10th Grade Curriculum Selections

We are excited to be revamping the homeschool blog this year! We started out strong last year but the blog ended up taking a backseat towards the latter part of the year as things got busier and more routine. Both Zoey and I agree however that we appreciate sharing on the blog as it not only is a way for us to stay organized and reflect on what it is that we're doing (and why) but also serves as a way to keep us on track throughout the year. At the end of the year it's also fun to look back and see all that we've accomplished.

We are all set with Zoey's curriculum selections for her 10th grade year and she's excited to get started, asking if we can start early even! Here's what we've got planned...

For English we'll be using Oak Meadow's Literature & Composition II coursebook and selections. She loves Oak Meadow for English and Language Arts. It's a thorough and comprehensive program which is perfect for Zoey since her strengths are reading and writing. English/1 Credit

We are trying something new this year for History (a subject that we've yet been able to find something that we are in love with!). We're trying out Beautiful Feet's Medieval Times for Senior High. This is meant to be a History and Literature course in one so we will be able to award multiple credits for this course. British Literature/1 Credit and Old World History/1 Credit

Science is something that Zoey is always usually pretty excited about. This year is no exception! This year we will be using Guest Hollow's Chemistry in the Kitchen in conjunction with Ellen McHenry's Introduction to Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry as well as utilizing this Thames and Kosmo Chemistry set and lab manual that my mom and step-dad so awesomely gifted to us! Chemistry/1 Credit and Culinary Arts/0.5 Credit

This will be Zoey's second year of Spanish. Last year she used an online program for Spanish but she and I both weren't that pleased with it. This year she will be using Abeka for Spanish and looking through it Zoey seems to like the layout of it better so we're hoping this is a better fit. Spanish/1 Credit

Math will again be Math-U-See from Demme Learning. We've been so happy using Math-U-See. Math is one of Zoey's more challenging subjects and I'm so thankful that right off the bat in our homeschooling journey we lucked out with selecting this curriculum. It's been amazing to see her go through these books! We initially had backed up a bit so she would have the opportunity to have a stronger foundation in math moving forward and it's been amazing to see the progress that she's made. In three years time she's gone through 4 1/2 years/books of this math program. I can't say enough good things about Math-U-See and Mr. Demme! Math/1 Credit

For health this year we will be piecing materials together to create our own health/mental health and mindfulness course. I'm excited about this. Some of the resources for this will be books/written material, videos (TedTalks, Yoga with Adrienne, Meditation videos) and learning about nutritional and holistic approaches to health and mental health. We will be doing this throughout the whole year incorporating physical activity in with the study as well. Health/0.5 Credit Physical Education/0.5

Zoey's got a pretty heavy course load with the above listed courses so our electives are still a bit up in the air until we get a feel for how things will actually look throughout the week and how much time the courses will actually take. That said, we have Art on the list as one elective that's for sure. We are pulling project ideas and will be learning about different uses of materials and techniques when it comes to both drawing and painting using both the Drawing Lab and Paint Lab books. I like how the author shares about different artists too and attaches samples of their work throughout when it applies to different methods or techniques that are being taught. I am still working on getting all the art supplies needed for this course as those supplies tend to be somewhat expensive! Depending on whether we do this for a full year or half a year it will either be a full credit course and a half a credit. Art/0.5 or 1 Credit

This brings us to a total of 8 or 8.5 Credits for her Sophomore year. 

Her extra-curricular activities include the following:

Classical Guitar Lessons
Ballet
Drama Club (Theatre and Musical)
North State Mycological Club (late summer/fall)

This is what we have so far...and as always, things are bound to change or be somewhat tweaked here and there. It always seems too that fun opportunities often present themselves as the year goes on. That's the beauty of homeschooling!

Freshman Year Thoughts | Language Arts

Our selection for Language Arts for next year was a pretty simple one...this year we have absolutely loved everything about Oak Meadow's 8th grade English course that it just makes sense for us to continue on the OM path. It's very rigorous when it comes to the writing portion (which Zoey loves) and the books that were selected for the literature selections were amazing.

