2019-2020 Year 10 Curriculum Preview

We are finished with our first term of the 2019-2020 academic year, but I wanted to follow through and post a preview of RileyAnn's Year 10. You can find Ruben's Year 9 here and Levi's Year 2 here.

Bible

Riley will continue to read through the AO Bible Reading Plan this year. She also finished copying Psalms last year and began copying Proverbs this year using the Journible Series.

History

Riley is studying two streams of history this year: Ancient Rome and American 1800's to the Civil War. She is using Classical Lessons for The Book of the Ancient Romans by Lisa Kelly for her Ancient Rome study and TruthQuest AOR II by Michelle Miller along with Paul Johnson's A History of the American People for her American history study. She has been assigned to read from the following books...

The Book of the Ancient Romans by Dorothy Mills
The Children's Plutarch: Tales of the Romans by F J Gould
A History of the American People by Paul Johnson
Landmark - Napoleon and the Battle of Waterloo by Frances Winwar
A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee - autobiography
Narrative in the Life of Frederick Douglass - autobiography
The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
Up From Slavery - The Autobiography of Booker T. Washington
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown

Riley is also picking and choosing books from our personal library at her leisure from the TQ guide to accompany her American History study. She writes narrations and keeps a book of centuries as she reads.

Science & Health

I decided to take a more traditional textbook approach for Riley's biology this year. She is using Modern Biology by Memoria Press. The lessons include reading from the text, online instructional lectures, vocabulary, question/answer, and coloring pages. In addition, Riley has been completing misc. biology labs with Ruben. She is also reading from the following books spread over the course of the year...

Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif - AO Year 9-11
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made by Dr. Paul Brand & Philip Yancey - AO Year 7-11
Great Astronomers by Robert Stawell Ball - AO Year 7-9 (Be sure to get the Diamond Books edition. It has the original illustrations and is worth the extra money.)
That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles by Dr. Joe Schwarcz
For the Love of Physics by Walter Lewin - Part 2 of Sabbath Mood Homeschool study guide

English - Literature, Poetry, Composition, Spelling, Recitation

In addition to the literature that Riley is reading for History, she is also participating in a local High School Book Club that I'm facilitating. The students are reading the following titles and then gathering for discussion throughout the months of October through March...

The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Silas Marner by George Elliot
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte 

Riley will study the following poets using the Poetry for Young People series and a variety of online sources, reading a different set of poets each term...

Term 1 Phillis Wheatley and Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Term 2 Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning
Term 3 Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman

Riley writes daily narrations and is working on IEW Phonetic Zoo Level C for spelling. I would like to add a resource for more formal composition, but it may or may not be this year. Riley is also memorizing Psalm 23 for recitation. She uses PreScripts American Documents Cursive Passages and Illuminations from Classical Conversations for penmanship.

Math

Riley started the year with Harold Jacob's Geometry, but because of my lack of time to participate, she became easily frustrated. A couple weeks into the term, I switched her to Teaching Textbooks Geometry. It is going much better. We opted against an online math course this year for financial reasons, but I still needed something to allow Riley to work independently. A friend gifted us TT and it's doing it's duty.

Fine Arts
I have outsourced our Term 1 and part of Term 2 Fine Arts this year. Each of our kids is participating in a local homeschool choir and art classes outside the home for the first half of the school year. Once their out of home semester has ended, we will include art and music study in our Morning Time.


This post does contain affiliate links. Proceeds from the links allow me to continue to provide future content on this blog.

2019-2020 Year 9 Curriculum Preview

Even though, we are in week 11 of our 2019-2020 school year, I want to go back and post curriculum previews for high school. This year, RileyAnn is in 10th grade and Ruben is in 9th grade. I posted Levi's Year 2 back in Sept, but have been making some adjustments to Ruben's Year 9 schedule. Here is a preview of his general plan for Year 9....

Bible

I have assigned misc bible passage readings based on Ruben's history plan.

