Our 2016 - 2017 Curriculum

I really do enjoy teaching our boys but I know it's not for everyone.
It's not perfect, no school is, but it works for us.
This homeschooling mama gets all excited when it's time to start hunting for curriculum.
I get all my catalogs out and start highlighting.
I love it when the books start arriving.
Nice, crisp new books for a new school year.
Just for fun I thought I would share what the boys will be studying this school year.

This is Connor's 7th grade pile o' books.

Penmanship: Patriotic Penmanship for junior high by Mary Ellen Tedrow. This looked like a really cool way to practice writing. It's full of quotes from American patriots and our founding documents. I plan on using this for two years.

Logic: Mind Benders Level 4. We started using these last year and did them together. This year Connor has has his own book. The puzzles help you learn to think things through logically. A good life skill in my opinion!

English: Grammar & Composition I; Of People Literature; and Vocabulary/Spelling/Poetry I by A Beka. After a couple of years with a different grammar curriculum, which we loved, I decided something else was needed. While our previous books did awesome with grammar (typically grades ahead), it lacked in the writing department. So I went with an all inclusive kind of program for Connor. He's not behind, just not where I think he needs to be writing wise.

Writing: Jump In by Sharon Watson. This is a course that solely focuses on writing. Especially for reluctant ones. Something I think Connor will benefit from greatly. Since I'm also using the Grammar & Composition book with A Beka, I'm going to slow this course down and spread it over two years. It's only to supplement, but should be fun.

Math: Saxxon Math Homeschool 7/6. I'm not sure exactly what grade this is intended for but I used it for Nolan when he was in 7th grade. It was a great elementary math review while preparing the student for pre-algebra.

Science: Science: Order & Space by A Beka. This is another curriculum we love. It's solid, easy to comprehend and challenging at the same time.

(For some reason I decided to try something different for science last year. It was a huge failure. It didn't work with the boys' learning styles. It was more of a story/notebooking kind of learning style. We hated it, plain and simple. Both boys prefer to read a textbook and answer questions. Go figure. Now I know for sure what works. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!)

History: World Studies by Bob Jones. I used this with Nolan and liked it, except for the fast pace. Early on I decided to slow it down and use it two years. I'm glad I did. So for this year Connor is studying the first half of world history.

And this is Nolan's 9th grade pile o' books.

Yes, we have a freshman in the house!!!

Eek, when did that happen?

Yes, I started his high school transcript.

Penmanship: Patriotic Penmanship for high school by Mary Ellen Tedrow. I haven't done penmanship with Nolan in a while. I figured he was due for some practice :). This is the high school version of Connor's book. I'm also dividing it into two years.

Logic: Mind Benders Level 5.

Literature: We starting using Progeny Press literature guides last year. They have vocabulary, literary devices/terms, in-depth study of themes, etc. all from a biblical wold view. Nolan did well with these guides. So we chose 4 more for this year: The Call of the Wild; Christmas Carol; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; and The Hiding Place.

Grammar: Grammar & Composition III by A Beka. The previous curriculum we were using didn't really have what we were looking for for a high school class. This fit the bill. Since the literature guides are fairly extensive in content, I decided not to go with the full English "package" for Nolan.

Writing: Writing Fiction (in High School) by Sharon Watson. We're using this as an elective for Nolan. He's passionate about writing and this seemed like a perfect fit. There's two tracks for this book, one includes instructions for those writing a novel. I'm really excited about this class.

Math: Geometry Seeing, Doing, Understanding by Harold Jacobs. It's no secret I'm a math geek. In my years of homeschooling it's become my opinion that some (not all) of homeschool high school math curriculum is watered down. This is where I get picky. I did extensive research last year to find an algebra book I was satisfied with. I'm hoping this geometry book is as good as the algebra book turned out to be. They are different authors but based on critical reviews, it should meet my expectations. I get down right giddy when I teach a math lesson... drives the boys nuts!

Science: Science: Matter & Energy, by A Beka. Not much to comment here except that this should meet my expectations of what a science book should be.

P.E.: umm... My plan is for Nolan to continue his weight lifting (we may make a formal plan for it), while I add some additional things.


That is the basics of our studies for this year. It looks like a lot but they won't do everything everyday. I'll also try to throw in some art lessons from a website that we subscribe to. Plus I assign books from the library :). I'm so glad our boys are prolific readers. There's never a more quiet van ride than when we leave the library!

For the first time in our eight years of homeschooling, I'm not making extensive lesson plans this year (gasp). That's a huge leap for me. I liked to plan out a month at a time. However, most of the curriculum I've picked for this year had lessons planned for you (woo hoo). What I've decided to do is print a basic planner-type sheet for each boy per week. It will have a list of their classes with how many lessons I expect them to do each week. They are to plan when to do the lessons and fill out their schedule for the week. My goal is to teach them to manage their workload. I'm there as a guide... and to crack the whip when necessary!

Last year was a challenging school year for so many reasons. So here's to a new and hopefully good school year!