Resources we are thinking about and/or interested in for 9th grade language arts:

- The Hero's Journey Literature and Composition Coursebook (hoping to purchase the syllabus during Oak Meadow's online sale)

The following books I am planning to look for on Thrift Books or to check out from the library as they are needed. 

- The House of the Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer
- Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson
- The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank
- Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer
- Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
- House of Light, by Mary Oliver

These will be purchased through Oak Meadow during their online sale...

- A Pocket Style Manual, by Diana Hacker and Nancy Sommers 
- Write It Right: A Handbook for Student Writers (Oak Meadow Books)
- Two blank journals (one for each semester)

Freshman Year Thoughts | Art

Zoey is really excited about what we have planned for art next year. She took charge of this coursework selection herself and we've actually already picked up the necessary books (through Thrift Books) and have most of the actual art supplies on hand already from my years of collecting art stuff...helps that my dad is an artist and much of my stuff has come from him over the years.

Resources we are thinking about and/or interested in for 9th grade art:

- Oak Meadow's Drawing and Design Fine Arts Study
- Oak Meadow's Drawing and Design Syllabus (planning on picking this up during OM's sale)
- The Art of Seeing (I was able to pick up an older publication of this at Thrift Books for super cheap!)
- Art supplies needed for this course which we already own:

drawing pencils (any type, ebony pencils are excellent)
drawing paper, two sizes, notebook size and larger
watercolor paper or a textured paper
kneaded eraser
charcoal sticks or pencils
black, white, and gray construction paper
color pencils
soft pastels (any number of colors)
oil pastels (any number of colors)
painter's tape

Optional
watercolors 

If our budget allows, I also thought it would be fun for Zoey to participate in some of Jane Davenport's online workshops. It's an artist that she admires and it's something that she could do at her own pace. Perfect for homeschooling!

I'm so happy that Zoey gets to participate in figuring out what we will be working on when it comes to homeschooling. It's great for her to own the experience and she's already mentioned how excited she is about art "next year" more than once since we've decided. 

Freshman Year Thoughts | Science

I'm planning on blogging a series with thoughts on resources and curriculum for 

courses for Zoey's 9th grade year. We are starting to think about what it is that we want our year ahead to look like and I'm hoping to create a running list of those ideas that are of interest to Zoey here. This will help us with our planning and budgeting and help me to feel a bit more organized while looking at the year ahead. 

There is a homeschooling high school group that I belong to on Facebook and I asked for thoughts and recommendations for a biology course that was at the high school level, that was secular and had lots of hands on labs. Zoey loves hands on when it comes to science. Labs are especially important now that we are talking high school. 

Right now I have requested several high school biology textbooks from area colleges through our library loan system so that we can look through them in person and see which ones we think may be the best fit. Once we find one that we like, I'm planning on purchasing the text(s) used. These books all align themselves with the biology lab kits available through Quality Science Labs. When Zoey saw the labs, she was adamant that this is what she wanted. She LOVES labs and especially dissections! Knowing that this is something she is interested in will give me the time to budget and plan, as we will also want to ensure we are able to get our hands on a better quality microscope than the one we currently have. 

In combination with the biology textbook, biology lab manual and lab kit, and microscope it was brought to my attention that a subscription to The Great Courses Plus program would be beneficial,  not just for biology, but for many other subjects/interests as well. Last year we had a subscription to BrainPop! which we have since canceled. It was interesting and we used it a lot for science and health during Zoey's 7th grade year, but I think Zoey is aging out of the content and the way that it is presented.

Recap...

Resources we are thinking about and/or interested in learning more about for 9th grade science/biology:

- Glencoe Science Biology Textbook

- Holt Biology Textbook (Oak Meadow uses this AND our local high school uses the 2010 version of this text)

- Prentice Hall Biology Textbook

- Quality Science Biology Lab Manuals, Lab Kits, Microscope  

- Subscription to The Great Courses Plus lectures

Library books to request throughout the year:

- The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
- The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
- The gene : an intimate history / Siddhartha Mukherjee
- Evolution Vs. Creationism by Eugenie C. Scott
- Science, Evolution and Creationism by Institute of Medicine

These are the ideas and resources that we are currently thinking about. This list will be added to and tweaked between now and next year, I am sure!

