at home.

This high school introductory physics & chemistry course combines up-to-date science with a Christian worldview and an educational approach that aims for wonder, integration, and mastery. Concepts covered include the nature of scientific knowledge, motion, Newton’s laws, variation and proportion, energy, heat and temperature, waves, sound, light, electricity and DC circuits, fields and magnetism, chemical substances, atomic models and density, atomic bonding, and chemical reactions. (Visit the publisher’s FAQ to learn more about how this publisher approaches the subject of evolution.) The Novare curriculum aims to nurture fascinated students who deeply understand and remember their science. Meeting Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, this course will include both lab and lecture/discussion components.

This course is accelerated, and as such, students will be expected to complete all reading assignments, all end-of-chapter question assignments, quizzes, five lab reports, a lab journal, and two end-of-semester exams. Each student (or family) will need access to Google Classroom for assignments and grades.

Prerequisites: must have completed Algebra I and pass a placement exam.

This class is designed to help students who have mastered the basic essay take their writing to the next level. Students will learn a five-step process for developing a thoughtful thesis statement that interacts with the great conversation of ideas. By attending to sources and engaging in group discussion, students will be able to find their own voice as they search for the truth through their reading and writing.

In addition to reviewing sentence structure and stylistic elements, returning students will also read essays by master writers, analyzing and imitating their respective styles in a series of response essays of their own. Studying an array of the best American essays from the past century, students will gain exposure to different essay structures and themes ranging from opinion piece to social appeal, from personal essay to literary theodicy.

The skill and insight of great authors serve as inspiration for students who are finding their own individual voices. By imitating the sentence structures and essay organization of great authors, students can be empowered to compose their own beautiful, powerful work as they join the larger conversation. This advanced essay course makes a direct bridge for the student between imitating great writing and composing beautiful writing in their own words. Students will also gain practice with the revision and critique process.

We will also make time for some creative writing projects as well. Students will study poetic form and style as well as short fiction, and will imitate master authors through creative compositions of their own.

In addition to weekly class sessions, students should plan to spend another two to three hours each week completing assignments at home.

Note: This course is offered on rotation every two or three years and will be offered in 2025–26.

Advanced Latin is taught via a three-year cycle in which the same essential aspects of Latin vocabulary, grammar, rhetorical techniques, and literature are explored through different collections of works. Students will read primary sources from classical and medieval Latin, including portions of Sacred Scripture. Students will learn the fundamentals of Roman poetic meter and encounter a variety of texts including history, mythology, and epic poetry. We will revisit and build upon our understanding of Latin grammar while focusing primarily upon reading and discussing Latin texts.

This course is intended to follow Latin 2; at least two years of high school Latin are a prerequisite.

In this course, students study algebra through imaginative applications and clear problems derived from the real world. Technology tools are used to assist with time-consuming calculations and to integrate graphing and problem-solving skills. Students will study expressions and equations, operations with negative numbers, distributing: axioms and other properties, harder equations, some operations with polynomials and radicals, quadratic equations, expressions and equations containing two variables, linear functions/scattered data/probability, properties and exponents, more operations with polynomials, rational algebraic expressions, radical algebraic expressions, inequalities, functions, and advanced topics.

To add to the wonder and creative problem-solving side of math, the instructor will supplement the traditional textbook approach adding in substantial amounts of curated supplemental material for enrichment and extension, along with practice standardized test problems. These challenging problem-solving activities are integrated to help students hone their mathematical and critical thinking skills and apply concepts across a wide range of situations and scenarios.

Ancient History & Geography will combine living books, narration, timeline, and maps to help students create connections between ancient history and the world around them.

Students will read, narrate, and discuss passages from hand-picked spine books and supplemental readings as well as various passages from the Bible.  There will be weekly at-home reading assignments given so the students have the best possible opportunity to participate in class discussion and extend their learning to maximize the value of class time.

In addition, students will spend some time observing and tracing world maps relevant to the course material.  Students will have the opportunity to understand how specific nations’ borders changed as they journey through history, as well as identifying major features on a map. Students will have the opportunity to research and present one person from Ancient History in a year-end “Who’s Who of History.”

Bluebonnet Scholars offers history on a rotating three-year cycle with studies synchronized across Forms 1 through 4 (grades K through 12th) so that all students are studying the same time period together. The Form 3 (7th through 9th grade) cycle is as follows:

• Cycle Year 1: (2023–24) Ancient through Early Medieval History
• Cycle Year 2: (2024–25) Medieval through Early Modern History
• Cycle Year 3: (2025–26) Modern History (with an emphasis on American History)

Meeting over the lunch period every other Tuesday, students will learn skills and strategies of the game of chess by studying under an experienced teacher and playing together. Each semester concludes with a chess tournament.

NOTE: Chess Club is offered on alternating weeks and meets at the same time and on the same days as Form 2 (upper elementary) Game Club; students in grades 4 through 6 must choose either one or the other, not both.

This Earth Science course is designed to draw middle-school students into close engagement with the subject matter and provide a solid education while fostering a sense of wonder and responsibility for God’s amazing world. This course explores processes and concepts from the atmosphere of the Earth to the core, including topics such as rocks and minerals, weather, landforms and plate tectonics, and the current scientific understanding of Earth history. Many other timely and important topics are covered, including conservation of natural resources, climate change, pollution, and environmental justice. Students will participate in lab- and (optional) field-based learning experiences to fully appreciate the complex and fascinating world God has made.

Author Kevin Nelstead regularly draws the reader to appreciate the intricacy and excellence of God’s works, tying in scripture without becoming heavy-handed.

In this class with Mrs. Hartenburg that incorporates both report-style and descriptive writing, students will learn the structure and style of various essay formats and will produce original essays including integrated quotations, MLA in-text citations, and a properly formatted “Works Cited” page. An intensive overview of style elements will assist students in developing vivid vocabulary and sophisticated sentence variety. Throughout the course, students will gain an awareness of sentence structure and grammar that goes hand-in-hand with their growing ability to amplify and manipulate the parts of a sentence. Students will also write short fiction and poems of various forms.

In addition to weekly class sessions, students should plan to spend another two to three hours each week completing assignments at home.

Note: This course may be offered on rotation every other year and will NOT be offered in 2025–26.

Both beautiful and useful, handicrafts allow students of all ages to develop skills while improving habits of attention, orderliness, and tenacity. Mrs. Estes will help students experiment and develop skills with several different handicrafts over each semester. Previous handicrafts have included weaving reeds, corn husks, and fabric, paper crafts such as quilling, hand sewing, leather and wood crafts, kite making, and more.

The instructor works with each student to personalize projects at the student’s level of ability and experience. By the end of the semester, students will have created both decorative and practical items including an item for charitable donation and/or gift-giving.

