High School Curriculum 9th

[sue]

What did you use for 9th grade History? I understand that there can be a variety of choices... World, American, Geography, Am.Gov't...

I'd also love to see your choices for all of your 9th grade classes. Thanks!

[hsmamainva]

Here are my upcoming 9th grader's classes:

English - Smarr's Introduction to Literature
Math - Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1
History - BJU Geography
Foreign Language - The Learnables First Year Spanish
Science - Apologia Biology
Art - Cathy Johnson's Sketching and Drawing

Plays baseball (spring and fall) and basketball (winter) for the county

[Laura in OH]

Geography - BJU, supplemented with books from All Through The Ages
Biology - Apologia (co-op)
Literature - Lightning Literature or Progeny Press guides along with the Plutarch and Shakespeare studies from Ambleside Online
Grammar - Applications of Grammar
Health - Total Health
Logic - The Thinking Toolbox or The Argument Builder (or both)
Latin - Latin Alive!
Algebra I - Teaching Textbooks
Spanish (undecided)
Art Class (private class)
Art History - The Story of Art (Gombrich) and the syllabus from Hewitt
Bible - teen Bible quizzing, book of Luke


For high school we are doing the following: 9th -Geography, 10th-World History, 11th-American History, 12th-Government/Economics

[Myra]

Let's see...
Math - Lial's Intermediate Algebra
Science - Real Science4Kids Chemistry II along with Teaching Company Chemistry
ELective - Astronomy
Music - violin
English - Lightning Lit - both semesters of American Literature
Latin (Cambridge)
History of US (using Hewitts syllabus/tests) - supplemented to be able to take AP US history in Spring
Traditional Logic I (Memoria Press)

[Maverick]

9th grade history was a struggle for us this year. I had hoped to do ancient history using Susan's new book, but due to the availablility of a Great Books class that was on year 4 of the cycle this year (9th) and for various other reasons we ended up doing government. Next year the class goes back to year 1 and I plan to try again with the ancient history. On ds's transcript I think he'll have:
9th - U. S. Government
10th - World History I: The Ancients
11th - World History II: The Medieval World
12th - U.S. History or World History III: Modern Times

He'll probably also have Economics as a social studies elective.

Our whole 9th grade year looked like this:

English - A Beka grammar & Comp, Vocab for the High school student, and the aforementioned Great Books class.
Geometry (Jacobs)
Chemistry (The Spectrum)
Latin I (Latin in the Christian Trivium)
U. S. Government (using AO Lifepacs, founding document of the US, and various reading & writing assignments that I made up--we also incorporated Boy Scout citizenship merit badges, and a mom at co-op will be doing a civics/election unit in the fall--I figure all together this is plenty for a credit)
Logic (Traditional Logic I and II)
Journalism (1/2 credit) - elective at co-op

[AngelaC]

I am going to used the Beautiful Feet Guide for Medieval History with my 9th ds. We just happen to be at Medieval History in our family this year and ds does well with BF guides--very specific day to day assignments.

My four year plan for him will be

9th--BF Medieval

10th--Early Modern History

11th--Modern History

12th--back to Ancients again or a gov't course

I know it is not quite a typical high school, but I've done similar schedules with my older children and I've never had any negative comments from college admissions or anything. Of course, they haven't applied to Yale or anything.

You may want to check to see if your state has any required history/civics courses.

[danielle]

Here's ours for next fall:
Ancient Literature & Civilization: List drawn from WTM + non-Western selections from Lifetime Reading Plan (Confucius, Sun-tzu, Mencius, Ramayana, Mahabharata) + Spielvogel (appropriate chapters) + A Day in Old Athens & Old Rome. Will also require her to watch Annenberg video on demand "Western Civilization" and appropriate lectures from Great Authors of the Western Literary Tradition (Teaching Company)

Rhetoric & Expository Writing:
Oxford Guide to Writing, Rulebook for Arguments, Writing Exposition, & Teaching Company course on Argumentation

Math:
Life of Fred Advanced Algebra & I'm hoping moving on into LOF Geometry

French:
last half of French in Action + watching Euronews daily.

Latin:
Oxford Latin III, maybe get to IV

Science:
Kamana Naturalist Training Level II and hopefully Level III with a ton of field guides & Biology Concepts and Connections (Campbell). Also, she wants to enter the Young Naturalists' Essay Contest, so I'm going to count that as "lab".

Music:
private harp lessons; private composition lessons (maybe) and participating in the local high school's senior orchestra as their harpist. If she doesn't continue the composition lessons, we may try AP Comparative Government. Her ambition always exceed actual time available!

volunteer work:
still at the nursing home, but thinking about working on National Wildlife Federation's community habitat program.

Danielle

Danielle

[Karin]

Dd is starting Gr. 9 in January. We haven't figured everything out yet, but this is what we have so far:

History: SWB's Ancient History text (can't think of the title at the moment and we haven't bought it yet) as a spine, supplemented with reading, of course.

