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What are you using next year for your middle schoolers?


funnygirl
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After reading Heathermomster's history thread, I wondered if y'all would be willing to share any firm decisions you've made for 6th, 7th, or 8th grade next year.

 

We will stick with ALEKS math; DD will likely be finished with pre-Algebra and move on to Algebra I.

 

She is enjoying VPSP NTGR so far (she's only been at it for a couple of weeks.) If she continues to thrive with it we will move on to MARR.

 

I am using The Writer's Jungle/Bravewriter Lifestyle and REALLY liking it, but we have yet to incorporate much of the day-to-day ideas into her routine. Hopefully we'll be sticking with it, as I really like the premise.

 

I have Mosdos Gold Literature which I love, but she's not ready for it at the moment. I'm hoping she'll be more ready in the fall. It would be perfect for 8th grade.

 

We will continue working on EF skills with the Linguisystems workbook.

 

WHAT I NEED: I'd like to start formal logic (DD can argue a blue streak; might as well teach her how to do it!) I need a secular science curriculum (I prefer to supplement my own theology.) I need to make a decision about formal Spanish (We live in San Antonio; it's pretty much a bilingual city.) I'd like to have a plan for Geography. I'd also like something that I could pull out to do formal art once in a while.

 

Okay, ladies. I'm all ears! :bigear:

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McDougal Littell Life Science for 7th grade. I'm hoping to supplement with a Van Cleave book and a book called Creepy Crawlies and the Scientific Method. There may be a worm dissection in our future and slides looking at onion roots, paramecium, and whatever else we can find. The future is wide open with the microscope at the moment. It's my dream at least.

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With my upcoming 6th grader:

 

Definitely using:

MUS Epsilon

Barton Reading & Spelling

FLL 4

Abeka grade 5 Science with Audio from Learning Ally( I am @ 90% sure on this)

 

On the fence:

WWE 4

IEW Ancient History Wrriting

TOG year 1 UG using audio books Or

VPSP OT/AE Or

Textbook with audio

 

Upcoming 2nd grader:

 

Definitely using:

CLE Math 2

Barton Reading & Spelling

FLL 2

WWE 2 (He might need to wait until he is further along with reading)

RS4K Chem & Biology

 

On the fence:

TOG year 1 LG Or

VPSP OT/AE Or

SOTW 1

Edited by Quiver0f10
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For grades 7 & 8 here is my tentative plan for next year. Everything is subject to change if anything changes in the kids behaviours/abilities/therapies etc

 

Geography: Ellen McHenry's Mapping the world through art

History & Literature: COntinue with what we are doing now (currently doing SL Core D, 1/2 of core 100 and Canadian history, along with Time Travelers CDROMS we will just keep pluggin along and start Core E when we get to it)

Math: Jump Math 5.2 (we are starting 5.1 next week) and 6.1 As well as continuing through the LoF elementary books and starting on fractions. MUS will continue to be used as a supplement, we should be into the Delta book by then

Writing: Meaningful composition 4+ (book II) and WWE level 3

Grammar: Not sure yet, leaving MCT, though the kids enjoy it there is no real retention

Spelling: DS will continue working on words as they pop up in his work, dd should be into AAS level 3 by then

Penmanship: BOth will continue learning cursive with HWOT

Typing:not sure what program yet but it will get done

Vocab & Poetry: MCT

Science: Physical science using kits, lapbooks, and living books. If I can swing it I will get exploration education instead but I already have everything else to do plan A

Fine Arts: Artistic Pursuits, Homeschool in the woods lapbooks for composers and artists, possibly private music lessons if I can afford them

Logic: undecided between MP traditional logic 1 and Introduction to logic

Foreign Language: we may or may not do this, it all depends on how the kids therapies etc are going. If we do we will do either LC1 or First form latin, mission monde for french and hey andrew teach me some greek.

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For my 6th grade, highly visual "right-brain" learner:

Math: oh, you said firm decisions. Nope. Maybe Key To series. Maybe PACES.

Literature: BJU As Full As the World and Worktext (picking and choosing and providing lots of extra visual aids). Somewhere in there also use Evan Moor Literature Pockets Tall Tales grades 4-6.

