Hello! I am looking for suggestions for reading material for a 9th grader who is studying Year 4, Modern Times. I am looking at the book lists in TWTM and would like to choose eight of these titles for him to cover over the remainder of this school-year (9th) and the summer months. It feels quite awkward for him to be covering Year 4 at the beginning of High School and I'm not sure which titles are most appropriate for a younger High Schooler. He has covered a lot of modern history this year. He has also read a lot of literature but only a few titles that I would consider to be a "great book". So far, I am thinking he will read Democracy in America, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Walden, The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, The Red Badge of Course, and Mere Christianity because I already have copies of those. He has already read Great Expectations, the Gettysburg Address, Huckleberry Finn, and Animal Farm. Thanks for any suggestions!

My 9th grader is using it. He is earning a full Intro.. to Logic credit this year. He has completed The Fallacy Detective and The Thinking Toolbox, both by the Bluedorns. Now he's working through The Art of Argument book and listening to the DVD that goes with it. We watch the DVD together and discuss each fallacy. He works through the book independently. He does all of the writing. Yes, it is mostly short answer or short paragraphs, but in the next month or so he will finish that and work through the Argument Builder book. That book will have him applying what he has learned and at that point I will assign lengthier writing projects if needed, but I'm not sure yet if it will be needed as I haven't looked through it very well yet. My 6th grader has enjoyed The Fallacy Detective and The Thinking Toolbox as read alouds. He could do them independently but I think he benefits from the discussion. He really loves both of those books. He also sits in on the DVD for The Art of Argument. I am going to wait before having him use the text but he could probably do just fine with it now. I think he is going to love it.

My 9th grader has been studying Biblical Greek since 4th grade. He uses Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek. I don't think it's very popular here on TWTM boards but he loves it and has made great progress with it. He likes that it is easy for him to use without waiting on me to help him as it is written to the student. It includes a lot of repetition in the early books and delays grammar until book 4. I think he will be well prepared for his college Greek classes. He will be attending a Christian college, so the Biblical Greek was an appropriate choice for him and he was especially interested in it since it's the Greek of the Bible. He has been almost completely independent with it.

My sixth grader is using that Sonlight core now. We are only a month into it. I had planned to have my 9th grader sit in on it, beef up the reading, and have him do ALL of the Eastern Hemisphere Explorer pages. We have the old pages and they are quite detailed. But, I just wasn't sure if even all that was enough for a half credit. He is also studying Modern World History now and there are quite a few topics that he is studying or will be studying that would fit in to the focus of that Sonlight Core (like all the isms... communism, socialism, etc.) but I'm still not sure if it is "enough". I will need to find higher level reading material for him. The books are GREAT but not high school level. I think the Explorer pages are though and he does read ALL of the accompanying articles from the World Book Encyclopedia. Still not sure if it is enough for High School.

Thanks! I think we may get it. We haven't used many textbooks over the years. I think it may be good to use one for this subject though. I need something that is easy to use. Have you ever used it? I am wondering if the units can be arranged in the order that we want to cover them in, rather than as laid out in the book.

I am looking for a High School level World Geography curriculum that my 9th grader can use to earn a half credit. Looking for something he can complete in four or five months. I would especially like it if the course focused on the Eastern Hemisphere and included cultural information while remaining strong in Geography. I am considering Oak Meadow even though it's not a half credit course. Any suggestions?

Hello! I haven't checked in on the chat board in quite awhile, but wanted to share this awesome, amazing news with you all! Some of you may know that last Christmas we hosted a child through an orphan hosting program. We had never participated in an orphan hosting program before and didn't really intend to adopt. But, it was a wonderful experience. We hosted her again this summer and will be hosting her the third time this Christmas. She is from Ukraine and has lived in the orphanage for five years. We have never adopted before and it has all been quite scary, but we have managed to get through the home study and have now completed our dossier. Our petition to adopt will be filed in Ukraine in early January and we expect to travel next March. I have been reading a lot of books about attachment and how to parent these brave, hurt children. She is very brave. We love her to pieces. I don't really know what else to do to prepare for this enormous change that will impact our family forever. I hope I can home-school her but I am open to sending her to a brick and mortar if she would be happier with the group learning. She is 12, and does have her own opinions about everything! She is very smart and though she doesn't speak much English we did see a huge leap in her English speaking skills this summer. I would love curriculum suggestions or just to hear from any of you who have adopted internationally.

I am! My 9th grader will start WWS 2 in about two months. He still has a little work to do in WWS 1 first. We floundered around for a long time as we tried to find a writing curriculum that made sense to him. We "made do" but nothing clicked with him like WWS. I am going to cover Essay Writing and the Research Paper with other materials. But, whatever else we do over the next few years, he will continue with WWS. He is doing a lot of writing across the curriculum now and I am SO VERY thankful for the progress he has made with WWS. I am of the "whatever works, do that" mentality at this point. We just spent far too long trying to find an approach that worked!!

Blah. What a distressing thread! I got four hours of sleep last night. Woke up extra early after literally dreaming of a modern world history course for my upcoming 9th grader. I have looked at everything and nothing feels right. The books are too much. He is a strong reader. He loves history. However, I am not comfortable with some of the topics covered in these years. Not ready to read books with sexual innuendos and references to rape, prostitution, adultery. Yuck. My husband has forbidden us to read Hemingway in 9th grade. I think we are prudish here. I don't know. Oh, never mind... I think we will go with a beefed up 8th grade list instead. Seriously. Hopefully he won't be ruined.

