2017-2018 Homeschool Curricula Choices for 10th Grade

Two posts in one day??? Shocking, I know. :)
I sort of talked about where the blog has disappeared to over in this post about Soprano's curricula.

This post will shift to what Tenor has been using for his sophomore year of homeschool.
{Yeah, sophomore. 10th grade. Two years left. I am not old enough for that to be happening so obviously I'm stuck in some sort of weird, Doctor Who-esque time paradox type thing. ;) }

Whether I'm prepared for it or not, here are Tenor's courses.

Math: Saxon Advanced Math
In this edition of the book, we are able to count it as two credits. The first half of the book is Geometry with Advanced Algebra. The second half of the book is Trigonometry with Pre-Calculus.
Fortunately, Tenor has been rocking this out and has needed practically zero help from me. (Which is great because despite my absolute surety that I'm not *that* old, it has been a seriously long time since I've done Trig or Calculus.)

English/Bible/History/Geography: My Father's World - World History and Literature
We're sticking with MFW. The biblical worldview is integrated extremely well; the literature selections are thought-provoking without being controversial or edgy; the composition instruction is thorough; and the overall package is put together very well.
Plus Tenor got to read Pride and Prejudice this year, which meant I got to watch that yummy 6-hour A&E movie version with him. :)

While I also assigned him a required literature list, MFW gave some great suggestions too. He's been trying to read through as many as possible.

Science: Bass planned an Arduino programming course for Tenor that involves lots of little wire bits floating around the family room. LOL The resources he's using include:
Arduino Cookbook by Michael Margolis

Introduction to Arduino: A Piece of Cake PDF

Programming Arduino: Getting Started with Sketches by Simon Monk

http://playground.arduino.cc/Main/ManualsAndCurriculum

https://programmingelectronics.com/home/

www.udemy.com/learn-to-program-cpp/
www.udemy.com/arduino-sbs-getting-serious/learn/v4/overview

and SparkFun Inventor’s Kit and Guide v3.3 (www.sparkfun.com/products/13970)

Foreign Language: Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! Level 6

Music/Art: Harmony Fine Arts 10th grade plans

Electives:

Personal Finance: Foundations in Personal Finance by Dave Ramsey
This one, Soprano and Tenor are going through together. It's been helpful to be studying it at the same time. The course says it is for homeschool but there are several 'class' activities that didn't translate well to only two students.

Geography: North Star Geography
Yup, we did this together too, starting last summer to make the schedule not so full in the fall. Soprano kept up very well.

Logic: Art of Argument
This was a much better logic course for Tenor than last year's Fallacy Detective/Thinking Toolbox.

Career Exploration: Understanding God's Calling and Career Exploration from 7 Sisters Homeschooling

Throw in Driver's Ed this spring plus his Taekwondo practices and youth group plus church ministry....it's been a busy (and very good) year.

Do any of you have a student that has seemingly grown-up overnight? What are you using for high school curricula?

2017-2018 Homeschool Curricula Choices for 8th Grade

You've probably noticed that the blog has been on a pretty big hiatus. I have found the reasons that drove me to start the blog just aren't there anymore in this stage of life. Combine that with the death of Picasa, which has made uploading pics a frustrating run-around, my heart just hasn't been in blogging.

I have so many resources living here that I created or compiled that I most likely won't ever delete the blog, but updates will be very few and very far between. However, I never shared our homeschool curricula choices for this school year and wanted to throw it out there in case it is helpful to other homeschooling families as you start to plan for your next year.

Up first is what we've been using for Soprano's 8th grade year. :)

Math: Saxon Algebra I and the next few volumes of Life of Fred

 

English: Rod and Staff English 8 - Preparing for Usefulness
This includes grammar, composition, poetry, and speech.

Literature/Music/Art: Beautiful Feet Books - The History of Classical Music

We're using this to cover a total overview of music and art, which lines up with the history overview from Notgrass this year.

I'm adding in this Usborne Famous Artists sticker book and the coordinating Mike Venezia books too.

Science: Focus on Middle School Astronomy for the fall with some extra resources then Focus on Middle School Geology with a few extras (Usborne Rocks and Fossils and their Rocks & Minerals sticker book plus a few rock/mineral sample packs) for the spring.

 

History: Notgrass - From Adam to Us

I think one or two of the assigned literature titles she has read previously, so we're just skipping those. I also assign a required literature list each year. She will have to choose 25 titles from my list to read too.

 Bible: Bible Road Trip Year 3

Foreign Language: French Essentials

Electives:

Creative Writing - Learn to Write the Novel Way and Writing from the Heart

Geography - North Star Geography

Personal Finance - Foundations in Personal Finance from Dave Ramsey

At the end of 8th grade, Soprano will actually have earned 3.5 credits for high school. That's a great feeling. She loved North Star Geography and we've liked the finance course and the science programs. Focus on Middle School Science is a new curriculum for us, but it is working. It probably helps that she picked topics that she was interested in, too. :)

If you want to give Focus on Middle School Science a try or check out their elementary curricula, you can use my referral code for a 10% discount! (Disclaimer: I will earn a monetary bonus should you choose to buy. That will go straight towards next year's books...so we thank you!)

Referral link: http://realscience4kids.refr.cc/jennifers

What are you using this year? Found anything new that you just love?