It's almost a wrap

8th grade is almost done. I have a little angst, but much pride. This has been a good year, great compared to last year. This is today's nature lesson, introducing the cat to a catfish. Tigger not only brought home dinner, he caught it as well. I'm sure the cat will get some too.

This week has been a little different. We're finished with history and science and are focusing on writing, math, and literature. Math has been another conundrum, yet that is for another post. We're also focusing on some real life logic opportunities brought up online. Z is a pretty smart kid, loads of common sense. 

Today he's working on some keyboarding, we were playing with our new pencil sharpener, which I will highlight in another post, and discussing the quality, or lack thereof, of a compass he was using for math.

We have one more week and a day. Actually five days, because we are going to off Monday for the holiday. Then we're going to do nothing for at least two weeks. Nothing being me frantically trying to finish plans for next year and Z sleeping in late. Next year actually starts early August. We do much better starting earlier and take a break every six weeks. That worked well this year. This summer we will focusing on math and reading and maybe art if we want and maybe Japanese if we want. Math and reading for sure though.

I'll be posting some reviews in the next few weeks. I'll also be posting our final, final list of curricula for next year. I'll also be painting the classroom and hoping to freshen up the decor a bit.

Et tu, Brute? Part Two, Another language dilemma

Well as soon as I post our plans they change. Maybe. Maybe this is my way of solidifying my choices, post them on my blog and wait a week, lol.

As some of you read a while ago we, Z and I, reached a Latin compromise. I thought it would be The Great Latin Compromise of 2012. Instead it is becoming The Great Latin Debacle of 2012. Z is stubborn, which is not surprising, it's genetic. He gets it from, well, everyone, every side of the family is known for their ability to hold their ground. I consider this a good thing most of the time. He is not easily swayed by others and has no problem speaking his mind when appropriate.

I've always known that homeschooling high school will be something different. As Z would say, it's unique, like everyone else. I want him to have special experiences that help define who he is. I remember years ago, eons ago, picking classes for high school. I took every history, creative writing, and art class I could, because I wanted to bask in those subjects. I'm still interested in them. I also took four years of Spanish, partially it was the most exotic language (French didn't hold the same appeal for me), partially because the teacher made the class fun. She brought a passion to the teaching of a language that was part of her culture.

Which brings me to my next point, passion, Now Z isn't passionate about math at this current stage, but he knows he'll have to study it for four more years. He's also not passionate about Latin anymore and has brought it up recently. Yesterday, prompted by a question by another homeschooling mother, I brought it up again. There is only so much time in the day. I'm also in a believer of guarding creative free time. Z is currently exploring computer programming in his spare time. He's watching tutorials, reading books, and practicing.

With only so much free time and this fresh conversation, I am considering dropping Latin. Well I'm not, I'm enjoying my study, but Z wants to drop it as a part of our high school study. That would push the priority language to Japanese, which will thrill him to no end. Last fall he expressed an interest in the future to explore Russian and German. Our Japanese study is a three year study minimum, easily stretching to four by adding some literature and cultural studies. Knowing that three languages is probably too much for us, he put Russian on the list first. I was planning on starting in 11th grade and doing a two year study. After our conversation yesterday I'm considering adding a half credit study next year, calling it Introductory Russian.

I stumbled upon a few great websites that would provide grammar, vocabulary, and audio training enough for at least a semester (probably more). That would give us enough exposure to see if he wants to do a full study or try German.

I leaning towards allowing this, even though it means letting go of something I deem important. But we've discussed his desire to learn multiple languages, I understood we were headed this direction anyway. It's just happening sooner. My compromise is that we do a root study as part of the English credit. We haven't done Greek roots yet and we'll just add some more Latin to those.

Once again I line up his classes for next year and I see the cusp of the adult he will become, very art and language centered with technology thrown into the mix. It fits. When I initially discussed dropping Latin yesterday I told him he'd have to choose another half to full credit class. I listed some items I had planned for following years and he hesitated or said no immediately. When I landed on the Introductory Russian, he immediately said yes.

I'm already envisioning our Japanese hiragana & katakana on a posterboard on the wall. (Kanji is later years in our curriculum). I know see the Russian alphabet alongside that. Maybe we'll add some Elvish script underneath that, or perhaps some Klingon, or maybe we'll add our own alphabet we're working on. Even I'm getting a little excited about learning Russian. We'll invite my mom up to watch Dr. Zhivago one day, we'll add in some Russian Fairy Tales. Yeah, this fits.

Ninth Grade Finalized

I've posted some of this in the pages up top, but yesterday final decisions were made for our 2012-2013 school year. Here's the line-up:


2012-2013 school year will mark out ninth year of homeschooling. For those of you keeping track, that's ninth grade, freshman year, high school. Here's a preview of the line up for fall. 

