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8th Grade Planning Thread 2018-19 Updated 8-17-18


ScoutTN
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Yikes!!! 8th grade. How did we get here already?! I remember Dd's first day of first grade homeschool so well. She is growing up into a lovely young woman and an excellent student.

 

Here are my  plans:

Algebra 1 - online with WHA, Dolciani text

Latin 1 - Latin Alive   Online with CLRC, Oxford text

English - Composition at tutorial and Literature online with Angelina Stanford.

History - Late Modern with K12 Human Odyssey, literature reading and lots of discussion. 

Science - Physical science at tutorial 

Geography - Beautiful Feet   Loving this so far!

Logic - Art of Argument   This is a maybe. Not the choice of book, just whether we have time to do it.

Musical Theater and Art at tutorial.

 

Piano, Children's Choir (serving as an assistant), AHG, volunteering at a local historical home/museum. 

Edited by ScoutTN
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I am really struggling with putting a plan together for next year. We have finally reached the stage where she is ready to start having some real input into her education. Which I am super de duper excited about!!!

 

But I am torn between wanting to maintain the rigorous classical education we've given her so far and backing off a bit to allow her more time and freedom to explore and find new interests. 

 

Not sure yet what 8th grade is going to look like for us...

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ACK!  This is my THIRD eighth grader.  I can't believe my little guy will be in eighth grade.  In some ways he is so capable, but I'm not sure he's as solid academically as my older two. He definitely needs more support, but I think this will be a big growth year.

 

This is super tentative:

History: Tapestry of Grace Year 4

 

Literature:  Continue book club with Tapestry books--maybe do Windows to the World, but I'm not sure he's ready.

Writing: Continue on with Jump In and history paragraphs.  Grammar: Either continue with CTGE or switch to Rod and Staff.  He will probably also need to keep going with spelling.

 

Math:AHH!  I want to say Saxon Algebra 1--but he is not super solid this year in 8/7  (although tests are above 90, daily work isn't and he doesn's seem rock solid in places I want him to be.)We may do Algebra 1/2, but that will be hard for me as I really want him to do Calc in 12th grade (possible engineer).  I know, it's better he is solid. We'll see where the year goes.

 

Spanish: continue through Spanish I--convo class at co-op and BJU I

 

Science: Physical Science-either Science Explorers or, maybe, Easy Peasy or, if I can come up with money Exploration Education.

 

Maybe Kid Coder Windows Programming

 

eta: I forgot: Health: ABeka; Music: guitar lessons; Art: Co-op classes  PE: daily run and TKD

 

 

Extra: Praise and Worship band at co-op; TKD, FLL, Youth group

 

In some ways he's my hardest worker, in some ways he's my hardest student, I fear he will be my hardest teen--but maybe he got it out of his system or maybe I've learned to work with him.

Edited by freesia
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I got this!

 

Math - online asynchronous algebra I, so likely Mr. D or DO, but still looking at my homeschool math class.

 

Science - biology (recognizing that this

may have to be taken at a higher level in high school. Cross that bridge when we get there...)

 

English - WWS 2/3 + season 3 AG + lit? + last year of spelling? + last year of vocabulary?

 

Foreign Language - Spanish 3

 

History - Human Odyssey 2/3 and American History Detective 2

 

Also, German if our tutor is still willing

Piano

Ballet/scouts/soccer

½ day co-op?

 

Have to double check the number of hours in a day, but surely if I'm planning this far in advance i can make it all fit?

Edited by SusanC
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Here's what we have so far for our 12 year old dd:

 

Geometry (Mr D, live online classes)

Writing/Literature (Open Tent Academy)

Wordly Wise 8

Growing with Grammar 8 

ASL 202 (Currclick)

History (Acellus - not my first choice but she likes it and does it!)

Science (Acellus - ditto!)

Theater (FLVS)

 

Plus, mind benders which she loves.  And math minutes, a reading comp workbook tossed in every now and then. 

 

Dance - 10 hours/week

Acting - Saturday mornings w/ two shows a year

 

She likes field trip zoom's virtual classes and short term classes from outschool.com, so we add those in when the schedule allows. 

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ACK!  This is my THIRD eighth grader.  

 

Mine, too!  I'll have 3 high schoolers soon, I guess.   :rolleyes:

 

Updated: Man, I have to edit my plans!  Dd12 had a school planning meltdown over the weekend.  She doesn't want to do MFW with her younger sister.  Hours and hours of internet surfing later...

 

Here's her new line-up:

 

Sonlight core 100

continue AOPS Prealgebra and then some fun math (maybe Murderous Maths)

Beginning Violin

start German

P.E. together

Earth Science

 

For Earth Science

Eric Sloane's Weather Book

Smithsonian: Earth

Smithsonian: The Planets

Signs and Seasons Classical Astronomy

Weather Observation Kit

Rocks & Minerals -some hands-on activities

Edited by Evanthe
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Finish AOPS Geometry and Counting & Probablity , then Intermediate Algebra

History of Science- using Tiner science books, and whatever else she can find

Greek- continue but not sure what we will use

French - she may decide to drop, we will see

Czech 2 - Cesky Krok za Krokem

Chemistry - Dr Wile’s Discovering Design with Chemistry

Mythology - NME

English- writing across the curriculum, read aloud at least two Shakespeare plays, MCT WWTW3, AAW1, Poetry and Humanity, and reading, of course, with a couple of lit guides or EIL

PE- 20 hours of competitive gymnastics training weekly

 

Our co-op schedule isn’t out yet, so this is all very tentative

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DD will be back home with me for 8th before starting PS high school so I want to make it count!!

