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9th Grade Plan – Thoughts, Comments Welcome
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I am working hard to plan ahead for the coming year even though we are still right in the midst of this one. DD14 wants to take summer 2016 mostly off, so that will be new. I want to use already planned materials and give myself a break to just mentor and enjoy.
Math (1 credit) – MUS Algebra I (will have tutor as needed)
Science (1 credit) – Apologia Biology with local kids & tutor
History (1 credit) – EpiKardia American History I with Classes By Beth online class
Foreign Language (1 credit) – Latin I with Classical Academic Press online class
Logic (1/2 credit as is, maybe 1 with the previously completed Bluedorn books) – The Art of Argument with Classical Academic Press online class
CM Co-op Studies -Cumulative through the years: hymns, folk songs, nature study, artist/picture study, poet study, composer study, pe, plus additional course fall and spring terms. Additional 1/2 credit courses unknown just yet, but maybe Speech & Communication for one term.
Art (1 credit) – Drawing on History
English (1-2 credits) – This one is up in the air as I am totally undecided.
- Grammar & Mechanics – We will have finished our study and will simply periodically review. Apply in writing.
- Spelling – This is a natural weakness so we will attack a couple of ways including prepared dictation and Phonetic Zoo and/or Mega Words
- Literature & Composition – I have too many options right now. Summer 2015 will definitely be Essay Styles Intensive with Classes by Beth online (1/2 or 1 credit, not sure yet).
- Center for Lit Jr. High Discussion Only or Discussion & Writing (all new titles for her, I think). She likes the discussion only format she’s doing right now.
- Lightning Literature – 2 courses
- American Early to Mid 19th Century (the Ben Franklin will be being read as part of history so a good tie-in and Moby Dick won’t be happening as she would revolt)
- American Mid to Lath 19th Century (she’s already read Jack London’s books and Huckleberry Finn)
- Excellence in Literature – 1 or parts of 2 courses
- Introduction to Literature (She read Animal Farm last year.)
- Literature & Composition – new titles for her
- Lost Tools of Writing I – composition only, but can tie to Lit and His readings. Not sure if this will be overkill.
- Power in Your Hands – composition only, but I think I can tie it to readings. Not sure if this will be overkill.
- Seven Sisters Homeschool – Choose individual Book guides to use
- Would definitely like someone else to look over her papers and not just me. I can do it, I just need a bit of a break.
I welcome feedback, esp. in the English category. Will LToW be too much after Essay Styles?
Thank you,
Christie
It looks like you have a great plan in place Christie. Our dd used Lightning Lit along side Beautiful Feet history and it was a wonderful supplement. She thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked that it used great literature, it had writing assignments to choose from, and it include poetry study/analysis.
I don’t have experience with the other resources you mentioned. However, we have came back full circle to All About Spelling and are glad we did. I took a break thinking it was moving too slow. We used Logic of English in the meantime. LOE wasn’t a good fit for us. It actually moved too rapidly and wasn’t sinking in. Even if it takes us a few years to complete the levels, I really think AAS is a sound program, particularly for struggling spellers.
Blessings,
Melissa*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.
Hi Christie,
I thought I would let you know some of what we are using to give you ideas. (I have 3 children doing high school work.)We have enjoyed both The Lost Tools of Writing and Excellence in Literature because these add some structure but with lots of flexibility. LToW isn’t too difficult in that it builds persuasive essay writing skills over nine essays. Excellence in Literature doesn’t really teach writing, but it provides literature notes/links and an essay prompt per book. If you wanted more structured lessons, I would choose Lightning Literature. Another writing text I have been using with my boys is a vintage google book called Writing in English by William Maxwell. It teaches descriptive writing using literature models. My daughter is working through IEW’s SAT Essay and Advanced Communication series.
As far as Latin, my children love their online courses through Lukeion Latin. Lukeion Latin has been one of our two best homeschool discoveries (The Art of Problem Solving online math courses being the other). Each semester of Latin 1 and 2 covers about a quarter of Wheelocks Latin. My children have learned a lot, not only about Latin, but also about how to study and meet deadlines.
Apologia Biology and Chemistry have been good for us too. Because they have completed one module per week, my children were able to complete both Biology and Advanced Biology in one year. We are currently finishing Chemistry and Advanced Chemistry at the same pace as well. My two boys want to take the Advanced Chemistry with AP prep this fall with Landry (using those cool generic credits you helped me get), and my daughter wants to enroll in the Advanced Biology with AP prep through Landry. Both courses use college textbooks.
We plan on using Landry this fall to finish our Bob Jones Spanish. They offer Spanish levels 1-3 using BJU texts.