This class meets every other week for Forms 2-4, with Form 2 alternating with Math Club, and Forms 3-4 alternating with Nature Journaling.

In this tuition-free class led by Dr. Gary Hartenburg, students will develop critical thinking, listening, and discussion skills as they grapple with foundational questions of faith and existence. Students will read and discuss a variety of classic literature along with selected works of the writers known as the Inklings, such as C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, as well as similar-minded contemporaries such as Dorothy Sayers and G. K. Chesterton. Students will be expected to complete reading assignments in preparation for class, and there may be optional writing assignments.

In 2024–25, the focus will be on the Inklings and great works of medieval & renaissance literature.

In this precursor class to our original upper-level Inkings & Classics Socratic discussion course, students will develop critical thinking, listening, and discussion skills as they grapple with foundational questions of God, humanity, faith, and imagination. Students will read and discuss a variety of classic literature along with selected works of the writers known as the Inklings, such as C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, as well as similar-minded contemporaries such as Dorothy Sayers and G. K. Chesterton. This course is designed to be taken prior to or instead of our upper-level Inklings & Socratic Discussion course, not concurrently.

Students will be expected to complete reading assignments in preparation for class as well as some writing assignments. The writing will focus on crafting thesis statements and body paragraphs in response to class discussions of the texts the class is reading so that students can practice and hone their ability to craft and build arguments in writing.

In 2023–24, the focus will be on the Inklings and great works of ancient literature.

In this precursor class to our original upper-level Inkings & Classics Socratic discussion course, students will develop critical thinking, listening, and discussion skills as they grapple with foundational questions of God, humanity, faith, and imagination. Students will read and discuss a variety of classic literature along with selected works of the writers known as the Inklings, such as C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, as well as similar-minded contemporaries such as Dorothy Sayers and G. K. Chesterton. This course is designed to be taken prior to or instead of our upper-level Inklings & Socratic Discussion course, not concurrently.

Students will be expected to complete reading assignments in preparation for class as well as some writing assignments. The writing will focus on crafting thesis statements and body paragraphs in response to class discussions of the texts the class is reading so that students can practice and hone their ability to craft and build arguments in writing.

In 2024–25, the focus will be on the Inklings and classics of medieval through early modern literature.

Student journalists will learn different types of journalistic writing and media studies as they collaborate to produce the Bluebonnet periodicals The Bugle and the annual yearbook. Leadership and communication skills will constitute a core focus of the course, with students helping to build our Bluebonnet community through inclusive journalism. Students will also learn photography techniques and will be asked to demonstrate the use of these techniques in regular samples of their work.

This course meets every other week on Thursdays. It alternates with the Student Council Leadership course.

Both new and experienced Latin scholars will be challenged in this class where students will read and study a novel written entirely in Latin. Students will enjoy reading about the antics and adventures of a Roman family in the 2nd century A.D. while they learn an impressive amount of vocabulary and grammar through a natural language-learning approach.

Students will also read texts from sacred Scripture and learn about culture, history, technology, and other facets of Roman life. We will complete the first portion of Hans Orberg’s Lingua Latina: Per Se Illustrata: Familia Romana book.

Students in this class will continue to read and study a novel written entirely in Latin. Students will enjoy reading about the antics and adventures of a Roman family in the 2nd century A.D. while they learn an impressive amount of vocabulary and grammar through a natural language-learning approach.

Students will also read texts from sacred Scripture and learn about culture, history, technology, and other facets of Roman life. We will complete the second portion of Hans Orberg’s Lingua Latina: Per Se Illustrata: Familia Romana book.

This course is intended to follow Latin 1; at least one year of high-school level Latin is a prerequisite.

Owl pellet dissections, live butterfly studies, and microscope adventures are a few of the activities that await fifth- through eighth-grade students in this fun, hands-on class.

Life Science at Bluebonnet Home Scholars Collaborative uses Exploring the World of Biology by John H. Tiner, along with the accompanying materials from Memoria Press. The curriculum harmonizes with our gentle, Charlotte Mason, nature study approach while still offering substantive coverage of the subject at an age-appropriate level. Concepts covered include classifications, bacteria and protista, fungi, plant life, energy, digestion, insects, arachnids, aquatic life, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

Bluebonnet’s tuition-free logic classes taught by Dr. Gary Hartenburg help equip students to reason well so that they can be critical thinkers and successful scholars across a wide range of disciplines and fields of study and throughout all areas of their lives. As a handmaid to Wisdom and Theology, Logic can assist students with discerning truth, avoiding falsehood, and communicating winsomely, like St. Paul, as ambassadors for the Gospel.

Since logical reasoning skills and habits require time and practice to hone, BHSC offers a multi-year logic sequence. For the 2024–25 academic year, students begin Year 1 of our two-year logic rotation:

Medieval History & Geography will combine living books, narration, timeline, and maps to help students create connections between medieval history and the world around them.

Students will read, narrate, and discuss passages from hand-picked spine books as well as supplemental readings.  There will be weekly at-home reading assignments given so the students have the best possible opportunity to participate in class discussion and extend their learning to maximize the value of class time.

In addition, students will spend some time observing and tracing world maps relevant to the course material.  Students will have the opportunity to understand how specific nations’ borders changed as they journey through history, as well as identifying major features on a map.

Bluebonnet Scholars offers history on a rotating three-year cycle with studies synchronized across Forms 1 through 3 (grades K through 9th/10th) so that all students are studying the same time period together. The Form 3 (7th through 9th grade) cycle is as follows:

• Cycle Year 1: (2026–27) Ancient through Early Medieval History
• Cycle Year 2: (2027–28) Medieval through Early Modern History
• Cycle Year 3: (2025–26) Modern History (with an emphasis on American History)

Modern History & Geography will combine living books, narration, timeline, and maps to help students create connections between history and the world around them.

Students will read, narrate, and discuss passages from hand-picked spine books as well as supplemental readings.  There will be weekly at-home reading assignments given so the students have the best possible opportunity to participate in class discussion and extend their learning to maximize the value of class time. Additionally, students will complete occasional research and written assignments as well as build a commonplace book.

Bluebonnet Scholars offers history on a rotating three-year cycle with studies synchronized across Forms 1 through 3 (grades K through 9th/10th) so that all students are studying the same time period together. The Form 3 (7th through 9th grade) cycle is as follows:

• Cycle Year 1: (2026–27) Ancient through Early Medieval History
• Cycle Year 2: (2027–28) Medieval through Early Modern History
• Cycle Year 3: (2025–26) Modern History (with an emphasis on American History)

In the Geography portion of the class, students will read, narrate, and discuss portions from living geography books in a rotating three-year cycle:

• Cycle Year 1 (2026–27): Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About The World (part); Geography III (part); and living geography read-aloud books
• Cycle Year 2 (2027–28): Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About The World (part); Geography III (part); and living geography read-aloud books
• Cycle Year 3 (2025–26): Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About The World (part); Geography III (part); States and Capitals; Don’t Know Much About the 50 States; and living geography read-aloud books
  

Students will spend some time observing and tracing world maps relevant to the course material.  Students will have the opportunity to understand how specific nations’ borders changed as they journey through history, as well as identifying major features on a map.