 

Math- DO Algebra 1. So far, so good! Three weeks in and DD is loving it.

English- Easy Grammar 8 w/Daily Grams and Vocab from Classical Roots, lots of books and discussion The themed units that I planned are working even better than I'd hoped. 

History- U.S. History w/Hakim text, Hewitt syllabus

Science- BJU Earth Science (WHA)

French- French 1/2 (repeat w/emphasis on conversation) DD decided to switch to Spanish 1 (WTMA)

Foundations in Personal Finance, as part of a homegrown home ec class

P.E.- Dance class

Edited by Sneezyone
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My ds is saying he wants to do PS next year (very sad about that), however dh has told him that may not be an option after he failed tests for an outside Math class he is taking. So, plan B may be that he goes to PS in the afternoon for some elective classes and see how he handles it before trying a full load. He has ADHD which is easy to accommodate at home but I'm not super confident on how they will accommodate at school and not sure exactly what he would need because I am so used to working with him. I've been avoiding these threads because they just depress me but with this turn of events I might need to pay attention (and this not knowing what is going to happen is driving me absolutely crazy).

 

I had planned to have him do 9th at home next year but if he did PS I would have him do 8th (he is on the cut-off), so I'm looking at calling it 8th.

 

Tentative/Maybe plans for a streamlined 8th at home- with electives at school (and maybe some content courses)-

 

Math- VideoText Algebra

English- WWS2 or LToW- MegaWords-

For Lit I had originally planned Literary Lessons through Lord of the Rings but I've got no clue now- maybe a program or maybe I make a book list

 

Science????

History ????

 

I've not talked to him much about what he might want to do b/c he had said he wanted to do PS. Gah. I'd prefer him be home and I think it is a better environment for him but I want him to have a say. Neither DH or I want him to head to PS and fail though, he is a smart kid but he's got some weaknesses. Sometimes I think he would be fine and others I just don't know (like when he totally bombs two tests). When he got home and redid them he did fine but he gets distracted easily and he has a horrible memory. Sigh.

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Just a tip, Commonlit.org has some really nice paired text units up right now for MS/HS students that are ripe for discussion. They post these throughout the year. I vast prefer them over typical lit guides. Those of you planning for next year might want to do a search for some of your planned books that see what ‘pairings’ they suggest.

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Our plan for 8th grade:

 

Algebra 1 - Lial's

 

English - Lightning Literature, WWS2, Rod and Staff grammar and spelling

 

History/Bible - HOD Missions to Modern Marvels

 

Science - Apologia Physical Science

 

PE - Fitness Blender

 

Continue guitar, knitting and cooking and maybe dabble in Duolingo Spanish -just for fun to prepare for high school Spanish

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12yo ds turns 13 in August, so a younger 8th grader next year....

 

English - probably outsourced to local UMS - if we do it as home I'll consider EIW and Grammar for the WTM with a list of books

 

Math - probably Alg. 1 at local UMS - if we do it at home, probably Derek Owens

 

History - 20th century US - combination of dvds and Albert Marrin books

 

Science - maybe EE.  He'll probably do physical science the next year as a 9th grader, so he wouldn't really need EE next year, but I think he would like the hands on.

 

Latin - maybe start over with Latin Prep.  

 

Bible - to be decided

 

Extras - basketball and chess

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Math- CLE Alg 1 with Khan Academy to reinforce   I'm thinking we're going with Teaching Textbooks Alg 1

English- IEW SWI C or EIW, Easy Grammar, Lit list

Science- Dive Earth Science or Apologia Physical

History- Probably CLE SS 800 with additional reading from Sonlight 100

Spanish-Duolingo
 

PE- She LOVES fitness blender workouts

Family time studies

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Cicero with Lukeion

Brit Lit with CLRC which counts as reading and writing

Greek 3 with Lukeion

Computer Science with Edhesive

Math with AoPS

Honors Chemistry with Dicentra

Foreign languages with tutors

Fall and Rise of China, using Great Courses and a couple of books, doing that now but it could take awhile since we only listen to the audiobook while driving

 

Summer: so far for sure is reviewing Athenaze books and reading through Miller Levine Biology in iBooks, and taking an AoPS class to get a transcript

Edited by crazyforlatin
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No idea other than DS12 is bad at online classes so he will be doing mostly brick and mortar outsourced classes next year.

 

Chemistry - outsourced summer class (after all the mess in the house with lab supplies for DS13, I rather outsource to B&M. Also chemistry is more fun with lab mates while physics labs aren’t as bad to do at home though we had some unsuccessful physics experiments as well).

