I am by no means an experienced homeschooler. In fact, only the youngest of my four children is homeschooled. Nevertheless, something I have always enjoyed, is seeing what other people are doing for their homeschool year. Today, I am going to share with you my curriculum picks for this year and why I chose them.
My son will be in what would be the public school equivalent of 10th grade. The wonderful thing about homeschooling your children is that those labels start to lose their meaning. Your children are simply where they are. No one learns every subject at the same rate, or with the same interest. They are not robots to be programmed and set to work. They are humans, with complex thoughts and feelings. They are each uniquely and lovingly created. Homeschooling gives us the ability to help them learn in the way that suits them best.
Math
This year we are doing Geometry. We chose Saxon Math as our curriculum. There is a real love/hate among homeschoolers over the Saxon curriculum. It is spiral, with a heavy emphasis on daily practice. This can feel overwhelming to some students and their parents. The way we are choosing to use this curriculum is a little different from what is suggested. We are doing a couple of lessons a day and only doing the first bit of the practice problems, instead of the entire practice. Every 5th lesson we will do the entire practice, and then have a quiz. This should give us time to catch anything that needs more time to understand, without feeling as burdensome.
Science
We are doing Chemistry with a Lab this year. I am using Apologia’s curriculum. I like having the combination of Christianity and science together. I think it allows for the whole picture. As much as I enjoy science, chemistry was not my favorite. I am hoping as I learn alongside my son, that I gain a better appreciation for it.
Physical Education
The subject I used to dread in high school. Honestly, I barely participated. Fast forward to now: I am fifty, lift weights 3x a week and go for 5 – 6 mile walks multiple times a week. I would love to go back in time and tell myself to do the work of getting in shape. I digress…
This year we are doing a combination of weight training, based on Alexander Bromley’s book. We are also including long walks, individual sports and mobility training. This should help our son build a base of strength and mobility that will allow him to pursue whatever hobbies or sports he desires.
Language Arts
This year our emphasis is on grammar and writing styles. We have two curriculum, one for each semester. First up is Our Mother Tongue. This curriculum will give us a solid grasp of grammar, and includes sentence diagramming. Next is The Elements of Style. Once you have the rules for writing, it’s time to learn the most effective ways for using language to communicate clearly and beautifully. Time permitting, we may read Junk English as well.
I have heard objections from a lot of parents that grammar and sentence diagramming are old-fashioned and useless. Instead we should allow children to write as they speak, and let them use the auto-correct features of word processing programs to catch their errors. I disagree. Not only does the reliance on a piece of software to do the thinking, rankle me, the mere idea of removing the pleasure of thinking for myself is criminal! The goal of language arts is clear communication. Self-expression without clarity is useless.
My goal is for my son to learn how to communicate clearly, concisely, and effectively. If he has this knowledge, he can also use it to deconstruct an argument and find its flaws and fallacies.
Literature/Reading
My son wanted to do the Renaissance as his history focus this year, so I chose books based on either people of the time, works of the time, or based on the time period. Our first two books of the year are a biography of Niccolo Machiavelli, and one of his works, The Prince. Machiavelli is wrongly demonized and his works help us to understand how those in power think. Next, we will be reading another biography, this time on Martin Luther, the accidental father of the Protestant church. We are also going to be reading a selection of Shakespeare’s plays. I am thinking Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet, but that may changed based on my son’s interest. Our final books are Don Quixote and a selection of poems from Renaissance poets. I don’t have those entirely picked out yet. I like to have my son journal about what he is reading and we discuss what he has read. If he wants, we try to find a fun project to do, whether it is art, or food, or going to a museum.
History
As I said above, my son chose the Renaissance as the time period he wants to study for history. This year we are using something new, an online resource called Liberty Classroom. This is run by Dr. Tom Woods, and is an amazing resource. My son will get a top-notch history curriculum without the propaganda and lies. I am not certain the pace my son will need to take with this course on Renaissance history yet, but I am looking forward to learning with him. I also purchased some books on Renaissance architecture, including a fun coloring book. My son loves architecture!
Foreign Language
My son is not enamored with learning a foreign language, so I am not planning on doing more than 2 credits, just enough to satisfy most colleges, should he decide he wants to attend. We may drop it altogether, or keep going if he decides he really likes it. I let him choose the language that most interested him. So we are using Rocket Languages as our curriculum. He chose Russian. I may do the lessons along with him, I think it sounds fun!
That is our plan for our homeschool year! I hope you enjoyed seeing what our plan is for the year. If you homeschool, I would love to hear what your plans are, drop a comment below! I’d also love any friendly advice if you have used the same or similar curriculum or books in your homeschool! Thanks for being here!
EDIT: Hey, Everyone! I am ashamed to admit I forgot to mention my friend Jean’s amazing website! She and her family are lifelong learners and do-ers, like me! She knows so much about the Charlotte Mason method for homeschooling, and a heck of a lot more! When we had to gut our school year due to illness last year, I found Jean’s website and guidance so helpful. Depending on how our poetry study goes this year, I may be grabbing a copy of her book Poetry Hater’s Guide to Loving Poetry. Please go check out her site, I think you will find a lot of great information there.