As we enter into our 9th year of homeschooling I don’t think selecting curriculum has become any easier. While we have discovered the things that don’t work for us, it is still difficult sometimes to find what does work. And this year, because I only have one left homeschooling, I have looked for curricula that works best when schooling one. So this year we are trying some ‘new-to-us’ items and some things that we know work great for my daughter’s learning style. Here is what is planned for her Sophmore year of high school:
Bible, English, and History–Notgrass Exploring America: History, Literature, and Faith-Love that this one curriculum intertwines multiple subjects.
English (Grammar)–Easy Grammar Ultimate Series-Grade 10
English (Spelling)–Spelling Depot software where I can create my own spelling lists using SAT words and other words that I find erroneous in her work.
Journal Writing– We are using 2 resources this year. Daily we will be using Ann Voskamps’ Count 1000 Gifts print outs (you will need to search through the posts to find the printouts for the various months) and every few days we will be using Grace is Overrated’s fun Fill in the Blanks journal pages.
Algebra 2– A Teaching Textbook Algebra 2
Physical Science–Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Physical Science (our state requires that we cover science in 3 different fields of study. My daughter already has 2 biologies (Biology and Botany) and we don’t feel we are ready for chemistry yet, so our game plan is Physical Science this year, Chemistry for 11th, and Advanced Biology (The Human Body) for 12th grade. (My daughter is interested in going into the medical field).
Spanish-Using the free PASS Spanish book as a spine adding Bible verses in Spanish and other free online sites to supplement the work focusing more on conversational Spanish and grammar.
Music Appreciation–Alfred Publishing Co.’s Accent on Composers as our spine and we are also using Homeschool in the Woods Composers Activity Pak.
Art Appreciation–Homeschool in the Woods Artists Pak will be our spine and other various resources to supplement the study. My daughter will also be learning painting skills using water colors and acrylics through various books and hopefully we will be able to get her into some art classes.
Home Ec 101– I am putting together this course. It will more than likely take a few years to cover all the topics we want to cover. These are some of our goals:
- Create a cookbook with 180 recipes that she has selected
- Plan a menu, budget, and shop for various circumstances
- Prepare recipes from cookbook
- Plan and sew a lap quilt
- Learn to crochet, knit, embroider, cross-stitch, tat, quill, and other various crafting methods
- Learn simple home repair
- Learn simple car maintenance
- Learn simple woodworking skills
- Cleaning and organizing (though my daughter is already very talented at this)
- Basics of filing taxes, purchasing big ticket items, and other financial skills (insurance, balancing a checkbook, basics of loan and credit, that kind of stuff)
Looking over this list, it looks like we will be having a full year. And as we go through the year and find something is just not working or that we have scheduled too much, we will adjust as needed.
Have you decided on all your subjects yet? What will you be using?
