Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew
I debated pretty heavily on whether or not to review the Homeschool Court Student Worktext, teachers guide and case summaries from Homeschool Court. I was very interested in the concept but knew that we had a lot on our plates and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to add one more thing. However, I am so glad that we decided to give it a try.
I received the Homeschool Court Student Worktext, Homeschool Court Teacher Manual, Homeschool Court High School Supplement, as well as the student and teacher case summaries for three cases. I really appreciated that there were teacher’s guides to go with each component that made it easy for me to lead the class even though there were components that I was learning right along with my children.
We decided to use this program with both my seventh-grade daughter and my ninth-grade son. During this review period we had a long road trip, and while I was concerned about getting everything done, the road trip proved to be a great time to work on this program.
I printed out the first two chapters of the Homeschool Court Student Worktext and the Homeschool Court Teacher Manual before we left. Then I had my children read through the first chapter while we were riding. Once they were familiar with it, we discussed the chapter and worked through the activities together. The time in the car gave us extra discussion time without feeling like we needed to rush to the next activity. We continued through the first two chapters in that fashion and then when we got home we started working together during nap time for the younger children. I appreciated that my husband was also able to contribute to the discussion while we were riding.
This program is set up to take students from the basics of laws and legal vocabulary, to an understanding of the Biblical foundation of our laws. Next, it talks about the various positions in the judicial system and an understanding of the different components of the judicial system. This includes state and federal courts, criminal and civil courts, etc. Then it moves onto the types of trials and teaches about persuasive arguments. The final two chapters cover preparing for a mock trial and actually having a mock trial.
Activities from the various chapters included vocabulary work, discussions, worksheets that helped students understand how the laws of the United States relate to the 10 Commandments, and practice analyzing different scenarios. I really liked how it helped students to look at things from various perspectives and see how there are often many factors that play into decisions.
If you have a high schooler, the high school supplement adds some depth to each chapter. I think that even without the supplement there is a lot of good material for most high schoolers. The supplement gives enough depth that I think you could use it all together for high school credit. We were using it as an extra curricular activity.
Once we have completed the Homeschool Court Student Worktext we can choose one of the case summaries as our final project. This can be done in a mock trial setting, a debate, or even a paper. We plan to do ours as a debate since there are only a few of us working through it as a family. You could do a mock trial as a family, but I think that option would be ideal for a co-op type setting.
Overall, I am enjoying this product. I love that it is bringing up some really good discussions with my teens. I also appreciate that it is written from a Biblical perspective. The course can be used from fourth grade through high school, but I feel like it is ideal for middle and high school level students as it really lays a solid foundation for the intricacies of the justice system.Be sure to take a closer look at Homeschool Court and then click on the graphic below to see how other Review Crew families used it in their homes.
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