History

Ruben is using an older edition of Notgrass Exploring World History as the spine of his history study. It's a two book set, but he will only complete the first book this year, which runs from Creation to the Middle Ages. Angel used this same set for her history several years ago in 9th and 10th grade through My Father's World. Although, I am not using MFW for Ruben, I have created a similar set up in that he will read from the Notgrass text a couple days a week and then I've added a variety of history and literature supplemental books, which you can see pictured above. We will call it Ancient History and Lit. As noted above, his bible readings are also linked to this study. In addition, he completes notebook pages with narrations, map work, and drawings from his reading. We did study this same time period three years ago, when Ruben was in 6th grade so he read many great Ancient Civilization living books at that time too.

Science

Ruben is studying biology this year along with Riley. Although, they are using different books. Riley is taking a more traditional approach, using Modern Biology through Memoria Press. I've built Ruben's biology using a variety of resources, including Apologia's Exploring Creation with Biology. Because they are studying the same subject matter, they are able to have discussion and complete labs together.

We use the Apologia Biology book as the spine and then I've added other living books. So Ruben's lessons consist of watching some of the Apologia Biology DVDs, reading misc. picture and chapter books, completing some of the Apologia labs, and keeping a notebook of vocabulary, narrations, lab notes, and drawing diagrams/illustrations from the books.

For example, you can see some of the resources pictured below that Ruben is using for a study of bacteria. He read the books, watched the DVDs, collected pond water and is growing cultures for various experiments from the Apologia text, we've discussed all this, and he has kept a notebook of his study. I've drawn from multiple websites and resources to find living books and tried to create a multi-sensory experience for him. Here are links to some of the books and resources Ruben will be studying aside from Apologia...

Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif 
Archaea by David M. Barker - This is part of a series of six books. We will use several in the series.
Bacteria by Judy Wearing
Protists by Rona Arato
Fungi by Judy Wearing
Tiny Creatures, The World of Microbes by Nicola Davies
Golden Guide Pond Life George Reid, edited by Zim and Fichter - There are many books in this series.
One Small Square - Pond by Donald Silver - There are many books in this series as well.
Pond by Jim LaMarche
The Golden Book Encyclopedia set
Gregor Mendel, The Friar Who Grew Peas by Cheryl Bardoe
Nature Study as a Part of High School Biology by Barb McCoy
Guest Hollow Biology
Exploring the World of Biology by John Hudson Tiner
The Book of Trees, An Introduction to Botony Through the Study of Trees by Sean Brooks  - published by Memoria Press
The Biology Coloring Book by Robert Griffin
Biology 101 by Wes Olson

Natural History

Seasons of America Past by Eric Sloane - Ruben is a fan of Sloane and this book has been a hit so far! I spread it out so he will read just a few pages one day each week throughout the year.

English - Literature, Poetry, Composition, Spelling, Recitation

In addition to the literature that Ruben is reading for History, he is also participating in a local High School Book Club that I'm facilitating. The students are reading the following titles and then gathering for discussion throughout the months of October through March...

The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Silas Marner by George Elliot
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte 

Ruben will study the following poets using the Poetry for Young People series. He will read from a different book each term.

Carl Sandburg
Robert Frost
Langston Hughes

Ruben is writing narrations as part of his English credit. I also draw from IEW's Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons and other resources for formal composition. He is working through IEW's Fix-It The Nose Tree for grammar. Each of the kids is currently memorizing Psalm 23. Ruben has also been reading through The Lord of the Rings series by J. R. R. Tolkien in his free time. I will be adding Spelling and possibly a couple other misc. language arts resources second term.

Math

As with other subjects, I'm using a variety of resources for math. I've been taking a more developmental approach with Ruben working through various math concepts to ensure he has a good foundation for algebra and geometry. He is currently working through an old Modern Curriculum Press workbook. We are focusing on solidifying operations, decimals, fractions, and percents.

Fine Arts

I have outsourced our Term 1 and part of Term 2 Fine Arts. Each of our kids is participating in a local homeschool choir and art classes outside the home this semester. Once their out of home semester has ended, we will include art and music study in our Morning Time.


This post does contain affiliate links. Proceeds from the links allow me to continue to provide future content on this blog. 

2019-2020 Year 2 Curriculum Preview....

I've been tardy in posting my curricula choices this year because I wanted to try some things before solidifying them. We are now three weeks into the 2019-2020 academic year. I've made a few changes, but am finally finding a rhythm.

