Affordable High School Electives

High school electives give students a chance to explore their interests, learn life skills, and prepare for future careers, all while earning credit for their transcript. Electives are as valuable to a well-rounded education as core subjects like math and literature. However, elective courses can put a strain on a homeschool family’s education budget. Since these courses are more specialized, they often come at a higher cost. Fortunately, there are some affordable options available. Here are a few curriculum companies that offer a wide variety of reasonably priced electives:
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7 Sisters Homeschool
7 Sisters Homeschool offers several high school electives to choose from. Their courses are presented in PDF textbook format, which helps keep the cost low. To save printing costs, your student can view the PDF on a computer or other device. Most of the courses cost $30 or $35. However, Speech I and the Career Bundle are priced even less. You can reuse these PDF texts for other students in your family if they decide to pursue the same electives, allowing you to save even more. All of 7 Sister’s courses are taught from a Christian perspective. These are the electives they offer:
- Early Childhood Education
- Financial Literacy from a Christian Perspective
- Health for the Whole Person
- Human Development from a Christian Worldview
- Introduction to Psychology from a Christian Perspective
- Philosophy in Four Questions
- Speech I
- Career Exploration Curriculum Bundle
Power Homeschool
Power Homeschool offers an extensive selection of affordable, secular homeschool electives. All of their courses are taught online through prerecorded video lectures. A quiz or activity follows each video lesson. You may enroll your student in one course for a $10 monthly fee or choose up to seven courses for $25 per month. These seven courses can include any of Power Homeschool’s core classes or electives. These are self-paced courses, and your student can start at any point. There is no commitment, so you can also cancel at any time. Their elective offerings are below.
- Intro to Accounting
- Agriculture I
- Business Management
- Principles of Business, Marketing, and Finance
- Investigating Careers
- College & Career Readiness
- Collaborative Theater
- AP Computer Science Principles
- AP Computer Science A
- Electrical Technology I
- Electrical Technology II
- Mastering Microsoft Excel
- French I
- French II
- German I
- German II
- Health
- HVAC-R I
- HVAC-R II
- Information Management I
- Information Management II
- Instructional Standards in Education and Training
- Medical Terminology
- Music Appreciation
- AP Music Theory
- Personal Finance
- Plumbing Technology I
- Plumbing Technology II
- Psychology
- Spanish I
- Spanish II
- Spanish III
- AP Studio Art – Drawing
Lifepac
Lifepac is a reasonably priced workbook-style curriculum, which is taught from a Christian perspective. Lifepac’s electives vary in price from $50 to $100, depending on the course and where you purchase them. Besides purchasing the courses directly from Lifepac, you can also buy them from other retailers like Rainbow Resource Center and Christian Book. So, shop around to find the best price. These are the electives Lifepac offers:
- Accounting
- Art
- Consumer Math
- Family and Consumer Science
- Foundations for Living
- Health
- Spanish I
- Spanish II
- Speech: Essentials of Communication
Christian Light Education
Christian Light Education (CLE) provides a wide variety of electives courses. Most of these courses use textbooks or a combination of textbook and workbook. Others are workbooks only. The prices vary widely by course. For example, the one-semester Computer Basics elective only costs $22, while all of the Accounting course’s components add up to almost $350. However, most of the courses are in the $50 to $200 range. That is more than the other options included in this post but still reasonable, considering some of these electives aren’t offered by many homeschool publishers. CLE’s more expensive courses all include a traditional textbook. To reduce the cost of these courses, you could purchase the textbook used and then sell the book when your student finishes it. Here’s what CLE has to offer:
- Accounting
- Exploring Agriscience
- Automobile Fundamentals
- Auto Upkeep
- Carpentry
- Computer Basics
- Computer Service and Repair
- Consumer Math
- Home Economics I
- Home Economics II
- Modern Residential Wiring
- Print Reading for Construction
- Recordkeeping for Christian Stewardship
- Small Engine and Equipment Maintenance
- Small Gas Engines
- Technical Drawing and Sketching
- Exploring Woodworking
Where do you find electives for your high schooler? Comment below.
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