9th Grade Plan – Thoughts, Comments Welcome

*9th Grade not Grad

Thanks for the feedback Melissa. It helps me to process out loud and bounce ideas off others and hear what they’re doing.  Yes, we used AAS for a while after SWR. My problem is I stopped them too soon and now have more limited time she to younger kids moving on up. I can’t deal with the materials and lesson length. I must go simple.  I just remembered I own MegaWords and it might fit the bill better than phonetic zoo. I’ll be looking at it again. Thanks again.

Economics -We will continue with the Richard Maybury books and go through Economics for Everybody together. We might add the Stossel Micro and Macro economics dvds, too, or we may save them. This will be a cumulative credit or credits for her.

Janell – Thank you for sharing what is working well for you.

• I LOVE the 3 words a day plan. That is simplicity at its best!
• Two full science courses a year? That is impressive! DD14 is not quite capable of that, but I love your plan as it suits your family! Landry has been a great fit for dd for the last few years for science. Her current pre-chemistry is challenging, but not overly so. There are tech issues with inputting the answers which while annoying are good experience for future HS and college classes that will have glitches, too.
• I considered 3 Latin programs and Lukeion was one. In the end, I gave dd the choice and she chose CAP based on the layout of the materials, online study helps, and that it meets twice per week. I have no desire to fully learn Latin at this point, so outsourcing this was my best bet!
• History Reading – I do think that reading ahead is the best plan and I do try my best to do this. I have also come to fully accept that there is no perfect plan, but only good plans carried out with good intentions and consistency. This year, I just don’t want to plan it, think of narration prompts related to it, and appropriate projects. EpiKardia American History I fits the bill for us for next year. It will be different to focus only on Am History, but I’m at peace with that decision. Originally, I planned to go it alone, but dd was interested in the once a week hour long online class to go with it. So that’s what we’ll do. I will likely have her do the honors reading/projects for this class, too.
• Thank you for your feedback on LToW, Lightning Lit, and Excellence in Literature. It’s good to hear from someone who has used what I’m considering.

All in all this will definitely be more CM in a box, or rather multiple boxes, than we’ve ever done before, but it is the right choice for this child in this season. One thing I’ve learned is that I want to use grades 6-8 more effectively and efficiently to teach grammar, mechanics, and writing for my future up and comers. DD14 and DS11 have good narrations and I’m pleased with the progress, but I will definitely finish either Jump In or Essay Styles by end of 8th for my future bunch (provided they are ready and capable). I will also continue with phonics/spelling/reading aloud longer than I did with this dd.

Whew, that was long winded!

@Claire – This is lengthy, but I’ll try to explain my reasoning not to convince you or anyone to change, but that it always helps me to see how others do things and glean from them.

• Language Arts, you mean spelling, grammar, mechanics, right? If so, I prefer a laid out program because while I am very good at all of these things, I am not good at pulling it out of reading and writing and thoroughly covering everything. I would not think to cover predicate adjectives or intransitive complete verbs just by going through our literature and the kids’ writing. I know what these things are and how to use them, but teaching them within the main of our literature doesn’t happen consistently enough. I am a natural speller, but my two oldest kids are not. We have been doing dictation for several years with improvement, but they like and need the phonics and spelling rules, the same as I do. Because spelling is a weakness, we come at it with Charlotte’s prepared dictation method AND some other format. I have found with dd14 and ds11, they need both. Grammar and spelling are not acquired through their reading/writing for these two kids, they need more direct instruction. Now my dd7 likely will not need two methods, she is a natural speller and just gets it.
• Projects/Assignments – dd14 narrates most every assignment in some way. She is writing narrations multiple times per week or orally narrating.
  • For her online science courses, she studies the vocabulary and makes diagrams, rewrites notes, and completes the assignments that are often fill in the blank, multiple choice, write the equation type things. She does this in writing first and then inputs the data into the computer.
  • For literature, we have typically read and narrated for years. We are trying a Socratic discussion only class with Center for Lit this term. She reads the assigned book/play/poem over the month, narrating and discussing orally with me as she goes, then she has 1 online 2 hour discussion class where they use Socratic discussion to perform literary analysis. Tomorrow night will be only her 2nd class and they are discussing Sir Gawain and the Green Knight translated by Tolkien. This medieval poem is not easy, so to give some background, we watched a BBC documentary by Simon Armitage who also translated it, but more poetically in line with the original with alliteration and such. This documentary gave dd the bones of the poem with which she was wholly unfamiliar. We also secured the audio of the Tolkien translation to help with pronunciation as needed. The titles for the term: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Tolkien, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, The Yearling by Marjorie Rawlings, and The Chosen by Chaim Potok. These were all books on my list for her to read at some point. So now she’s reading one per month, narrating/discussing orally, and then has a one time discussion literary analysis for each. It is, thus far, a simple and painless way to introduce lit. analysis without having to write it all.
  • For history – dd normally narrates her books either in writing or orally and keeps up with current events with a calendar of events and a BOC. Currently she is reading The Shaping of North America by Isaac Asimov (written summary narr.), listening to John Adams by David McCullough (oral narr. and discussion), and reading Dorothy Mill’s Book of the Ancient Greeks (oral narr.), and a biography of St. Patrick, The Steadfast Man by Paul Gallico (written narr.), and Charles Dickens’ A Child’s History of England. Where I have failed is in consistently giving her deeper thinking narration prompts and or projects for these things.
• Next year, I want dd14 to go deeper with her narrations and yet, I want some guidance in that area because I am weak in history myself. The materials I have chosen from EpiKardia willl help strengthen my weakness as well as prevent dd from developing the same due to my weakness. There are prompts for deeper narrations and comparison essays, there are mini research topics, and some other projects sprinkled in. If we were to do it on our own, I would pick and choose and weed out a few things, I’m sure. Since we are opting for the online class, that teacher will do the picking and choosing. I’m breathing easier because of that.

I don’t want to blaze my own trail, but I do want to spread the feast and give my kids the best education I can while keeping my sanity. By using more preplanned materials and not fretting over trying to keep up with my own perfectionistic tendencies, I am hopeful that we have a fruitful and productive year while allowing me to focus more on nature study, art, and restful learning with all of the kids.

@Claire,  it is my opinion that grammar, along with usage & mechanics, is an important aspect of language learning that is often overlooked or considered not worthy of devoting time to study.  By understanding the structure of our language and what its parts are named we are made more competent communicators in every way. Such study also helps us to become more intent readers, better able to understand, analyze and respond rather than simply react to what we read as many do.

There is a documentary called Grammar Revolution that addresses the importance of grammar study. I’m eager to see it since the two trailers have caught my attention.

Grammar is a finite body of information and it doesn’t take years of study to understand. One year of study or seasons of 10 weeks each over 2-3 years and you will have accomplished a good thorough study of grammar that will help prepare for further studies in the future, and also enrich your understanding of what it is to be human in the same way learning the function of the liver deepens your knowledge and understanding (analogy not mine, but I have long forgotten where I read it).

To sum up my sentiments about teaching/learning grammar for my family:

A schoolchild should be taught grammar–for the same reason that a medical student should study anatomy. Having learned about the exciting mysteries of an English sentence, the child can then go forth and speak and write any {omitted word} way he pleases.

E.B. White, Writings from The New Yorker 1927-1976