Showing posts with label rhetoric level. Show all posts

Monday, May 29, 2023

2023 - 2024 Plan of Study ~ 11th, 8th, & 4th grades

Morning friends!

I am finally ready to share our 2023-2024 Plan of Study! When I tell you this year has been a labor of love, I mean it. I’ve been on my knees many times over the last few months praying and planning about our upcoming school year and our Plan of Study. Countless days I have been up late into the night researching…thinking…planning and replanning. Trying to formulate a (loose) long term plan of attack for my youngest two who, Lord willing, will get the chance to be student-athletes like their older sister. My current high schooler is also forefront in my mind as she has reached the level of whether we take the AP or Dual Enrollment (Early College) route. This fall the countdown will start and she will have just two years left. I’m leaning towards the latter as we currently have orders to stay in the area and we can get a waiver so we don’t have to pay out of state tuition as we would have had to with Madison and Mikayla when they were at this stage.

photo credit/blog post @ AfterThoughts

I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I said there are not days that I feel physically and mentally done with homeschooling. It’s hard work! I’ve wanted to quit, to throw in the towel… but I can’t, I won’t. The stakes are too high, we’ve come so far! This is my job, this is what the Lord has placed before me as my task for the last 14 years. Plus, if you know me, I’m no quitter 😊.

I think this is probably the latest that I have ever waited to share our plans. I have had all three kids enrolled in their upcoming online courses with Veritas Press Scholars since February, so I’ve been planning for next school year since January! Things kept being thrown at me and we have been traveling a lot this year, but I have finally figured out the direction we’re going to go! I want to note that any links below are not affiliated links. I just put them in for my reference and yours if you want to check the curriculum out. Also, because we are coming up onto our 15th year and fifth trip through high school, I already own the majority of the curriculum listed as I try to shop our shelves first before investing into something new.

Montana will be in 11^th grade and is enrolled in three online classes, Saxon Advanced Math (Pre-Calculus), Honors Anatomy & Physiology, and Honors Spanish 3. The latter two offer a Dual Enrollment opportunity. At the time of penning this post, Montana is also currently enrolled in an online AP English Language course, however, I am in the process of registering her for the Early College program with Regent University.

Montana's Plan of Study looks like this for 2023-2024:

Bible ~ Sonlight Bible 410 {1 credit}

Math ~ Saxon Advanced Mathematics (Pre-Calculus) online with Veritas Press {1 credit}

Honors Science ~ Apologia Advanced Biology (AnPhy) online with Veritas Press (Early College/DE) {1 credit}

English 3 ~ English 101 with Tidewater Community College (FALL) {1 credit}

Honors History ~ Sonlight Core 400 American Government {0.5 credit}

Honors Literature ~ Sonlight American Literature 430 {1 credit}

Honors Foreign Language ~ Spanish 3 with Veritas Press (Early College/DE) {1 credit}

PE ~ softball (Rec ball) / home workouts {1 credit}

Electives:

Economics ~ Thinkwell {0.5 credit}

Personal Finance ~ GHW {0.5 credit}

Driver’s Ed {0.5 credit}

Extras

~ PSAT/ACT 1 hr/day

~ Mother’s Helper 1/day a week for 5 hours

Total yearly credits: 9.0 credits for High School / 9 credits for College

McKenzie will be in 8th grade this year and is enrolled in four online classes with Veritas Press Scholars, Latin 1, Grammar & Writing Transition, Logic 1, and Physical Science. Three of the courses are for high school credit as well as her Sonlight and Math course below. I plan to add to the writing course to make it count as an English 1 credit and we have a fall back plan in case the course does not pass the NCAA Clearinghouse down the road. She has big goals and wants a chance to be a collegiate gymnast at her current dream school, the US Air Force Academy (or anywhere she can gain a spot).

If you’re a long term reader of this blog you know that in 2014 when McKenzie was turning 5 years old we opted her out of officially starting Kindergarten with the State. She did in fact complete her Kindergarten year 2014, just not on paper. So when she did officially start Kindergarten in 2015, she was working at the 1^st grade level. Essentially she has been working a year ahead each year.

Eighth grade is when we normally start earning high school credit in our homeschool, however, next school year McKenzie is going to attempt to complete a full 9th grade course load for 8th grade. I am in no way trying to rush the high school process. I have talked with several other homeschooling families who have taken this route with success. We have been preparing for this jump and she is ready for this step.

