Looking forward to New School Year

Where oh where has summer gone?  I know that as a homeschooler I could stick to the calendar of old—you remember the one where we didn’t go back to school till after Labor Day.  Still, by mid August the pool will be closed, Six Flags will only be open on weekends, and PS friends will not be able to play.  Here’s what I have lined up.

Bible

We completed that year-long merit badge and we’ll be returning to the Discover 4 Yourself series with Revelation (divided into two workbooks) and a study of covenants.

Writing

We’re on the second year of IEW’s Student Intensive Continuation Course Level A (writing is still Fritz’s weak area but we’re making progress).

Grammar

Another IEW product—Fix It! Grammar.  It goes so well with SICC.  We’ll be in Level 3—The Frog Prince.

Math

We tried Teaching Textbooks for the last two years.  With all the math reviews we’ve done I think the disjointedness of switching products really hampered his learning.  Fritz also requested that we return to Math U See.  We’ll be going back to Algebra 1 with no disruptions.

Science

A leap forward for us, but Dr. Wile—the author of the text says students are ready for Biology when they start Algebra.  We skipped General and physical science, but Dr. Wile says Fritz will more than make up for it by being able to use the advanced courses in his late high school years.

History

We’re going back to ancient times with Mystery of History Vol. 1.  I’ll be doing some supplementing to make it rigorous enough for Jr. High.

Reading

Most of the title will tie into history—Archimedes and the Door of Science, The Bronze Bow, the Landmark books about Alexander the Great and The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, and the Alfred C. Church’s The Iliad & the Odyssey for Boys and Girls.  I may try The Cat of Bubastes as a read-aloud. 

Electives

Fritz has a required merit on Healthy Body.  I think I will pair that up with the Bachelor merit (which covers house-cleaning, budgeting, laundry, etc.) for a Home Economics course.

P.E.

This one is more up in the air….Fritz is now too old for Upwards Basketball and his karate instructor has retired.