Our 2019-2020 School Year Plan 5th & 8th Grade

We are 5 weeks into our school year and I'm hoping it's safe to post this! We always end up tweaking things as we realize what works and what doesn't. We have made changes already this year but this should be our final plan. We have such a great time so far!

This year we have a 5th and 8th grader! It is time to buckle down and get our 8th grader ready for high school. This year she will learn the skill of note taking, studying and taking a test. She will also work on the mechanics of writing papers and continue working through her Pre-Algebra course. Our 5th grader's goals include improving spelling, progressing in math and improving his writing dexterity.

I also wanted to keep them both together as much as possible in order to keep things simpler. I will show you below how we did it. So here's the plan.

BIBLE (together)

• 10 min  Bible  4x/wk
• 15 min  What Every Christian Ought to Know 4x/wk
• 15 min  Trial and Triumph 4x/wk

The kids requested we continue Bible study as a group. My oldest reads her devotional before bed, my youngest isn't there yet. He would if I pushed but I really want that to be a personal choice for him. Our church is following the Gospel Project in Sunday school and that's what we are following at home. We read the selections throughout the week along with the Scripture from their Sunday school books. It's made for some wonderful discussions at home and church.

We are also reading "What Every Christian Ought to Know" by Adrian Rogers. The kids enjoy his writing style and it teaches key points of doctrine.

On Friday's we don't read Adrian Rogers, instead, we read a short missionary biography from Trial and Triumph. The book is laid out chronologically so we started in the last section for our "modern" time period.

HISTORY (together)

• 30-60 min  America's Story/Civil War Study  5x/wk
• 30 min       Historical Biography/Fiction read  1-2x/wk

Originally, we planned to stick with 3 history streams; American, World and Ancient. After looking ahead to our 8th grader's high school plan, we decided to change course. We are only doing American history (1861- present) this year. If we can get it all in, the plan is to study the Civil War in depth and work our way toward today. It's a lot of ground to cover but I like the way Angela O'Dell has it all laid out in her history series, America's Story. We still read aloud together as a family, the kids still narrate and then they have their individual historical biography/fiction books they also narrate. I'm debating whether or not to add some type of writing component for my 8th grader later in the year. 

The Civil War is an important part of our Southern history and its important to us that it is taught in an objective and accurate way. We found a wonderfully detailed unit study from Homeschool in the Woods specifically about the Civil War. We don't do all the projects because they require a lot more time than we have. Since we are a military family, the kids have really enjoyed the "military" projects. We usually do all the copywork, labeling of maps and timeline. 

We also chose some books off of Guest Hollow's American History list to read as a spine, specifically for the Civil War. Once we are past the Civil War, America's Story texts will be our spine.

SCIENCE/NATURE STUDY (together)

• 30-45 min Curriculum  4x/wk
• 30-45 min Nature Study  1x/wk
• 30 min Science Biography/Reader  1x/wk
• 30 min Special Studies Reader  1x/wk

God's Design for Science from Master Books is geared for grades 3rd - 8th and since I'm all about simple this year, we decided Olivia could participate as well. She completes the "challenge" sections, experiments with lab reports and takes the exams to ensure she is getting what she needs. 

**Curriculum Update** We stopped using God's Design after completing a term of Chemistry. The lessons were to short and dense for the information being taught. My students were unable to retain the material. They loved the experiments but I wanted them to understand and retain the concepts. We switched my youngest to ABeka Science and my oldest is reading through the John Hudson Tiner series with added supplements. You can find information on her schedule here at Middle School Science. 

As I pointed out in earlier posts, most of her science would fall under a general science scope. This year I wanted her to focus on physical science using Apologia. When viewing the curriculum my science loving girl was rather deflated. So, in order to "fit in" the physical science portion she is going to read Joseph Tiner's "Exploring the World of Physics" book. It's a short but dense book with only 14 units. We are scheduling it once a week (in place of her special study) over her 2nd and 3rd terms.

Speaking of Special Studies, it's a Charlotte Mason thing. Many CM websites have cycles you can follow as the studies rotate over the course of the student's schooling. These are side subjects in addition to their regular science that the student can learn more about. This year my 8th grader is studying mold, yeast, bacteria and hibernation this year. My 5th grader is studying cultivated crops and mammals. This just means we pick up some living books on those topics and allow the children to read through them, narrate and if they can observe in nature.

Nature study, for the longest time, was very inconsistent. I decided to schedule it just once a week and find some sort of "curriculum" to help guide us through it. I went ahead and paid for a membership with Outdoor Hour Challenges and so far it's really paid off. I get a weekly email to keep me on track with what we are studying. The kids are notebooking all their subjects now and Handbook of Nature Study website has loads of printables for their members. 

GEOGRAPHY (together)

• 30 min Living Books 3x/wk

Realizing my children my children had major learning gaps in physical geography, I pulled together a course to fill in those gaps. I linked it below. This year we will finish up with that plan (physical geography/earth science) and move right into people and places (human/cultural geography).

I'm still undecided about Guest Hollow. I think the book choices aren't what they could be for my older than intended students of this curriculum. Master Books has made reference to a surprise geography something in the works in one of their FB videos but I'm not sure if its physical, cultural or what. Plus, I don't know if it will be out in time.

I have found some great supplemental resources; videos, posters, teaching aides, and such. I will link below.

Physical:
  Earth Science: finish out our program

People/Places:  
 Guest Hollow Jr. Geography (parts of)


PBS Series: Families of the World 
I'm hoping to find these at the library! The whole set can be purchased online but its pricey! They even offer teacher's guides. If you provide your email, they will give you a guide for each video. The guides could almost stand alone, they provide great information such as a copy of the script itself, discussion questions, tests and answers. They provide information about the land, climate, plants and animals. They address the culture and history of the people too.

ENRICHMENT (together)

• Folk song, Art, Hymn, Composer 10 min 4x/wk
• Shakespeare 30 min 1x/wk
• Drawing 40 min 1x/wk

This year we picked our composer, artist, hymn and folk song to coincide with out time period. One Shakespeare play per term. We also focus on folk songs and hymns one per term. That gives the children time to learn them. We change our art prints and composer's music every two weeks.

For drawing, I purchased the drawing course, Living Art Lesson from Master Books. It should be in sometime this month!

5th GRADE 

Language Arts 
Rod and Staff for Grammar  30 min  5x/wk
Spelling You See 15 min  5x/wk

Mathematics
MCP Mathematics 30 min  5x/wk

Geography (Physical/Map work)
Beautiful Feet's Tree in the Trail, Minn of the Mississippi, Seabird 1x/wk
      
Readers/Biographies
Literature Classic 1x/wk
Literature Free Read 1x/wk
Science Biography 1x/wk
Special Study 1x/wk

8th GRADE

Language Arts
Jensen's Grammar workbook/DVD 5x/wk 
Getting Started with Middle School Sentence Composing by Killgallon 1x/wk
Rod and Staff Level 8 (writing sections only) 1x/wk
**Update**
ACE Ministries English Paces

Mathematics
Math Mammoth Pre-Algebra 5x/wk
Jacobs Algebra if finishes with Math Mammoth
Algebra 1: Expressions, Equations, and Applications by Paul Foerster alongside David Chandler's Home Study Companion

Geography
Book of Marvels by Halliburton 1x/wk
Current Events 1x/wk
Map Work

Citizenship
Young Citizens Reader pgs. 1-135 1x/wk
(7th grade: 1-68, 8th grade: 69-135, 9th grade 135- end)

Readers/Biographies
Literature Classic 1x/wk
Literature Free Read 1x/wk
Science Biography 1x/wk
Special Study 1x/wk