Our Curriculum Picks for 8th Grade

With the start of our homeschool year quickly approaching, I thought I'd write up a post sharing what it is that we've decided on for our final choice for coursework for Zoey. We're changing things up a bit from last year...pretty much everything actually, except for our math curriculum which we loved.

Zoey shared her input on what it is that she liked and what she didn't care for regarding last year and this is what we came up with...

Here are our picks for 8th grade.

English/Literature/Writing/Grammar

Oak Meadow's 8th grade English curriculum

• The Giver
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
• A Wrinkle in Time (we will be skipping this one since we read it last year!)
• The Hobbit
• Lord of the Flies
• The Call of the Wild
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
• The Elements of Style
• 100 Days of Writing

In English, students read seven classic novels while studying vocabulary drawn from the reading and concentrating on grammar and composition skills. Weekly assignments in writing, grammar, and usage provide ample practice for the student preparing to enter high school.

Social Studies

Oak Meadow's 8th grade Civics curriculum

Oak Meadow’s Eighth Grade curriculum introduces students to the concepts of civics through a study of the champions of freedom, federal, state, and local governments, and the economic system. Students witness their local government in action, explore issues affecting their state, and also become aware of national issues. Our experiential approach to understanding social issues includes practical activities such as community service projects and interviewing local community leaders. Students are encouraged to learn how to make a difference on a local level by learning more about the people and businesses in their area.

(Depending on how this goes, we do have the Medieval Times books from Beautiful Feet to add in if she wants more to take on.)

Science

Oak Meadow's Physical Science for 8th grade

The Science curriculum focuses on the principles of physical science, including mass and matter, force, energy, sound, light, color, electricity, magnetism, and mechanics. Emphasis is placed on preparing the student for more advanced science by including assignments that require the student to conduct experiments, perform mathematical calculations, and report on their findings.

(Depending on how this goes, we may or may bot be supplementing using the book list for Guest Hollow's Chemistry older course.) 

Math

Math-U-See

We aren't going to be changing things up here as what we used last year was working! 

Health

Lifetime Health Textbook from Holt Publishing

Foreign Language

First Form Latin from Memoria Press 

Zoey has been asking about and expressing an interest in Latin for quite some time and after looking this over, I feel like it will be a good fit for her being a beginner and will also reinforce her use of grammar as well. 

Extra-Curricular Activities

Ballet/Pointe and Modern Contemporary dance classes twice a week. 

Drama second semester through local homeschool co-op

Guitar lessons (possibility)

Yoga (at home)

Life Skills (various activities and projects done at home and/or in our community

Community Outreach (to be decided by Zoey for her Civics course)

Art

Crash Courses - Philosophy

So, this is the plan thus far! Some (hopefully!) minor tweaking will take place I am sure once we get things rolling. Our official "soft" start date for school is Friday, September 1st which mirrors our public school calendar locally.

I'd love to see what it is that you are using this year in your homeschooling! Feel free to drop me a link in the comments below!

Medieval History | Beautiful Feet Books

I'm a planner and that means in the back of my mind I've been thinking about what it is that we'll be doing next year already! Together, Zoey and I decided for history next year that we'll be using the Medieval History from Beautiful Feet Books. I was able to purchase the books used (yay!) all in one lot at a great price, all I need to purchase is the history timeline and the world map, (if we think we need it...we do already have a wonderful world map for the wall).

It's always so exciting to get new books in the mail and these did not disappoint! Zoey wanted to start reading King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table right away. :) She is so excited that we're going to be working on medieval times.

If we end up enjoying this curriculum, which, after giving it the once-over, I do think that we will...the order for upcoming years would be:

9th - Early American & World History
10th - Ancient History
11th - Medieval (we may sub this out depending on how fresh it is or isn't in Zoey's mind)
12th - Modern U.S. and World History

We will want to fit a Civics, Government and Economics class in there somewhere too. It's possible that she will be taking a Civics class at the co-op next year if they offer it, which currently, it sounds like they will.

