Curriculum 2008-2009 for Hannah & Emma

Hannah- 8th Grade
Emma- 6th Grade

*Math (Hannah) - Saxon Alegebra 1/2: We completed 1/2 of this book last year and we will finish the book this year. About a month into the school year I realized that she would greatly benefit from spending two days on each lesson. As a result she had better retention and understanding in math than she had ever had before!

*Math (Emma) - Saxon 8/7: There is much debate about whether to skip 8/7 and go straight to Algebra 1/2 but after some research I believe that the 8/7 program has been revamped and does a better job of isolating some Pre-Algebra concepts to really prepare the student for Algebra 1/2. I think that in the previous editions it was a bit redundant. We used an older version of 7/6 last year and Emma did fantastic but towards the end you could see there were concepts that we could certainly spend more time on.

*History - Veritas New Testament/Greece & Rome: We loved Veritas last year! Because it is completely chronological it is easy to tie in previous lessons and see how God has always been at work in the lives of men and how He did not just shape history but HE IS history.

We love the balance of scripture and history and the reference books make each lesson so interesting. We will use this program for many years to come.

While it may be expensive to purchase some of the literature to go with it, I have chosen to only purchase the books that we will use for several years and we check the others out from the library. It has been fun to watch our own little library grow with our second year of school!

Sam sits in during the memory songs and projects. I plan on reading aloud more this year since I won't be competing with jackhammers and nail guns. Of course, both girls do the same level of history & science. I have no plans of adding a history or science curriculum to the mix for Samuel until at least 3rd or 4th grade.

*Language/Grammar - Total Language Plus: I wrote in detail about this program here. I love it. Nuff said ;)

Hannah will start the year with A Wrinkle In Time and Emma will read The Twenty-One Balloons.

I plan on using Easy Grammar with the girls and then switching over to a writing curriculum when it feels like they are ready. In the meantime, TLP has plenty of writing assignments to keep them busy.

*Science - Apologia Flying Creatures of the 5th Day: This may be a tad elementary for Hannah and a bit over Samuel's head, but we are meeting in the middle in a quest to find love for science.

Last year was dry. And boring. And dry.

This year will be FUN! AND EXCITING! LOOK IT'S A BIRD! WHAT DOES IT EAT? WHERE DOES IT SLEEP? HOW DO WE CLASSIFY IT?

See how I am trying to ramp up for Science? Can you see the gaping hole in my teaching credentials? (shhhh....I hate do not care for science)

*Latin - Prima Latina: This is our first year of Latin. I have spent a great deal of time researching whether to add this to our schedule. I know that it will prove beneficial in building vocabulary knowledge as well as developing grammar and even introducing the building blocks for other foreign languages. I wish we had started this when they were younger.

*Art - Drawing with Children by Mona Brooks: I can't draw. The kids want to draw. Hopefully Mona can help us out.

*Music - Hannah will continue her piano lessons once a week. We have found a music school not far from our home and hopefully this will be good fit. Emma loves guitar and will also continue her lessons once a week. Her repertoire has really increased and includes many of our favorite praise songs now!

*P.E. - Hannah is starting her third year of field hockey and also training for a 5K with mom. Actually she is training mom for the 5K but those are just minor details.

Emma "retired" from gymnastics and we thought she would join Hannah in field hockey but the age requirements would have put her in a different age group.

So.

Emma would like to try swim team next spring. I believe you call this a "Michael Phelps Conversion".

The whole time she was in gymnastics she also had an interest in dance but her schedule did not allow her to do both, so now she will take a couple of dance classes this fall. She is also training for the 5K with us.

*Drama - The girls are auditioning in a couple of weeks for parts in The Sound of Music at a very small children's theater. The program is extremely laid back and geared for all levels of experience. This is the "get your feet wet" test and we'll see where it leads.

We all know that my children are well-equipped in the area of drama. So maybe this is where we get to use what the good Lord gave us.

In a good way.

*Homemaking - The girls will help plan the weekly menu and choose things from the menu to cook. They LOVE to cook.

My OCD/ADD/ADHD/can't-stand-to-make-messes/ part of my brain is really being challenged here. But it will be okay.

IT. WILL. BE. OKAY.

Sorry. Part of my therapy there.

They will also be learning more sewing skills this year. I am not sure exactly how this will transpire, as my skills are limited to loose buttons and glue guns but surely we can find an experienced teacher out there somewhere.

Sophia?

So there is the long and short of it. Well. Mostly the long of it. I will post our choices for Samuel later this week! I will also explain our calendar and schedule and how all that stuff up there fits into a 7-day a week, 24-hour a day plan ;)

It's all about Jesus, prayer, compromise, moderation, and planning.

Oh....and coffee.