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2017-2018 8th Grade Curriculum Choices

How is it that i blinked my eyes and Miss Bookworm is suddenly entering 8th grade? That just can’t be right! She was just a wee baby a few days ago.

This summer, she’ll be turning 13 and we’ll begin treading brand new waters. Waters full of emotions, awkward conversations and…boys. 

The mere thought of my baby girl growing up sends me into a tizzy, grasping to gain control of something. Anything.
And like any good homeschool mom, I’ve found peace in controlling the things I can and letting go of the things I cannot. 
Between hyperventilating and minor panic attacks, I’ve somehow managed to line up our 2017-2018 8th Grade curriculum choices.

While my daughter is binge-watching make-up tutorials, I would love to share our plan with you!

2017-2018 8th Grade Curriculum Choices

Check out our 2017-2018 8th grade curriculum choices! Relax and enjoy the ride.

MATH {Teaching Textbooks}:

I really struggled this year with switching up our math curriculum. We’ve used Teaching Textbooks since we started homeschooling and we love it. Last year, my daughter somehow fell “behind” our schedule and has been struggling to get caught up. I tossed around the idea of switching to CTC Math so we might end up trying that instead this year. CTC Math is similar to Teaching Textbooks in a few ways but also very different. For example, Teaching Textbooks uses the spiral method while CTC  teaches to mastery. Although Teaching Textbooks is quite a bit more expensive, I could reuse it again with the other kids.

Language Arts {Easy Grammar}:

I am ALL for simple learning and that’s exactly what Easy Grammar is. We stumbled upon Easy Grammar a few years ago and haven’t looked back. We don’t spend hours memorizing jingles and rhymes. In fact, in less than 10 minutes a day, we breeze through a few pages of Easy Grammar. For such a low price, you just can’t beat it!

Spelling {Spelling Power}:

Check out our 2017-2018 8th grade curriculum choices! Relax and enjoy the ride.

Last year was the first time we’d ever used a spelling curriculum. I always intend to play fun games online and work on spelling as we needed. But that never happened. It didn’t take long for me to realize Miss Manners(9) needed help in the spelling department. Miss Bookworm (13) has always been a a strong speller, probably due to her insane addiction to reading. However, since I was doing spelling with her sister, I went ahead and included her in our spelling time. She should be able to finish up the Spelling Power book this year, probably before Christmas! After that, she’ll be done with spelling for good.

Vocabulary {Free Rice}:

We use FreeRice.com to enjoy giving while we learn. The website donates 10 grains of rice to needy countries for each correct vocabulary answer you get. The site is quick and fun, making it enjoyable to all ages. My kids can earn about 350 grains of rice in a minute. They love watching their bowl fill up with the grains of rice.

History {Mystery of History}:

A couple of years ago, we used Mystery of History, Volume 1. The next year, we decided to wing it and do more of an unschool approack towards history. This year, we’ll be picking back up where we left off, with Volume 2. I love Mystery of History because it’s quick and written so that kids can understand it easily. It has several activities for each lesson and the timeline is a fun way to work on review.

Science {Apologia Human Anatomy & Physiology}:

We love Apologia and this year, we’ve chosen to work on the Human Body. My biggest issue with science is that my kids are die-hard animal fans. They love science though, so hopefully the human body will be a fun year for us. (And I’ll be happy to learn about something other than animals.) 😉

Geography:If you're looking for new ideas for 2017-2018 8th grade curriculum choices, you can't miss this! I've never heard of some of these things.

We will be using the Usborne Geography Encyclopedia as a guide. We will work through the book, adding in our own projects and activities as we go. I also plan to do a month-long unit study on each continent. These will include tasting foods, learning about major religions, enjoying music and researching individual countries. We will start with Antarctica and work our way through North America, South America, Australia, Africa, Europe and finally Asia. I am working on putting together file folders with all of the information and activities I will need for each continent. This will make it easy to grab and learn, with little prep. I’m aiming to have the folders completed by the end of July.

Writing {Writers in Residence}:

Another subject we’ve never formally taught is writing. Miss Bookworm went to public school through 4th grade, so she learned a lot of writing basics there.  I don’t require a ton of writngi in our homeschool so we’ve always unschooled in this area, too. One thing I have required is a written book report on a book of my choice each month. This year, we’ll be adding in Writers in Residence from Apologia. I’m excited to try something new and both of my girls will be using it.

Reading {Readers in Residence}:

Again, we’ve never used a formal reading program. Instead, we’ve spent hours reading books together and listening to audio books. We’ve curled up on the couch and fallen in love, cried and been scared together. This year, Miss Bookworm will be using Readers in Residence, along with completing her monthly assigned book.

Current Events: {Scholastic Weekly Reader}:

Did you know that weekly readers are available for homeschoolers, too? I remember LOVING my Weekly Readers growing up in public school so I was thrilled to get them for my own kids. Each month, Scholastic will send you a package of readers to distribute weekly. You can choose from many different topics, such as current events, math or science. Each package comes with a few extra copies, so you can even share with a friend. We spent around $30 for a whole year of readers for both of my girls. They were very well worth the price, and when we were finished with them, we’d pass them along to other homeschool families.

PE:

Between playing outdoors, riding bikes and soccer practice, we always get plenty of exercise so I don’t worry about formal PE classes.

Check out our 2017-2018 8th grade curriculum choices! Relax and enjoy the ride.

Music:

We will be learning music through SQUILT Music, as well as working through Usborne’s book of Famous Composers.

Art:

We will continue to attend bi-weekly art classes with some homeschool friends this year. We always love to add in our own projects using Sparketh and Chalk Pastel. We will also begin studying great artists using Usborne’s Famous Artist and Famous Paintings books.

Other Plans:

Miss Bookworm is an avid reader, so much that it can sometimes be a problem for her. (Or me? She doesn’t mind but I do, occasionally.) I am going to attempt to get her out of her hiding more often to do things with other kids. She isn’t socially awkward, she’d just prefer to be reading a book instead of gossiping with kids her own age.
She enjoys running, so I’m hoping to train for a 5K with her this year, using the Couch to 5K app.

We will be taking more field trips this year, as I’ve really slacked in that area. We love good field trips but didn’t take hardly any in 2016.

We will continue spending countless hours with our extended family. We love including them in our homeschool days. Most kids don’t have the freedom to sleep over at grandma’s on a school night, stay up late visiting and then cook a big breakfast the next morning. We’re going to be doing more visiting and less structuring when it comes to family time.

As far as life skills go, we will be focusing more on transportation this year. We’re hard-core believers that kids should have skills that don’t involve a book. Miss Bookworm has mastered taking care of the house, cooking and tending to kids. (Ha! I tell her she will be an amazing mom but I think Bear has her convinced that she will never ever want kids of her own. He’s quite the handful.) She can work with wood, mow the lawn and manage money. However, this year, we’ll focus on safe driving skills, learning to change a flat tire and general vehicle maintenance. This is uncharted territory for me, as well, so we’ll be learning together.

It’s crazy to think that NEXT YEAR, I will have a high schooler! Someone, please, tell time to slow down. 🙁

 

What are your 2017-2018 8th grade curriculum choices?

 

Check out our 2017-2018 8th grade curriculum choices! Relax and enjoy the ride.

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