Reading: Reading lots of grade-level books. About 30 minutes each day. No questions. Just enjoying.

Grammar: Language Smarts D. Possibly followed by Abeka God's Gift of Language A.

Composition: Winning with Writing 2

Handwriting: Reason for Handwriting F. Followed by Classically Cursive Book 4 to hopefully transition to writing smaller.

Vocabulary: Super Duper Inc.'s Core Curriculum Vocabulary Cards Level 3. Followed by Scholastic Vocabulary Cartoons grades 4-6.

Spelling: Spectrum 6 - lists only, no written work except spelling test.

Health: Abeka 6 - reading only

Map Skills: Maps Charts Graphs D and E.

Science: Interest led. Magnets for sure. And illustrated books on magnets.

Bible Study: Veritas Press Old Testament cards.

Reading Comprehension Test-Taking Skills: Comprehension Plus B

History: Heritage Studies 3 and 4, maybe 5. Supplemented by Netflix.

Spanish: Salsa (online) (by Georgia PBS)

Latin: Cambridge 1 continued

Social Skills: Art of Conversation for grades 4+ by Didax

Various educational computer sites.

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I will have two in middle school next year, yikes. ODS will be in 8th grade. He doesn't have a label but shows some dyslexic traits as well as signs of dyscalculia and dysgraphia, though his handwriting is night and day from where it was even eighteen months ago. He struggles mightily with executive functioning. DD will be in fifth, so her first year of middle school. I can't say I think she is SN, she is just highly anxious. She has a completely irrational fear of getting an answer wrong or having to re-do something. So with her I'm just trying to keep it simple.

 

Right now we are using a FIAR approach and it is working well. I plan to continue that next year. I have found that adding good supporting books and projects helps beef up the material, so even if the book they row is a bit below them they still learn (and they tend to need to be a bit below their comprehension level in order to read the book to themselves and not be so frustrated they give up.) Through this approach we are getting history, grammar lite, geography lite, vocabulary, and occasionally science lite.

 

Math - not a clue. Seriously. ODS is decidedly not mathy. We are still working on place value, converting decimals to fractions, and the like. Some days he gets it, other days not. DD is much more capable but this is also the subject she is most likely to become so paralyzed by the fear of being wrong that she can answer anything.

 

Science - we are going super simple. I can't do it all, they came out of ps very behind where I feel they could be in the 3 Rs. I'm not going to sweat science too much. We will search out fun experiments, read books and magazines about science stuff, and hit on whatever science presents itself in our unit studies.

 

History - covered in unit studies. Contemplating throwing in SOTW CDs just for a bit extra.

 

Foreign Language - the kids think Spanish. I would prefer Latin, mostly because I aced Latin and flunked Spanish in high school LOL I'm thinking a very laid back approach to vocabulary from classical roots might be a good middle ground. Again, we need the basics far more than a foreign language at this point.

 

Reading - unit studies as above

 

I'm also planning to do some executive functioning strengthening activities with them both. For ODS, we are hoping to get an exam to evaluate the need for visual therapy.

 

Our district, at least, doesn't put tons of emphasis on geography/foreign language/anything above general science until high school. History is laughable all the way through. I figure if I get their 3 Rs up to speed, let them do interest led science, introduce any foreign language/history at all, they will be getting better than we could have hoped for in ps. They will also not be at a disadvantage (here) should they choose to enroll in the local ps high school.

Edited by Gingerbread Mama
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Considering we are just began our second semester in Feb, I am not hardly thinking about what we will do next! However, 8th grade may be the last year I homeschool ds (sniff! He wants to try out school! Wow! Who knew 8 years of homeschooling would go by in the blink of an eye!)

 

For my dyslexic, dysgraphic 8th grader.

 

math- Calvert 8th Grade (will decide whether it is algebra closer to end of spring--likely will be algebra)

 

Science- Middle school Physical Science taught at Homeschool Resource Center by certificated teacher

 

History- maybe Veritas Press Early Modern Level 2; we have done Level 2 Middle Ages this year and I will evaluate at the end of the year with ds to determine if we want to continue in this series. Otherwise, I will likely consider k12 Human Odyssey.

 

Foreign Language-ASl 102- again at homeschool resource center (obtaining college credits! Hurray!!!!)