Levi is in Year 2 by public school standards. However, he is young for his grade with a June birthday so having just turned seven, we are somewhere between 1st and 2nd grade. Honestly, last year started well, but if you've been a long time reader here, you know it dropped off after Ruben's accident in November. Ongoing medical appointments and therapies were very time consuming. Then in March, Levi broke his foot. Needless to say, strict academics as scheduled took a back seat. Although, that doesn't mean learning didn't happen. It was simply different than originally planned.

This fall, I picked up where Levi left off with math and phonics last spring. One of the beauties of home education is teaching the child where they are at, rather than teaching the curriculum and trying to make the child fit. I see no need to start with new curriculum because it's a new year. We will just continue what we were doing, then add in some history, literature, and enrichment. In addition, Levi will participate in homeschool choir and art first semester outside of our home, as well as, a Charlotte Mason co-op for early elementary homeschool students throughout the year. The topics covered there will be:

Memorize Psalm 23
Hymn Study
Composer Study
Artist Study
Geography
Science & Nature Study
Presentation (Show & Tell and Recitation)

Levi attended the CM co-op for the first time last week and really enjoyed it. It was kind of like a Morning Time in community. At the end, the kids were allowed to run around and have play time in the gym. I'm sure Levi would say that was his favorite part. :)

Regarding his studies at home, here is a list of resources I will draw from....

Bible, History, and Literature

Heart of Dakota Little Hearts for His Glory - parts and pieces with modifications
Holy Bible - King James Version
Devotions for the Children's Hour by Kenneth N. Taylor
History for Little Pilgrims (Christian Liberty Press)
History Stories for Children (Christian Liberty Press)
The Adventures of Reddy Fox by Thornton Burgess
The Adventures of Peter Cottontail by Thornton Burgess
The Adventures of Danny Meadow Mouse by Thornton Burgess
The Adventures of Grandfather Frog by Thornton Burgess
The Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel by Thornton Burgess
The Adventures of Buster Bear by Thornton Burgess

In addition, I'll be adding many picture and other literature books.

Reading and Phonics

Memoria Press First Start Reading - We started this last spring and I really like it because it's systematic phonics instruction with writing. The program is geared for Kindergarten-1st Grade. However, I feel it's better suited for 1st-2nd Grade because of the writing component. I don't use the program exactly as written, partly because Levi is an older student and partly because there is some busy work designed for classroom use. Overall, I think Memoria Press has a great phonics/reading program that's easily adaptable to Charlotte Mason's methods. There are five leveled workbooks in the program and we are just about finished with Book B. There is also a separate Phonics workbook and some readers. I anticipate finishing the entire series by the end of the academic year.

Penmanship and Copywork

In addition to the writing in Memoria Press First Start Reading, we will occasionally use the Draw, Write Now series for copywork. We started this last spring after reading The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf. Levi really likes to draw so it was a hit. Do you see the bee on the plant? ;-)

Mathematics

We also started Rod & Staff's Beginning Arithmetic 1 last spring and will continue with it this year. Memoria Press recommends this program as well. They use the first half of the book in Kindergarten and the second half in 1st grade with some other supplements. We will just continue through the book as written at a slightly quickened pace without supplement unless he hits a wall or begins to struggle. Levi loves math and seems to have a strong grasp. Honestly, it's been pretty easy so far, but I love the repetition in R&S so we will continue. I anticipate beginning the next level as soon as he finishes the first regardless of his age or grade.

Enrichment

Lastly, I absolutely LOVE Memoria Press's Enrichment program! They offer it at a Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd Grade level. However, I think it could be used for multiple ages throughout with some modifications. I may even include some of the resources in our Morning Time. Actually, some of the same resources are used all three years so they are intended for multi level use.

The Enrichment program covers things like Art, Music, Poetry, Literature, History & Culture, Science, and Nature Study through the use of Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock. It more or less encompasses what one might include in Morning Time. The art cards are beautiful! Gyo Fujikawa's A Child's Book of Poems is amazing! There is a wonderful playlist through YouTube of classical music that I play while we are drawing, journaling, or doing copywork. Levi has enjoyed many of the pieces. Literature, History & Culture, and Science is taught through the best of the best picture books. Many are classics and/or Caldecott medal winners. We read several of the books from the Kindergarten Enrichment last year and will continue with the First Grade Enrichment this year. Again, I'm not worried about ages and grades. I look for beauty, interest, and resources that are developmentally appropriate.