 

Math - outsourced summer class for the brick and mortar aspect and social needs

 

German - outsourced Saturday academic year class that he has been attending for many years, he has friends there so it is more social needs than academics

ETA:

math - calculus self paced with CTY, completed statistics in summer class 

English - self paced writing class with CTY

science - physics and chemistry 

Edited by Arcadia
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I don't feel ready to plan 8th grade... I mean it's almost high school....it feels too real.... :lol:

 

I haven't a clue what we will use....here are the current thoughts...

 

Bible: ???  A study of Acts/Pauline Epistles with an emphasis on Paul's Missionary Journeys

Spanish: either continue Middlebury Interactive or maybe Breaking the Barrier

Algebra 1: not sure with what..considering Chalkdust or Mr. D ...or DO (I really want something with videos AND a text so I can help)

Language Arts: FOEW with WH (I think!), AG season 3, vocabulary-- Word Build  (for writing, now leaning towards a  local co-op class)

History/lit: Biblioplan Modern OR WH Great Conversations  Decided on a year of World Geography with a missions focus

Physical Science either Education Exploration or Apologia

Logic: Discovery of Deduction OR Now thinking maybe repeat Art of Argument with Schole Academy

 

Edited by ByGrace3
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Loose plans are as follows:

5-6 homeschool classes; 3 public school classes

1. Math: Larson's Big Ideas Math: finish Red Accelerated edition and start Algebra 1. Maybe some Will do Jacobs MHE on Mondays.  Update: Big Ideas is going really well, and since DS is not amused by Harold Jacobs and is not enchanted by MHE, we are eliminating it and just doing Big Ideas and Math Minutes.  

2. English: Oak Meadow 8, mixed with our homegrown book list/essays. OM uses Writing for 100 Days for formal writing and Strunk & White workbook for grammar. I will add some creative writing (maybe NaNoWriMo again; maybe some shorter pieces... not sure yet). Also, Evan Moor Proofreading, Spelling Power. Maybe some Spelling Wisdom to improve the speed of writing / cursive and 4-6 selections from Movies as Literature to break things up. Adding How to Read Literature Like a Professor. Update: Oy vey. I had high hopes for OM but it is so very slow and scattered. I didn't feel it was concrete enough and DS was annoyed with all the page flipping and shortness of the assignments. We are moving to Plan B: Lively Art first, then some Kilgallon and After the End. We are keeping S&W and doing one rule/day, plus grammar as needed. Keeping Spelling Power and occasional proofreading. Keeping How to Read Lit Like a Prof and dropping all OM reading titles and doing our homegrown book list. 

3. History: History of American Pop Culture, 1950s-present, using the "Exploring America in the XXXXs" series. Update: Super happy with this. Only complaint is we spend too much time in this rabbit hole. 

4. Civics: iCivics. Oak Meadow Civics I have OM on hand but I think I like iCivics better (+ for games!). Reading parts of Changing Tomorrow 2; skipping the essays. Update: iCivics is great. DS is not a huge fan of the worksheet format and busywork, but he is coming around. Lots of great discussion. 

5a. Health: Homegrown (one semester). Mishmash, based on PBS's In Defense of Food curriculum plus readings from YOU: The Owner's Manual for Teens and Health: Making Life Choices plus other ad hoc resources. Also going to do Operation Fit Kids (three weeks). Update: Very happy with this; no plans to change. 

5b. Finance: Stock Market Game (one semester). Planning to participate and use their lesson plans. Should be about 20 lessons plus time spent "playing." I think we have to play during their official season, which lasts 8-10 weeks. 

Geography: Zombie-based geography (one semester). Going to lighten the load and do S&V World Geography & You books, along with Maps & Charts instead.  Dang it! Not enough hours in the day. Hoping to assign some of this as independent read / worksheets but we won't get through it all.

6. IT: If we can fit it in, we are going to try Code for Teens (javascript). I like the sounds of the Photoshop course CrazyForLatin listed, though. Might do a Flash class; might do a computer-based Creative Workshop. Taking a computer class at public school instead.

6. Music: Continuing guitar.

1. Science: Local public school. Might do an engineering and science co-op or Exploration Education at home if we have time.

2. German 1: Local public school.

3. PE/Art/Digital Media: Local public school (one semester each)

Edit: Made some decisions... 

Edit 2: Made some more decisions, but still too much liberal arts...

 

####

 

Edited by dori123
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Considering adding Art for my Dd, at her tutorial. The teacher is fabulous, Dd really enjoys it and it does not add major hours of extra work.

 

It will make 7 classes, though. Also, not sure we have the money. Sign up is in two weeks, but I won't have to pay til August.

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I feel like a bad homeschooler just typing it, but most likely DD will be going to a PS charter next year, or we'll be using Calvert. Everybody is just burned out with the designing and implementing and keeping up with all the parts and pieces, and we need something different. 

 

We will probably continue with Spelling You See either way, because the child is a terrible speller.

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May later change this to 9th. Late Fall birthday so may graduate a year early.

 

Math- Jacobs Geometry

 

English - Finish Writeshop, Jensen's Format Writing, Excellence in Literature, Vocab From Classical Roots

 

Science - RSO Bio 2, with added ...