 

Literature- We have enjoyed Lightning Lit this year. Who knows!

 

Writing- I think we are (finally!) ready to just interleave instruction into history, literature and science. Probably instruction as it arises.

 

Engineering-ds enjoyed competing with his team at the homeschool resource center so we will likely do this class again

 

Reading-ds reads at least an hour a day for pleasure

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7th grader with writing difficulties

 

Math: CLE Math- finish 700 level and assess alebra 1 options

 

Writing: WWS- continue and move on to next level when pubished; may play around with Jump In or enroll in Seton Reading for practice with literary analysis essays

 

Literature: Worthwhile read-alouds with dh; independent reading; Seton Reading?

 

Latin: Third Form

 

Grammar: may proceed with the next Seton workbook since she likes it

 

Religion: for read aloud & discussion: Baltimore Catechism, 2nd part; Schuster's Bible History, New Testament; saint stories

 

The above is what we are serious about. What follows is gravy. If we overdo it, things can start to fall apart, so we will conserve our energy for the good stuff.

 

Science: whatever she wants; low stress; fun coop class?

 

History: whatever she wants; low stress; just reading; perhaps just once a week unless it's something she really likes

 

Geography: thinking about Around the World in 180 days as she likes doing research

 

Piano: if we find another teacher ;)

Edited by NJKelli
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For 7th grade ds next year

MATH:

Teaching Textbooks 7

 

ENGLISH:

Grammar - Continue doing Rod & Staff orally and with whiteboards with younger sister

Spelling - Megawords

Writing? - Contemplating IEW's Ancient-History Based Writing Lessons. Not sure what would be best after using Wordsmith Apprentice this year. He loves the reality-based practicality of the newspaper premise. Probably IEW. :willy_nilly:

 

SCIENCE:

Considering Rainbow Science. Or we could come up with our own stuff for

- Ecosystems

- Chemistry

- Earth's Crust

 

HISTORY:

Back to Ancients. I want to RA SOTW to dd, I plan to assign reading (Usborne, some SL fiction) to ds. Y'all have me looking at K-12's Human Odyssey which was not in my plan. At all. You're evil.

If we do IEW's AHB Writing that would tie in nicely.

 

GERMAN:

Das Ist Deutsch

 

BIBLE

RA

 

ART

Not sure. How To Teach Art To Children is working out better this year than I thought, though that means we still have Mark Kistler's Draw Squad to finish up

 

PE

soccer + active living

Edited by KathyBC
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I need a secular science curriculum
Look what I found. This woman is a Rock Star!! I came across this thread for CPO Life science yesterday and wanted to share.

 

There is a free online PDF book and lab manual. The CPO book is laid out far better than my McDougal-Littell text. I may use CPO instead. I'm going to wait and brew on it for awhile.

Edited by Heathermomster
CPO Science
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My DS will be in 6th grade next school year. He has severe dyslexia.

 

The plan is to school year round so we will just keep on doing what we are doing and move onto the next level. We are going to concentrate on reading, writing, and math, doing these subjects everyday. We will try and squeeze everything else in. My main goal is to get him reading fluently. Once his reading is up to speed I know other subjects will be easier for him. He's worked so hard and came so far since we pulled him out of public school. :)

 

MATH

TT6 & TT7 He's already started TT6 and I think he'll be moving onto TT7 in November.

 

ENGLISH

Spelling - Apples & Pears B & C (He just started B)

Phonics - Dancing Bears B & C (He will be starting B next week)

Writing - WWW3

Grammar - GWG4

Vocabulary - 240 Vocabulary Words 4th Grade Kids Need To Know

Reading - 15 to 20 minutes per day, we are just starting to follow some of the wonderful ideas from Reading Rescue 1-2-3

GEOGRAPHY

The Geography Book

 

HISTORY

SOTW 2

 

SCIENCE - We have a bunch of science books and will do a mix of different things.

Giant Science

Hands on Science Mysteries

365 Simple Science Experiments With Everyday Materials

Usborne Science Encyclopedia

Edited by Shellers
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Look what I found. This woman is a Rock Star!! I came across this thread for CPO Life science yesterday and wanted to share.