Here are some pictures of the inside of the curriculum guide...

I love that it has a bit more structure than we've had this year with using Build Your Library's Geography study. It starts out with a list of vocabulary words to define prior to reading the words in the assigned weekly readings. Next are the assigned readings from the books with some follow up questions to discuss or journal about in a notebook. There are projects that are meant to go in a portfolio that you create and add to throughout the year and several links to videos or websites with relevant additional information to seek out, as well as other book suggestions to gather from the library if there is an interest to go further. Depending on what is being discussed, a suggestion to add something to the timeline or wall map may be included as well.

I really think this will be good for both Zoey and I. This year has been wonderful with BYL's Geography, don't get me wrong...it's just that we feel it's been a lot of reading and memorizing maps, and that's pretty much it (we're not into the copywork or dictation part of things, which I know totally works for many families). The books have truly all been nothing short of amazing, but we just need a few more hands on type of learning activities which this year, I've been feeling like I've been doing somewhat on the fly here on my own to make things more meaningful for Zoey.

Having this guide will be wonderful for me!! For Zoey too, I hope!

The illustrated book of Canterbury Tales is just beautiful! It's hard to tell, but the illustrations are surrounded with designs printed in gold ink. Zoey loves reading books with old language in them, she is itching to get started!!

I think it's fascinating that she'll be learning about the actual architecture somewhat too of the cathedrals and castles of that era.

So, I know it's early...but this is a little snapshot of what we're planning for Zoey's 8th grade year for history. We'll share more as we start in on it next fall for sure!

Looking Ahead

*This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. Thank you so much for helping to support our homeschooling!

I've got loads of pictures to share of our recent homeschooling activities but they are still sitting happily in my camera, so that will be a post to come...perhaps, (hopefully) this weekend.

I'm already looking ahead to what we may pursue in the way of our curriculum choices for next year and I somehow stumbled upon Beautiful Feet Books and Blackbird & Company. I'm intrigued by both and am wondering how it is that I didn't discover them until now. I've found a few reviews for Beautiful Feet Books but have found very few for Blackbird & Company. I'm such a visual person that I really like to see a nice spread-out of a curriculum before making a purchase. Both curricula however do have limited samples available on their websites for viewing. I was so smitten with the Medieval Times curriculum from Beautiful Feet Books that I went ahead and purchased it for Zoey to use next year for her history.

I found the entire lot available for sale on a used homeschool curriculum board on Facebook that I belong to, and actually paid less than half of what the listed price is online. The only thing missing is the map. I can't wait to get it to look it over more closely. I'll be sure to share my thoughts when I do. When Zoey went from public school to her charter school in 5th grade she missed the year long study of medieval times and since the rotation of the charter school had already studied it as well, she has yet to learn this time period in history. I'm also considering the History of Science lot from them as well but am going to wait and see what I think of the history before making a decision.

Right now, I have several things from Blackbird & Company in my shopping cart. I have the Science - Elemental Journal in my cart and know that I will for sure be getting this for Zoey...she is OBSESSED with the periodic table of elements ever since she read the Itch trilogy of books. She will use this here this year yet I am sure. She's already trying to collect some of the elements on her own so this will be something that is just right for her right now. I also really am interested in their writing curriculum. I think this is what I've been looking for. This is the first writing curriculum that I've wanted to splurge on immediately upon seeing it, beyond Brave Writer (which I have yet to actually purchase...we're still just implementing the philosophy as we think it applies). I'm still wishy-washy when it comes to Brave Writer, for whatever reason...this though, I can see myself getting behind and I think it would be worth the price tag if I need to pay full price.

I also currently have the Taxonomy of Living Things in my cart. Because...well, it looks interesting and Zoey is a science kid! Ack...what am I going to do? If you have any experience or knowledge of either of these companies I would appreciate your reviews!

Getting Excited!