NEW in 2025 for students age 10 to 18!

In musical theater, students will sing, learn acting techniques, learn the fundamentals of jazz-based dancing, and participate in performance. They will engage in fun acting games, analyze story structures, dive into music study, and memorize various lines both for our yearly performance and for isolated scenes. All students will have the opportunity to develop and practice their acting skills.  Musical theater not only teaches professionalism but  develops confidence in speaking, acting, singing, and dancing publicly in a performance setting. Students will practice blocking, learn about costuming, stage makeup, and set design.  Additionally, students will experience being a cast member and learn about cultivating teamwork. We are looking forward to a wholesome environment full of love, goodness, truth, and beauty through our study of and participation in great works of theater and music!

This year, pending enrollment, we hope to perform the Sound of Music—Youth Edition. If enrollment is lower than the minimum cast size, we will be doing a spring show of one-acts!

NOTE:

Musical Theater Auditions Policy

After the class reaches a certain enrollment threshold, students will be selected from the waitlist via auditions and not by first-come order.

This class invites students to learn how to slow down and to attend to nature through observation, asking questions, research, and drawing.  After a short drawing lesson and nature reading, students will study a landscape or an object from nature to capture in a nature journal. On every “tolerably fine day,” students will be encouraged to take their journals outdoors to explore, observe, and record details from trees, flowers, bushes, birds, insects, rocks, or any other natural creation that intrigues them. When weather prevents outdoor time, the instructor will bring specimens into the classroom for study.

While students will gain experience working with a variety of drawing mediums such as graphite, charcoal, pen, pastels, and watercolor, the focus of the time will be on sketching with graphite and brush drawing with watercolor. Additionally, students will have the opportunity to present and share nature journaling pages they completed outside of class on their own.

The teacher will be referencing Anna Botsford Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study, Peterson Texas Field Guides, various living nature books, and John Muir Laws’ How to Teach Nature Journaling during class.

This class meets every other week for Form 2 and Forms 3-4, alternating with Art Explorations (Form 2) and Handicrafts (Forms 3-4).

NEW in 2024-2025! Foundations in Personal Finance teaches high school students how to use money the right way.  Basic financial principles like budgeting, basic investing, creating starter emergency funds, getting through college without student loans, why and how to buy a car with cash, and giving to others in need will be covered. The curriculum is 100% Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) aligned.  There are no math prerequisites for this class. This class can count as fulfilling the high school economics credit (one semester credit covering micro and macro economics).  Must be 14 years as of September 1 to enroll in this class.

From the publisher’s website:

Combining mastery-learning and a unique textbook philosophy, this physical science course helps students break the Cram-Pass-Forget cycle so that they truly learn and retain course material. Topics covered include types of matter, energy, order and design in creation, forces and fields, measurement, motion, sound and light, electricity and magnetism, and the nature of scientific knowledge.

This physical science text is designed for grades 6-8. Novare Physical Science is beautiful and durable, and organized around the principles guiding all Novare Science & Math texts: Mastery, Integration, and Kingdom perspective.

Good science instruction should draw students upward into the adult world of scientific inquiry. We start with a proven mastery-learning paradigm: through a carefully crafted program, students continually learn and build on their learning, reencountering key concepts and practicing scientific skills so that they become settled in the student’s mind.

Mastery learning requires ongoing review even as new material is presented. It also takes culling the material down to a manageable amount that an average student can actually master in the course of a year. This means that Novare texts are serendipitously smaller than the usual 8-10 pound tomes. Better, more enduring learning takes place when the student goes deeper with a moderate amount of material rather than trying to cover too many topics too rapidly or shallowly.

Each chapter begins with a list of quantifiable learning objectives and important vocabulary. Chapters also include periodic Learning Checks which provide a moment to stop and review. There are 12 “Experimental Investigations” included with the book, not in a separate manual, with instructions and materials listed.

As integration is the inclusion of material across subjects relevant to the topic in the text—the history behind the science, grade-level mathematics, written and verbal English language skills and measurement skills—Novare Physical Science even includes some discussion of epistemology (what kind of knowledge does science give us and how is that different from biblical revelation).

References from the humanities are used where appropriate to add greater dimension, to humanize and decompartmentalize science, references to art, music, architecture, technology, and literature.

Finally, this book is written with a Kingdom Perspective. This text devotes chapters 4 and 7 to discussion about the meaning of the presence of order in the universe, and how this points to a Creator behind it. Furthermore, it discusses the nature of truth, theories, facts, hypotheses, and the nature of scientific knowledge. A Christian worldview and love for Christ comes through in the narration as he leads the reader to wonder and care for God’s great world. This makes for a more elegant and vibrant Christian encounter with science than sprinkling Bible verses and devotional insets around.

 

In the Artist & Composer Study portion of this class, students encounter works by master artists and composers in this multi-sensory class. Over the course of the year, students learn about the lives of 4 artists and 4 composers and study multiple works from each. Students gain a listening repertoire of over a dozen classical scores and receive over a dozen full-color art prints, which they study in class through group discussion, written narration, and notebook drawings.

In the Plutarch & Shakespeare portion of this class, the class will read, narrate, and discuss passages from Plutarch’s Lives and Shakespeare’s plays. Over the year, students will read two of Shakespeare plays and two of Plutarch’s lives, studying one of each per semester. Students will have the opportunity to dramatically read selected passages, to reenact key scenes, and to prepare and recite optional memory work.

At Bluebonnet Home Scholars Collaborative, the study of math is rooted in wonder. Students are invited to delve deeply into the beauty of math and to undertake mathematical study as an act of worship in which they can catch a glimpse into the mind of God.

Bluebonnet’s Pre-algebra course continues the student’s transition from arithmetic to algebraic problem solving. Students will review basic math concepts and skills, and be introduced to the order of operations, operations and equations with negative numbers, basic geometric concepts with 2D figures and 3D solids, basic inequalities, simple linear equations and proportions, and probability. Students will also gain experience converting word problems into algebraic form. Many topics covered offer a chance for students to make connections to their daily lives through algebraic expressions and to explore how the beauty of math enables man to simplify the complexity of the world.

In Public Speaking class students gain self-confidence, interpersonal skills, and leadership skills that will help them as they move into the university world and beyond. This course draws from a variety of materials and curricula to give the students a safe place to overcome the world’s most common fear (public speaking).

