Yes, it’s only January. I do this pretty much every January, but I’m almost certain that I now have my curriculum choices made for next school year. If you have any input on my choices, now is the time to tell me! I’ll start ordering soon, so that I can buy a little at a time.
1. Social Studies/Bible/Language: Civics and State History
I've chosen the Uncle Sam and You curriculum package from Notgrass. I’ve heard only good about this program, and I like the samples I saw. My son has had very little study in civics, and he enjoys reading, so I decided this was the perfect program for him.
This social studies course includes several assignments in writing, reading (literature), Bible, and vocabulary, so I’m not planning to buy separate curriculum for those subjects.
I don’t know if this is still the case, but 8th graders used to do some state history. He did a lapbook state history on Missouri in 4th grade. I haven’t definitely decided which state to study (since we don’t actually live in a state), but I’m planning to use State History from a Christian Perspective for whichever state we choose.
2. Math: Pre-Algebra
I hate to say it, but Life of Fred hasn’t worked out so great for my son this year. He likes the stories, but he’s struggling with the material and how it’s presented. We’ll continue for the rest of this school year, with supplemental help from Khan Academy and some Math Mammoth ebooks I just purchased. Next year, we’re going back to Teaching Textbooks, which he liked and understood.
Teaching Textbooks: Pre-Algebra
3. Science: Life Science
This year we used Interactive Science: Earth Science, which is not a Christian textbook. My dad, who is a geologist and science teacher, selected this program. Other than a few sections we disagree with, he felt the rest was more accurate than other science programs.
Next year, I want to teach life science, but I’m having difficulty finding what I want. I would have liked a Christian biology, but everything I’ve looked at so far is either too easy (as in listed for K-8 but way too easy for 8th graders) or too hard (high school). For now, I’m going to stick with Interactive Science.
Interactive Science: Life Science
4. Language Arts: Grammar and Spelling
While the Notgrass social studies program has a lot of reading, writing, and vocabulary, I feel that Isaac still needs a lot of practice with grammar and spelling, so we’re continuing with what we’ve been using for both.
Easy Grammar Ultimate Grade 8 Teacher’s Guide
All About Spelling Level 7
5. Thinking Skills/Foreign Language
I’m planning to alternate these two programs. Thinking Toolbox is the sequel to the Fallacy Detective book we used this year. My son tried a bit of Spanish when he was in grades 1-2, but we never continued. I decided to plunk down the money for what is considered one of the best language programs, and I let him choose his language. French it is! (Unless he changes his mind before I buy.)
Thinking Toolbox
Rosetta Stone (French, Level 1)
6. Other Electives:
I’m not 100% sure how we’re doing all of this. I may choose less or rotate them. These are the electives he’s interested in:
Typing—I’d like this to be almost daily at this point, for the whole year. We use Typing Instructor for Kids Platinum.
Programming—He is definitely interested in this, so I’ll probably keep it as an all-year subject. I’ll probably alternate it with typing. We’re going to use Hour of Code.
Either Health & Fitness (Family Time Fitness and internet research for health) OR Football (meaning soccer, for those of you in the US) and/or Swimming. The football will depend on if we can find an affordable program for his age (he currently takes football lessons but is going to be too old for that program next year). The swimming will depend on finances. He enjoys both sports.
Here are a few other possibilities, if I can possibly rotate them from quarter to quarter:
Cooking—He wants to learn how to cook, so we’ll work it in somehow.
Drafting—We might do this while we’re in America, as my dad has some of the necessary tools. We’re looking at a program called Practical Drafting. This is a maybe.
Clay sculpting—This is another craft he wants to learn. I’m thinking sculpting tools, clay, and YouTube videos.
Stop Motion Animation—He has a kit, but he doesn’t get to use it much. If we can manage to get an extra computer, I may add this on the list as a school subject.
I would love to have included some kind of music, but we may have to wait on that. Although I believe every child and young person should have some experience with music (whether vocal, instrument, theory, or music appreciation), I’m trying to go with his interests for this coming year. Music is not his thing at the moment. Give him the music soundtrack for Star Wars, and he’s good!
That’s it! I’m pretty pleased with my decisions for 8th grade curriculum. I know my son, and I’m confident these programs will work best for him, but I’d love to hear your comments. Have you used any of those programs with your children?
