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.
