ondreeuh Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 My son is in 6th grade this year, and I am looking ahead at high school to help plan out the junior high years. I homeschooled my daughter for 8th so I have an idea of where to start, but want to make sure we are making the most of our time before high school. English is the subject I'm working on now. He is dyslexic and this subject has taken the bulk of our time, but I am hopeful that his foundation will enable him to succeed on grade level. We have read several works of literature this year and have mapped out the story arcs (a la Teaching the Classics), but haven't really worked on literary elements yet. I am about to take a break from full-length novels and do a crash-course in PS-style Lit with the 6th grade Elements of Literature worktext in preparation for the state testing in April. He has done a lot of grammar but writing has been slow to develop. He is doing IEW's SWI-A right now and working pretty quickly through it, though my focus is more on structure than style at this point. I hope to get to Killgallon's Story Grammar for Elementary this year, which I think will be better for style anyway. I own Lightning Lit 7 & 8, so I plan to do those over the next two years. I have the books, and as many audiobooks as I could find (still working on that). I have the schedules from Core Foundations and am making a list of supplemental reading/audiobooks to at least expose him to "classic" middle and high school lit even if we don't formally use it. I have Figuratively Speaking on my radar but don't know when to use it - is it better to use it now for preparation, or wait? I also have The Elegant Essay , but I am unsure how to fit that in. LL 8 teaches the 5-paragraph essay with The Hobbit (I think) so maybe do Elegant Essay in 7th? Please tell me what you think of this plan. 7th Grade Lightning Lit 7: Stories & Poems All Creatures Great and Small The Story of My Life (Helen Keller) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Adventures of Tom Sawyer Supplemental: Where the Red Fern Grows The Outsiders The Pearl The Giver The Elegant Essay??? 8th Grade Lightning Lit 8: Stories & Poems A Christmas Carol A Day of Pleasure My Family and Other Animals Treasure Island To Kill a Mockingbird The Hobbit Supplemental: The Catcher in the Rye White Fang The Princess Bride Romeo and Juliet 9th Grade Windows to the World with Teaching the Classics Hamlet (Jill Pike recommends using To Kill a Mockingbird and Jane Eyre, but I'm thinking of using) Great Expectations Gulliver's Travels Supplemental: The Odyssey Kafka's Metamorphosis Dracula Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes The Sign of Four 10th Grade Literary Lessons from LotR (not sure as he is not really into fantasy, but with audio it might work) LotR trilogy Beowulf Arthurian legends Supplemental: (we'll be doing world history) Diary of a Young Girl The Book Thief The Good Earth Things Fall Apart The Help 11th Grade Lightning Lit American Lit (2 semesters) Moby Dick Benjamin Franklin Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass The Red Badge of Courage Huck Finn The Call of the Wild Uncle Tom's Cabin Supplemental: The Great Gatsby The Scarlet Letter Ethan Frome My Antonia Of Mice and Men Death of a Salesman 12th Grade Lori D.'s Sci-Fi and Gothic list ;) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Frankenstein The Time Machine The Invisible Man Animal Farm 1984 Brave New World Fahrenheit 451 Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy War of the Worlds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 I have no opinion on it, but I'll give you a bump. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 Thanks! It feels a little lonely here! I would love to hear advice about whether I've got things out of order or not, or if I need to build up a particular skill that I'm missing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 It looks like a comprehensive plan to me. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in CA Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Looks like a good plan to me. I'd like to just add, though, that many plans will change. I speak from experience here. I do always plan ahead, but it always seems to change. Our current highschool path ended up quite different from what we had originally planned. But that's okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I think it looks great! I love to have a plan :) Like Susie said, though, plans often change. Be flexible and if you find that your student isn't interested in a particular work, remember it's OK to change. There are so many "great" books out there, you're sure to find one to suit each student. We had just a few works that were required, the rest were based on our particular interests at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Well, personally, I *love* the title of your 12th grade Lit. plan. ;) As the previous posters have commented, you've got some great lists of classics for each year, and it's good to keep it "in pencil" to help you stay flexible. Truly, anything more than a year out from your current year can start changing radically, as your DS will be changing dramatically over these years. :) The only thing I would mention is that a high school English credit is usually compose of about 1/2 Lit. and 1/2 writing/composition, so you may want to be keeping an eye out to see if you need a bit more direction with the writing/composition along the way. The writing instruction in LL7 and LL8 is VERY brief -- just 1-2 pages at the end of each unit. I would NOT rely on that to carry you through middle school. Will you be continuing with IEW? Or, perhaps you may want to use something different at that point, so you don't get stuck with too "formulaic" writing... Jump In (gr. 6-9; Christian) worked well for our DS with "stealth dyslexia" (manifests in troubles with spelling and writing) while he was doing LL8. You might also try Wordsmith (gr. 6-8). Both are similar in that they are more informal, written directly to the student, gentle, and easy to implement. Jump In has more "meat" to it, but is longer. Or, once you've completed IEW, if your DS is doing well with writing, and if you think he'd be a good fit for it, you might look at SWB's Writing With Ease series (grades (3-6) or Writing With Skill series (grades 5-8). They are much more formal programs, but they not only break down writing into steps of copying, narrating, to composing, but also include a few lessons in literary analysis). I linked random levels, so be sure to use the diagnostic test to determine placement. You'll get good instruction on how to write a literary analysis essay, plus exercises and writing assignments, in Windows to the World, which is great to do right about when you have scheduled it. With the Jill Pike syllabus, that should be a nice full year of Lit. and Writing. Elegant Essay is a good for in the later high school years, for honing writing skills, after Windows to the World. Many people outsource with an online class for composition for one of the high school years. For example, Laurel Tree Tutorials are expensive, but highly rated on these boards... If you find you need a bit more hand-holding with the writing and assignment ideas to go with your literature in the high school years, you might check out the Excellence in Literature series. You also may want to include other types of writing instruction/practice in the high school years: - the research paper with citations, in MLA or APA or other required format - practice of timed essays from past SAT essay prompts - reader response paper (assignment in many college writing and lit courses) - speech/debate (hones persuasive writing, supporting contention with facts, hook attention, etc.) - college admission and scholarship essays - resume - business types of writing (letters of inquiry, recommendation, complaint; explanation of process; news article; etc.) Not mentioning all this to overwhelm you, as you have a nice plan. Just ideas for future reference, in case you want more ideas. ;) Welcome to planning high school! Warmest regards, Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angie in VA Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 If I didn't already have such a long signature, I'd add this: To save me time please imagine that I have clicked "Like This" on every post Lori D. has ever written. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 If I didn't already have such a long signature, I'd add this: To save time please imagine that I have clicked "Like This" on every post Lori D. has ever written. :lol: :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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