2013/2014 (Final Plans)

I think I've made my final decisions (there were a few things I was still debating in this post).  I've decided to not outsource any academic classes next year, but instead we'll do a year of Institute for Cultural Communicators.  I can teach American History and Lit, but it's kind of hard to do public speaking on our own.

Here is the final lineup:

Luke (9th):

• Saxon Algebra 2
• Conceptual Physics
• Rod & Staff English 8
• Rod & Staff Spelling 7 (word root study)
• Argument Builder and/or Rulebook for Arguments Workbook
• Henle/Lingua Latina/Visual Latin  Wheelock's Latin (both Luke & Ezekiel asked to switch to this after looking it over)
• Elementary Greek 3
• Notgrass Exploring America
• American Literature:  Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Great Gatsby, Of Mice and Men, Farenheit 451, and To Kill a Mockingbird, along with some short stories and poetry

Ezekiel (8th):

• Saxon Algebra 1
• Conceptual Physics
• Rod & Staff English 7
• Rod & Staff Spelling 7
• Argument Builder and/or Rulebook for Arguments Workbook
• Henle/Lingua Latina/Visual Latin  Wheelock's Latin (we'll still use Visual Latin to teach any ideas we get stuck on)
• Elementary Greek 2
• Notgrass Exploring America 
• American Literature:  Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Great Gatsby, Of Mice and Men, Farenheit 451, and To Kill a Mockingbird, along with some short stories and poetry

Jacob (6th):

• MCP Mathematics, Mathematical Reasoning, Miquon, & Patty Paper Geometry.  Once these are done, we might do Knowing Mathematics Green Level.  We're filling in some gaps, and once this is done, I'll have him take the Saxon placement test.
• So You Really Want to Learn Science Christian Kids Explore Physics (I decided it made sense to keep everyone in physics)
• Notgrass America the Beautiful & Literature (I'm building off of Veritas Press' last 2 card sets & Sonlight's D & E reading list)
• Rod & Staff English 6
• Rod & Staff Spelling (finish 5, move to 6)
• Fallacy Detective
• Visual Latin  First Form Latin (I really am liking the layout of Prima Latina, and I think this approach will work well for Jacob this year)
• Greek Alphabet Code Cracker & Elementary Greek 1

Micah (4th):

• Saxon 5/4
• BJU Science 3 Christian Kids Explore Physics
• Notgrass America the Beautiful & Literature (I'm building off of Veritas Press' last 2 card sets & Sonlight's D & E reading list)
• My Book House books
• Rod & Staff English 4
• Rod & Staff Spelling (finish 3, move to 4)
• Writing With Ease (finish 2, move to 3)
• Prima Latina
• Various Logic workbooks & games
• Draw Write Now

Nicholas (2nd):

• Saxon 3
• BJU Science 3 Christian Kids Explore Physics
• Notgrass America the Beautiful & Literature (I'm building off of Veritas Press' last 2 card sets & Sonlight's D & E reading list)
• The Complete Book of US History
• Sonlight Readers & My Book House books
• Rod & Staff English 2
• Rod & Staff Spelling (finish 2, move to 3)
• Writing With Ease (finish 1, move to 2)
• Prima Latina
• Various Logic workbooks & games
• Draw Write Now

I'll be doing Trail Guide to US Geography with Student Notebook and Institute for Excellence in Writing Student Writing Intensive B with all five boys.  They'll continue with piano, Judo, and gymnastics.

We've finished our 3 weeks of school in June and will be doing another 2 weeks in July.  We didn't get to the study skills class I wanted to do in June, so we'll do this in July, using Study is Hard Work & Super Star Student, along with math, writing, and odds and ends. I also thought I would have them read How to Read Literature Like a Professor for Kids, but this turned out to be just awful (you can read my Amazon review here).