Just wanted to pop in and thank you guys for your input!! Our NEW copy of FUFI arrived this week-end!! :hurray: I don't buy brand new resources very often, so that alone was a treat! Wow, I love it! It arrived on Saturday and my 11 year old is ready to start this Monday. I am a little nervous because we have never used a unit study before. I think I will be o.k. as long as I can get in the habit of looking ahead to make sure we have the supplies and other books we need for the lessons. I am really excited! I think this will be a big chunk of my 6th graders day. I plan to allow my 9th grader to sit in as a tag-along and pick his own "adventures" as he has the time and interest. That will be fun, I think, because it is usually my younger son that's the tag along! It would be nice if the guide included one list of all of the other books that are recommended through the study. All I can find is an Additional Resources Recommended list that has the four titles that are most often referred to listed. No mention of the extras like Treasure Island that is referred to in Chapter 1. But, there are the handy lists of things to gather in the Planning Guides. I am going to go through those lists and begin gathering those titles. Well, thanks again!

I don't know if the quote is correct. I read a statement she posted that said that a student who completes three levels of WWS would be as well prepared for writing in college as 90% of the students. I can't give you a link for that statement, but I do believe that is what she meant by the 90%.

Wow, thanks so much to each of you who took the time to respond. Each response has helped me to look at this situation with different eyes. I really did not realize that it wouldn't be a problem if he started 9th grade in October or November. I guess my main question really was what impact it would have on his future college admission if we moved to a January to January school year rather than an August to August. I don't know if that matters or not, as far as applying for and being accepted into college. We have always schooled pretty much year round but have only had to turn in our days for a typical 9 month school year. I know our local community college will admit students any semester. I just wasn't sure how a more competitive school admissions department would view a January to January school year. I do totally agree that his grieving process has been different than mine. Honestly, it is me that needs a break, but it's not from teaching! It's from planning and decision-making, and the pressure of feeling behind. Thanks so much! It will work out. I am thankful to be able to ask questions here. This board has been a huge support to us since he was a PKer!

Thank you so much for your input Nscribe! He will continue with the math. I mean, he will probably continue with everything! Maybe it's not as important where he is at when he begins 9th as where he finishes. I think my idea to delay HS is more of a psychological thing for me than a practicality for him. I want to have time this summer for him to read books that are not scheduled in his curriculum. For example, he just started The Hobbit and wants to read all of that series. I told him he could cut back on his reading on his Sonlight core and he said that was what he loves most about school! I think he could finish everything in time to begin 9th in late August, but I am not sure if that is best or not. I want him to have time to go to the city pool, ride his bike, read books of his own choosing, etc. I want him to have a challenging HS experience. I know he can and will grow into that, but I'm feeling so unsettled about staring at his first year of HS when he really needs a few more months to finish the things he is currently doing. I know he isn't doing HS level work right now but with a little more time he will be able to thrive. Maybe I should just see how the summer goes and then make a decision closer to the fall. I am just so ready for a real break. He is very capable of independent work. I think he needs a break too though. My school admin. recommended that we go ahead and start HS but let him take a half credit for Modern History when he completes the Sonlight core. But, that doesn't help much with the math and science.

Hi! I have shared in other threads about the situation that we are in as my oldest son prepares to enter HS next year. Long story short... we lost some time this year as our family dealt with the very sad reality of two critically ill family members and their eventual deaths this spring after much suffering. My son is smart and usually a hard worker, but there were many days when he couldn't complete particular things because he was either dealing with his own emotions, giving me the space to process my emotions, or we were visiting our family or care-taking. I do not want him to head into HS feeling behind and defeated before he has even started! So, I have come up with a few options that I am rolling over in my brain during those brief times when my brain is not mush. I am considering delaying the start of 9th grade until January. This would give him time to complete the rest of his Pre-algebra curriculum, finish reading the last couple of months of his Sonlight core (core H), finish the last couple of months of work in his science (Apologia's Physical Science), and have a much needed break during June, July, and the first couple of weeks of August. We would not normally take such a long summer break, but I need it and I think he needs it, though I am sure he will continue to make some progress this summer. I just don't want him to HAVE to do so. And, we will be hosting our hopefully future daughter for five weeks this summer with the intention to go to Ukraine this fall for up to eight weeks for her adoption. I think if we delay beginning HS rather than push to be ready in the late summer or early fall that he will be stronger in many ways; academically and emotionally. I think this will be a benefit to him. But, I want to consider the ramifications of this choice on his future. Are there any negatives that I may have overlooked? I have discussed this option with my school administrator and she said it would be fine. She didn't seem to think it was a problem at all. I think this decision may bother my son. He is a perfectionist who wants to do everything just right. I think he will see this as a failure on his part when it absolutely is not. So, I do plan to be sensitive to his thoughts and feelings, but I think this is the best choice for us to make so he can go into HS ready for 1) algebra 2) HS level Biology and 3) the integration of a new sister into the family. I would like to know if this is a big, huge, yes-you-are-ruining-his-future deal! FWIW, he wants to be a Marine Biologist and will probably attend a small private Christian college near our home that has a wonderful Marine Science program. This has been his dream since he was three years old, and I'm not exaggerating! That's one reason that I want him to have a minimum of Algebra1 for HS.

Thank you, Moon! Yes, he would definately be reading a lot of other books! I am just wondering how to include him in FUFI, if at all. He could just be a tag along, but I know the dynamics of our home and if his brother is doing something that is very interesting he will want to be included. The problem that I run into with them is that they end up wanting to do one another's work in addition to their own, so their days are too long and we don't get as far along as I have planned. At almost exactly three years apart in age, I find they are interested in one another's work but still have needs at their own levels that we need to meet.