 

History - History of the Ancient World

 

Latin - last year? Maybe start French

 

Logic - James Madison Critical thinking

 

Art - Artistic Pursuits

 

voice, theater, dance

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My contingency plan, in case school doesn't work:

 

Math Relief Algebra I

CLRC Intro to Literature and Composition

Spelling You See

Acellus Middle School Personal Finance (fall semester)

Oak Meadow Health (spring semester)

Acellus Investigating Careers

Acellus Spanish I

Art - local co-op or online

 

Continue gymnastics and competitive tumbling, or join a competitive cheer team. DD hasn't decided yet.

Edited by Aurelia
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We have been having a brutal year (lots of failure to complete work and tough on our relationship: complaints, lying, pubescent hormones meet menopausal mother, watch out!), so when I’m not googling boarding schools in Scotland (seriously, The Crown has him wanting to go to Gordonstoun ) I’m thinking we will have a light 8th grade year to try and heal our relationship in case this is our last year[emoji22]

 

Build Your Library 8 (history of science)

 

AoPS pre-A into algebra 1

 

Writing-LToW 1 with Jessica Shao

 

Latin—Lukeion 2 — we pulled the trigger!

 

Art of Roman Warfare summer workshop with Lukeion

 

I would like him to learn typing, but you can lead a horse to water....

 

Logic—really want him to do Art of Argument, but want to keep it light

 

Fix-it!—book 4 (finish book 3 if necessary first)

 

Surely I’m forgetting something critical!

Edited by MDL
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We have been having a brutal year (lots of failure to complete work and tough on our relationship complaints, pubescent hormones meet menopausal mother, watch out!)

 

I'm right there with you sister!!!  Twin almost 13 year olds and a very, very close to (not quite yet, but almost official) menopausal mother....fun times at our house  :lol: !!!

 

I am working on streamlining the rest of 7th grade and starting my 8th grade planning this weekend!

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Updated List:

  • First Form Latin
  • CLE Math College of the Redwoods Pre-Algebra
  • Grammar for WTM (half speed)
  • WWS 1 Classical Composition: Fable & Narrative
  • Elemental Biology for the Logic Stage; Biology 101 DVDs 
  • MP Geography III & 200 Questions about American History; Drive Through History's American history DVDs; a few assigned American History readings
  • Art of Argument  May add later in the year
  • MP Book of the Ancient Greeks/Iliad/Odyssey; Book of the Ancient World
  • MP 8th Grade Literature: Treasure Island, As You Like It, Wind in the Willows, Tom Sawyer, Short Stories & Poems: American Literature
  • Artistic Pursuits
  • Exploring America's Musical Heritage DVDs; The Story of the Orchestra
  • Computer Programming (free time/elective)

 

Edited by Holly
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This may be my last year at home with ds12. He will likely be following his older sister to public high school. My plan:

 

Math: Foerster Algebra 

History: K12 American Odyssey

English: American literature (still putting together a list) along with some serious essay writing

Latin: Latin Alive 2

Art: Artistic Pursuits - MS

 

He still needs a science, but we haven't settled on that yet. He's already done a year of biology and a year of physical science, so I'm going to let him choose something fun - maybe marine biology or astronomy?? I'd like to get some Great Course lectures for whatever he's interested in so he can practice taking notes. We are also trying to find a good online class for him - some kind of fun elective that will give him some experience with outside accountability and meeting deadlines.

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Entering year 3 of homeschooling this fall, and I finally sort-of feel like I have my feet under me in terms of how to plan. Namely: I'm no longer biting off more than any of us can chew.

 

Things I've learned this year:

-My 2 kids are way too different to have class together. We'll still do morning time together, and they'll do grammar together, [no they won't!] but for history and science I'm separating them, along with all the other subjects they've always done separately.

-If I plan 36 weeks, they won't finish till the end of July. Depending on the subject, they each may take up to 50% longer to complete the assigned work than I anticipate they will. This year, I'm planning 32 weeks of activities, and I'm guessing they'll take 36-38 weeks to complete them.

 

 

My big hulking eighth grader will be doing...

 

Logic: I think we'll do Discovery of Deduction. So far, he's really enjoyed logic. But I decided to do a year of "writing across the curriculum" with my lil' reluctant writer before moving on to WWS 2, so we'll do The Argument Builder to continue expanding his writing skills while he polishes the outlining and topoi he learned in WWS 1.

 

Math: Life of Fred Pre-Algebra 2 and then into Beginning Algebra

 

Science: Elemental Science Physics for the Logic Stage. He's loving LoF Pre-Algebra 0 with Physics.

 

English: WWS 2, VFCR C/D, WTM reading list for 7th grade, Grammar for the Well-Trained Mind (I anticipate that he'll hate this. It's part of the reason I'm not doing WWS 2, because I don't think he's emotionally capable of handling 2 classes 4 days per week of SWB-style language arts. It's the same program lil sis will be using, but I think I'll be teaching them separately because they can't stand each other these days.) Also typing lessons at Typingclub.com.

 

History: ????? Right now my plan is to do the WTM method with him, using History: The Definitive Visual Guide as a spine and supplementing with map activities from SOTW 3. On the other hand, if The Story of Civilization comes out with an Early Modern Times volume before the fall, I may choose that instead. In which case lil sis will use the same.

 

Japanese: he hates the co-op class I've been teaching, so he'll keep working through Genki I by himself

 

 

During morning time, we'll use Keeping On With Latin, keep learning more Chinese flashcards (remembr.it), keep reading the narrative books of the Bible (Joshua, Judges, 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings) and... whatever else strikes my fancy day by day!