Using interactive and conversation-driven learning, this course will lay the foundation for learning to speak Spanish fluently. Students will engage in a variety of activities beneficial for both new and experienced students together in the same class. Through dynamic classroom interactions, students learn how the language works—how language components can be put together in different ways to understand, speak, read, and write in everyday life.

In order to gain mastery and grow toward fluency, students will be expected to complete work outside of class each week such as listening to Spanish audio recordings, speaking practice, and completing assigned coursework. As an integral part of the learning process, students will be asked to record themselves speaking and to submit their recording to the teacher each week. Homework expectation is approximately 30 minutes per day, 3 days a week.

Learning Goals:

• Use general vocabulary in Spanish that helps students to communicate thoughts and daily needs. 
• Ask questions in Spanish. 
• Answer simple questions in Spanish. 
• Use proper grammar for writing and speaking. 
• Create stories in Spanish based on listening and reading. 
• Build reading comprehension in Spanish. 
• Utilize strategies for understanding unknown words (voice inflection, listening for general idea, asking clarifying questions). 
• Identify Spanish-speaking countries around the world. 
• Learn subject pronouns. 
• Learn to conjugate regular and irregular verbs in present tense. 
• Learn noun/adjective placement and agreement. 
• Learn two forms of “to be” (ser & estar). 

Combining interactive and conversation-driven learning with traditional grammar and vocabulary instruction, this course will help students in their journey to speak Spanish fluently. Students will work through Breaking the Spanish Barrier, a curriculum that engages students through a variety of activities and techniques. 

In order to gain mastery and grow toward fluency, students will be expected to complete work outside of class each week including listening, speaking, reading, and writing activities. As an integral part of the learning process, students will be asked to record themselves speaking and to submit their recording to the teacher each week. Homework expectation is approximately 30 minutes per day, 3 days a week.

Learning Goals:

• Review and expand on vocabulary and grammar from Spanish 1.
• Practice asking and answering questions in Spanish.
• Use proper grammar for writing and speaking.
• Create stories in Spanish based on listening and reading.
• Further build reading comprehension in Spanish.
• Utilize strategies for understanding unknown words (voice inflection, listening for general idea, asking clarifying questions).
• Expand vocabulary for adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions in Spanish.
• Learn “por” versus “para”.
• Learn “saber” versus “conocer.”
• Learn past tense verb forms: preterite and imperfect.
• Learn the progressive verb tense.
• Learn the immediate future verb tense.
• Learn direct object pronouns, indirect object pronouns, and reflexive pronouns.

This class is meant to follow Spanish 2 and is for students entering a third or fourth year of Form 3 & 4 Spanish studies. Combining interactive and conversation-driven learning with traditional grammar and vocabulary instruction, this course will help students in their journey to speak Spanish fluently. Students will work through Breaking the Spanish Barrier, a curriculum that engages students through a variety of activities and techniques. 

In order to gain mastery and grow toward fluency, students will be expected to complete work outside of class each week including listening, speaking, reading, and writing activities. As an integral part of the learning process, students will be asked to record themselves speaking and to submit their recording to the teacher each week. Homework expectation is approximately 30 minutes per day, 3 days a week.

Learning Goals:

• Review and expand on vocabulary and grammar from Spanish 1 &2.
• Practice asking and answering questions in Spanish.
• Use proper grammar for writing and speaking.
• Create stories in Spanish based on listening and reading.
• Further build reading comprehension in Spanish, utilizing a variety of formats (poetry, short story, news article, interview, etc).
• Practice “real-world communications” in Spanish (writing a professional email, formal letter, etc).
• Learn more advanced pronoun configurations.
• Learn command verb tense (direct and indirect)
• Learn future verb tense. 
• Learn helping verbs.
• Learn the present perfect and past perfect verb tenses.
• Learn conditional verb tense.
• Learn subjunctive verb tense.
• Learn the passive verb tense. 
• More advanced students will have opportunity for more advanced reading, writing, listening comprehension and conversation.

Mrs. Billing’s Studio Art Painting class will consist of learning the foundations of oil painting techniques through small still-life paintings throughout the year, culminating in one larger and more complex final project. We will be using four guided projects from Estelle Day’s book, “Easy Oil Painting: Beginner Tutorials for Small Still Life,” along with a few other “free form” small still lifes and one larger end-of-the-year final project. Students will complete all painting projects in class. In addition to the in-class painting sessions, students will complete three fifteen-minute sketchbook drawings per week at home. 

In the Youth Choir, students ages 12 to 18 will sing and perform a variety of classic choral pieces as they develop greater musicality and part-singing skills. Studies will include vocal technique, sight-reading, and music theory. Students will be expected to practice repertoire at home and may also receive homework periodically to aid their choral studies. We will perform at certain events throughout the year and you will be given prior notification. More practices may be added as needed before a performance, but parents will be told in advance about these added practices. The program will focus on music appreciation, fun, and the glorification of God through music.

Bluebonnet Home Scholars also offers Form I Children’s Choir (ages 7-9) and Form II Children’s Choir (ages 9-12).

NOTE: Advanced Chemistry is currently offered every other year and will be offered in the 2025–26 academic year.

This advanced high school chemistry course combines up-to-date science with a Christian worldview and an educational approach that aims for wonder, integration, and mastery. Meeting Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, this course will include both lab and lecture/discussion components. This course requires daily dedication. Students should anticipate an hour per day of study to fully master the material, and regular homework assignments need to be completed promptly. For students who have not previously taken Accelerated Studies in Physics and Chemistry, summer study is highly recommended.

From the textbook publisher’s website:

“Chemistry for Accelerated Students is an ideal text for students who love science and aspire to a STEM-oriented college program. This book contains up-to-date chemistry information, beautiful illustrations, and lucid narrative. It also supports Novare’s trademark mastery-learning paradigm.

This accelerated text is a more intense treatment than our General Chemistry text. This text includes additional chapters on thermochemistry, chemical equilibrium, and a glimpse into organic chemistry. Ample exercises are included in each chapter giving students plenty of opportunities to develop skills. Explanations move along a little faster and go into a little more depth than the grade-level text.

Although the mathematics involved in chemistry are generally not advanced, Chemistry for Accelerated Students is recommended for students who are concurrently enrolled in Algebra II. As with all Novare textbooks, our Textbook Philosophy guides the layout and composition of the text. Colors and images are attractive without being distracting.”

This high school introductory physics & chemistry course combines up-to-date science with a Christian worldview and an educational approach that aims for wonder, integration, and mastery. Concepts covered include the nature of scientific knowledge, motion, Newton’s laws, variation and proportion, energy, heat and temperature, waves, sound, light, electricity and DC circuits, fields and magnetism, chemical substances, atomic models and density, atomic bonding, and chemical reactions. (Visit the publisher’s FAQ to learn more about how this publisher approaches the subject of evolution.) The Novare curriculum aims to nurture fascinated students who deeply understand and remember their science. Meeting Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, this course will include both lab and lecture/discussion components.

