High School Class Schedule 2021-2022
Course Descriptions
Biology
Instructor: Josephine Riggs
Credits: 5 credits per semester / 2 semester course
Fee: $300/semester includes lab fee
Contact: josephine@firmfoundationchristianacademy.com
Textbook: Abeka Biology: God’s Living Creation (Fourth Edition)
Abeka Biology: Field and Laboratory Manual (Fourth Edition)
Google Classroom: Students are required to have their own gmail account through Google in order to access and complete assignments through Google Classroom.
Biology is the study of life, and this presents life as God created it. Students will study the living world around them by following the sequence that was historically followed by naturalists. Through use of the text and laboratory activities, students will learn structure and function of plants in the field of botany. They will move on to human anatomy and physiology, including bones and muscles, the nervous system, nutrition and digestion, circulation and respiration, the body's endocrine system and immune system. Students will also receive a brief introduction to ecology. In the world of zoology, lessons will also incorporate animal dissections with topics such as mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, arthropods and various invertebrates. Cellular and molecular biology lessons will include cytology, genetics, and DNA.
- Most class sessions will consist of approximately one hour of lecture followed by one hour of lab experiments or topic-related activity.
- Quizzes are given weekly and there is one midterm and one final exam each semester.
Art I
Instructor: Young Hwang
Credits: 5 credits per semester / 2 semester course
Fee: Non-charter $250/semester + $125 supply fee paid once
Charter $300/semester + $150 supply fee paid once
[ONLY Sage Oak Charter accepted]
Contact: indigofx28@sbcglobal.net
*Preferred minimum number of students: 5
Art imitates your life surroundings, and presents life as how God created it. Students will be able to observe and apply what they have seen on paper from the gesture of the subject to building the foundations of the drawing using different types of mediums such as china markers, pastels and acrylics. Through live demonstrations of art technique and guidance, students will learn the structure and foundation necessary to complete any artwork they approach. Students will be engaged to analyze and record their still life using the developed techniques to refine the details of the artwork. Intermediate techniques will be gradually introduced as the fundamental skills are mastered.
Art II
Instructor: Young Hwang
Credits: 5 credits per semester / 2 semester course
Fee: Non-charter $250/semester + $125 supply fee paid once
Charter $300/semester + $150 supply fee paid once
[ONLY Sage Oak Charter accepted]
Contact: indigofx28@sbcglobal.net
*Preferred minimum number of students: 5
Prerequisite:
* Art Drawing and Painting or Equivalent based on evaluation
* iPad with Procreate app
In this 2nd course students will be able to observe and apply painting still life on paper from the gesture of the subject to the sense of emotion within the acrylic painting. Through live demonstrations of art technique and guidance, students will learn the structure of visual design, perspective drawing, acrylic still life and digital painting. Students will be engaged to make digital art in the way that they use real paint or ink. They are encouraged to look for an interesting, taut composition with a gestural flow and color harmonics, thus bringing intrigue and intimacy to the composition.
Spanish I
Instructor: Irma Salcido
Credits: 5 credits per semester / 2 semester course
Fee: Non-charter $300/semester
Charter $350/semester
[Charters accepted: Sky Mountain, Sage Oak, Blue Ridge Academy, Excel Academy, Grace Mountain, Homeschool
Coaches]
Contact: irmaqsalcido@gmail.com
*Class minimum is 5 students. If the minimum is not reached the class may be cancelled.
Required text and workbook: (I try to order used materials from sources like Amazon, ecampus, etc.)
We will cover proper usage of verbs in the present and preterit tenses. Present progressive, immediate future formats. We will cover basic sentence structure, weekly vocabulary building, and the use of formulas to promote familiar speaking. The students will interact and use learned material in class.
Will learn: Articles, gender of nouns. Regular, irregular, and stem changing verbs conjugations in the present of indicative. Defective verbs like gustar, interesar, etc. Correct usage of ser, estar, saber, conocer. Subject pronouns, direct and indirect object pronouns. The preterit of regular and irregular verbs. Reflexive verbs and pronouns, and the imperative (command form).
Conversation, Pronunciation, and Oral Presentations
We will practice material being taught in one-on-one conversations, cultural readings, oral presentations, and cultural projects, a song or two, and poems.
Reading, Writing, and Listening — Comprehension Skills
Work will include daily reading assignments to check pronunciation, listening and comprehension skills. Writing assignments to check correct grammar, vocabulary usage and sentence structure.
Culture
The students will begin an exciting and valuable experience. Learning a new language will open up a culture other than their own as well as different ways of living, thinking, and functioning. Will get acquainted with famous people, songs, and topics of student life in Hispanic countries. Will also learn details of the student’s chosen country in a cultural project report.
Instructor: Irma Salcido
Credits: 5 credits per semester / 2 semester course
Fee: Non-charter $300/semester
Charter $350/semester
[Charters accepted: Sky Mountain, Sage Oak, Blue Ridge Academy, Excel Academy, Grace Mountain, Homeschool
Coaches]
Contact: irmaqsalcido@gmail.com
*Class minimum is 5 students. If the minimum is not reached the class may be cancelled.