 

Poor kid has mono right now, since 2 weeks ago, so right now I'm just hoping he'll be able to make up the rest of the school year somehow :( I'm just going to have him finish on June 25th when little sis does, no matter how much or little he's completed. He's mostly better and I'm hoping his first full day of school will be Friday of this week, exactly 1 month since he became bedridden. I'm cutting down on how much of VFCR he has to complete, and we may save Life of Fred Pre-Algebra 1 for next year as well.

Edited by egao_gakari
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I thought I had it all figured out, but no...

 

So, here are my thoughts as of today:

 

Dd has just started Ancient history. She's reading through Kingfisher ancient sections, using CEP task cards, and looking up the figures from ancient time line stickers and putting them in her timeline book. I have SOTW ancients, but I need something else.

 

She reads and writes from various AO selections, currently The Elements and Poor Richard.

 

Geography is drawing the 50 states in her notebook, and I'm not sure what will come next. The task cards have some mapping. I may get MP geography 1.

 

R&S math

 

R&S English

 

Megawords spelling, but may go back to R&S

 

Science: botany in 8, First Studies in Plant Life, various books about Native American herbal medicines, herb garden over the summer.

 

I need to work on writing with her, but I have no idea what I'll use.

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I decided to outsource almost everything for my 8th grader. When I teach her, the schedule keeps getting pushed back for one reason or another, and it kinda makes me batty. (Both of us are at fault for that --- I haven't quite figured out how to balance my time & attention between DD-8th grader and DS8, who is autistic and requires one-on-one supervision for all his lessons.)

 

More importantly, I've realized that DD is an extrovert, and she really thrives on learning with others. Kinda hard to do that in a 2-student homeschool. Between the peer interactions online and the consistent lesson schedule, she'll learn more and learn better online.

 

Math - AoPS Intro to Algebra A (summer into Sept) with expectation to start Algebra B in Oct.

 

Writing - Middle School Writing with Open Tent Academy

 

History - US History, 1865 to Present with Open Tent Academy

 

Science - Physics with Clover Creek

 

Electives - Intro to Interior Design with Open Tent Academy; Chorus with local homeschool music group; gymnastics/Ninja/Parkour

 

Foreign Language - Cambridge Latin with me (I don't know Latin, but I've always wanted to learn!)

 

Literature - Lots of read-alouds with me --- we mostly just read to enjoy the stories but sometimes, we throw in some lit analysis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We are using 8th grade to dive deeper into my DD’s personal interests before tackling high school.

 

Math: Algebra 1 with DO

 

History: BYL pre history (picked apart and rearranged by me)

 

Science: BYL history of science (picked apart and rearranged by me)

 

Lit/writing: homemade comparative study of books and their films

 

Grammar: G4TWTM

 

Spanish: Breaking the Barrier

 

Outside electives: acting, art, filmmaking, backstage/technical theater

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Tentatively:

 

Math: BJU Algebra 1 (if she completes Saxon 8/7 with decent scores)

 

LA: Fix-It Grammar, Phonetic Zoo Spelling, IEW Medieval History Based Writing with associated literature

 

History: Veritas Press Self Paced Online Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformation

 

Science: BJU Press Life Science (We'll try to accelerate through this starting soon and start on Earth Science) - either the DVDs or the online streaming

 

Extra-Curriculars: Tennis, Piano, Pottery, fun field trips 

 

 

Option 2: 

 

Humanities at the one day a week classical school

 

Math: BJU Press Algebra 1

 

Science: BJU Press (As stated above)

 

Spanish: BJU Press unless I find something I like better

 

 

We are finishing up Classical Conversations Challenge A and are so thankful that it is almost done. This has been a super stressful year with a death in the family. I like picking my own curriculum, and I'm ready for it to be easy again before we have to get back on our toes for high school!!

 

 

 

 

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Here's what we have so far for our 12 year old dd:

 

Geometry (Mr D, live online classes)

Writing/Literature (Open Tent Academy)

Wordly Wise 8

Growing with Grammar 8 

ASL 202 (Currclick)

History (Acellus - not my first choice but she likes it and does it!)

Science (Acellus - ditto!)

Theater (FLVS)

 

Plus, mind benders which she loves.  And math minutes, a reading comp workbook tossed in every now and then. 

 

Dance - 10 hours/week

Acting - Saturday mornings w/ two shows a year

 

She likes field trip zoom's virtual classes and short term classes from outschool.com, so we add those in when the schedule allows. 

 

Now that we've registered, thought I'd update DD12's classes:

 

Middle School Writing (OTA)

ASL 2.5/3 (OTA)

Science - Ideas that Changed the World (OTA)   She loved how every couple weeks the topic changed.  For my non-science girl, this may be a good fit.

Intro to Theater/Acting 101/Acting 201 (OTA)

 

Should be a very fun year for her. 

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Now that we've registered, thought I'd update DD12's classes:

 

Middle School Writing (OTA)

ASL 2.5/3 (OTA)

Science - Ideas that Changed the World (OTA)   She loved how every couple weeks the topic changed.  For my non-science girl, this may be a good fit.