McKenzie's Plan of Study looks like this for 2023-2024:

Bible ~ Sonlight Bible 110 {1 credit}

Math ~ Saxon Algebra 1/2

English 1

~ Composition with IEW's The Elegant Essay online with Veritas Press

~ Our Mother Tongue Grammar online with Veritas Press

~ Rod & Staff Spelling 8

~ Interactive Latin & Greek Roots Notebook

Science ~ Apologia Physical Science online with Veritas Press {1 credit}

Honors Literature ~ Sonlight American Literature 100 {1 credit}

Honors History ~ Sonlight American History 100 {1 credit}

Foreign Language ~ Latin 1 online with Veritas Press {1 credit}

PE ~ Level 9 Gymnastics, 26-28 hours a week

Electives:

~ Logic 1 online with Veritas Press {1 credit}

Total yearly credits: 6 credits

Micah, my baby boy, is jumping into online learning with three classes for 4th grade, Memory Period I, Grammar & IEW Writing 3, and Latin 3. Honestly, I wanted to enroll him into a Saxon 5/4 Math and/or IEW Linguistics 4 (Spelling) class, but deep down I can’t justify the cost at this stage. Saxon Math does take a big jump as far as the formatting of the lessons so I’m hoping we don’t butt heads too much over that. He will use Nicole the Math Lady for lesson instruction even though I can teach 4th grade math 😊

Micah's Plan of Study for 2023-2024 will be:

