Am I overwhelming my girl? 8th grade thoughts

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  • HeidiS
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    Even though we have been doing this for a while, this year looks different. I will have only one at home, and this presents challenges and opportunities. his dd likes her solitude. She is quite happy in her room, with her books, music, and school stuff around her. I also like the quiet. So we both need to motivate each other to step out:) Here is what we have planned for the year. Can you tell me your thoughts?

    Math – Teaching Textbooks pre-algebra X3days/wk. Khan Academy online drill once a week and Ko’s Journey online once per week.

    Science – Exploration Education physical science for the most part. Finishing off an Oceanography unit in September and adding in a short unit on cells/systems as required – likely in June. EE is set up as a 5 day/wk program but I am thinking 3 days Also the storybook of science and the storybook of animals which will cover a couple of years. I just want her to read and narrate these- some written, some oral.

    History – TruthQuest commentary/middle ages and the TQ notebooking pages. Novels from SCM and I also have Mystery of History audio which she can listen to in the car or wherever. My problem here is too MANY books. I have 24 novels we would love to get through, some a bit twaddly, but she wants to read them, most on topic and theme. I don’t quite know how to thin it down..

    Geography – Book of Discovery by Synge- divided up and she will do narrations every couple of chapters. Also MapTrek maps as they integrate with the history.

    Language Arts- Writers Jungle which incorporates different activities daily, like freewriting, communication game etc. Winston Grammar and My Spelling Wkbook which is based on The Writing Road to Reading, mostly for review(and because she likes workbooks, lol) Also Bravewriter novel studies. One per semester. Because she has so many books to read I am just going to ask her to do a written synopsis at the end of each book and do 3 or 4 novel studies with her.Grammar of Poetry -once a week or so? Also daily copywork, just a few minutes in the morning. Not all of this every day but something every day- for about 45 minutes.

    Spanish – The Easy Spanish and then Rosetta Stone- I am going to do this with her!

    Art – Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain – again, one for both of us together.

    Nature Studies – lots of free time for walks etc, and we have Queen Homeschools Discovering Nature series for The Parables of Nature. Looks interesting but may not be her thing, we will see.

    Bible is from Hewitt Homeschool, called I dare you and uses How to Be your Own Selfish Pig among other things.

    Health is also from Hewitt- uses a 2 day/week syllabus and the Total Health book with an Anatomy coloring book.

    PE is required but we live close to the beach, have dogs to walk and she takes horseback riding lessons once a week so I am not too worried about that.

    phew, looks like a lot written in one space..maybe I have bitten off more than we can chew but being as there is just her and I here this year, I know we can get a lot done. Wish I could allow myself to let some of the literature go..she is a voracious reader though, so perhaps thats OK?

     

    momto2blessings
    Participant

    I don’t think it seems too overwhelming, except for maybe the volume of lit./history readers.  If so, I’d just pick favorites and go w/those. Or maybe a before bed book basket to read the ones that aren’t top picks?  Or finish the rest in summer? I’d gauge by how long her day is taking if she is working diligently. Just my .02:) Gina

    HeidiS
    Participant

    thanks Gina 🙂 Your .02 is worth more up here, I’m in Canada 😉

    I always second guess and doubt myself even when there is no one else disagreeing with me- that is not from God and I have to work on it! Appreciate your thoughts, we have a constant book basket going and she is a constant reader..if she doesn’t like one, she will let me know!

     

    momto2blessings
    Participant

    Oh good, maybe I’m nearing .03?  🙂  I understand the second guessing. This forum has been such a blessing to me in making my curriculum decisions. 

    And I should mention that my oldest is only 7th, so I’m still learning myself. But your schedule looks similar to ours, so I thought it looked very good:)  Blessings, Gina

    P.S. How do you like the TQ notebooking pages? Does your dd do them independently? I always struggle w/getting extras like that in, but they look so good:)

    HeidiS
    Participant

    The plan is for her to do them independently, after we have done the commentary together. We actually have the binder builder pages put out by A Journey through Learning and notebook pages as well. My hope is to do the commentary and discussion early in the week, then schedule time for her to do additional reading on the topic, more discussion and either a notebook page or a binder project. I like the binder pages better myself, but she is on the brink of being ‘too old’ ( apparently 😉 ) We will see. I love the look of TQ and the meat it offers for discussion- she likes being independent and doing things on her own, so we compromise mostly! I am second guessing myself after 20 years of homeschooling! Each child and each year is a new thing!

    momto2blessings
    Participant

    Thanks, Heidi! I love TQ and use it in conjunction w/SCM….just haven’t bit the bullet w/the extras yet. Will ponder:) Thank you:)

    HeidiS
    Participant

    my thinking is to start easy and add in a subject or two per week til at the end of the month we are in full swing. My 17yo son leaves on the 14th to NZ for 3 months and so right now we are in full swing getting his gr. 12 stuff finished up and getting him ready to go. Sure appreciate your scheduling thoughts…nuts and bolts are not my forte 🙂

     

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