9th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices 2016

Today I wanted to share with you what we have chosen to use as our base curriculum and resources for my 14 year old who is entering his 9th grade year.

I couldn't possibly fit pictures of everything into the collage image so please be sure to read through the full post for all of the details.

I must point out though that we DO NOT USE STANDARD GRADES in our homeschool. We simply meet each child where they are at and do the next thing. So please be aware that not everything on the list below is actually aimed at a 9th grader according to standard levels.

So without further ado here they are.

Morning Basket:

Family Read Alouds
Quick Daily Math

Math:
M.U. S Finish off Pre Algebra & Honors, then move to M.U.S Algebra I,
Khan Academy or Maths Is Fun as a supplement when needed or wanted
L.O.F Decimals & Percents (he is working on LOF work already covered in MUS but likes to use this as a review and a different way of working with already learned material)

Vocabulary:
Word Up by Compass Classroom
Supplemented with:
Vocab app by Mind Snacks
Interactive Vocabulary Notebook

Grammar:
I.E.W Fix It
Cover Story Writing Grammar Lessons

Writing:
Cover Story

Spelling:
Spelling You See

Literature:
Reed Novel Studies exact titles still to be chosen, These cover a wide range of language arts skills.

Science:
The Story of Science, Joy Hakim with workbook
Plus any units with co-op

History: Earlier this year we weren't sent a copy of Renaissance & Reformation from Homeschool In The Woods to complete and subsequently share our thoughts with you all. However, life simply got in the way this year and it just never happened. We did make a start and once we had everything planned out we seemed to enjoy the unit so I'm looking forward to moving forward this.

Geography: I've had the Visits To Series on my radar for a couple of years now. I like that it can be worked on independently, and that it covers mapping and the more cultural aspects of geography. So I figured this year was as good as any for us to give it a go. We are yet to decide on the exact book to start with but I'll leave that up to him.

He will continue to read through The Adventurous Mailbox books we have here.

We are also taking a family holiday to New Zealand in early 2016 which will provide many opportunities to delve deeper into all aspects of geography.

Art:
Artistic Pursuits
Classes with an Art teacher

Technology & Design
Safe Internet use
Mavis Beacon Typing Tutor
Robotics with a tutor
We are looking at Film Making and/or Photography with a tutor
Self Guided Exploration of Google Sketch Up

Health& PE:
Cooking & Home EC Skills
Body Awareness
Bike riding
Running around with friends
Swimming
Boogie Boarding
Bowling
Sailing
First Aid practice with SES Cadets
Just generally being as active as possible
Horse Riding during the winter months

Micro-School Learning

Once or twice a week, four times a year we meet with what I have coined our micro-school because in reality that is what it is. We only plan term by term but so far he will be completing a Science Unit (exact topic to be decided), continuing to work through Cover Story Writing and they will continue to work on their Artistic Pursuits program together.

Co-op Learning

Once a week in six week blocks, four times a year we will meet with our co-op group. This is a little more relaxed and we have a larger number of families that participate in this group, plus the families are fluid with not all of them coming along all year. Again we tend to only plan per term and so far we have scheduled Art classes, robotics and a book club for the high school group.

Other Extra Curricular Activities

Once again this year he will immerse himself with the Emergency Services Cadets program and Drama classes at the local theatre. He absolutely loves both of these and has gained so much from them, they are a very important part of his week.

He also plans to partake in various forms of work experience this year, and has just begun exploring the options of gaining part time employment, but we still need to do more research on both of those.

I can really feel the clock ticking for me, in just a few years the home ed journey with this guy will all be over. I am beginning to experience the gamut of emotions and at times all of them all at once LOL!!

I'll be sharing our choices for my other children over the coming weeks, be sure to keep an eye out for those posts.

Happy Homeschooling,
Kylie