Required text and workbook: (I try to order used materials from sources like Amazon, ecampus, etc.)
- Texas ¡Así se dice! Text Level 1 ISBN 10 0-07-670693-1
- ¡Así se dice! Workbook and Audio Activities Spanish 1 ISBN 978-0-07-666849-6 (This resource is not available with audio activities, it is fine like that)
- Notebook Spanish-English Dictionary. (Optional)
We will cover proper usage of verbs in the present and preterit tenses. Present progressive, immediate future formats. We will cover basic sentence structure, weekly vocabulary building, and the use of formulas to promote familiar speaking. The students will interact and use learned material in class.
Will learn: Articles, gender of nouns. Regular, irregular, and stem changing verbs conjugations in the present of indicative. Defective verbs like gustar, interesar, etc. Correct usage of ser, estar, saber, conocer. Subject pronouns, direct and indirect object pronouns. The preterit of regular and irregular verbs. Reflexive verbs and pronouns, and the imperative (command form).
Conversation, Pronunciation, and Oral Presentations
We will practice material being taught in one-on-one conversations, cultural readings, oral presentations, and cultural projects, a song or two, and poems.
Reading, Writing, and Listening — Comprehension Skills
Work will include daily reading assignments to check pronunciation, listening and comprehension skills. Writing assignments to check correct grammar, vocabulary usage and sentence structure.
Culture
The students will begin an exciting and valuable experience. Learning a new language will open up a culture other than their own as well as different ways of living, thinking, and functioning. Will get acquainted with famous people, songs, and topics of student life in Hispanic countries. Will also learn details of the student’s chosen country in a cultural project report.
Spanish II
Instructor: Irma Salcido
Credits: 5 credits per semester / 2 semester course
Fee: Non-charter $300/semester
Charter $350/semester
[Charters accepted: Sky Mountain, Sage Oak, Blue Ridge Academy, Excel Academy, Grace Mountain, Homeschool
Coaches]
Contact: irmaqsalcido@gmail.com
*Class minimum is 5 students. If the minimum is not reached the class may be cancelled.
Requirements: To have taken Spanish I, or to be knowledgeable of the material learned at that level. I usually buy used materials from sources such as Amazon, e-campus, etc.
Required text and workbook:
• ¡Así se dice! Text Spanish 2 ISBN 9780021412648
• ¡Así se dice! Workbook and Audio Activities Spanish 2 ISBN 978-0-07-666866-3 This workbook comes without the CD audio activities. That is fine.
• Notebook Spanish-English Dictionary. (Optional)
We will review the major language functions, grammatical structure, and vocabulary covered in level 1.
Grammar and Vocabulary Building
We will review verbs learned in Spanish I, will continue with irregular, stem changing, and reflexive verbs. The present indicative, imperfect, preterit, future, present perfect, conditional and subjunctive, as well as vocabulary enrichment.
Conversation, Pronunciation, and Oral Presentations.
We will spend time on conversations, oral presentations, cultural projects and common cultural expressions. Will learn a song or two, poems and cultural readings. Conversations of topical contemporary issues.
Reading, Writing, and Listening
Will learn and practice with daily reading assignments to check pronunciation, listening and comprehension skills. Writing assignments to check correct grammar and sentence structure. Will get acquainted with Hispanic art and artists, songs/music, famous influential people, classical literature, etc.
Culture
Students will learn about Latin American/Hispanic culture, food, folkloric music, and customs as they are introduced to these many aspects of the Spanish-speaking world, and famous people of influence in the Hispanic culture.
American Literature
Instructors: Jennifer Villasenor and Claire Rodriguez
Credits: 5 credits per semester / 2 semester course
Fee: $300/semester
Includes reading materials and Tuesday evening office hours via Zoom
Contact: jenfvillasenor@gmail.com
*Grades 10-12
REQUIRED TEXT
Novels and short stories will be made available for the class by the teachers. These materials are included in the cost of the class. We will do our best to offer digital materials. There will be times when we will ask the students to print out what they will need for class in order to keep the cost of printing to a minimum.
American Literature and Composition is a survey course of American Literature. In this class, students will be exposed to a variety of fictional texts, poems, speeches, and non-fiction pieces presented chronologically from colonization of the New World to modern times. Students will also be exposed to various genres of writing and rhetorical techniques necessary for upper-level courses and general requirement college classes.
The ultimate goals of this class are to:
- understand how American history, culture, and religion shapes its literature and our understanding.
- experience how analysis of great works of literature generates insightful ideas about the self and culture.
- recognize the influence of the Judeo-Christian worldview in literature and culture
- learn to think and engage more critically and logically in writing and oral communication
- continue in advancement towards more mature, refined analytical writing
- become better acquainted with high-quality online and offline research
- be exposed to different types of writing formats, including MLA, APA, Chicago, etc...
Introduction to Literature
Instructors: Jennifer Villasenor and Claire Rodriguez
Credits: 5 credits per semester / 2 semester course
Fee: $300/semester
Includes reading materials and Tuesday evening office hours via Zoom
Contact: jenfvillasenor@gmail.com
*Grades 8-12
REQUIRED TEXT
Novels and short stories will be made available for the class by the teachers. These materials are included in the cost of the class. We will do our best to offer digital materials. There will be times when we will ask the students to print out what they will need for class in order to keep the cost of printing to a minimum.