This course is accelerated, and as such, students will be expected to complete all reading assignments, all end-of-chapter question assignments, quizzes, five lab reports, a lab journal, and two end-of-semester exams. Each student (or family) will need access to Google Classroom for assignments and grades.

Prerequisites: must have completed Algebra I and pass a placement exam.

This class is designed to help students who have mastered the basic essay take their writing to the next level. Students will learn a five-step process for developing a thoughtful thesis statement that interacts with the great conversation of ideas. By attending to sources and engaging in group discussion, students will be able to find their own voice as they search for the truth through their reading and writing.

In addition to reviewing sentence structure and stylistic elements, returning students will also read essays by master writers, analyzing and imitating their respective styles in a series of response essays of their own. Studying an array of the best American essays from the past century, students will gain exposure to different essay structures and themes ranging from opinion piece to social appeal, from personal essay to literary theodicy.

The skill and insight of great authors serve as inspiration for students who are finding their own individual voices. By imitating the sentence structures and essay organization of great authors, students can be empowered to compose their own beautiful, powerful work as they join the larger conversation. This advanced essay course makes a direct bridge for the student between imitating great writing and composing beautiful writing in their own words. Students will also gain practice with the revision and critique process.

We will also make time for some creative writing projects as well. Students will study poetic form and style as well as short fiction, and will imitate master authors through creative compositions of their own.

In addition to weekly class sessions, students should plan to spend another two to three hours each week completing assignments at home.

Note: This course is offered on rotation every two or three years and will be offered in 2025–26.

Advanced Latin is taught via a three-year cycle in which the same essential aspects of Latin vocabulary, grammar, rhetorical techniques, and literature are explored through different collections of works. Students will read primary sources from classical and medieval Latin, including portions of Sacred Scripture. Students will learn the fundamentals of Roman poetic meter and encounter a variety of texts including history, mythology, and epic poetry. We will revisit and build upon our understanding of Latin grammar while focusing primarily upon reading and discussing Latin texts.

This course is intended to follow Latin 2; at least two years of high school Latin are a prerequisite.

In Algebra II, students will broaden their knowledge of quadratic functions, exponential functions, and systems of equations. To continue kindling wonder and creative thinking, Mrs. Panam will supplement the traditional textbook approach by adding in substantial amounts of curated supplemental material for enrichment and extension, along with practice standardized test problems. These challenging problem-solving activities are integrated to help students hone their mathematical and critical thinking skills and apply concepts across a wide range of situations and scenarios.

Note: Like our Algebra I class, Algebra II requires students to complete a large homework packet. Families have three options:

1. Complete and submit the material digitally using a tablet (that can write on PDFs and upload the marked-up PDFs to Google Classroom) along with a compatible stylus. (For example, an iPad and stylus would be great).
2. Print each unit from Google Classroom at home, slowly and over the course of the school year, which requires a total of 800+ pages printed.
3. Purchase the packet from Bluebonnet pre-printed, at a cost of $94. If families choose option three, they must notify us before June 28 so we can include it in our bulk printing order. The cost will be billed with families’ July tuition payment.

Recommended: Tablet—compatible with Google Classroom, preferably also compatible with a stylus

In this college-preparatory literature and composition course, high school students will survey American literature and develop skills in literary analysis and research as they read and write upper-level essays, annotated bibliographies, and timed-essay exams. Students will also study poetic form and style as well as short fiction, and will imitate master authors through creative compositions of their own.

Prerequisites: Prior writing class with Mrs. Hartenburg, or by permission.

Note: This course is offered on rotation every two or three years and will be offered in 2025–26.

From the publisher’s website:

General Biology is a brilliant new high school biology text that combines up-to-date science with a Christian worldview and the mastery-based educational philosophy for which Novare is known.

The book starts at the atomic level and progresses to ever-larger scales: cells, genes, microorganisms, plants, animals, and human organ systems. Each chapter includes straightforward learning objectives, exercises that call for both clear articulation of thoughts and full-sentence answers, and an organization of topics that steadily builds chapter by chapter. The final chapters of the book survey ecology and the theory of evolution. Read our FAQ to learn more about how we approach the subject of evolution.

Like all Novare texts, mastery-based learning methods are an essential part of General Biology, propelling students not only to learn but also to substantially retain the content for years after completing the course. The book succinctly and logically covers a wide array of information in a modest number of pages, making it a pleasure to read. Brilliant and beautiful graphics, which appear on almost every page, draw students into mature engagement with the content.

In this college-preparatory literature and composition course, high school students will survey British literature and develop skills in literary analysis and research as they read and write upper-level essays, annotated bibliographies, and timed-essay exams. Students will also study poetic form and style and imitate master poets through creative compositions of their own.

Prerequisites: Prior IEW experience or writing class with Mrs. Hartenburg, or by permission.

Note: This course is offered on rotation every two or three years and will NOT be offered in 2025–26.

Calculus BC is the study of limits, derivatives, definite and indefinite integrals, polynomial approximations and (infinite) series. Though this is considered a study of single-variable calculus, parametric, polar, and vector functions will be studied. Consistent with AP philosophy, concepts will be expressed and analyzed geometrically, numerically, analytically, and verbally. After completion of this course, students have the option to take the AP Calculus BC exam at their local high school (payment for exam fees is made directly to the local high school and are due in the fall).

To continue kindling wonder and creative thinking, Mrs. Panam supplements the traditional textbook approach by adding in substantial amounts of curated material for enrichment and extension, along with practice standardized test problems. These challenging problem-solving activities are integrated to help students hone their mathematical and critical thinking skills and apply concepts across a wide range of situations and scenarios.

Meeting over the lunch period every other Tuesday, students will learn skills and strategies of the game of chess by studying under an experienced teacher and playing together. Each semester concludes with a chess tournament.

NOTE: Chess Club is offered on alternating weeks and meets at the same time and on the same days as Form 2 (upper elementary) Game Club; students in grades 4 through 6 must choose either one or the other, not both.

U. S. History to 1877, will be offered on Tuesdays, 9:20 to 10:30 a.m. over the entire 2024–25 BHSC school year, so the pacing will be much more relaxed than taking an equivalent class at a college or university. Instead of the 3-unit college class lasting one semester, the same class will be offered at BHSC over the full year, August through May.

