Trying to come up with 8th grade plans, so stuck this year

[dancer67]

I think my dd may return to school for high school. We don't know yet.

 

 

I do know that she loves to read, read, read. She is really not getting into some of the textbooks we have used. But I also want to prepare her for high school work, whether at home or in public/private/charter school.

 

So far I know we are doing Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra. I was hemming an hawing about this since we have used TT for a while now, and although she isn't thrilled about it, she retains the information and it is working well.

 

We did Apologia General Science this year. I don't know. I didn't really care for it and neither did my dd. I cannot afford an expensive DVD program. I know my son did BJU Science in high school with the DVD's, but we were in a much better financial position then. She is a very "sciency" kid.

 

I think we are going to go with Essentials in Writing. With using Daily Grams.

 

We have been using VFCR. But us this really the best program to prepare for PSAT's/SAT's?

 

History. Stuck. Completely. Notgrass was quite dry. If it is a textbook, it should be coloful. But trying to stay away from texts. Sonlight seems wonderful, but it also seems choppy. I can't(again) afford a program like Sonlight. I do need a program that is semi-independent. But would love to use a history program that also combines an in depth literature study. I wouldn't want to use a program with lots of books, and then do a seperate lit study with MORE books.

 

Which bring me to Literature. I do not want a program like BJU or Abeka that has snippets of literature passages. I want a full out, read the book and do a lit study.

 

Her big thing, like I said is reading(as long as it keeps her interest).

 

So, if anyone has some ideas, throw them out at me.

 

And, since I am just going to assume she is home for high school, I would like to plan it out so I am staying with the same programs throughout high school. (I know some may have to change like possibly writing programs)

 

:grouphug:

[redsquirrel]

Do you have access to a decent library? Because my suggestion would be to do a year of history and literature a la WTM and get your hands on some TOPS science units. That wouldn't be very expensive, but it would be effective.

 

You could get a lot of books from the library. That would cover history, science and lit.

[SilverMoon]

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Edited July 12, 2022 by SilverMoon

[PeterPan]

Well sounds like you're staying with the TT math. For the science, you might look at the *new edition* of the BJU Earth & Space science. It's what I'm looking at for next year. The videos are with the old edition, so you'd be doing it on your own. But of course that gets the price down, maybe making it closer in reach. It looks VERY, very good, much better than the prior edition (blech).

 

This is just me, but given what you've said about her wanting a lot of wonderful literature and how it might be your last year, *I* would probably go way out of the box. Like have you thought about the LoTR study? LLfLotR I think are the letters, mercy, lol. I've got the AIG Pilgrim's Progress study that has plans to turn it into a unit study. I don't know if we'll do that over the summer or for a full year. It had a lot of amazing tie-ins. They actually both go together as middle ages. I keep secretly hoping VP will get one of their omnibus levels into self-paced, like they were talking about. If they do that, then I'll just be supplementing it, which would be marvelous. But I don't know when those will happen. It was just something they were talking about.

[Miss Marple]

I think my dd may return to school for high school. We don't know yet.

 

 

I do know that she loves to read, read, read. She is really not getting into some of the textbooks we have used. But I also want to prepare her for high school work, whether at home or in public/private/charter school.

 

So far I know we are doing Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra. I was hemming an hawing about this since we have used TT for a while now, and although she isn't thrilled about it, she retains the information and it is working well.

 

We did Apologia General Science this year. I don't know. I didn't really care for it and neither did my dd. I cannot afford an expensive DVD program. I know my son did BJU Science in high school with the DVD's, but we were in a much better financial position then. She is a very "sciency" kid.

 

I think we are going to go with Essentials in Writing. With using Daily Grams.

 

We have been using VFCR. But us this really the best program to prepare for PSAT's/SAT's?

 

History. Stuck. Completely. Notgrass was quite dry. If it is a textbook, it should be coloful. But trying to stay away from texts. Sonlight seems wonderful, but it also seems choppy. I can't(again) afford a program like Sonlight. I do need a program that is semi-independent. But would love to use a history program that also combines an in depth literature study. I wouldn't want to use a program with lots of books, and then do a seperate lit study with MORE books.

 

Which bring me to Literature. I do not want a program like BJU or Abeka that has snippets of literature passages. I want a full out, read the book and do a lit study.

 

Her big thing, like I said is reading(as long as it keeps her interest).

 

So, if anyone has some ideas, throw them out at me.

 

And, since I am just going to assume she is home for high school, I would like to plan it out so I am staying with the same programs throughout high school. (I know some may have to change like possibly writing programs)

 

:grouphug:

I'm not too much into all the curriculum that works history and literature together (Sonlight, etc.) because I think you can do it yourself rather easily and inexpensively. I would ask myself this question: Is there something I really want my daughter to get that she probably won't get in the public school? If I want her to read a certain bit of literature (great books, etc.) can I assign those books along with a history text or part of a text? I have certain "non-negotiables" that my boys will get through before graduating. If I were to send them back to school that is what I would focus on. In fact, that's where I am this year because they will both be doing concurrent courses at the university and I still have a few things the MUST do for me. :D

 

For science, I would go with her interest. At this point she will get what she needs for college through the high school. If she is particularly NOT interested in science, I would focus on something that lays the foundation for the 3 main sciences (biology, chemistry, and physics). Maybe something like Rainbow Science (done over 1 year) or Conceptual Physics.

