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Thoughts on This Years Plans Please (6th & 8th)


momcoleman
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Ok, I have put together this next years work.  Can I get some input on if this seems ok, to much, not enough or options/opinions on possible changes.  All ideas are appreciated and welcomed!  I am brain dead this year, really I am.  I am coming off of last year when I stepped back and took a break for myself and put them in an online program that both them and me hated with a passion.  This year I plan to get back to where we love being and following (roughly) the well trained mind way of thinking.  Thank you in advance!

 

My 6th grader...

 

Math - Saxon 7/6 (he is ahead in math and loves the subject)

 

American History using Sonlights full US History program (I have the lesson plans for the 100 and plan on getting the books from the library to go with it)

 

US Geography to go with History (no ideas here yet, I will put it together as I go probably)

 

Language Arts Block -  Vocab from Classical Roots

Writing Strands

Rockets, Radar, & Robotics (IEW, will use part time as something different not a main part of the subject)

Progressing with Courage Set from Rod & Staff (I think)

 

**big question here is will this cover vocab, grammar, writing if its mixed and matched, not all done daily of course**

 

Science - We will be going back over all the elementary Apologia books during the year in preparation for General Science next year, he will also be helping his older brother do the experiments for Physical Science

 

Other than foreign language what am I missing....any ideas of electives that are cheap or free to do through?

 

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My 8th grader...

 

Math - Saxon 8/7 (he is slower in math because he refuses to apply himself)

 

American History using Sonlights full US History program (see above note)

 

US Geography to go with the history

 

Language Arts Block - Vocab from Classical Roots

Writing Strands

Life Science Writing Lessons from IEW (same as above just part time for something different)

Preparing for Usefulness

 

Science - Physical Science from Apologia with labs/experiments

 

Same stuff as above, would love some fun electives to get in on too.

 

We also read, they do one book of their choice and one of my choice a week and we have a lot of fun with it.  Sometimes we do books and movies and discuss the differences.

 

 

Why do I feel like this is so off the mark?  Help...

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I don't think it looks far off the mark at all.  I don't have personal experience with SL100, so I don't know what kind of "output" it will have them doing.... but I'm wondering if you could kill two birds with one stone by using IEW's Theme Based American History writing book (either one - the 2nd one is actually quite a step up from some of the other theme based writing books), instead of the ones you have chosen which don't seem to particularly tie in to their other studies?  (Of course, if you're choosing them to be a "fun" extra, I understand that too.)

 

 

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My 8th grade dd has the same basic schedule. Even her one elective matches up with your schedule. :) We started two weeks ago and her schedule feels very full and academically appropriate.

 

Prealgebra

Physical Science

American History

American Literature

English 8

Spanish I

Elective - Intro to Screenwriting (includes lots of movie watching, book/movie comparisons and some writing)

 

She also has multiple extracurricular activities involving drama and music. 

 

 

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My 8th grade dd has the same basic schedule. Even her one elective matches up with your schedule. :) We started two weeks ago and her schedule feels very full and academically appropriate.

 

Prealgebra

Physical Science

American History

American Literature

English 8

Spanish I

Elective - Intro to Screenwriting (includes lots of movie watching, book/movie comparisons and some writing)

 

She also has multiple extracurricular activities involving drama and music.

Do you have a program for the screenwriting or did you make it yourself? This is something dd13 would love.

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I just do mine myself.  If you google for movies from books you can get a ton of lists, I even found a zombie book to movie list LOL.  We all read the book, then we discuss it openly, then we watch the movie (with popcorn and laid back fun), then we talk about how the book and movie were different.  I ask questions like "Did the characters in the movie look like what you imagined when you read the book?  Why or why not?", and so on.  It is a lot of fun and a great way to spend some time together having fun, and some good brain work too.  If you wanted to go further you could add in doing a book report and a movie report too.  It is fun to customize.  I plan on going back and doing a progression of movies starting from silent film and moving up to the present.

 

I am glad others think my plan is decent, I was worried.  I always worry LOL.

 

What are you using for Spanish Melissa B?

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For Spanish we are using Breaking the Barrier Spanish I.  It is a good fit, as some of the lesson questions deal with current culture (current actors and actresses and such) which appeals to dd and keeps her interested.  She did have two years of jr. high Spanish.  I'm not sure whether it is the best program for beginning Spanish. It moves fast and assumes some things.  But that may simply be because it is high school level. 

 

For Intro to Screenwriting we are using Movies as Literature and Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense (Drama unit only.) She adds additonal material on her own.  She plans to be a theater/film studies major in college.

 

Next year she wants to tackle Connect the Thoughts: Master Screenwriter program for Screenwriting I.  I may turn that into a two year program.

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Language Arts Block -  Vocab from Classical Roots

Writing Strands

Rockets, Radar, & Robotics (IEW, will use part time as something different not a main part of the subject)

Progressing with Courage Set from Rod & Staff (I think)

 

**big question here is will this cover vocab, grammar, writing if its mixed and matched, not all done daily of course**

 

. . .

 

any ideas of electives that are cheap or free to do through?

 

I think your plans look great!  Maybe your kids have already had plenty of grammar instruction in prior years, but is grammar covered in the materials you have listed?  I'm familiar with all of them except Progressing with Courage Set from Rod & Staff, and grammar was my only thought when I read what you're planning for LA. 

 

For a free/cheap elective, my DS liked doing Scratch computer programming last year.  There's plenty to learn and do on the free Scratch website, by MIT.  You can also buy an inexpensive guidebook to go with the website, but a book isn't required. 

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