High School Curriculum
2024-2025 Enrollment is open!
SEPT. 2024 - June 2025 (full year):
SELFIE: Social and Emotional Learning for Independent Education - 3 hours/week, times TBA
The Oxford Comma - Tuesdays 11:00-12:00 EST
U.S. Government - Fridays 1:30-2:30 EST
Nerd Herd Books - free online book club
Aug. 2024:
Wilderness Philosophies - Tuesdays and Fridays 11:00-12:00 EST (3 weeks)
Sept. 2024 - Dec. 2024:
Introduction to Linguistics - Fridays 11:00-12:00 EST (12 weeks)
1492 - Fridays 12:30-1:30 EST (12 weeks)
Jan. 2025 - Feb. 2025:
Colonial America - Fridays 12:30-1:30 EST (6 weeks)
Jan. 2025 - Mar. 2025:
Climate Change and Climate Justice - Fridays 11:00-12:00 EST (12 weeks)
Feb. 2025 - april 2025:
The Enlightenment Revolutions - Fridays 12:30-1:30 EST (12 weeks)
April 2025 - June 2025:
Colonialism and Independence in Africa and Asia - Fridays 11:00-12:00 EST (12 weeks)
April 2025 - June 2025:
Manifest Destiny - Fridays 12:30-1:30 EST (6 weeks)
Summer 2025:
ALASKA trip for SELFIE participants
self-paced classes, begin any time:
Our classes meet once a week on Zoom with additional weekly homework. Rise Out classes are secular, academically rigorous, and interdisciplinary, with graded and ungraded options. They are open to students throughout the United States and to English-speaking students around the world. Our instructors have extensive experience working with ND and 2e students, with students who have recently left traditional high school, with students who began homeschooling during the pandemic, as well as with life-long homeschoolers. Our virtual classrooms are a safe space where all students are welcome and accepted; we believe shame and anxiety kill curiosity and we are committed to creating a learning environment where students are open to be themselves.
All of our courses are grounded in the principles of social justice. You can see that most clearly in our social studies offerings, but it is also a bedrock belief in our science classes — where we prioritize our role as environmental stewards — as well as our English classes, where we encourage every student to find their voice and use it to become an effective agent of change.
Core Classes
A student who takes our full core curriculum will have completed:
4 years of English
4 years of history, including 1 year of U.S. history
3 years of science, including 2 years of lab science
1 year of American Government
Families will need to supplement in math and foreign language.
We operate on a six-term schedule, each term lasting six weeks; see our academic calendar for specific dates. Individual classes are as short as six weeks and as long as one year. Fall classes begin in September, winter classes begin in January, spring classes begin in February, and summer classes begin at the end of May.
Course Descriptions
The following outline describes the classes we plan to offer every year, and the schedule in which we will offer them. For example “Big History 1” will be offered every fall, and “Reconstruction” will be offered every winter term. In the past, Rise Out offered an eclectic group of classes each semester, which was nice if you like variety, but made it harder for parents to plan. (This is a list of our past classes.) Going forward, we will stick to the schedule below.
This 4-year outline is designed for parents who want the security of an “all-in-one” high school curriculum that comprehensively covers English, history, and science. Our curriculum is well-suited to students who gravitate towards history and the humanities, and who seek STEM courses that serve that goal.
Students who elect this option can take three Rise Out classes per term and supplement with other classes and activities. But feel free to mix-and-match! We expect that most families will want to take a few classes here and there, but won’t enroll in the entire curriculum. This is fine! Choose whichever classes interest you.
See our “Quick FAQ” below for more information about registering and placement, and our Course FAQ for more information about how our classes work in practice.
(Note: Expect classes listed as “CLASS DESCRIPTION TBA” to be offered in the 2022-2023 academic year. Classes listed as “UNDER DEVELOPMENT” will not be offered the 2022-2023 academic year but will be available in the future.)
Click on the links for each course title for a longer description of the class.