 

VFCR really didn't work for us. We went with Vocabulary for the High School Student and Vocabulary for the College Bound Student. Those seemed to be more useful for testing and were more pertinent to real life :D

 

I love planning 8th grade. It is the one year you can do as you please before being locked into "getting it on the transcript" :)

[fiddle]

My daughter is going into 7th - came home from ps this year in 6th- and may or may not go to public high school. We're also using TT and sticking with it next year.

 

I just got Lightning Lit 8 for my dd to do next year- looking at it it seems manageable and might meet your requirements (they do beginning literary analysis & use full books rather than passages). I've had a lot of folks give input that they loved using LL 7 & 8 (but then did not like the high school lit programs). If you're kiddo is a good writer, you could also consider this your writing for the year (they have essays, etc. and mini-writing assignments that you pick and choose from). I plan to use a different writing curriculum, so I'll just pick a few of the writing assignments from LL for my dd to do.

 

I'm like :bigear: for history- because I'm still stuck on that. And like you, I want lots of rich literature and history- more living books in that area.

You can also just go with no "set" history curriculum and piece together books from the Great Books or Ambleside Online for the time period you are studying.

 

My attitude is that I want to prepare my dd for going to public high school in case she decides to go that route, but I also think if this are her only couple years at home before she gets into the rigorous high school schedule (or if we're at home having the accountabilty of transcripts) why not make it a bit more relaxed and enjoyable? They grow up so fast!

 

Good luck in what you decide!

 

Paula

[fiddle]

O/T

 

 

Virtual Homeschool Group has free videos/classes for most of the Apologia texts

 

 

I LOVE this group. I am going to be using Apologia (this group gave me courage to launch into General Science next year w/dd) and I had no idea about the Virtual Homeschool Group. I'm going to check it out.....

 

Did I mention I LOVE this group?

[txhomemom]

For history:

 

Trisms History Masterminds (a little pricey, but will be on sale for $195 in April for the new edition coming out in May) - we will be using this next year for 8th grade

 

Beautiful Feet guides - I really like these history literature guides, they get to the point quickly, you don't have to buy a ton of books, inexpensive, some of them have been revised and are really nice as far as pictures/graphics

 

Oak Meadow - I love their history curriculum for the 5th-8th grade range, it is pretty comprehensive in itself so you would not really need to add anything, lots of activities, writing, etc. It can be done independently by the child. They have a sale on their curriculum coming up in May, 20% off.

 

For literature:

 

Total Language Plus - I just bought one of these for The Hobbit and it looks great! Covers vocabulary, literature questions, writing, and spelling. There is some grammar as well, but not enough. If you use these with something like Daily Grams I think you would be fine.

 

Veritas Press Comprehension Guides - if you just want literary questions to go along with a particular book, these work well for that, not as meaty as TLP, but at least gives you some direction.

 

Literary Lessons From Lord of the Rings - We will either be doing this in 8th or 9th, have not decided yet, but you might want to consider it. I have heard nothing but positive reviews on this board.

 

Lightning Literature - I currently own 7th and 8th grade levels. For whatever reason, we never got around to actually using these, and the more I look at them, the more I don't like them. They teach elements of literature well, but it seems almost too dry/boring for my taste. I think I am the only one that does not like these, but I just want to give a different view. I got all excited about these, then when I finally looked at them, not so much.

 

For vocabulary:

 

Roots and Fruits by Jill Dixon - this is a comprehensive list of roots (over 600) and ideas for activities and how to schedule the roots for an older learner, really inexpensive

 

Excavating English - interesting history of English language by Ellen McHenry, might go along well with Roots and Fruits

 

IEW Advanced Spelling and Vocabulary - IEW revised their advanced spelling and vocabulary CDs (also come as MP3s), looks interesting, but have not tried this yet

 

For science:

 

Ellen McHenry also has science curriculum, The Brain, Cell, Elements, Carbon Chemistry (they all go up to about age 13 or 14) so might work for you.

 

Elemental Science - they have logic stage curriculum for Biology and Earth Science

 

Science Fusion - saw this on Homeschool Buyers Coop, looks interesting although it is more technology based, so not sure if that is what you are looking for

 

Joy Hakim's Story of Science - there are also curriculum guides that go with these

Edited April 12, 2012 by txhomemom

[dancer67]

Thank you for all the terrific suggestions and help. Looking into many of these things.