Overall, I'm really excited about Levi's year ahead. I've been trying a few different schedules to see what works best. I started the first week pretty bare bones with Math and Phonics before adding the other subjects in Week 2 and 3. I will continue to add until we find the right balance. I'm also not afraid to cut if it gets to be too much. Fall is a very busy time of year for us so I will reassess after Term 1 to see what needs to be added or subtracted in Term 2, which is usually more laid back. I'm confident we will find our sweet spot!

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2018-2019 Grade 1 Curriculum Preview

It's been a few years since I've taught 1st grade in our homeschool....seven to be exact! Truth be told, I was a little more anxious about it than beginning high school again this year. There's so much more to choose from now. It's almost overwhelming. I have pinched, pulled, and tweaked along the way, pouring over a variety of resources. It's going well so far, but we are still settling in.

Today, I'm going to share the resources we are using at this point for 1st grade. It does not include the Morning Time list, which you can see here. You can also check out our 8th grade and 9th grade plans to get an idea of the big picture happening in our home.

Bible and Character

The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos - See Morning Time plans
Polite Moments by Gary and Cathy Maldaner

A Mind in the Light Year One - The Complete Guide by Lisa Kelly - You will find the complete list of books used at her website. I will simply list the books I am personally using here. Some are suggested in her guide and some are books I've chosen.

History and Geography

A Child's History of the World by V. M. Hillyer - We started this book, but have since decided to hold off and will most likely be starting Beautiful Feet Book's Early American History Primary over the next couple of weeks, since it is the same time period as my older kids. I found that I don't like having everyone in a different period. For this reason, we will not be reading the other AMITL suggested history books this year, but will wait until we go back to Ancients.

Regarding the geography books listed below, I will use the ones I own or can easily find from the library. I also plan to begin using Beautiful Feet Book's Around the World With Picture Books as a substitute for our Morning Time Geography read. I will post more about that at another time.

The Nile River by Allan Fowler 

How We Learned the Earth is Round by Patricia Lauber 

The Seven Continents by Wil Mara 

Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney 

Earth by Alfred Leutscher -OR- Soil by Christin Ditchfield 

Follow the Water from Brook to Ocean by Arthur Dorros 

If You Lived Here: Houses of the World by Giles Laroche 

Geography from A to Z by Jack Knowlton

Science and Nature Study

One Small Square: Woods by Donald Silver

One Day in the Woods by Jean Craighead George 

Wild Life in Woods and Field by Arabella Buckley

Weather Words and What They Mean by Gail Gibbons 

Down Comes the Rain by Franklyn M. Branley

What Makes Day and Night by Franklyn M. Branley

Clouds by Anne Rockwell 

Feel the Wind by Arthur Dorros 

The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter's Wonder by Mark Cassinoo 

Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin 

Sunshine Makes the Sun by Franklyn M. Branley

Flash, Crash, Rumble and Roll by Franklyn M. Branley 

Sun Up, Sun Down by Gail Gibbons 

What Makes a Shadow? by Clyde Robert Bulla  

The First Book of Bugs by Margaret Williamson 

The First Book of Bees by Albert B. Tibbets

Literature and Poetry

Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne - AO Year 1
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost  - Five in a Row
When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne - AO Year 1
The Perfect Wizard: Hans Christian Andersen by Jane and Dennis Yolen
Pioneer Girl: The Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder by William Anderson
The True Story of Peter Rabbit by Jane Johnson
Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams - AO Year 1
Charlotte's Web by E. B. White - AO Year 1
Andersen's Fairy Tales by H. C. Andersen
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder- AO Year 1

Tales of Peter Rabbit and Friends by Beatrix Potter - Five in a Row
Aesop for Children by Milo Winter - AO Year 1
Tales from the Odyssey by Mary Pope Osborne Vol. 1 & Vol. 2
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater - AO Year 2
C. W. Anderson’s Billy and Blaze books:

