Shellydon Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 I would love suggestions for middle grades for children who are going to be homeschooled for 6th, 7th and 8th only. My oldest is 5th, so I am not familar with these grade levels yet. I have a number of friends that want to homeschool for junior high only and often ask me for suggestions. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauracolumbus Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 Analytical Grammar is a great way to get caught up on grammar in a short period of time. My dd12 (6th) and ds 13 (8th) completed all three parts this year. Math: we've used Saxon and LOF. My youngest is using MM, but it only goes up to 6th. I love it. Logic: Case of Red Herrings, Thinking Toolbox, and Traditional Logic Geography: Runkles, in upper grades. Science: BFSU has a middle school program, but you should probably do the K-2 program as well. DS did Rainbow Science this year. It's a great program for 6-8. Another great program is Joy Hakim's Story of Science Writing: WWS, IEW Vocab: CE I and II. Latin: LC, FFL, Wheelock's. History: Follow WTM recs or HO, Hakim has an American History series, which can take up several years. We've used All American History in one year w/Teaching Company dvds. Literature: We just read. Might try LLotR or the 7th grade program next year (sorry name escapes me). Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauracolumbus Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 Oh, I forgot we did Figuratively Speaking for literary analysis. Fabulous little curriculum. Laur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 I would have your friends think about what they want their child to be able to do by 9th grade and work backwards from there... For instance... they might want them to be able to: Write an essay? Type? Have good handwriting? Spell really well? Know where different countries are located on a map? Know about US History? World history? Know about their religion? Know about other religions? Know how to read in Latin? Some other language? The list could go on... Then I'd have them consider where their child is now, what type of learner he/she is, what type of teacher the parent is, what budget they have, whether they want books from religious publishers... And then it would be a lot easier to find programs or books for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellydon Posted May 19, 2012 Author Share Posted May 19, 2012 Analytical Grammar is a great way to get caught up on grammar in a short period of time. My dd12 (6th) and ds 13 (8th) completed all three parts this year. Math: we've used Saxon and LOF. My youngest is using MM, but it only goes up to 6th. I love it. Logic: Case of Red Herrings, Thinking Toolbox, and Traditional Logic Geography: Runkles, in upper grades. Science: BFSU has a middle school program, but you should probably do the K-2 program as well. DS did Rainbow Science this year. It's a great program for 6-8. Another great program is Joy Hakim's Story of Science Writing: WWS, IEW Vocab: CE I and II. Latin: LC, FFL, Wheelock's. History: Follow WTM recs or HO, Hakim has an American History series, which can take up several years. We've used All American History in one year w/Teaching Company dvds. Literature: We just read. Might try LLotR or the 7th grade program next year (sorry name escapes me). Laura Fabulous, thank you! I am getting a huge number of emails and phone calls these days about homeschooling the grades I haven't done and I just don't have enough information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellydon Posted May 19, 2012 Author Share Posted May 19, 2012 I would have your friends think about what they want their child to be able to do by 9th grade and work backwards from there... For instance... they might want them to be able to: Write an essay? Type? Have good handwriting? Spell really well? Know where different countries are located on a map? Know about US History? World history? Know about their religion? Know about other religions? Know how to read in Latin? Some other language? The list could go on... Then I'd have them consider where their child is now, what type of learner he/she is, what type of teacher the parent is, what budget they have, whether they want books from religious publishers... And then it would be a lot easier to find programs or books for them. Good ideas, thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellydon Posted May 19, 2012 Author Share Posted May 19, 2012 Oh, I forgot we did Figuratively Speaking for literary analysis. Fabulous little curriculum. Laur I am going to check this out for my oldest. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiramisu Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 I started hsing in 6th. She could have decided to go to dh's high school, but decided to continue on at home. What do I wish I had done differently in middle school? Intensely focused on the skill areas like grammar, spelling, writing, and math and done the content areas very lightly and interest-led. If I had one that would definitely go to a brick and mortar high school, I would also hit religion hard, but in an enjoyable way, knowing she'd never get as much of it from my perspective again.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 WTM has recommendations for each of those grades and will reflect a broad spread of solid options that might appeal to people (3 math programs, 3 grammar programs, etc.). If you just pick one, you're likely to recommend something that becomes a very expensive flop. In the lower grades stuff is a $15 FLL1/2, that sort of thing. In junior high everything is suddenly in multiples of $100, ouch. So I would refer them to WTM or suggest a grade level of BJU. BJU is particularly good for those grades, so it would be an easy slide-in, something the mom can easily implement, and something that will have them transferring back to school with the traditional topics covered the dc will need. I think it's also cool to go eclectic for junior high (unit studies like LLfLoTR or Where Brook and River Meet or the Pilgrim's Progress unit from AIG or geography with the Trail Guides), but really at that point the mom needs to be researching and figuring that out for herself. That's not really a question you can answer for her. However it's a question you can toss out for her to consider, whether she's looking for something really traditional (BJU online, the whole grade level) or whether she's looking for a really out of the box option. So you're not so much telling them what they need as helping them recognize it when they find it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorMom Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 You could use Trisms History Masterminds for ALL of them. You'd have to add math, and I added more science. Great program for middle school. Easy to make it harder/easier based on grade level, and you cover world history from 6500 BC to the present. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellydon Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 You could use Trisms History Masterminds for ALL of them. You'd have to add math, and I added more science.Great program for middle school. Easy to make it harder/easier based on grade level, and you cover world history from 6500 BC to the present. Thanks for this, I hadn't heard of Trisms History. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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