Bible/Recitations

~ Sonlight Bible Core E

Math

~ Saxon 5/4 online with Veritas Press

Language Arts

~ IEW Fix it Grammar, book 1

~ IEW Structure & Style Writing, Year 1-Level A online with Veritas Press

~ IEW Phonetic Zoo Spelling, Level B

~ Script and Scribe - Americana, Poetry & Art Study

Linguistics 4: IEW Phonetic Zoo online with Veritas Press

History/Geography/Literature

~ Sonlight Core E – American History, part 1

Science

~ Elemental Science: Physics for the Grammar Stage

~~Greek Myths~~

~~~ Memoria Press D'Aulaires' Greek Myths~~

Latin

~ Latin for Children, A online with Veritas Press

Baseball, Fall & Spring ball, private lessons during the off season

Micah will be the only one attending our beloved co-op for enrichment courses next year as well. McKenzie wants to take Drama but with her training schedule it’s hard to fit in unless she goes completely to night practice, which she doesn’t want {and neither do I 🙂}. Montana’s weekly babysitter job is switching to Tuesday mornings in September so we spread the bulk of her online courses to M/W, and she doesn’t want to sit in study hall all day to do her online courses. I’m going to be teaching a class on Time Management/Study Skills/Functional-Decorative Planning to middle schoolers as well as aiding in two science classes. I’m excited for co-op next school year!

I’m pretty sure we will be traveling all over the country again for gymnastics with McKenzie and trying to catch as many college meets of Mikayla’s too! Micah wants to make a Travel ball team next year so he will start taking private lessons in pitching as well as fielding/batting in the off season. Unfortunately, I believe Montana will age out of softball eligibility after the fall season so we need to look into something else to fulfill her PE requirement if she can’t play. She may look into being an umpire, but she also wants to focus on her drawing and possibly creating illustrations for sale. Micah will also be bridging to a Weblo 1 in Cub Scouts in a few short weeks. His Pack does a lot of exciting adventures and we’re looking forward to more camping throughout the year.

If you’ve read all of this, YOU are a ROCKSTAR! Leave me a comment, I’d love to connect with you and talk about your homeschool plans.

Until next time friends, have a blessed day!

Thursday, May 26, 2022

2022 - 2023 Plan of Study

Hi there friends! We are wrapping up year 13, yet we are looking forward to starting the new school year in August. All three kids made great strides this past year and I am so proud of them all for pushing through and excelling.

image credit

Next school year we will begin our 14^th year of home education and we will have a 10^thgrader, 7^th grader, and a 3^rd grader. This year only Montana will be taking online classes as I jump back into the saddle teaching full time. My break was great and much needed, but now I am ready to get back into the grind of daily teaching and learning with the kids.

We will continue to school 4 days a week for McKenzie and Micah while Montana will do a traditional 5 days for Sophomore year of high school. It may become necessary to adjust our days for McKenzie because of her gymnastics schedule, something we did at this grade for Mikayla. To do this we will add in Saturday school, but for now we are planning on just four days.

Right now our plan is to start our new year on August 1^st. I may have to adjust this since the University girls need to get back to school mid-August but that is what I am planning. I’m also looking forward to going back to our Sabbath scheduling. This year we will school 9 weeks on / 1 Sabbath week off. It might get a little tricky for Montana as she is taking three online classes again, but we will make it work and make sure she gets her rest when needed too.

Without further ado here is our 2022 – 2023 Plan of Study…

Another year of high school is upon us for Montana! She has excelled in the three online courses she took with Veritas Scholars Academy with final grades ranging from 96-99%! We will continue to utilize VSA for three more of her courses for 10^th grade. Montana has narrowed down what she thinks she wants to be after University, either a Veterinarian or a Medical Examiner. She wants to study art on the side and is interested in animation. Now, don’t be super alarmed at the amount of credits she is taking because everything will not be done every single day. I wanted to make room in her course load to include classes she is interested in as well as our required courses. The schedule will definitely adjust if need be, especially if she starts to get overwhelmed. Here’s what Montana will be learning next school year to earn 10 high school credits.

10th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices

Apologetics, 1 cr:

~ Sonlight Core 300

~ It Couldn’t Just Happen *she will just read this a few times a week

Math, 1 cr:

~ Saxon Algebra 2 with DIVE lecture or OutSchool lecture course

Honors English II, 1 cr:

~ Rod & Staff 9/10, Book 2

~ Composition 2, online with Veritas Scholars Academy

~ Literature: Sonlight 20th Century Classic Literature

~ Article of the Week {current events only- not the writing portion}

~ Vocabulary Virtuoso: PSAT-SAT Book 1

Honors Chemistry, 1 cr:

~ Chemistry, online with Veritas Scholars Academy

Honors History/Geography, 1 cr:

~ Sonlight Core 300 : 20th Century WorldHistory

Honors Foreign Language, 1 cr:

~ Avancemos Spanish 2, online with Veritas Scholars Academy

Music Study, ½ cr:

~ 21 Lessons in 20th Century American Music Appreciation

Art , ½ cr:

~ (2-3) 2D /3D Animation courses on OutSchool

Philosophy, 1 cr:

~ The Discovery of Deduction

Home Ec, 1 cr:

~ Home Economics Household and Personal Management Skills
~ Home Economics Kitchen Skills

PE, ½ cr:

~ Rec Softball {Fall/Spring}

