Jasmine, a high school homeschool graduate, shares her favorite Master Books' curriculum, advice for other students nearing graduation, and more. She and her family switched from a box curriculum. In this post (and video) you will learn how the change impacted her studies and her faith.
What were your favorite Master Books courses and why?
I enjoyed all my courses, so it’s difficult to pick favorites. A few of my favorites that stand out to me are the academy course Apologetics for Thinkers and the Foundations in Worship.
Apologetics for Thinkers taught me a lot about what our culture thinks and teaches, how to see those ideas biblically, and why the Bible is trustworthy. One aspect I loved was it was always looking at Scripture to show the point they were making. Some of the worksheets were specifically looking Scriptures up to learn what the Bible had to say about a subject, such as prophecies, truth, the gospel, etc. It’s great to see and know there is so much Scripture to back up what we believe.
Foundations in Worship helped me see each hymn’s Scriptural ties, showing the biblical foundation in each one. I also liked the presentation I gave for every hymn. I haven’t done many presentations before, and it really improved my public speaking skills.
Did you use a different curriculum before Master Books? If so, how did things improve for you when your family switched?
Yes, I used a boxed curriculum before Master Books. Its schedule was very difficult to use since it combined all the courses schedules into one. If I moved faster in history but slower in writing, I would have to pull out the schedule from week 7 and week 9 just to see where I was. Master Books has pre-planned schedules inside of each course, so I could look at my book’s schedule in the book I was working in currently and go at my own speed without having to manage all the schedules.
What are your plans after high school? Do you feel your homeschool education with Master Books helped to prepare you?
For now, I plan to get some work experience in an office setting.
Yes, I think it has prepared me. I took the Intro to Logic course, and that helps me to be logical and think things through, and the Jensen’s courses and Foundations in Worship presentations helped me to be a good communicator and to share my thoughts more clearly.
What advice would you give to other homeschool high school students?
Ask for help! It’s easy to think as highschoolers that I don’t need help, and I should be able to do this without help cause I’m older. But it’s okay if you need help. People are more than willing to help you, and no one expects you to know everything. That’s why you are doing school, to learn, and it’s a good lifelong skill to know when you should ask for help.
Do you feel your faith has been strengthened since using Master Books? Which courses helped your faith the most?
Yes, absolutely. The courses I mentioned before, Apologetics for Thinkers and Foundations in Worship, for the reasons I said earlier.
I really liked Principles of Algebra 2. The author did a fantastic job showing that math connects to the Bible and is not just a bunch of numbers. One thing she shows is that it’s only because God’s constant upholding of all things that math can be consistent, that 2+2=4. The relativism today even ruins that because they have no absolute standard, so they can say 2+2=5 or any number they want.
I also used the World Religions and Cults alongside a lot of my courses. For example, in my history, if I was in China learning about Confucianism, I could read about it in one of those books. Those books really help me understand what other religions teach and believe and how that compares to the Christian worldview.