We mostly have been using Ambleside’s book recommendations for history. We don’t follow the schedule exactly but do use most of the books. I have to say that the best prep for me as a mama of a large family is reading ahead in the books. I feel like I don’t have enough time to read ahead, but I see that the time invested in reading my children’s books (or skimming) will prepare me also for my younger ones. So, while I think literature guides are nice, we gain deeper understanding through our discussions (like a family book club).
Janell
I wanted to add that I require my children to share three words a day that they have discovered in their literature with each other. They use these words (with 3 finding words that’s about 9 words per day) for spelling and, hopefully, in their writing.
It looks like a good plan Christie. The only thing I would consider is does she do well with so many online classes? It just seems like she will have very little actual interaction with a person. Yes, I know she’ll get feedback from the online classes, but it sounds like you are going to be 95% hands off with her. Is she ready for that? Does it fit her learning style and personality?
Good luck choosing the Language Arts! We went with One Year Adventure Novel this year, plus some literature studies. Next year she’ll do a nonfiction focus, probably The Power in Your Hands or something from 7 Sisters.
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.
@Tristan, I’m thinking through and processing your very valid questions/points here.
- DD14 actually likes the structure of online classes. She’s taken science online for 3 years now. Next year that will move to a local experience with a tutor because we have several kids in co-op ready for the same thing and labs in a group are great, IMO. I like science and can do that well at home, but this has been a great area to stretch and grow.
- She can manage the online portions completely independently, but I still help her with studying, listening to narrations, reading some literature, etc. The class adds a different teacher’s perspective which has been an excellent experience for us thus far. It also adds a discussion with other teens studying the same things. This shared positive experience is one reason our CM co-op is so amazing. Online classes done well can have the same outcome, IMO.
- Even if I add an online component for English, she will have 7 hours of online content plus 1.5 hours Biology co-op content per week. Add our CM co-op and that is another 3.5 hours. That means 12 hours of outside the home studies out of her 25-30 hours of stud per week. I’m ok with that for this child. She is a leader, not a follower and she thrives on structure. She and I are very close and discuss everything anyway, but having the burden of planning/evaluating lifted and put elsewhere for at least one year will be great for both of us, I think.
- I honestly want and need a break from planning, evaluating, etc. it all next year. I lead our CM co-op and do the core planning for that in addition to our homeschool and I’m just ready to try things differently next year. I love CM methods and will continue with them.
- Now English – I’m still thinking and praying and muddling through.
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!
Your plans look and sound (from your comments to the others) like they will work well for your daughter next year. It was a good point Tristan made too, but it sounds like you’ve thought that through well too and that it’s not an issue.
Your plans certainly look very different than ours do here. It’s great to see and get ideas from what others have found works best for their homeschool.
What do you think the benefits are from choosing formal language arts and writing programs versus incorporating that in to, or gaining those skills from, narration and composition work based on works being read already?
How many projects or assignments do you typically have in each subject for the year? Is that very different when it’s an online class or purchased curriculum versus a reading list type course where you’ve chosen the books?
Sorry, I’m full of questions!
@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.
Thanks for taking the time to write all that out!
I am so interested in the intensive grammar and mechanics side of language arts. I haven’t formally taught my two much/any of that and yet I find myself searching for reasons to start such a program. I don’t chagrin anyone’s choice. That’s not at all my point. I’m just trying to understand how knowing that type of detailed grammar or mechanics would help them. Where will they use this? Where is this asked?
If you see a student writing interesting, complex, well formed sentences, and learning the different writing styles effectively – do they need that type of formal grammar and mechanics? If they are fluent readers and if they have strong reader comprehension and are not struggling with literary analysis – should you pursue a course on this anyway? If they can do it, but can’t name it, is that not good enough?
I know you advised “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” but I worry I just don’t have all the facts or something.
Just wanted to thank you, Christie, for putting up this post (and for all the details in your follow ups), and to thank Janell and everyone else for their feedback. I have been sitting here in the bleachers eagerly taking notes on all of your discussions, and just feeling so grateful to be able to learn from all of you!
Can someone point me to this “Landry” that was mentioned several times above?
Also, Christie, could you please tell me what CAP is for Latin? And lastly, Christie, if you do end up using MegaWords, I’d love an update on how it ends up going for your DS11 and DD14. I have considered it here and there for DD12, who doesn’t seem to “get” the idea of breaking down words in order to spell (or to read, in the case of unknown words). Thinking Megawords might help but when I read the descriptions on Rainbow, etc. I fear it might be a bit more teacher heavy than I can manage at the moment.
Again, thanks to all of you for the amazing info and discussions shared here.
Angie
@Angie – http://www.landryacademy.com is an option for online classes, weekend intensives, and field trips. Dd14 has taken science from them for 3 years, participated in one intensive, and gone on one field trip. CAP is Classical Academic Press. We did pause phonetic zoo and begin MegaWords book 1. I’m hopeful to fill in a few gaps with it.
@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.
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