Drivers Ed, ½ cr: (1st semester)

Extras:

~ Montana also works as a Mother’s Helper 5 hours a week

~ PSAT prep ~ 45 minutes/day, 4 days a week

* Just as my older girls have done, Montana will sit for the PSAT in October to get her first look and baseline score as a 10^th grader.

Total credits ~ 10.00

McKenzie has made huge strides over the last year, especially in her reading, Latin, and spelling! For 6^th grade she took two online courses, Apologia General Science and Latin Transition 1 with Veritas Scholars Academy. It was a great fit and the right amount of push she needed. This year she will not be taking any online courses because of timing issues, but hopefully next year course times will work a bit better for her schedule. McKenzie is still interested in being either a Chemist or a Gymnastics Coach/Manager. I’m excited to be feeding her excitement for studying Chemistry this year. Here’s what McKenzie will be learning.

7th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices

Apologetics:

~ Sonlight Bible H

~ It Couldn’t Just Happen *we are going to use this as a devotional and stretch it to fit the whole school year with the lesson plans I have.

Recitation:

~ Rhetoric/Latin/Math memory work from Classical Conversations

Math:

~ * At My Pace Pre-Algebra with High School Math Live

~ Pre-Algebra with Saxon 8/7 using DIVE

*we are currently reviewing the first half of this math program.

Language Arts:

~ Rod & Staff Grammar 7

~ Rod & Staff Spelling 6

~ Sonlight Literature H

~ Doodle & Do Vocabulary

~ Analogies For Us All from CC Challenge A

~ IEW Structure & Style, Level B

~ Current Events with World Magazine

History:

~ Sonlight Core H

Geography:

~ CC Cartography course from Challenge A

Latin, 1 cr:

~ Latin Alive 2 *we will count this course for high school credit

Logic:

~ Fallacy Dectective

Science:

~ Elemental Science Chemistry for Logic Stage

PE:

~ Level 8 (9) Developmental Program Gymnastics Team, 26 hours/week

Extras:

~ co-op enrichment courses

Total credit ~ 1.00

Micah is moving ahead to 3^rd grade, wow! It seems just like yesterday that he was just going into Kindergarten. Cliché, I know, but nonetheless I am excited that my baby boy is growing up. He is a strong reader (yes!) and doing great in math as well. Years ago I did Classical Conversations Foundations at home with the older girls so I am planning on doing the same this year with Micah. We will be focusing on the memory work for Recitation as we work through Sonlight’s Core C that we dropped for 2^nd grade. Micah is also looking forward to starting his formal study of Latin this year. As of right now he would like to be a baseball player or a military officer. Here’s what Micah will be learning next school year.

3rd Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices

Apologetics:

~ Sonlight Bible C

~ Thy Ology

Recitation:

~ Classical Conversations Foundations Memory work (at home)

Math:

~ Saxon Math 3

Language Arts:

~ Rod & Staff Grammar 3

~ Rod & Staff Spelling 4

~ Sonlight Literature 3/4 Readers

~ A Reason for Writing, C

~ Writing across the curriculum

History / Geography:

~ Sonlight Core C

Latin:

~ Latin for Children A

Science:

~ Elemental Science Chemistry for Grammar Stage

PE:

~ Fall / Spring baseball

Extras:

~ co-op enrichment courses

~ Cub Scouts Wolf

Thanks for reading our plans! Have you started thinking about what you will use for next school year? I would love to hear your plans! Drop me a note below in the comments and let’s keep the conversation going.

https://astablebeginning.com

Monday, June 21, 2021

2021 ~ 2022 Plan of Study

12 years of home education down

3 high school graduates

1 University graduate

1 University Junior

1 University Freshman

3 children left at home to educate in 9^th, 6^th, and 2^nd grades

Never in a million years did I think we would be in this position when we first started homeschooling back in 2009. We knew we were moving to VA in the fall of 2008 and that’s when God laid it on my heart to keep my then, three school age daughters home. It’s been quite an adventure as we have navigated through Tot School through High School. There have been years where we have been deep in the trenches of homeschooling where I felt as if I were barely hanging on. But you know what? I wouldn’t change it for the world! My children have excelled and been able to pursue the extracurricular activities that interest them whether it be sports, the arts, or Scouting and the fruits of their labor have paid off time and time again.

This 13^th year marks a milestone for us so to speak. You see, my last three children have been educated entirely at home. It’s a huge honor and one that I don’t take lightly. I am excited to see them continue to flourish and achieve their educational dreams over the next 11 years we have left homeschooling.

Once again we are navigating University move-in’s so we are starting later than normal. In 9 short weeks our school year will begin on August 23^rd with a 9^th grader, 6^th grader, and 2^nd grader. It has taken me so long to release this Plan of Study this year because I have had to rethink several curriculum choices for my children. With their input, I have researched and scoured websites, blogs, and reviews to see if the curriculum would be a fit for each child. The biggest change for this upcoming year is that Montana will dive into her first AP course with Human Geography (more about this below).

As in previous years, each of my children will have a specific area that we will focus on throughout the year. Pouring into their individual focus areas has led to good fruits down the road as they leave the nest for University. This year the bulk of our curriculum budget is going to online classes for Montana and McKenzie. Typically, we don’t start online classes until 10^th grade, but I recognized early last year that I needed a year to regroup after going hardcore for the previous 12 years. The bulk of Micah’s curriculum is material that we already have with a few exceptions.  