Intro to Theater/Acting 101/Acting 201 (OTA)

 

Should be a very fun year for her. 

 

I thought that science class looked very interesting! If my kiddo had more leeway in her schedule, I would have encouraged her to look at that class.

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Forcing myself to write this early stages plan so I think about it more, and see everyone else’s updates.

 

ELA: LToW very slowly, and maybe onlineG3 lit again

 

Latin: Lukeion Latin 1 (the one thing that seems certain)

 

Math: do the next thing with AOPS (preA is taking a while, but that’s OK, I have Intro to Alg and C&P ready when he is)

 

History: ?? He likes OnlineG3 histories he’s done, but he will be combining with oldest so I’m not positive which class yet.

 

Science: either at the middle school or Marine Ecology by Mom (using a few texts, Great Courses, and a couple of trade books)

 

Electives: band (middle school), private sax lessons, soccer, parkour, scouting merit badges, NaNoWriMo, Superstar Student

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8th grade seems so old.   :willy_nilly:

 

We've had a year with a lot of things needing a step back so mostly we are going to continue what's been going on this year.

 

Math - Foerster's Algebra.  Once that's done we'll start Jacobs Geometry, possibly doing Algebra 2 at the same time (which is how I did it in school and some of our local schools do it) but taking more than one year.

Mosdos Literature

Wordsmith then maybe Beyond the Book Report and/or Brave Writer

Not sure about Grammar

Not sure if we'll pick up vocabulary again or not (would be Vocabulary from Classical Roots if we do)

History I'm hoping to finish up Ancients by the end of summer and move on to Medieval.   We've been really slack with history.  We'll continue with History Odyssey and Acellus videos probably.

Science is completely covered with them taking my classes.  In addition to various enrichment stuff (like Zombies or programming), I'll be teaching full year courses next year.  I'm not sure which one I'll have him/them take yet.  

They'll continue with Spanish through Acellus

Geography through Acellus

Music through Acellus

 

They'll continue with TKD and hiking.  

 

 

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8the grade is ds’s final year being homeschooled and also the first year I don’t have a good feel for by this point in the year. I’m thinking in terms of goals for the future and then working my way backwards.

 

He needs to develop more skills as a writer and have more experience with managing projects and his classwork without as much input from me. Part of me thinks I should add in an outsourced class to facilitate that. High on my list for these are writing and math. Limitation here being my budget. I’m going to assume cost isn’t a limitation here just for now.

 

Math - Algebra I with DO

Writing - BW Essay Prep three class series mixed with some shorter assignments either on Outschool or from BW resources I already own

Literature - Boomerang Book Club (maybe online, at the very least the subscription)

Media Literacy - Using the Crash Course videos plus additional assignments

History - Either state history with a goal of completing a National History Day project or HO American History

Science - RSO Biology, level 2 and continuing with outside classes at the nature center

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  • 5 weeks later...

We have only been able to school consistently 3ish days/week for the last several years. We do school year round, but are still chronically behind. This week our schedule will open to a potential of 5 days for the first time ever so really hoping to do some catching up.

Bible- Kay Arthur's kid's series, whichever she chooses

Math- CLE She is almost done with 6 right now and will continue on into 7 and then 8. We switched curriculum and were set back a grade. She is working hard to "catch up"

Logic- she did art of argument in coop this year and LOVED it. Suggested Follow up? Fallacy detective? or is that a step back? Argument Builder

Writing- IEW B. Will do B continuation when finished. Have decided to switch to WWS 1 and possible kilgallon.

Spelling- Spelling Power

Grammar- Fix It. Just finished Nose Tree and will start the next one next month. Hoping she will get through it over the summer.

Lit- she will be doing a Shakespeare class in coop as well as reading assigned books.

Latin- she is moseying through Lively Latin and learning and loving it.

History- We are focusing on state history next year so will be doing mom made and field trips.

Geography- same as above

Science- We do God's Design... as a family. Will finish earth over the summer and start physical next year. She will also be doing state related science as well as general science in coop.

 

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On 2/16/2018 at 6:58 PM, Aurelia said:

My contingency plan, in case school doesn't work:

 

Math Relief Algebra I

CLRC Intro to Literature and Composition  

Spelling You See

Acellus Middle School Personal Finance (fall semester)

Oak Meadow Health (spring semester)

Acellus Investigating Careers

Acellus Spanish I

Art - local co-op or online

 

Continue gymnastics and competitive tumbling, or join a competitive cheer team. DD hasn't decided yet.

Ok, so no "real" school, and I've already changed my mind about some of the things. 

Keeping math and spelling. Changing others to:

Fall:

Athena's Academy Writer's Workshop or Athena's WriteNOW Workshop followed by So Verbose Intro to Essay 2 or Creative Writing

Movies as Literature (maybe)

ABeCeDarian C & D

Easy Peasy Drawing & Painting

ASL 1 (either Start ASL or local co-op)

thisclose to signing up for Athena's Academy History for Whovians (DD really liked the 9th and 10th doctors, so she might be interested) or their Sociology courses using Inside Out and Harry Potter

Spring:

Lukeion Barbarian Diagrammarian

either Athena's Academy Writer's Workshop or Athena's WriteNOW Workshop followed by So Verbose HS Essay 1

ASL 1

Art (online - either Pencil Kings or DrawPj, probably)

I'm purposely leaving social studies and science open, in case we find a neat semester-long class that DD is really interested in, or decides she wants to do a LOT of art or the One Year Adventure Novel, or something. 

