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!