     - Billy and Blaze

     - Blaze and the Forest Fire

     - Blaze and the Mountain Lion

     - Blaze and Thunderbolt 

     - Blaze Shows the Way

The Arts - Will be done in Morning Time

Classics for Children - audio CD 

Meet the Orchestra by Ann Hayes

The Carnival of the Animals by Jack Prelutsky - book + CD 

Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf illustrated by Peter Malone

The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Nancy Willard 

The Nutcracker by Susan Jeffers 

Edgar Degas (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists) by Mike Venezia 

Mary Cassatt (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists) by Mike Venezia 

Paul Cezanne (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists) by Mike Venezia

Phonics/Reading

All About Reading Level 1 by Marie Rippel

Explode the Code 

Penmanship

Cursive First by Elizabeth FitzGerald

Math

Charlotte Mason's Elementary Arithmetic 1 by Richele Baburina - Simply Charlotte Mason

Paper Sloyd for Primary Grades by Ednah Anne Rich

This may look like a long list for 1st grade. However, many of the readings are broken up into small parts. Some of the literature reads, I do at bedtime. This allows for short lessons, as we are still grooming the habit of attention. It doesn't feel heavy in the day to day. 

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. 

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2018-2019 Year 9 Curriculum Preview....

As we begin our fifth week of the 2018-2019 academic year, I thought I'd share with you RileyAnn's Year 9 curricula and book choices. These are items Riley is working on either independently, in High School Community, or with me. They do not include our Morning Time reads, which I shared with you last week. Things like Geography, Economics/Government, and Fine Arts are covered there.

In regard to History, I'm trying something different this year in that Riley will study two streams of history throughout high school. In the past, I had my high schooler complete one full cycle of history chronologically over four years. However, since Riley just completed a cycle of Ancient History in 7th grade and a cycle of Medieval History in 8th grade, I didn't want to go back and begin again with Ancients, and neither did she. Instead, I have opted to spread a thread of Ancient History alongside a thread of American History over three years. The plan will look something like this....

9th grade - Ancient Greece & American 1500-1800
10th grade - Ancient Rome & American 1800's to Civil War
11th grade - Medieval, Renaissance, Reformation & American Post Civil War to Current

This plan will afford us time in 12th grade for possible dual enrollment, to focus on a particular history study of interest, to extend the Modern study or catch-up if need be. So far, it's going great! Riley is happy to be back in American History, as well as working toward her Ancient History credit. Overall, her books look as follow...

Bible, Character, Citizenship

Ambleside Online Year 8 Through the Bible Reading Plan
Continue copying Psalms in Do you Journible?

History

A History of the American People by Paul Johnson - AO Year 9
From Dawn to Decadence by Jacques Barzun - We decided to drop this book for now. I'm not sure if we will pick it back up in the future.
The World of Captain John Smith by Genevieve Foster - Beautiful Feet Books
George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster - Beautiful Feet Books
Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford - select chapters
A variety of historical documents - AO Year 9
John Adams by David McCullough - AO Year 9
Abigail Adams by Natalie Bober - AO Year 4
Founding Fathers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph Ellis - AO Year 9
The Book of the Ancient Greeks by Dorothy Mills - along with Classical Lessons....by Lisa Kelly of A Mind in the Light

Natural History

Rural Hours by Susan Fenimore Cooper - AO Year 8

Science - many selections from AO Year 8

First Studies of Plant Life by George Francis Atkinson - select chapters
Napoleon's Buttons: 17 Molecules That Changed History by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson
Adventures with a Microscope by Richard Headstrom - select adventures
Great Astronomers by R.S. Ball - select chapters
The Chemical History of a Candle by Michael Faraday
Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman
A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking 
The Microbe Hunters by Paul De Kruif - select chapters
Signs and Seasons: Understanding the Elements of Classical Astronomy by Jay Ryan - select chapters
For the Love of Physics by Walter Lewin - along with Sabbath Mood Homeschool Physics 1 study guide

Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel

English - Literature, Poetry, Composition, Penmanship, Spelling, Shakespeare, Recitation