First year (suggested age: 13+)
Full year:
The Oxford Comma (English; full year)
prerequisite: none
Fall Terms:
Big History 1 (Science; 12 weeks)
prerequisite: none
Wilderness Philosophies (Lab Science; 12 weeks)
prerequisite: none
winter & 1st spring term:
Big History 2 (Science; 12 weeks)
prerequisite: Big History 1
Global vs. Local: Food Systems and Sustainability (Lab Science; 12 weeks)
prerequisite: none
2nd spring & Summer term:
Ancient Civilizations (World History; 12 weeks)
prerequisite: Big History 2
Citizen Science (Lab Science; 12 weeks)
prerequisite: Wilderness Philosophies OR Global vs. Local OR one semester of Environmental Science
First or Second year (suggested age: 13+)
fall terms:
1492 (World History; 12 weeks)
prerequisite: none
Introduction to Linguistics (English; 12 weeks)
prerequisite: none
Science and Ethics (Science; 12 weeks)
prerequisite: 1-2 years of high school science
winter term:
Colonial America (American History; 6 weeks)
prerequisite: 1492
Journals, Blogs, and Memoir (English; 6 weeks)
prerequisite: none
#####LAB SCIENCE (Lab science; 6 weeks) — UNDER DEVELOPMENT
prerequisite: TBA
spring terms:
The Enlightenment Revolutions (World History; 12 weeks)
prerequisite: Colonial America or equivalent
The Essay (English; 12 weeks) — COURSE DESCRIPTION TBA
prerequisite: The Oxford Comma OR 1 year of high school English with a focus on composition
Climate Change and Climate Justice (Lab Science; 12 weeks)
prerequisite: Wilderness Philosophies OR Global vs. Local OR one semester of Environmental Science
summer term:
Manifest Destiny (American History; 6 weeks)
prerequisite: The Enlightenment Revolutions OR previous study of the American Revolution and the U.S. Constitution
Science and Technical Writing (English; 6 weeks) — COURSE DESCRIPTION TBA
prerequisite: The Oxford Comma, OR 1 year of high school English with a focus on composition
###LAB SCIENCE (Lab science; 6 weeks) — UNDER DEVELOPMENT
prerequisite: TBA
Third year (suggested age: 10th-12th grades)
FULL YEAR:
Writing and Research (English; full year) — UNDER DEVELOPMENT
prerequisite: 2-3 years of high school English or the equivalent
fall terms:
The Transatlantic Slave Trade (World History; 12 weeks)
prerequisite: The Enlightenment Revolutions, OR previous study of The American Revolution, the U.S. Constitution, and a basic understanding of how new states were added to the union in the early 19th century
#####LAB SCIENCE (Lab science; 12 weeks) — UNDER DEVELOPMENT
prerequisite: TBA
winter term:
Reconstruction (American History; 6 weeks) — COURSE DESCRIPTION TBA
prerequisite: The Transatlantic Slave Trade
Media Literacy (English; 6 weeks) — UNDER DEVELOPMENT
prerequisite: none
spring terms:
Segregation and Jim Crow (American History; 12 weeks)
prerequisite: Reconstruction OR any class on American History to 1877
Labor, Inequality, and the Industrial Revolution (World History; 12 weeks) — UNDER DEVELOPMENT
prerequisite: Reconstruction OR any class on American History to 1877
summer term:
Civil Rights Movements (American History; 6 weeks) — COURSE DESCRIPTION TBA
prerequisite: Segregation and Jim Crow
Literature elective (English; 6 weeks — see list below)
prerequisite: none
Fourth year (suggested age: 11th-12th grades)
Full year:
U.S. Politics in Comparative Perspective (American Government; full year) — UNDER DEVELOPMENT
prerequisite: 2 years of high school history AND/OR a strong interest in current events
Fall Terms:
*The Holocaust and Colonialism classes were both offered recently, so won’t be offered in 2022. They will be available in the fall of 2023.
The Holocaust and Human Behavior (World History; 12 weeks)
prerequisite: Labor, Inequality, and the Industrial Revolution, OR U.S. and World History classes through WWI
Colonialism and Independence in Africa and Asia (World History; 12 weeks)
prerequisite: Colonial America AND Labor, Inequality, and the Industrial Revolution, OR previous study of 17th- and 18th-century England
Winter Term & 1st Spring Term:
The Cold War (World History; 12 weeks)
prerequisite: The Holocaust and Human Behavior, OR previous study of World War II
Dystopian Literature (English; 12 weeks)
prerequisite: The Oxford Comma and The Essay, OR equivalent English classes
2nd Spring Term & Summer Term:
Science Fiction and Social Issues (World History; 12 weeks)
prerequisite: 2 years high school social studies in any subject(s)
Two literature electives (English; 6 weeks each — see list below)
prerequisite: none
Literature Electives
(These are under revision and schedules will vary. We aren’t offering any lit electives in 2022-2023. Feel free to e-mail us with literature classes you’d like us to offer in the future!)
Queer Literatures
Worldbuilding
Self-Paced, Online-Only Electives
You may enroll in these classes at any time, and complete them on your own timetable.
No teacher; no Zoom sessions.
Electives By Request
The following classes are ones we’ve taught in the past, and might be able to offer again to small groups only (5 or more students). If you are affiliated with a homeschool co-op or other organization and have an interest in one of these classes, contact us! If a teacher is available we will try to work with your schedule.
Quick FAQ
Q. I’m in 9th grade. Should I only take the classes for 9th-graders?
A. No! Before enrolling, though, please note the prerequisites. In the past, our classes had no prerequisites and were open to all. This made classes egalitarian, but over time they resulted in too much repetition for veteran students, as we had to repeat information to “catch up” the younger/newer students. Adding prerequisite requirements is not meant to be arbitrary gatekeeping! It’s simply a way of reducing redundancies in the curriculum. If a student feels prepared to take a class based on its description, they should feel free to enroll. We’re happy to answer questions as they go along.
Q. I was unschooled. Does that mean I’m locked out of every class that has a prerequisite “class”?
A. Not at all. Our use of terms like “1 year of high school English with a focus on composition” does not mean you need to have taken such a course! It only means that you should be comfortable with the mechanics of writing at a high school level. The same goes for other subjects — we don’t care if you’ve never taken an “official” class in any subject; we just want you to know what will be expected of you in THIS course. Most unschooling families are good at gauging this kind of language, but contact us if you have questions.
Q. My son is 17 and I’d like to know how many other 17-year-olds are in this class before I enroll him.
A. All classes are multi-age. For example, a 16-year-old is welcome to take classes listed under “First Year,” and a 14-year-old may take higher-level classes if they meet the prerequisites. Both situations are very common in Rise Out classes. The average age of all our classes is 15-16, but we’ve had students as young as 12 and as old as 19+ and this has never been a problem, so long as the class as a whole exists across the age spectrum. (In rare cases we’ve had one “outlier” student enroll in a class with students much older or younger; in these cases we’ll contact the parent of the “outlier,” explain the situation, and ask if they wish to continue.)
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