Long gone are the days when I would have all my homeschool planning done at the beginning of summer and write these posts out way in advance. Haha! As the kids get older, our lives are so much fuller of activities and plans and travel and just talking to each other.
I don't mind, really. It is good for me to embrace letting go of doing things perfectly. Or even doing things imperfectly but on my ideal schedule.
But I thought I'd see just how quickly I could sketch out our homeschool plans for this year. First up, plans for Peter who is in 8th grade.
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English
Peter has never had a traditional English literature course yet so with high school coming, I put together something using:
- Some of the Middle School Language Arts 8 course materials from Georgia Virtual Learning [FREE]
- Essay Voyage Student Workbook by Michael Clay Thompson [$8.79 from Thriftbooks]
As a part of the course, he will be reading:
- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
- Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
We also picked spelling back up with All About Spelling level 6. He says he doesn't need it and he may be correct, so I'm going to test him on word lists from both levels 6 and 7 and see if we will retire this subject or keep going.
He will also read fiction and nonfiction books of his choosing from a booklist I have made for him.
History
Peter will read and narrate from the following books and documentaries and movies this year. If he feels ready, he will also prepare for and take the US History I CLEP exam.
- Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People, chap 5-9, continuing from previous years [$12.59 new from Amazon with multi-buy discount]
- A Young People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn, chap 7-12 continuing from previous years [$10.59 used from Amazon and purchased with a gift card]
- Now Is Your Time: The African-American Struggle for Freedom by Walter Dean Myers, chapters 6-20 continuing from previous years [$5.09 from Thriftbooks, also available on Overdrive and Hoopla]
- The Day Fort Sumter was Fired On: A Photo History of the Civil War by James Haskins [$1 book sale find]
- Dark Sky Rising: Reconstruction and the Dawn of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates Jr. [Free ebook borrow from Hoopla or Libby]
- I am a Man: Chief Standing Bear's Journey for Justice by Joe Starita [Free online here]
- A Short History of the United States by Robert V. Remini, chap 1-7 [$4.69 from Thriftbooks]
Documentaries/Movies:
Science
Peter will use these materials to study biology and prepare to take the Biology CLEP exam:
- Modern States Biology Course [FREE]
He will also complete a self-paced robotics course with his younger brother using:
- Intro to Robotic Engineering [$29 using basic teachers course]
- Makeblock mBot Robot Kit [$63.59 on Prime Day - still has a good coupon now]
And participate in a once-a-month robotics competition club at a local children's museum.
Math
Peter spent 4 weeks this summer at MathPath and had a wonderful time. Because we homeschool, some of this counted toward his homeschool days for the year. This week he started:
When the course finishes in December, he will either begin work on Algebra II through CTC Math (which his siblings are using this year) or enroll in another AOPS course.
Humanities
The PA homeschool law requires 2 years of high school coursework in the arts and humanities. Since high school credits can be earned in 7th grade and up, Peter is taking care of one of the humanities credits using the materials below to prepare to take the Humanities CLEP exam:
- Modern States: Humanities [FREE]
Other
I am using these free materials to teach this course to middle and high school students in our local homeschool support group. We will meet for 2 hours twice a month and learn about budgets, bank accounts, taxes, investing, and more.
Wild + Free [$50/year]
Our year-round outdoor nature group is continuing into its 6th year. We will meet for 4-5 hours every Friday at a rural camp location for learning and enjoying the outdoors together.
Family Subjects
We will read poetry, study 6 works by three different fine artists and learn about three composers over the course of the year. We will also listen to fiction and nonfiction audiobooks in the car and read aloud at lunch. Some of these selections are already planned and others will just happen along the way.
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