Trying to decide on next year

[PeacefulChaos]

Yes, it's the time of the year that I do this lol.  I would LOVE to get some input/suggestions/btdt, whatever, about anything listed below!

 

The things that I'm trying to decide on are as follows:

 

6th Grade Science - Astro has done a lot of random science lol.  WTM science for most of the grammar stage, then Prentice Hall Science Explorer (technically above his level, it was combined with his brother, but we made it work) in 4th grade, Galore Park Science Year 5 in 5th.  
I'm not super attached to anything at this point.  Most likely he'll do Apologia starting in 7th, so really he just sort of has a year before he starts that whole progression.  I asked him what he'd prefer and he wants to decide for himself what to study... no word yet on what that might be.  So it's pretty open ended, but any ideas?

 

6th Grade Bible - generally at this point it's the first time that I really have them start to learn more about Bible history, etc - not interested in any 'Bible study' type materials or anything that we'd have to do together.  Link (8th grade next year) has been doing The Most Important Thing You'll Ever Study, but it's a lot of writing and Astro hates to write.  Obviously some writing is necessary, but I don't really relish the idea of giving him something that's that writing-heavy.  

 

6th Grade Writing - So far he's done CAP W&R 1-3 (4 by the end of this year).  We may end up sticking with the same thing, but he's just not really big on writing, like I said above.  I'm not sure if there's anything that would suit him better out there.  I know they say 'if it's not broke, don't fix it', but I'm not sure that W&R is really up his alley, and can't say for sure that what we're doing is 'working'.  I don't really know what 'working' should look like for him.

 

8th Grade Writing - He's doing WWS1 this year; he doesn't love it but he's ok with it.  But he's never really loved any writing curriculum, so I'm not sure that'd change with a different curriculum.  When it comes to what he's learning, honestly, maybe WWS is good for him but I can't tell if it's that or a Current Events class he's currently taking locally (he has to write and present something every class).  I'm not saying I'm dying to switch, just wondering what else is out there that others have had good luck with so I can keep it all in consideration.

 

8th Grade Grammar - Again, he's had random so far.  The ones recommended in the 3rd edition of TWTM are Rod & Staff (which we could potentially switch to despite the amount of religiousness in it lol... it just sort of made me want to bang my head against a wall the first time I looked through it :D ), Voyages in English, and Shurley.  I haven't gotten the newest WTM edition yet so I'm not sure if it's changed.  What do others use at this point?  Any suggestions?

 

 

 

Okay, that's all.  :lol:  It's so much easier with the youngest, I already know or can have a good handle on what she'll be doing for 3rd grade lol!  But at the same time it's less fun doing the preparation, since there isn't really any research or anything *new* involved.  :D  A trade off, I suppose.  :)

 

TIA!

 

 

 

[SilverMoon]

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Edited May 23, 2023 by SilverMoon

[Amy M]

Science--if he's starting Apologia in 7th, perhaps try the science series by Dr. Jay Wile for elementary. The first book is Science in the Beginning, then Science in the Ancient World, etc. Just pick one, maybe the last one (or latest published, I'm not sure if they're all out yet. Or correspond to whatever year you're studying in history). I've heard that if you do his elementary series, the first module or two in Apologia General Science are easier, more of a review; otherwise, I've heard those first two modules can be really tough. Just a thought. Or see what topic he wants to do and get a Janice Van Cleave book on that topic, maybe for half of the year?

 

Bible--I know you said no study materials, but I think a Kay Arthur deductive Bible study could be good, probably independent. I've not used one yet, but I have one lined up for 2018, "Boy, Have I Got Problems!" on the book of James. Or both boys could work together (without you?) on the Apologia worldview series (Who Is God? Who Is My Neighbor? etc.) I think there are notebooks you can get for those.

 

6th writing--haha, I could have said the same thing about CAP. I've only done 1-2. We're trying Classical Writing Homer A this year, but I have no idea what to recommend for you. Wordsmith Apprentice came to mind, as well as Jump In? Or just stick with CAP.

 

I don't know for the eighth grade. I did think the R&S 8th grade has a lot of writing instruction in there that you could use if you wanted or just skip, but then you might feel like you were wasting your money if you were skipping a lot. Honestly, I like ABeka grammar when they divorce it from their writing instruction. It's very thorough grammatically. I'm not sure if it's connected to writing in 8th grade though. I like Silver Moon's ideas listed above for your situation.

 

 

[Mrs Twain]

We have seen fantastic results with R&S English. My son is currently taking a couple courses at public school and can run circles around his teachers whenever a grammar question comes up. The downside is that my son jokingly complains that that barn is on fire or the cows have gotten out in every lesson. LOL. I really would advise against starting with the 8th grade book if you have never used the program before. It is hard! Start at the 6th or 7th grade levels.

 

I am an IEW fan for writing. I wouldn't trade DVD Mr. Pudewa for any other program.

 

BJU has an excellent 6th grade general science course through their distance online learning (DLO). That has been one of our best science courses yet.

[Ellie]

Rod and Staff Publishers for your English (grammar and writing). All in one spot, ready to go. :-)

[2_girls_mommy]

Yep, R&S is as good as it gets for English and Writing. You could start the 6th grader in the WWS since you already have it too. Take it slowly, over a year or two if it progresses too quickly. 

 

I will second the new Wile Science text. My 7th grader is using the elementary one for K-6. She is using the last one, the modern history/science one just because that is what co-op is using this year. But it is nice for some interesting science in all fields, not limited to one branch like WTM, but taught in a classical way. You learn the history, the scientist, and do some experiments and its all around the four year cycle. Just choose the one that goes with your history (or not as in our case. We are in an ancient year.)  We aren't doing a heavy science year this year. We are focusing on her language arts, so this is perfect for her to read and notebook on by herself. Most of the experiments she does and writes up herself too. The questions are minimal as opposed to the elementary Apologia series we've done in the past that are very writing heavy. 

 

Another option with no experiments are the Tiner books. They are the Exploring the history of (biology or chemistry...) books. Memoria Press has them. Those could just be read and notebooked about. Good books for before the high school science and labs begin. 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 7, 2017 by 2_girls_mommy

[Clemsondana]

I second the Kay Arthur suggestion for Bible. My 5th grader has been doing them this year and likes them. They take around 6 weeks if you do them 5 days/week (we do Bible as a school subject 3 days, so they last longer for us), and there is't a ton of writing.