 

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On 2/6/2018 at 10:59 AM, crazyforlatin said:

Cicero with Lukeion

Brit Lit with CLRC which counts as reading and writing

Greek 3 with Lukeion

Computer Science with Edhesive

Math with AoPS

Honors Chemistry with Dicentra

Foreign languages with tutors

Fall and Rise of China, using Great Courses and a couple of books, doing that now but it could take awhile since we only listen to the audiobook while driving

 

Summer: so far for sure is reviewing Athenaze books and reading through Miller Levine Biology in iBooks, and taking an AoPS class to get a transcript

Scratch Brit Lit, we're going back to Lange and enrolling in her Integritas writing course.

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Finally getting around the thinking about this.  This will be my last time doing 8th grade.  Current plans that I may tweak a bit, but generally hope to stick with:

MFW - Exploration to 1850

TT - Algebra 1

Apologia - Physical Science

Writing with Skill Level 1

Applications of Grammar

Apples & Pears Book D (if we don't finish it this year)

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

My last time with an 8th grader as well. :biggrin::sad:

I'm stuck on what to use for Writing.  We tried Writing and Rhetoric this year and...blahhhhh.  I may go back to IEW Theme-based writing but I just don't see any topics that might keep his interest.  

My somewhat tentative plan is:
Math:  Teaching Textbooks finish Algebra 1 (if needed); Algebra 2
Literature:  Memoria Press 8th Grade Set
Writing:  Fix It! Book 4;  ?????
Vocabulary:  Wordly Wise finish Book 9, start Book 10
Science:  Jenny Phillips Beginning Chemistry
History:  Possibly US History, starting with the lead-up to WWII (he'll do this along with his sister in 10th Grade)
Latin:  Latin Alive I

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ACK!!!  I feel so behind!!! :sad::biggrin:

So far I have have:

Math - AOPS Alegbra 1

Writing - WWS 2

Grammar - Analytical Grammar

Vocabulary - Vocab from Classical Roots (B and hopefully C)

Literature - Figuratively Speaking and ???  Would like to get a poetry unit in there too.

Science - ???

History - ???

Spanish - ???

My boys want to do a semester on finance, economics, stocks, etc. so I'm working that out.

They play baseball and swim year round for extra activities.  Will hopefully start volunteering at our library for 8th grade.

Why are the spaces between my lines so big -- LOL :ph34r:????

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 2/27/2018 at 4:39 PM, egao_gakari said:

Entering year 3 of homeschooling this fall, and I finally sort-of feel like I have my feet under me in terms of how to plan. Namely: I'm no longer biting off more than any of us can chew.

Things I've learned this year:

-My 2 kids are way too different to have class together. We'll still do morning time together, and they'll do grammar together, [no they won't!] but for history and science I'm separating them, along with all the other subjects they've always done separately.

-If I plan 36 weeks, they won't finish till the end of July. Depending on the subject, they each may take up to 50% longer to complete the assigned work than I anticipate they will. This year, I'm planning 32 weeks of activities, and I'm guessing they'll take 36-38 weeks to complete them.

My big hulking eighth grader will be doing...
Logic: I think we'll do Discovery of Deduction. So far, he's really enjoyed logic. But I decided to do a year of "writing across the curriculum" with my lil' reluctant writer before moving on to WWS 2, so we'll do The Argument Builder to continue expanding his writing skills while he polishes the outlining and topoi he learned in WWS 1. I'm also giving up on trying to make his handwriting better right now. We can't afford occupational therapy and the person I talked to thinks he's too old for it to do much good anyway. He will type everything this year. I'm actually getting a typewriter from my grandma's house so he can type his answers on worksheet lines as well ? 
Math: Life of Fred Pre-Algebra 2 and then into Beginning Algebra
Science: Elemental Science Physics for the Logic Stage. He's loving LoF Pre-Algebra 0 with Physics.
English: WWS 2, VFCR C, WTM reading list for 7th grade, Grammar for the Well-Trained Mind (I anticipate that he'll hate this. It's part of the reason I'm not doing WWS 2, because I don't think he's emotionally capable of handling 2 classes 4 days per week of SWB-style language arts. It's the same program lil sis will be using, but I think I'll be teaching them separately because they can't stand each other these days.) Also typing lessons at Typingclub.com. After 2 years of trying, it's clear that it's not feasible for him to get more than one book of VFCR done per year, so I'm not going to force it.
History: Right now my plan is to do the WTM method with him, using History: The Definitive Visual Guide as a spine and supplementing with map activities from SOTW 3. On the other hand, if The Story of Civilization comes out with an Early Modern Times volume before the fall, I may choose that instead. In which case lil sis will use the same. I like the look of the free "Reading Like a Historian" lessons from Stanford, so we'll do an American History unit using those resources.
Japanese: he hates the co-op class I've been teaching, so he'll keep working through Genki I by himself Hoping to get him back into Japanese this summer. It fell by the wayside as we were trying to get him caught up after 5 weeks of illness.
During morning time, we'll use Keeping On With Latin if it is published by then, keep learning more Chinese flashcards (remembr.it), keep reading the narrative books of the Bible (Joshua, Judges, 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings) and... whatever else strikes my fancy day by day! We let go of Chinese, as I don't speak it well enough to teach it. On the read-alouds list for this year: The Screwtape Letters, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Johnny Tremain, Bloody Jack.