 

There is a free online PDF book and lab manual. The CPO book is laid out far better than my McDougal-Littell text. I may use CPO instead. I'm going to wait and brew on it for awhile.

 

Yes she is! I'm most likely using that for our science. I even sent the PDF to my rocket scientist friend for review because we struggled with science curriculum so much last year. She's blessed it as thorough, so I doubt I'll look further.

 

We only started homeschooling in the middle of last year, so we're playing catch up in the core areas.

 

Language Arts - R&S 6; Apples & Pears Spelling C

Math - MUS - Not sure what level; it depends on how much further we get this year; we've completed Alpha through Gamma this year so far.

Handwriting - continued practice with HWOT Cursive

Logic - Discovery of Deduction

 

I know we're doing early American history but I haven't finalized the book choices.

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Still struggling. He will technically be 9th grade next year, but we will most likely do mostly 8th grade subjects except for math.

 

Math- TT

 

Everything else- whatever he can do independently without too much help. We are butting heads hourly around here and I am sick of it and can't take it anymore. He either does something on his own or he goes to school. It drains the life out of me to try to teach him. I ordered some Lifepacs and ACE PAces and he is working with both to decide what he likes best. He hates CLE so recommending that won't help. I have thought of BJU teachers but school for 3-4 hours a day sends him into a tailspin, can't imagine 8 hours a day.

 

Dawn

Edited by DawnM
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Thank you.

 

Dh gets home from his business trip tonight, thank goodness.....Dh and I need to sit down and have a talk with each other and then with him.

 

We have GOT to get him tested. Right now they told me it would happen around summer. He has been on the wait list since September.

 

If it doesn't happy by summer I will pay for it. It has to be done.

 

EVERYTHING I give him is met with comments......this is stupid. why do I have to do this? I already know this. Oh great, this AGAIN? That is followed by chicken scratch and heavy pencil marks that he can't erase so that he can get out of doing it.

 

Dawn

 

:grouphug: to you Dawn.
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  • 3 weeks later...

7th grade....Lord, help me...

 

Reading--6-8 texts that coincide with Ancient History

 

History- History Odyssey Level 2 Ancients, with Oxford Press books, and K12Vol1 for back up

 

Science -- CPO Life Science with a ton of supplementation and labs

 

Math-- Math Mammoth supplement with Dolciani Pre-Algebra

 

Writing- WWE3, Killgallon Sentence Composing for Middle School

 

Grammar-Analytical Grammar (never tried diagramming before; hoping this works)

 

Logic- Mind Benders

 

Vocabulary - Vocab from Classical Root

 

Tutoring---Wilson tutor twice per week

 

Music- Trumpet lessons and hopefully performance band once per week.

 

Bible- Memoria Press Vol 2

 

Wish me luck people...I need to acquire a microscope and the lab materials and then I'll almost be ready...My history ref library is looking pretty amazing at the moment and there are books everywhere.

Edited by Heathermomster
I wasn't homeschooled...
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This looks great, Heathermomster! I'm jealous!!

 

I've got to make a new decision about History, as dd isn't liking VPSP. I need to do more than just SOTW.

 

Still have lots of other decisions to make as well. I recently purchased Fallacy Detective to try out for Logic. She seemed to enjoy perusing it, so I've got my fingers crossed.

 

I love the science program you found, but I wonder if I would do better with an "all in one box" type program, like Noeo. I tend to think if I had the stuff on hand I would be more inclined to get it done. On the other hand if it all just sits in the box then I've wasted my money. Hmmm....

 

I'd love to hear what books you have planned for Reading! Care to share?

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I'd love to hear what books you have planned for Reading! Care to share?

These books are a part of the HO level 2 reading list, and I haven't picked these up yet.

 

Tales of Ancient Egypt by Roger Lancelyn Green

 

The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

 

The Children’s Homer by Padraic Colum

 

Greek Myths by Olivia Coolidge (I picked this up by another author.)

 

Theras and His Town by Caroline Dale Snedeker

 

Caesar’s Gallic War by Olivia Coolidge (This books looks extremely difficult and I may select something else about Caesar)

 

I'm hoping to download Japanese Folk Tales and other WTM recommendations.

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