 

:grouphug:

[HollyDay]

I'm also planning for 8th grade. So far, I've got:

 

science: Apologia Physical. I'm using this text mainly because I already have it. Our budget is much different now than when my oldest was in 8th. I just don't want to purchase another physical science text and TM. I will supplement it however.

 

history: actually, we just finished our 4 year rotation in 7th, so I'm doing BJU's Cultural Geography. It is the 2nd edition, but I got the entire set for a great price and in great condition. Dd loves geography, so I thought it would be a good idea. I will supplement with a civics book however.

 

literature: I am going to 2 do lit studies: Around the World in 180 Days from TLP and Swiss Family Robinson (TLP or PP) to compliment the geography. I will let dd pick 2 other "major" works from a region and do those studies too, just not sure what they will be yet. We used PP lit guides this year and they were "okay" (not thrilling but nice). Dd has a great grasp of comprehension and gets bored easily with the "who said what when and where" type questions. She likes to dig deeper and do character analysis or content investigations.

 

HTH

[PeterPan]

I'm also planning for 8th grade. So far, I've got:

 

science: Apologia Physical. I'm using this text mainly because I already have it. Our budget is much different now than when my oldest was in 8th. I just don't want to purchase another physical science text and TM. I will supplement it however.

 

history: actually, we just finished our 4 year rotation in 7th, so I'm doing BJU's Cultural Geography. It is the 2nd edition, but I got the entire set for a great price and in great condition. Dd loves geography, so I thought it would be a good idea. I will supplement with a civics book however.

 

literature: I am going to 2 do lit studies: Around the World in 180 Days from TLP and Swiss Family Robinson (TLP or PP) to compliment the geography. I will let dd pick 2 other "major" works from a region and do those studies too, just not sure what they will be yet. We used PP lit guides this year and they were "okay" (not thrilling but nice). Dd has a great grasp of comprehension and gets bored easily with the "who said what when and where" type questions. She likes to dig deeper and do character analysis or content investigations.

 

HTH

 

You know I had been thinking about the BJU geography! I didn't know if that was nuts or if it was better saved for high school. What do you think? We feel sort of burnt out after so much cycling. Are you going to use the videos or do it yourself? And what civics book? I got the one Abbeyej mentioned (just a basic text), but I haven't really done anything with it.

 

Ooo, now picking lit to go with the regions, that's a cool idea. When we did geography when she was younger we were only thinking in terms of lit *about* the regions. Now she might be old enough to appreciate lit *from* the regions.

[HollyDay]

You know I had been thinking about the BJU geography! I didn't know if that was nuts or if it was better saved for high school. What do you think? We feel sort of burnt out after so much cycling. Are you going to use the videos or do it yourself? And what civics book? I got the one Abbeyej mentioned (just a basic text), but I haven't really done anything with it.

 

Ooo, now picking lit to go with the regions, that's a cool idea. When we did geography when she was younger we were only thinking in terms of lit *about* the regions. Now she might be old enough to appreciate lit *from* the regions.

 

My geography plans have changed a bit in the last few hours :) The 2nd edition is a bit too old and too much has changed in the past 14 years. I looked at the 3rd edition today and like it a lot better. So, I want to use a newer edition (either BJU or something else if I can find something cheaper). BJU culural geography is a "step up" IMHO from middle school texts. But, the newer edition is bigger, easier to use and not at all overwhelming. I am not concerned about using it with an 8th grader. I won't get the activitities manual though. I'll supplement with mapwork.

 

The civics I'm using is called Painless American Government. It is short, too the point and rather interesting. I honestly bought it because it was about $9. But, after using it, I'm very impressed with the content.

[PeterPan]

Interesting! Now I need to figure out if the dvds were with the 2nd edition or 3rd, hehe... Yup, I just checked. The videos are with the 3rd edition. Had you thought about doing the lit 9 along with it?

Edited April 13, 2012 by OhElizabeth

[HollyDay]

Interesting! Now I need to figure out if the dvds were with the 2nd edition or 3rd, hehe... Yup, I just checked. The videos are with the 3rd edition. Had you thought about doing the lit 9 along with it?

 

I'm not a big BJU lit fan. Loved their reading program, but didn't like their lit after 6th grade

[Amy loves Bud]

My DS is coming home for 8th, but I don't know what he will do for high school. He has requested studying myths, Greece and Rome. So we are going to study Greece and Rome along with Mythology(Greek, Roman, Norse, etc), The Iliad, The Odyssey, the Aeneid, and whatever else we can fit in from the Great literature of the time.

 

I feel like this will give him a strong basis for future literature studies should he return to ps for high school, since so many references to this time and these works recur throughout literature and in pop culture. We aren't using a program, just following SWBs Great Books recs for 9 th grade. We probably won't get the minimum of 8 works in, but that's okay for 8th, I think.

 

If he stays home for high school, we'll continue right in to medieval for 9th grade.

 

For science we are going to use CK12 Biology. Have you looked at their stuff? They have a handful of middle school texts and are absolutely free.