Poor kid has mono what turned out to be pneumonia right now, since 2 weeks ago, so right now I'm just hoping he'll be able to make up the rest of the school year somehow ? I'm just going to have him finish on June 25th when little sis does, no matter how much or little he's completed. He's mostly better and I'm hoping his first full day of school will be Friday of this week, exactly 1 month since he became bedridden. I'm cutting down on how much of VFCR he has to complete, and we may save Life of Fred Pre-Algebra 1 for next year as well. My mathy kid--he'll finish it up next week. We decided to go just a little into the summer since he's so close to finishing most subjects.

Figuring out what to prioritize when catching up after serious illness has been a job of work! But he's doing great and I think he'll be fine to start 8th-grade work in the fall.

One thing I've decided to focus on with him this year is executive functioning. I'm going to teach both of them the very basics of bullet journaling to keep track of their classwork and responsibilities, and I'm planning to be at-elbow with him for a few months making sure he writes dates and titles on all work, files everything in the correct place rather than just throwing it in whatever box catches his eye, etc. DD11 does that stuff by instinct, but he sure doesn't, and it's clear at this point that he actually needs explicit teaching for it. I'm also going to be hands-on teaching him for many more subjects. He always (eventually) gets schoolwork done, but it's rarely up to my standard when he does it independently, and by the time he's finished it, it's emotionally devastating for him if I make him redo or edit. So, he'll be getting a lot more "Mom Time" this year even though he doesn't think he needs it, and DD11 will get correspondingly less, even though she's sure she needs it all the time.

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On 1/31/2018 at 10:40 PM, GeoKitty said:

Finish AOPS Geometry and Counting & Probablity , then Intermediate Algebra

History of Science- using Tiner science books, and whatever else she can find  

Geography  (co-op class) and read about the history of science

Greek- continue but not sure what we will use  continue on her own

French - she may decide to drop, we will see dropped

Czech 2 - Cesky Krok za Krokem 

Chemistry - Dr Wile’s Discovering Design with Chemistry  (co-op class) Apologia , 2nd edition

Mythology - NME.  If we have time  in our schedule.

English- writing across the curriculum, read aloud at least two Shakespeare plays, MCT WWTW2, AAW1, Poetry and Humanity, and reading, of course, with a couple of lit guides or EIL 7 (now she wants to finish it!)   Byline and a Literature co-op class.  And reading, of course  Homegrown writing.

Art -      (Co-op class)

 PE- 20 hours of competitive gymnastics training weekly

Spanish - Breaking the Spanish Barrier , level one, and DuoLingo, and a local Spanish class

 

 

 

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On 2/6/2018 at 6:20 PM, ByGrace3 said:

I don't feel ready to plan 8th grade... I mean it's almost high school....it feels too real.... :lol:

 

I haven't a clue what we will use....here are the current thoughts...

 

Bible: ???  A study of Acts/Pauline Epistles with an emphasis on Paul's Missionary Journeys

Spanish: either continue Middlebury Interactive or maybe Breaking the Barrier

Algebra 1: not sure with what..considering Chalkdust or Mr. D ...or DO (I really want something with videos AND a text so I can help)

Language Arts: FOEW with WH (I think!), AG season 3, vocabulary-- Word Build  (for writing, now leaning towards a  local co-op class)

History/lit: Biblioplan Modern OR WH Great Conversations  Decided on a year of World Geography with a missions focus

Physical Science either Education Exploration or Apologia

Logic: Discovery of Deduction OR Now thinking maybe repeat Art of Argument with Schole Academy

 

 

It's almost July and I still don't know for sure what we are doing...8 years of homeschooling and this has never happened. I'm trying not to stress....right now I just need to make some decisions about online classes vs co-op classes...I'm struggling with quality teachers vs community. It's been a tough decision process....

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/28/2018 at 8:41 AM, egao_gakari said:

History: Right now my plan is to do the WTM method with him, using History: The Definitive Visual Guide as a spine and supplementing with map activities from SOTW 3. On the other hand, if The Story of Civilization comes out with an Early Modern Times volume before the fall, I may choose that instead. In which case lil sis will use the same. I like the look of the free "Reading Like a Historian" lessons from Stanford, so we'll do an American History unit using those resources.

I keep changing history, LOL! I took a look at TAN Books' The Story of Civilization Vol. 3 that was just released, but I don't like the idea of dividing U.S. history into a separate year and doing world history 1600-2000 all in one year as this author decided to. But I don't like History: The Definitive Visual Guide either, dang it. I'm swapping that out with The National Geographic Almanac of World History. I like that its sections are lengthier and more narrative, and more locations are mentioned. (Like Russia for example, which History totally ignores for this time period, even Peter the Great and Catherine the Great!)

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