The History of English Literature for Boys and Girls by H. E. Marshall - continued from last year
The Iliad by Homer, translated by Richmond Lattimore - The Epics by Roman Roads Media
The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Richmond Lattimore - The Epics by Roman Roads Media
The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni - AO Year 8
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas- AO Year 9
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin - AO Year 9
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving
The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - AO Year 9
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - AO Year 9

Riley's poetry will be in conjunction with our High School Community study, of which I'm using portions of Janice Campbell's Excellence in Literature American Literature for the base of the study. She will also study A Midsummer Night's Dream and one other Shakespeare play with her High School Community, as well as Recitation and Current Events. She will write various narrations throughout the year on a variety of readings and will write a handful of papers based on lit readings from the High School Community. For practice in penmanship, Riley will complete PreScripts Poetry from Classical Conversations. She will continue IEW's Phonetic Zoo for Spelling.

Math

Introductory Algebra online through My Homeschool Math Class

Logic

Introductory Logic - Canon Press Series

Fine Arts

In addition to the Artist Study, Composer Study, Hymns, and Folk Songs in our Morning Time as well as Handicrafts, Riley is taking two private art classes this year. One is a two hour weekly study on drawing and painting and one is a one hour weekly study, in which she will learn the art of print making. Both are taught by local homeschool moms.

Overall, things are going well so far. To some, this may look like a lot of books. However, you must keep in mind that they are spread out with short, slow readings throughout the year. Also, many of the science books are a continuation from last year or will be continued into next year, so she is not reading the entire book at one time. On average, Riley spends approximately 4-5 hours per day on her studies with some days being a bit longer and some a bit shorter.

I try to build margin in my kid's lessons by scheduling book work only four days a week. This allows time for extra-curricular and outside activities, as well as added time for leisurely reading. Riley has many interests outside of academics and I believe it's important for her to have time to develop those interests.


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Reflections on Ruben's History, Year 7....

Last week, I reflected on RileyAnn's Year 8 History and Science. This week, I'd like to take some time to focus on Ruben's Year 7 History study. At the start of the 2017-2018 academic year, I had a bit of trouble figuring out which books I wanted to use for Ruben's history. However, by the end of Term 1, I had settled on a plan, which I posted about here.

I did continue to use Famous Men of the Middle Ages and Famous Men of the Renaissance & Reformation, both by Robert G. Shearer of Greenleaf Press throughout the year. Initially, I wasn't sure how Ruben would handle these short biographical sketches of so many men from history. But in time, he actually grew to love the Famous Men series! I would typically read one sketch every other day. I also added a variety of living books, some of which were a part of Ruben's IEW Medieval History-Based Writing Lessons, some were suggested in the Famous Men series, and some were books RileyAnn was reading in her Beautiful Feet Books Intermediate Medieval History study. I chose books based on overlap between these three programs and also from years of studying living book lists. The books we read included:

Beowulf by Michael Morpurgo
One Thousand and One Arabian Nights by Geraldine McCaughrean
King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green
Black Fox of Lorne by Marguerite de Angeli
Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle
Cathedral by David Macaulay
Robin Hood by J. Walker McSpadden
Magna Carta by C. W. Hodges
Adam of the Road by Janet Elizabeth Gray
Castle by David Macaulay
Marco Polo by Demi
The Kite Rider by Geraldine McCaughrean
The Apple and the Arrow by Conrad Buff
Morning Star of the Reformation by Andy Thomson
Crispin: The Cross of Lead by AVI
Joan of Arc by Diane Stanley
Michelangelo by Diane Stanley
The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly
Good Queen Bess by Diane Stanley
Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare by Diane Stanley

Some of the books I read aloud and some Ruben read independently. After each reading, I requested an oral narration or often times a written narration in the form of a notebooking page. The notebooking pages included a conglomeration of map work, hand drawn illustrations, writing, and coloring pages. We've used the notebooking approach for years and it seems to work and be favorable with each of my kids. Below are some samples of Ruben's pages throughout the year....

Overall, we had a great year in history! I highly recommend each of the books we read. I'm very pleased with the variety of notebooking pages Ruben created. As you can see, I don't correct notebooking pages, but rather work with my students on the side to discover repeated errors in grammar and punctuation. In general, Ruben showed growth in his written narrations over the year, which was one of the goals set for him. We will continue with a similar approach to history in the fall as we move into American History.