This year we will continue our 4-day, Sabbath schooling schedule of 6/1 (6 weeks schooling / 1 week off) with tweaks during meet season. After much consideration we will be keeping McKenzie in the homeschool morning training schedule for as long as the opportunity affords because it fits our evening needs as a family unit and her gymnastic goals. As a new middle schooler with a heavier course load, she knows it will mean she will be held accountable for her time in the mornings and on double day trainings that are dedicated for school. I am excited to see her rise to the challenge and excel during this time of transition.

We are also excited to fully return to our Wednesday Co-Op where the kids will take some pretty neat enrichment courses. I am looking forward to teaching two fun classes and having a Study Hall. Montana may choose to use Wednesday as a catch up day for school because her workload will increase with high school/college courses. As always, the standing rule is if you don't finish your assignments during the week, it must be done by Saturday afternoon.

With our August 23rd start date we will have 15 weeks completed by the start of our Christmas break on December 17th. Let’s dive into what we are planning to study.

This year Montana will continue building on her college prep studies. She has already earned 3 high school credits from 8^th grade year and is excited to officially be a high schooler! This year her focus studies will be in math.

Bible
~ Sonlight Bible 200 ~ Westminster Catechism

Math
~ Saxon Algebra 1 with lecture from Mom and Nicole the Math Lady

Honors Science
~ Apologia Biology online with Veritas Press

Honors English 9
~ Rod & Staff Grammar 9/10, Book 1

~ Wordly Wise 3000, Book 9

~ Composition 1 online with Veritas Press
~ Sonlight Literature Core 200

History
~ Human Geography with AP test

*Montana will be doing a self-study for this course as I am not submitting a syllabus to the College Board for approval. I have found another homeschooler who has created the course and will be following her scheduling to prepare for the May exam.

Foreign Language

~ Spanish: Avancemos 1 online with Veritas Press

Electives

~ Apologia Health
~ Artistic Pursuits, High School Book One

PE
~ Softball, fall & spring through rec league?

Extras

~ PSAT/ACT study 45 min/4 days *I am planning on having her take the PSAT in October to get a baseline score.

~ Girl Scout Cadette

Total credits: 8 credits  

Last year we changed up our history study for my youngest two. Bottom line…it didn’t work and I quickly went back to Sonlight but with a twist. McKenzie was not ready for complete independence of Core G and I really wanted to focus just on Ancients with the Story of the World as our spine with both her and Micah. So, she completed the first half of Core G and will finish Core G, Middle Ages this year. I still plan to add in hands-on learning for them both as we go the Middle Ages. My goal for her this year is to get her ready for Core H in 7^th grade. Also, you may notice that she is jumping into her high school science prep for 6^th grade instead of 7^th. She’s ready and she has a great teacher online to help increase her love for science that has been planted in the grammar level. Her focus this year is on spelling and vocabulary.

Morning Time Recitations *more to come on our plan

Bible
~ Wise Up from Positive Action for Christ

Math
~ Saxon 7/6 with Nicole the Math Lady

Science
~ Apologia General Science online with Veritas Press

Language Arts
~ Rod & Staff Grammar 6
~ Rod & Staff Spelling 6

~ Writing with Skill 1
~ Get to the Root of It Vocabulary

~ Reading List *coming soon

History/Geography/Literature

~ Sonlight Core G, 2^nd half Middle Ages

~ Sonlgiht Core G literature list

Foreign Language
~ Latin Transition online with Veritas Press (Latin Alive 1)

Logic

~ Critical Thinking Skills 2

~ Inference Jones 1

PE
~ Level 8 gymnastics Team, 25+ hours a week

*we are hopeful she moves up to compete Level 8 this season after coming off of injury and repeating Lv7.

Time is flying by and my baby boy is in 2^nd grade! This year we are going to continue plugging along and laying the foundation in the basics for him. I am switching a few subjects this year to BJU Press because he enjoys the colorful workbooks this curriculum provides. Like his sisters, Micah is strong in math and loves to read. Our focus this year is completing our work without complaining.

Morning Time Recitations

Bible
~ BJU Press Bible Truths: A Servants Heart

Math
~ Saxon Math 2
~ Math Made Fun, Grade 2

Language Arts / Phonics
~ Rod & Staff Grammar 2

~ Writing with Ease 1

~ Explode the Code, Books 4,5, & 6

~ BJU Press Spelling 2

~ Wordly Wise 3000, book 2

~ Sonlight Readers 2
~ A Reason for Handwriting, Transition

~ Reading list * coming soon. I would love to know what some of your favorite reading books are for this age?

Science
~ Sonlight Core C: Geology, Meteorology, Mechanical Technology

History/Geography/Literature
~ Sonlight Core C

Foreign Language
~ Song School Latin 1 with Classical Academic Press

Art

~ Artistic Pursuits, Book 3 Middle Ages

PE
~ Fall & Spring Baseball

Extras
~ Boy Scout Wolf

~ AWANA ?
 

Thanks for making it through this long post! This week I am going to finalize our Morning Time Recitation plans and booklists. We are in the process of a major house declutter and room swap (yes, again) so I’ll be painting and doing that in the next few weeks as well. I’m excited for year 13, our first day will be here before we know it!

http://astablebeginning.com