English:
R&S 8 & Keys to Literary Analysis by Stobaugh to start, but I think we'll mainly use WEM for most of high school. Writing program undecided once she finishes WriteShop, which she'd doing now.

Science:
Conceptual Chemistry by Suchocki, supplemented with the lectures on Conceptual Chemistry Alive! & Thinkwell.

Math:
She's doing reviewing Algebra 1, and I have to review my older notes on suggestions, etc. We're not yet sure if she'll do Algebra 2 or Geometry next. She would prefer to do the 1960s Dolciani Alg & Trig 2 if we do Algebra 2 next.

Latin: Wheelock's.

German: once she's done RS Level 2 we have no idea yet which course we'll use.

Art:
Masterpiece Art Instruction's watercolour course, and hopefully some private acrylic painting lessons. Plus colour theory, value, etc (not sure yet, but have looked at one suggestion Nan gave. It turns out we have a book with this info in it and we're going to see if that's enough in case we can save money.)

Music:
She'll start French Horn through the public school, ideally, or else oboe, depending on which they have. I am planning to find a copy of the same Rudiments of Theory book I used. I have enough of a music background that I'll choose music for her to listen to, and she'll use my music history text, for better or for worse, because we already own it.

Logic: Traditional Logic 1

Phys Ed: Swim team (non credit this year, but we plan to do some book work one year to get a partial credit in.)

No doubt I'm forgetting something, because I always forget at least one subject.

[King's Kid]

We'll be using Sonlight Curriculum's Core 100 -- American History in Depth.

Core 100 comes with a literature and writing program that ties in with the history, but I'm also considering using Write Shop or Total Language Plus instead. (TLP uses a lot of the SL books.)

Will continue with Teaching Textbooks Algebra I, and go on to their Alg. II

Rod & Staff English, Book 7

Apologia's Physical Science

Rosetta Stone Spanish

CTP's Latin & Greek Word Roots, B1

Toastmasters (Beginner, then Intermediate)

High School Chorus

[Jane in NC]

Rhetoric & Expository Writing:
Oxford Guide to Writing, Rulebook for Arguments, Writing Exposition, & Teaching Company course on Argumentation

French:
last half of French in Action + watching Euronews daily.

Latin:
Oxford Latin III, maybe get to IV


volunteer work:
still at the nursing home, but thinking about working on National Wildlife Federation's community habitat program.


Danielle

Hi Danielle,

Your program parallels much of what we do. I have a few comments and some questions for you.

First, regarding the Teaching Company series on Argumentation: I had never noticed this previously. Do you have any experience with the professor or have you previewed the lectures? I would love to hear more! (How exciting--just realized that my local library has this as well!)

How does French in Action work for you? My son and I have been doing this for two years, but since I have not studied French previously, I find that I am a miserable conversational partner. Grammar I can understand--but my ear does not pick up on the nuances of pronunciation. Do you speak French? Employ a tutor? Just charge your way through?

Euronews is great! Wow! Thank you!

My son has wrapped up Oxford III, but we have decided to use some Bolchazy materials next year. In particular, we will use the Legamus readers which will hold our hand as we work through Catullus and Ovid and the subtlety of Roman poetry. This year we used Bolchazy's Latina Mythica to which I give a thumbs up.

We volunteer with a bird rehabiliator. Wish you were my neighbor.

Jane

[Myra]

Danielle,
I just went on-line to find out more about the Kamana Naturalist Training you mentioned for your 9th grader's list.....could you tell me more about it? It looks interesting but I would like a "first hand" scoop on it as you can never really get a good idea by a website.

Thanks,
Myra

[mktkcb]

Bible: AWANA, BJUP
Algebra 1: Jacobs, NROC, ALEKS
World History: BJUP in a coop
Grammar/Comp/Lit: BJUP for grammar & intro to lit, outside essay class (IEW/Writeshop-ish)
Spanish: SOS
Physical Science: BJUP
PE: with homeschool group, taekwondo
Other: violin, musical theater

[Michelle in GA]

Algebra II : Saxon
World Literature&Comp: James Stobaugh's World Lit(at our local hs co-op)
Hake grammar, SAT Vocab review

Science: BJU Biology DVD program

Honors World History: Keystone High along with Teaching Co. videos and extra
reading

Spanish I : BJU DVD program (finish 1, begin 2)

Elective: Health, using Total Heath (required by our co-op)

Extras: Scouts, guitar, various sports thoughout the year

[danielle]

Jane:
French in Action works quite well for my dd for listening comprehension, reading, and grammar. I do speak French assez bien, but not as a native. However, I've found that the speaking ability picks up (way up) when I get in a speaking situation--travel to the country, etc. Weirdly, I can understand newscasts near perfectly, but some movies throw me. For academic purposes (ie passing tests, AP, SATII, etc.) grammar, reading and listening comprehension will "do the job". This summer we're going to trek down to the "cafe conversation" sponsored by our local Alliance Francaise to get more conversation practice. I don't obsess about speaking too much as I know it will make rapid improvement when the situation presents itself. In the meantime, listening and reading are more than worthwhile.