Latin - Wheelock's Latin

English - finish Writing with Skill I, start WWS II, Literature analysis and annotation, Painless Grammar

Japanese - Irasshai Japanese

Philosophy - Theory of Knowledge (Cambridge) with The Story of Philosophy, readings from Aristotle and Plato

Math - Geometry, book undecided

History - Focus on Early Civilizations and Ancient Greece. Spielvogel's Western Civ as spine with Great Books. Planned titles are The Iliad, The Odyssey, Herodotus, Greek Tragedies & a Greek Comedy

Science* -Physics with College Physics Volume 1 (Knight, Jones, Field)

Drawing - a 12 week course on all aspects of pencil drawing. Custom course using several resources. 

*science, science, science - I had hoped and planned to do an 3 year integrated science program, doing 12 weeks each of physics, chemistry, and biology each year. Due to financial considerations I am scaling back my plan. We will do 24 weeks of Physics this year. This will allow us to use materials which I already own. The following year (2013-2014) I will finish finish physics with volume 2 of College Physics, and add Chemistry. If finances allow we'll do 12 weeks of biology after 12 weeks of chemistry, then finish chemistry and biology in year three. 

I have a vision for where each subject will be heading in the following years as well. It's taken a great deal of time to find an overall vision for high school and treat it as a four year package without definite plans for later years. 

Latin is a compromise of sorts, which I addressed in a previous post. Z would stop it now if I let him. I'm not quite ready to give it up. We haven't progressed as much as I would like this year, our focus has been elsewhere. I still hold hope we can kick it into gear next year. 

Japanese has been low priority, but high interest. I see this as a long term enterprise, so the fact we'll spread it out it not an issue. I hope this summer we can do a few lessons for fun, solidify what we know, and create a better foundation to start with next fall. 

English - that subject that could swallow your whole day if not careful. Latin serves as our vocabulary, spelling is done in context, grammar will be completed via Painless Grammar and the many grammar reference books I own. Literature will be mostly tied to history, although the literature analysis may start with short stories not from the Ancients. Writing is one subject we will continue with specific instruction. Writing with Skill is working well. We will finish level One, which we didn't start until December this year. We will continue with level Two once is it published. 

Philosophy is a subject I'm excited about teaching. Z's favorite question is Why? and I look forward to discussions we will have as examine these questions. Theory of Knowledge is an IB course companion basically about how we learn. We'll add some readings from Plato and Aristotle later in the year. I also plan to require a .5 credit of Ethics in the future. I believe that is a vital class for this generation. 

Math is still my nemesis. We will be doing Geometry, I think I know which text. Making that choice means giving up something good that I would get with another text. However,  this is where I need to make the decision about what is right for Z. I want to challenge but not frustrate him. I still need to spend time pondering the worth of each text. I've been too distracted to do that yet, 

History is outlined and planned. I still need to pick assignments, tests, etc, and do a lot of pre-reading. I'm using many resources to put together this course. I'm also pinpointing the skills I want Z to learn, not just the content. That will help me slow down and make sure those are covered well instead of rushing through this rich time period. 

Science is also a compromise this year. Because of the way we'll be structuring our science program we won't start physics until November. This will give me more time to prepare and study, this will also give us time to find our groove before adding a higher intensity subject. Our physics study will conclude in 10th grade. 

Drawing is the subject Z finalized yesterday. It will be a 12 week course to be completed before we start science. I'm excited about this as Z has some potential as an artist. He's thinks he's not talented. As someone who took every art class possible in high school, I see him as untrained and inexperienced. He received art supplies for Christmas from both grandparents, so he is set with quality materials. I have a few options for online instruction, which I will finalize in the next few weeks. I'll post about those when done because there are some exciting options out there, many of which are free. 

Free, that's another issue that has been the overriding factor in decisions this year, cost. Our budget is tight and I'm okay with that. The years I've spent collecting books is paying off. Much of what we'll be using is what I found at thrift stores, bought used online, or made the decision to invest into as I found a deal. I don't just buy willy-nilly. I've put in hours of research from message boards and countless reviews on what would be acceptable to use for Z's education. It is part of my job as a home educator to be resourceful. 

We've never had the budget to just blindly buy and decide later. Thankfully I do enjoy the research and planning, it's become a hobby of sorts. I knew when we started this journey that I'd always have more time than money. I'm not afraid to invest when it is the best option, but I do try to make sure it's the most cost effective best option. For instance we will be reading Herodotus next year. I could get a copy online for free, but Herodotus is not like reading Hunger Games. After my research I found the Landmark version of Herodotus. I've been reading it myself and the maps, footnotes, and helps make all the difference. New a copy of the Landmark versions costs $20, which in our budget is a lot for one book considering I buy a copy for ds and one for me. I found my copy online used for $13, in excellent condition no writing. I will invest into a new one for ds as I hope he will keep this as part of his library collection. That's another part I see as investment. Many of the books we will be reading I buy two copies. I try to buy new for ds so that he'll have his own to keep. Now I realize they may sit in his room long after he moves out. I'm okay with that. 

So that is our line up for fall. I'm excited about finishing this year and taking a break, we all need it. But I can't wait for fall either, it's going to be spectacular year.