Meet the Professor: Serving as an HCU Honors College professor and professor of history, Dr. David Davis teaches at the undergraduate and graduate levels, specializing in medieval and early-modern European history and offering courses that focus upon intellectual, cultural, and religious history as well as the history of science. Noting Dr. Davis’s “kindness, humor, generosity, and intellectual fervor,” HCU has named Dr. Davis the Opal Goolsby Outstanding Professor two times, once in 2013 and again in 2022; this is a prestigious award created to recognize the very best teaching on the HBU campus. Dr. Davis was also made a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society for his contributions to historical scholarship and was awarded the Hardenberg Fellowship at the Johannes a Lasco Bibliothek in Emden, Germany in 2017.

Course details: HIST 2313: U. S. History to 1877 is a survey of American history from its origins to the close of Reconstruction.

Some of Dr. Davis’s Popular Writing You Might Enjoy:
The Wound of Time: C.S. Lewis’s Final Thoughts on a Human Condition, FORMA
Rethinking the Reformation Reliance upon the Middle Ages, The City
Texas History Gets Supersized, The American Conservative
‘The Great Rift’ Review: From Comity to Culture War, The Wall Street Journal
Newton the Faithful, The Wall Street Journal
Review: A Companion to the Early Printed Book in Britain, 1476–1558, Renaissance Quarterly

In Geometry, students strengthen their mathematical reasoning skills in geometric contexts. The comprehensive content and varied real-life applications covered give students a strong mathematical foundation. This series introduces students to theory and application of formal and informal reasoning, as well as to synthetic, coordinate, and transformational approaches. This comprehensive course covers Points/Lines/Planes/Angles, Deductive Reasoning, Parallel Lines and Planes, Congruent Triangles, Quadrilaterals, Inequalities in Geometry, Similar Polygons, Right Triangles, Circles, Constructions and Loci, Areas of Plane Figures, Areas and Volumes of Solids, Coordinate Geometry, and Transformations. The course emphasizes logic and offers a good amount of worked-out examples, hands-on activities, real-world applications, exercises, chapter and mixed reviews, and a technology strand that includes calculator and computer applications for geometry. To continue kindling wonder and creative thinking, Mrs. Panam will supplement the traditional textbook approach by adding in substantial amounts of curated supplemental material for enrichment and extension, along with practice standardized test problems. These challenging problem-solving activities are integrated to help students hone their mathematical and critical thinking skills and apply concepts across a wide range of situations and scenarios.

Not offered in 2024–25.

In this course, upper-level high school students will continue their studies of citizenship by learning the fundamentals of American Government and Economics. Bluebonnet students who have studied Plutarch, History, and various literary and historical works in Socratic Discussion will make connections with their previous knowledge as they see how the great ideas of the past have influenced the structure and function of the three branches of the U.S. Government.

Both beautiful and useful, handicrafts allow students of all ages to develop skills while improving habits of attention, orderliness, and tenacity. Mrs. Estes will help students experiment and develop skills with several different handicrafts over each semester. Previous handicrafts have included weaving reeds, corn husks, and fabric, paper crafts such as quilling, hand sewing, leather and wood crafts, kite making, and more.

The instructor works with each student to personalize projects at the student’s level of ability and experience. By the end of the semester, students will have created both decorative and practical items including an item for charitable donation and/or gift-giving.

This class meets every other week for Forms 2-4, with Form 2 alternating with Math Club, and Forms 3-4 alternating with Nature Journaling.

In this tuition-free class led by Dr. Gary Hartenburg, students will develop critical thinking, listening, and discussion skills as they grapple with foundational questions of faith and existence. Students will read and discuss a variety of classic literature along with selected works of the writers known as the Inklings, such as C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, as well as similar-minded contemporaries such as Dorothy Sayers and G. K. Chesterton. Students will be expected to complete reading assignments in preparation for class, and there may be optional writing assignments.

In 2024–25, the focus will be on the Inklings and great works of medieval & renaissance literature.

In this precursor class to our original upper-level Inkings & Classics Socratic discussion course, students will develop critical thinking, listening, and discussion skills as they grapple with foundational questions of God, humanity, faith, and imagination. Students will read and discuss a variety of classic literature along with selected works of the writers known as the Inklings, such as C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, as well as similar-minded contemporaries such as Dorothy Sayers and G. K. Chesterton. This course is designed to be taken prior to or instead of our upper-level Inklings & Socratic Discussion course, not concurrently.

Students will be expected to complete reading assignments in preparation for class as well as some writing assignments. The writing will focus on crafting thesis statements and body paragraphs in response to class discussions of the texts the class is reading so that students can practice and hone their ability to craft and build arguments in writing.

In 2023–24, the focus will be on the Inklings and great works of ancient literature.

Student journalists will learn different types of journalistic writing and media studies as they collaborate to produce the Bluebonnet periodicals The Bugle and the annual yearbook. Leadership and communication skills will constitute a core focus of the course, with students helping to build our Bluebonnet community through inclusive journalism. Students will also learn photography techniques and will be asked to demonstrate the use of these techniques in regular samples of their work.

This course meets every other week on Thursdays. It alternates with the Student Council Leadership course.

Both new and experienced Latin scholars will be challenged in this class where students will read and study a novel written entirely in Latin. Students will enjoy reading about the antics and adventures of a Roman family in the 2nd century A.D. while they learn an impressive amount of vocabulary and grammar through a natural language-learning approach.

Students will also read texts from sacred Scripture and learn about culture, history, technology, and other facets of Roman life. We will complete the first portion of Hans Orberg’s Lingua Latina: Per Se Illustrata: Familia Romana book.

Students in this class will continue to read and study a novel written entirely in Latin. Students will enjoy reading about the antics and adventures of a Roman family in the 2nd century A.D. while they learn an impressive amount of vocabulary and grammar through a natural language-learning approach.

Students will also read texts from sacred Scripture and learn about culture, history, technology, and other facets of Roman life. We will complete the second portion of Hans Orberg’s Lingua Latina: Per Se Illustrata: Familia Romana book.

This course is intended to follow Latin 1; at least one year of high-school level Latin is a prerequisite.

Bluebonnet’s tuition-free logic classes taught by Dr. Gary Hartenburg help equip students to reason well so that they can be critical thinkers and successful scholars across a wide range of disciplines and fields of study and throughout all areas of their lives. As a handmaid to Wisdom and Theology, Logic can assist students with discerning truth, avoiding falsehood, and communicating winsomely, like St. Paul, as ambassadors for the Gospel.

Since logical reasoning skills and habits require time and practice to hone, BHSC offers a multi-year logic sequence. For the 2024–25 academic year, students begin Year 1 of our two-year logic rotation:

Medieval History & Geography will combine living books, narration, timeline, and maps to help students create connections between medieval history and the world around them.

Students will read, narrate, and discuss passages from hand-picked spine books as well as supplemental readings.  There will be weekly at-home reading assignments given so the students have the best possible opportunity to participate in class discussion and extend their learning to maximize the value of class time.

