As a journalist and a homeschool mom, I feel that it’s important for all high school students to learn the basics of journalism, to develop an understanding how the media influence us and to be critical and careful in their news consumption. Whether your homeschooled student is interested in media ethics, developing their reporting and interviewing, or contributing an opinion piece to a local news site, resources are available to help them explore their interests in depth.
Using resources from Poynter’s News U and TedEd, your student can get the most current training in journalism – from digital media to ethics and libel.
Poynter’s News U offers hundreds of live and video workshops, webinars and self-directed courses for media professionals and students. Many of their resources are available to the public free of charge.
Here are my top five picks for free journalism classes for homeschooled high school students:
- Ethics of Journalism
- The Fundamentals of Journalism
- Intro to Reporting: Beat Basics
- Social Media and Journalism: What Works and Why
- Community Service Photojournalism
Supplements for your Homeschool Journalism Study:
The following are short educational videos from TedEd, and include additional resources for discussion, expanding your learning and multiple choice quizzes to enhance your study:
- How to Choose your News: Help your students understand the facts (and non-facts) in the media and learn to choose their news consumption carefully.
- How social media can make history: Discover how social media has influenced political movements.
- How false news can spread: An interesting look at circular reporting and why it can be a problem.
Combining a few of these courses with project work would be a valuable way for your homeschooler to earn a credit for their high school transcript. Challenge them to write a story and submit it to a local news site.
Fore more resources for teaching journalism to your high school homeschooler, check out my Homeschool Journalism Pinterest Board.
Any questions or suggestions for additional resources? Tell me in the comments section.