Introduction to Literature and Composition will introduce students to various forms of literature and literary devices, as well as prepare students for the upper-division courses they will encounter by exposing students to various genres of writing and writing process. This is appropriate for any grade level and will certainly help the student who needs to build a stronger foundation in writing, analyzing literature, and making meaningful connections to the text.
The ultimate goals of this class are to:
- expose students to classic and modern literature
- learn how to meaningfully annotate a text, a skill that can be utilized across all subjects by defining and recognizing literary and rhetorical devices in a written work
- learn to think critically and logically, expressing those thoughts in writing and oral communication
- experience how the analysis of great works of literature generate insightful ideas about the self and culture.
- become proficient in the writing process to produce multiple well-crafted essays, that emphasize various writing structures using rhetorical and grammatical devices and utilizes MLA format
- become proficient in basic grammar and rules of punctuation
- recognize the influence of the Judeo-Christian worldview in literature and culture
Speech and The Bible
Instructor: Marilyn Burke
Credits: 5 credits per semester / 2 semester course
Fee: $250/semester
Contact: marilyn.burke04@gmail.com
(626) 208-7751
Minimum age for students is 14 years old
*Class minimum is 7 students - maximum is 11 students
Course emphasis: This class is designed to teach oral communication skills in the area of public speaking.
The emphasis of the class is freedom to speak respectfully, boldly, confidently, and knowledgeably in public situations and the Bible and its truths as the central theme of thought in order to free the mind of hindrances that keep one from having confidence. An overview of the Bible will be given to ignite the student's desire to seek truth from the Scripture and to actually enjoy doing so. A clear step-by-step plan will be given for planning, writing, and delivering speeches. 17 speech ethics, along with 12 different types of speeches will be taught. Brief Bible lectures will be given each week for a general overview of each book of the Bible, with constant application of the thought, "Why is it written for me as a teenager?"
Projected learning outcome: Students will show
- Poise and confidence to speak in a public setting with a knowledge of absolute truth and the ability to express it
- The ability to put together an educated speech and deliver it
- A general knowledge of what is in the Bible and God's intended purpose for giving it to us, why any of us should be interested in it, and why it is personally applicable and desirable to read.
Assignments:
Weekly assignments to develop, write and practice speeches. Projected time for this would be at least 1-1.5 hours of study four days per week. For the Bible portion of the class, there will be three reading assignments, one page of questions, and or or two memory verses [er week. The complete memorization of Romans chapter 8 will be required by the end of the year. Occasional tests and discussions will enhance learning.
Texts and required materials:
- 1 1/2" three ring binder with five dividers
- Student's personal Bible - KJV, NKJV or ESV preferred but other versions are acceptable
- Weekly handouts will create the class text
Government and Economics
Instructor: Lisa Wong
Credits: 5 credits per semester / 2 semester course
Fee: $250/semester
Contact: wong_esq@hotmail.com
*Class minimum is 6 students. If the minimum is not reached the class may be cancelled.
Government (Fall semester):
Textbook: American Government in Christian Perspective, Third Edition (Abeka)
How do Christian citizens participate in government? We will study the Constitution, the balance of power between three branches and the protections afforded each citizen. We will discuss a citizen's rights and responsibilities and apply our studies to current events. This class also covers California state and local government, including similarities and notable differences as compared to the federal government structure. Students will be assigned weekly reading in the text and over the course of the semester, will be assigned short papers as well as a multi-part project on the Constitution.
Economics (Spring semester):
Textbook: Work and Prosperity in Christian Perspective, Third Edition (Abeka)
Why do Apple and Tesla get to charge so much? Why do an increasing number of Americans embrace socialist ideals? Economics class covers a balance of micro and macro-economics, including supply and demand, supplier and consumer behavior, major economic systems, the factors of production, GDP, economic policies concerning international trade, the business cycle, and current events related to economics. Students will be assigned weekly reading in the text and over the semester, will complete a multi-part comprehensive personal budget project.
Advanced Orchestra
Instructor: Beverly Wolterbeek
Credits: 5 credits per semester / 2 semester course
Fee: $150/semester
Contact: bjbwolterbeek@yahoo.com
Required text: Fiddler’s Philharmonic Book 1
Class location: Grace Fellowship - 1551 E. Huntington Dr., Duarte, CA 91010
Calling all musicians! This award-winning ensemble performs a wide variety of musical styles in both concerts and a festival competition. The advanced orchestra is for violin, viola, cello, or string bass players who have had 2 or more years of instruction on their instrument. Musicians MUST HAVE INSTRUCTOR APPROVAL before joining. Students will learn musical concepts and skills through performance, with the goal of transforming the class from a collection of musicians into a cohesive musical ensemble. Focus will be on musical expression, intonation, and rhythmic accuracy. Music will be chosen from a variety of genres. Participation in concerts and performance activities is required for this class. Students will need to bring their instrument, music stand, pencil, and music to each rehearsal.