Curriculum Choices for the 2016/2017 School Year: 9th Grade

Over the last week or so, I have shared my curriculum choices for kindergarten, 2nd Grade, 4th and 5th Grade, and 7th grade.  Today I am sharing my selections for my last student who is going into 9th grade.

In the state of Arkansas, there are no specific regulations for homeschooling. We have to register every year, but have complete freedom in choosing our curriculum and schedule.  I follow the suggested credit requirements that the local high schools follow for college bound students.  It looks like this:

English 4 credits Composition, American Lit, British Lit, World Lit, Rhetoric, Creative Writing, Speech/Communication, Journalism, Debate; also consider AP courses

 Math 4+ credits Algebra 1 and 2, Geometry, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus, AP Calculus 

History 3-4 credits ESSENTIALS: World History, American History, American Government. CONSIDER: Economics, Geography, Constitutional Law and AP courses

Science 3-4 credits Physical Science, General Science, Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. CONSIDER: AP courses

 Foreign Language 2-4 credits French, Spanish, Latin, German, Russian, etc. (2 years same language preferred)

 Physical Education 1-2 credits Many options available

 Fine Arts 1-2 credits Art, Music, Drama, Photography, etc.

 Electives 5 credits Practical Arts, Life Skills, Home Economics, Bible, Computer Skills, etc.

 Total Credits: 23-27 credits

I attempted to sit down with Nick and talk about what kind of courses he would be interested in taking because there are so many options, but he did not have much of an opinion on the subject.  He requested to not have to take geography and did ask to continue using Math U See for his math curriculum.

9th Grade Curriculum Choices

Math:  This year Nick will be using Math U See Geometry.

History: Bright Ideas Press has an American History curriculum for upper elementary through high school called All American History.  It is split up into two volumes and scheduled in a way that it would take 2 years to complete.  If I was using it with younger students I might follow that suggested schedule, but for a high schooler I decided he would be able to finish both volumes in a single year to earn an American History credit.

Science: For science, Nick will be using Applied Engineering: Discovering God's Design in Nature from MasterBooks.com.

Language Arts: Nick will be using Fix It! Grammar 3 from IEW for grammar.  For literature, I went back and forth trying to choose something for him.  I decided that rather then using a specific curriculum, I choose a book selection for each unit from All American History and have him read and write about a topic in each book.

Bible: He will be joining in on our family Bible study from Exploring Countries and Cultures.

Woodworking: For the fall semester he will be working on woodworking as an elective.

P.E.: Family Time Fitness


I am looking forward to the start of our new school year!