Re the Argumentation classes from Teaching Company. I just bought it blind, but thanks to your question, we watched the first lesson last nite. I liked it alot--thought it provided very meaty info. The first lecture had some very thoughtful reasons why one would want to study this--conflict resolution as well as rhetorical skills. It actually was directly relevant to some issues in our community at the moment (public hearings that we've all been attending). The speaker is obviously lecturing from notes on the podium, and very like some professors we've all had in college--well prepared, but all business (no jokes!). Dd wanted to watch the next program right away, if that's any review!

Thanks for the "neighbor" comment. Me, too.
Danielle

[Jane in NC]

Thanks Danielle.

This summer I plan on working through some simple French readers to help solidify comprehension and grammar in context. I will now include listening to Euronews as well.

Hopefully this reinforcement will help me build more confidence before plodding forward.

Again I thank you for your insight.

Jane

[danielle]

Myra:
We did Kamana I last summer as a 2 week summer-camp-at-home. We learned a tremendous amount about our own backyard and immediate local area. Kamana teaches you information, but also how to learn more on your own through using field guides and observation techniques. It's divided into readings and reflections, and nature journaling type activities. Level I is pretty easily completed in 2-3 weeks (we did the readings in the morning, then listened to the cds on our way to nature centers in the afternoon). Be advised that you will soon want every field guide you see, so it's not a cheap class once you finish--the course only needs the REader's Digest Guide, which is very good, but we got into this big time.

Kamana II I have looked over, and it is the same method as level I (readings, reflections, observation techniques) but the nature journaling part becomes much more extensive--you research 10 birds instead of one in Level I, 10 natural hazards, 10 mammals, etc. Plus, you settle into daily observation in a "secret spot" and record observations. It takes 4 months, and would be difficult to complete more quickly as you need to record daily observations. You can get on-line/email/phone support, consultation for this level, or simply choose certification at the end by sending in your materials. I'm going to begin work on it this summer to see whether I think dd (or I) will need support, but right now I'm planning on the cheaper certification. You have to at least get the certification (they review your written materials) before they will let you purchase level III, where you do need to also purchase online support. It's not cheap, but very extensive.

I found the readings to be very good and meditative. They are heavy on admiration for indigenous people's cultures and Native American spirituality. This is not a problem for us--we're Quakers who believe there is light in all spiritual traditions. However, it might be difficult to use for more conservative Christians. I'm not really qualified to judge that. The first level, I think a person could adapt/edit pretty easily, but level II has much more Native American beliefs.

I've found this kind of naturalist training to be very difficult to get locally--sure, you can take walks with Audubon, etc., but finding sustained and well organized training has been difficult. Kamana acts as a mentor, and breaks down the learning into manageable chunks and logical steps. The founder, Jon Young, was trained by Tom Brown, who has dozens of books on the same topic. But, Kamana has specific lessons and activities, not just a book of info. For a sample of what you will know by the end of the 4 courses, try taking their "tourist test" which I believe is on their website. I got about 3 questions right! but I was so wowed by the possibility of knowing the rest!

I'd highly recommend trying out level I before going to level II, even if you are more outdoorsy than I am. Even if you know all about robins, you can choose another bird to explore, for example. Also, it's a big plunge of money and time commitment to go into Level II right off the bat (altho they say you CAN start there), especially if the dc ends up not liking it. My other warning is, there's quite a bit of reading. One of the kids I was doing it with found this very difficult (she was 11 at the time) because she's a low level reader.

Also, side benefit--I completely conquered my life long intense phobia of snakes, and have even come to see camping as possibly fun (never having done it in my previous 54 years). This hitherto entirely urban girl has really come to have an intense love of nature. Not bad for 2 weeks worth of work!
Danielle

[Karin]

Thanks Danielle.

This summer I plan on working through some simple French readers to help solidify comprehension and grammar in context. I will now include listening to Euronews as well.

Hopefully this reinforcement will help me build more confidence before plodding forward.

Again I thank you for your insight.

Jane

For all you studying French, bear in mind that if you ever travel to Quebec, the accent is different, as is some of the slang, greetings, etc. My cousin, who learned Parisian French in BC had quite a suprise when she transferred to McGill. However, I think studying Parisian French is the way to go if you're ever going to go to Europe and use it. Friends of mine from Quebec were taunted in Paris ("Where did you learn to speak French?" questions and it's their first language), although people in the rest of France were much friendlier about it. Cleo could always help you with those things if that's in your plans.

[Myra]

Danielle,
Wow! Thanks for the info! We just finished My Familly and Other Animals and the naturalist "bug" has bitten us! HA! Sorry - couldn't resist teasing!

Myra