2018-2019 Year 8 Curriculum Preview

Ruben's 2018-2019 academic year is off to a great start! He is in 8th grade this year. We are six weeks into the year and the majority of his resources are working very well for him. Below is a preview of the books I chose for him this year. The list does not include things like Bible, Geography, Economics/Government, Poetry, and Fine Arts because they are covered in our Morning Time, which you can learn more about here. This lists simply includes subjects Ruben works on independently.

Character & Citizenship

Boyhood and Beyond by Bob Schultz

History

The Rainbow Book of American History by Earl Schenck Miers - This book was republished  in 2012 by Beautiful Feet Books as A Child's First Book of American History.

What in World?, Vol. 3 World Empires, World Missions, World Wars by Diana Waring - audio CD's

Language Arts

As with last year, Ruben's Language Arts ties in with his history. He is using IEW's U.S. History-Based Writing Lessons, which has a suggested literature list to accompany the study. Ruben has previously read a couple of the books listed so I will sub books where appropriate. As of now, his tentative reading list looks like this....

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare - He finished reading and loved!
Landmark The Explorations of Pere Marquette by Jim Kjelgaard - He is currently reading.
America's Paul Revere by Esther Forbes
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
(book on Lewis & Clark or Daniel Boone - still deciding)
Riders of the Pony Express by Ralph Moody
Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith
Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson -OR- Little Britches by Ralph Moody
Journey to Topaz by Yoshida Uchida - AND/OR - Landmark Air Raid-Pearl Harbor! by Theodore Taylor

I may add other books on topics after WWII, depending on time. I would also like to add a spelling program at some point in the year. I'm trying to decide between How to Teach Spelling by Rudginsky and Haskell and IEW's Phonetic Zoo. The first was a resource used by Ruben's tutor at the Children's Dyslexia Center. The second option is one that has been used by RileyAnn successfully over the past couple of years.

Natural History

The Lay of the Land by Dallas Lore Sharp

Science

Term 1 Astronomy - The Planets by Dava Sobel - along with Sabbath Mood Homeschool guide
Term 2 Physics - Secrets of the Universe by Paul Fleisher - along with Sabbath Mood Homeschool guide
Term 3 Weather - Look at the Sky by Eric Sloane - along with Sabbath Mood Homeschool guide

Math

Ruben is finishing up his current RightStart Math level from last year and has only a week or two left. I'm not sure if we will begin the next level or switch to something different. I'm slightly modifying RS and focusing on concepts rather than a particular scope and sequence. I'm heading to a Math Immersion retreat by Richele Baburnia in a couple weeks and will make a more concrete decision after that time.

Logic

Introductory Logic - Canon Press Series - The original plan was to have Ruben work through this with Riley, but I have since scratched this from his list as it was not a good fit him.

Fine Arts

In addition to the Artist Study, Composer Study, Hymns, and Folk Songs in our Morning Time, Ruben will take a private art class in the spring taught by another local homeschool mom.

Ruben also works for several neighbors in the area. He has a regular three hours per week position on a horse hobby farm. In addition, he picks up extra hours periodically for other neighbors doing misc. handy man jobs. He is learning a great deal of hands on skills through these interactions and is developing a solid work ethic. His handicrafts involve mechanics, wood cutting, and farm maintenance. Ruben also enjoys hunting and fishing in his free time. I schedule our academic book work four days per week to give him free time to pursue these other endeavors. 

This post contains affiliate links. Any purchase you make through these links helps to support our homeschool and this blog. Thanks for your consideration.