This will be our first year homeschooling...it's no secret that I'm wavering between being extremely thrilled to be starting on this journey with my daughter and being completely and utterly terrified that we are crazy, too late and going to mess up our child's future big time!! Ack! Seriously though, we're feeling pretty darn ready to DO THIS! All of our books are here (most purchased from Thrift Books) for our planned curriculum. I'm going into this with the idea that some things will probably not go as planned and I need to be okay with that. We're using Build Your Library's Grade 7: A Year of World Geography curriculum for History which will be great for Zoey as she's had minimal map work up to this point and the literature she'll be covering (see above) is top notch! She is truly so pumped to get started! We're incorporating lots of additional things into the mix to tie it all together too, learning about world religions, culture, arts, etc. So fun! *Side-note - Since it's an election year, in October I want to have a mini break-out unit on the election process since it will be more meaningful with what will be going on...or perhaps "meaningful" isn't the correct word considering how you may or may not feel about the given candidates.

For science this year Zoey wanted to learn about the human body so anatomy it is! I found Guest Hollow's Anatomy curriculum and it looked like fun. After reading some reviews and asking around it seems that it's been a hit for those that went with it. We..can't..wait to start this study! The books are quite a mixed bag - from silly to serious, with lots of experiments and hands on activities throughout. We also have a cow eye, sheep heart, kidney and brain awaiting us in the basement for when we're ready for dissection! In addition to basic human anatomy and all that entails, health and nutrition is thrown in throughout as well which I appreciate since she didn't get a health class last year at the public charter that she attended. *This summer we've been pursuing some things on plant identification and herbs and we will try and continue that a bit throughout the school year since that is of interest to Zoey at this point in time too. Zoey is a science kid so the reality of our taking on additional learning opportunities as they arise, experiments, field trips relating to other areas in science is pretty much expected. I'm leaving things open in that way so we can follow any rabbit trails that may come our way. 

To see a more comprehensive list of what we are using for our curriculum this year check out my full listing here. I'm trying to keep things up to date now that we're getting close to the big first day! 

Curriculum Giveaway!

We are still on the fence when it comes to which curriculum we want to go with for Zoey's core next year...Moving Beyond the Page is one that we have been looking into and I wanted to share this amazing giveaway that Secular Homeschool is hosting this month. They are giving away one full year of curriculum from Moving Beyond the Page! Wouldn't that be amazing to win?! It sure would for us!

Moving Beyond the Page is a complete homeschool curriculum that covers science, social studies, and language arts. It is a literature-based curriculum (something that we are looking for!) that encourages critical and creative thinking, provides challenging and engaging projects, and supports different learning styles. Moving Beyond the Page has nine different curriculum packages for preschool, elementary, and middle school children.

To enter into this giveaway yourself, be sure to check out the information on how HERE. And THANK YOU Secular Homeschool for hosting this giveaway!

On My Homeschool Wish List

Thinking about homeschooling next fall has me perusing blogs, websites, catalogs, books and more trying to figure out what our curriculum will be. It's scary and FUN! I think we've narrowed down a core for math, history and language arts (more on that later) and now I'm trying to find things that we can tie in to the core or have as add-ons. I stumbled upon these fun journals by Anna Miriam Brown

and I think I want to get the travel dreams one for sure for Zoey since she loves learning about different places and travel and this would be a good way for her to journal while discovering a bit about the areas that interest her. I also want to get her the Creative Girls journal as well. It might be fun for some random journaling. I like that it's "library based" as she will be spending some time with me at the library when I work evenings next fall. Might be perfect for those days where she doesn't want to read or have specific research that she has to do. 

Another book from this same series is this one on multiplication. Zoey's struggle area is math and it's one of the reasons we're excited to homeschool, so that we can have a fresh start when it comes to math and hopefully relearn a few things to build a stronger foundation. We are hoping (I am pretty sure!) to use Math-U-See as our official math curriculum but I was thinking this workbook would be a nice addition for some "extra" work in place of drills or computer games, etc. I like that there is repetition throughout the book which is what she needs in this area.

I'll share more of what I'm thinking in the way of curriculum and what else is on our "wish list" as I have the time.