In addition, students will spend some time observing and tracing world maps relevant to the course material.  Students will have the opportunity to understand how specific nations’ borders changed as they journey through history, as well as identifying major features on a map.

Bluebonnet Scholars offers history on a rotating three-year cycle with studies synchronized across Forms 1 through 3 (grades K through 9th/10th) so that all students are studying the same time period together. The Form 3 (7th through 9th grade) cycle is as follows:

• Cycle Year 1: (2026–27) Ancient through Early Medieval History
• Cycle Year 2: (2027–28) Medieval through Early Modern History
• Cycle Year 3: (2025–26) Modern History (with an emphasis on American History)

Modern History & Geography will combine living books, narration, timeline, and maps to help students create connections between history and the world around them.

Students will read, narrate, and discuss passages from hand-picked spine books as well as supplemental readings.  There will be weekly at-home reading assignments given so the students have the best possible opportunity to participate in class discussion and extend their learning to maximize the value of class time. Additionally, students will complete occasional research and written assignments as well as build a commonplace book.

Bluebonnet Scholars offers history on a rotating three-year cycle with studies synchronized across Forms 1 through 3 (grades K through 9th/10th) so that all students are studying the same time period together. The Form 3 (7th through 9th grade) cycle is as follows:

• Cycle Year 1: (2026–27) Ancient through Early Medieval History
• Cycle Year 2: (2027–28) Medieval through Early Modern History
• Cycle Year 3: (2025–26) Modern History (with an emphasis on American History)

In the Geography portion of the class, students will read, narrate, and discuss portions from living geography books in a rotating three-year cycle:

• Cycle Year 1 (2026–27): Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About The World (part); Geography III (part); and living geography read-aloud books
• Cycle Year 2 (2027–28): Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About The World (part); Geography III (part); and living geography read-aloud books
• Cycle Year 3 (2025–26): Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About The World (part); Geography III (part); States and Capitals; Don’t Know Much About the 50 States; and living geography read-aloud books
  

Students will spend some time observing and tracing world maps relevant to the course material.  Students will have the opportunity to understand how specific nations’ borders changed as they journey through history, as well as identifying major features on a map.

NEW in 2025 for students age 10 to 18!

In musical theater, students will sing, learn acting techniques, learn the fundamentals of jazz-based dancing, and participate in performance. They will engage in fun acting games, analyze story structures, dive into music study, and memorize various lines both for our yearly performance and for isolated scenes. All students will have the opportunity to develop and practice their acting skills.  Musical theater not only teaches professionalism but  develops confidence in speaking, acting, singing, and dancing publicly in a performance setting. Students will practice blocking, learn about costuming, stage makeup, and set design.  Additionally, students will experience being a cast member and learn about cultivating teamwork. We are looking forward to a wholesome environment full of love, goodness, truth, and beauty through our study of and participation in great works of theater and music!

This year, pending enrollment, we hope to perform the Sound of Music—Youth Edition. If enrollment is lower than the minimum cast size, we will be doing a spring show of one-acts!

NOTE:

Musical Theater Auditions Policy

After the class reaches a certain enrollment threshold, students will be selected from the waitlist via auditions and not by first-come order.

This class invites students to learn how to slow down and to attend to nature through observation, asking questions, research, and drawing.  After a short drawing lesson and nature reading, students will study a landscape or an object from nature to capture in a nature journal. On every “tolerably fine day,” students will be encouraged to take their journals outdoors to explore, observe, and record details from trees, flowers, bushes, birds, insects, rocks, or any other natural creation that intrigues them. When weather prevents outdoor time, the instructor will bring specimens into the classroom for study.

While students will gain experience working with a variety of drawing mediums such as graphite, charcoal, pen, pastels, and watercolor, the focus of the time will be on sketching with graphite and brush drawing with watercolor. Additionally, students will have the opportunity to present and share nature journaling pages they completed outside of class on their own.

The teacher will be referencing Anna Botsford Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study, Peterson Texas Field Guides, various living nature books, and John Muir Laws’ How to Teach Nature Journaling during class.

This class meets every other week for Form 2 and Forms 3-4, alternating with Art Explorations (Form 2) and Handicrafts (Forms 3-4).

NEW in 2024-2025! Foundations in Personal Finance teaches high school students how to use money the right way.  Basic financial principles like budgeting, basic investing, creating starter emergency funds, getting through college without student loans, why and how to buy a car with cash, and giving to others in need will be covered. The curriculum is 100% Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) aligned.  There are no math prerequisites for this class. This class can count as fulfilling the high school economics credit (one semester credit covering micro and macro economics).  Must be 14 years as of September 1 to enroll in this class.

This advanced high school physics course combines up-to-date science with a Christian
worldview and an educational approach that aims for wonder, integration, and mastery. Meeting
Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, this course will include both lab and lecture/discussion
components. This course requires daily dedication. Students should anticipate an hour per day of
study to fully master the material, and regular homework assignments need to be completed
promptly. A permanent weekly Zoom tutor session will be available for students to participate in
as needed. Topics covered include: vector methods, uniform motion, forces, fields, Newton’s
Laws of Motion, equilibrium, energy, momentum, rotating systems, pressure, buoyancy, gases,
kinetic theory, heat, thermodynamics, simple harmonic motion, waves, sound, electrostatics,
electric circuits, magnetism, geometric optics, and nuclear physics.

From the textbook publisher’s website:

Physics: Modeling Nature addresses the complaints teachers typically have with many of the
current physics offerings. It is especially suited to STEM programs with a college-preparatory
mission. Students who aspire to a technical career will find this to be the best text available, with
fresh, elucidating illustrations and a narrative that explains concepts with attention to detail.

Physics: Modeling Nature employs vector calculations and assumes students have completed
trigonometry as a prerequisite. Problems in the text are not calculus-based, but since many
students will take calculus concurrently with advanced physics, connections between the two are
frequently highlighted.

Physics: Modeling Nature is written with Novare priorities—supporting a
mastery-learning paradigm, integrating related subjects, and a Kingdom perspective that inspires
wonder in the beauty and complexity of God’s great world.

Prerequisite: Must have completed Algebra II with Trigonometry or higher. Must enroll in Physics Lab as well. Enrollment requires teacher approval or placement exam

In the Artist & Composer Study portion of this class, students encounter works by master artists and composers in this multi-sensory class. Over the course of the year, students learn about the lives of 4 artists and 4 composers and study multiple works from each. Students gain a listening repertoire of over a dozen classical scores and receive over a dozen full-color art prints, which they study in class through group discussion, written narration, and notebook drawings.

In the Plutarch & Shakespeare portion of this class, the class will read, narrate, and discuss passages from Plutarch’s Lives and Shakespeare’s plays. Over the year, students will read two of Shakespeare plays and two of Plutarch’s lives, studying one of each per semester. Students will have the opportunity to dramatically read selected passages, to reenact key scenes, and to prepare and recite optional memory work.

NOT OFFERED FOR 2024–25

For 2023–24, Precalculus will be offered as a hybrid onsite/online class; students can participate either in-person or online for the entire year (or alternate between both options). Online students participate live via Zoom & Owl Labs technology.

Regarding the textbook: “A nationally recognized author team developed this program around The Rule of Four: concepts are presented through a balance of algebraic, numerical, graphical, and verbal methods. Students learn to solve problems by one method and then support or confirm their solutions by another method.” —Pearson

This course provides a study of fundamental topics needed for calculus. Topics include applications of algebra and trigonometry, elementary functions and their graphs, polynomial, rational, exponential, and logarithmic functions, solutions to equations and inequalities, trigonometric functions, inverse trigonometric functions, analytic trigonometry, and polar coordinates. To continue kindling wonder and creative thinking, Mrs. Panam supplements the traditional textbook approach by adding in substantial amounts of curated supplemental material for enrichment and extension, along with practice standardized test problems. These challenging problem-solving activities are integrated to help students hone their mathematical and critical thinking skills and apply concepts across a wide range of situations and scenarios.

You can read more about our new BLOOM initiative for online and hybrid online-onsite Math classes here. To begin the process for online-only Precalculus enrollment, complete the free BLOOM online application here.

In Public Speaking class students gain self-confidence, interpersonal skills, and leadership skills that will help them as they move into the university world and beyond. This course draws from a variety of materials and curricula to give the students a safe place to overcome the world’s most common fear (public speaking).

Using interactive and conversation-driven learning, this course will lay the foundation for learning to speak Spanish fluently. Students will engage in a variety of activities beneficial for both new and experienced students together in the same class. Through dynamic classroom interactions, students learn how the language works—how language components can be put together in different ways to understand, speak, read, and write in everyday life.

In order to gain mastery and grow toward fluency, students will be expected to complete work outside of class each week such as listening to Spanish audio recordings, speaking practice, and completing assigned coursework. As an integral part of the learning process, students will be asked to record themselves speaking and to submit their recording to the teacher each week. Homework expectation is approximately 30 minutes per day, 3 days a week.

Learning Goals:

• Use general vocabulary in Spanish that helps students to communicate thoughts and daily needs. 
• Ask questions in Spanish. 
• Answer simple questions in Spanish. 
• Use proper grammar for writing and speaking. 
• Create stories in Spanish based on listening and reading. 
• Build reading comprehension in Spanish. 
• Utilize strategies for understanding unknown words (voice inflection, listening for general idea, asking clarifying questions). 
• Identify Spanish-speaking countries around the world. 
• Learn subject pronouns. 
• Learn to conjugate regular and irregular verbs in present tense. 
• Learn noun/adjective placement and agreement. 
• Learn two forms of “to be” (ser & estar). 

Combining interactive and conversation-driven learning with traditional grammar and vocabulary instruction, this course will help students in their journey to speak Spanish fluently. Students will work through Breaking the Spanish Barrier, a curriculum that engages students through a variety of activities and techniques. 

In order to gain mastery and grow toward fluency, students will be expected to complete work outside of class each week including listening, speaking, reading, and writing activities. As an integral part of the learning process, students will be asked to record themselves speaking and to submit their recording to the teacher each week. Homework expectation is approximately 30 minutes per day, 3 days a week.

Learning Goals:

• Review and expand on vocabulary and grammar from Spanish 1.
• Practice asking and answering questions in Spanish.
• Use proper grammar for writing and speaking.
• Create stories in Spanish based on listening and reading.
• Further build reading comprehension in Spanish.
• Utilize strategies for understanding unknown words (voice inflection, listening for general idea, asking clarifying questions).
• Expand vocabulary for adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions in Spanish.
• Learn “por” versus “para”.
• Learn “saber” versus “conocer.”
• Learn past tense verb forms: preterite and imperfect.
• Learn the progressive verb tense.
• Learn the immediate future verb tense.
• Learn direct object pronouns, indirect object pronouns, and reflexive pronouns.

This class is meant to follow Spanish 2 and is for students entering a third or fourth year of Form 3 & 4 Spanish studies. Combining interactive and conversation-driven learning with traditional grammar and vocabulary instruction, this course will help students in their journey to speak Spanish fluently. Students will work through Breaking the Spanish Barrier, a curriculum that engages students through a variety of activities and techniques. 

In order to gain mastery and grow toward fluency, students will be expected to complete work outside of class each week including listening, speaking, reading, and writing activities. As an integral part of the learning process, students will be asked to record themselves speaking and to submit their recording to the teacher each week. Homework expectation is approximately 30 minutes per day, 3 days a week.

Learning Goals:

• Review and expand on vocabulary and grammar from Spanish 1 &2.
• Practice asking and answering questions in Spanish.
• Use proper grammar for writing and speaking.
• Create stories in Spanish based on listening and reading.
• Further build reading comprehension in Spanish, utilizing a variety of formats (poetry, short story, news article, interview, etc).
• Practice “real-world communications” in Spanish (writing a professional email, formal letter, etc).
• Learn more advanced pronoun configurations.
• Learn command verb tense (direct and indirect)
• Learn future verb tense. 
• Learn helping verbs.
• Learn the present perfect and past perfect verb tenses.
• Learn conditional verb tense.
• Learn subjunctive verb tense.
• Learn the passive verb tense. 
• More advanced students will have opportunity for more advanced reading, writing, listening comprehension and conversation.

Mrs. Billing’s Studio Art Painting class will consist of learning the foundations of oil painting techniques through small still-life paintings throughout the year, culminating in one larger and more complex final project. We will be using four guided projects from Estelle Day’s book, “Easy Oil Painting: Beginner Tutorials for Small Still Life,” along with a few other “free form” small still lifes and one larger end-of-the-year final project. Students will complete all painting projects in class. In addition to the in-class painting sessions, students will complete three fifteen-minute sketchbook drawings per week at home. 

In the Youth Choir, students ages 12 to 18 will sing and perform a variety of classic choral pieces as they develop greater musicality and part-singing skills. Studies will include vocal technique, sight-reading, and music theory. Students will be expected to practice repertoire at home and may also receive homework periodically to aid their choral studies. We will perform at certain events throughout the year and you will be given prior notification. More practices may be added as needed before a performance, but parents will be told in advance about these added practices. The program will focus on music appreciation, fun, and the glorification of God through music.

Bluebonnet Home Scholars also offers Form I Children’s Choir (ages 7-9) and Form II Children’s Choir (ages 9-12).