Molly's Curriculum 8th Grade

Molly:

Life of Fred Pre- Algebra (finishing), starting Life Of Fred Algebra 1
Keys to Algebra

Rod and Staff English
Vocabulary From Classical Roots book B
Wordly Wise 8

Apologia Physical Science

Spanish For Children A, moving into B

Artistic Pursuits

History Odyssey Modern Times Level 2

The Fallacy Detective

School Starting Soon!

Gearing up for the fall is always a very enjoyable time for me. I love buying massive amounts of school supplies like markers and composition books when they are so discounted. I love planning out some exciting field trips and clubs we'll take part in. I love browsing through this years curriculum and scheduling out the first weeks of school. Everything is fresh and new and full of promise at this time of year. I even enjoy sharpening massive amounts of pencils so they are all at the ready. I think if I didn't homeschool, I'd have to be a teacher somehow.

We will be going back on September 1st. I just can't bring myself to start back in August, that just feels too much like summer to me. So our first week will be a 3 day week, perfect for getting back into gear. The day before we start, we'll have a "Not back to school" breakfast at Panera with some friends, followed by a park day. The kiddos are planning on bringing along a bunch of toys to the park they no longer want, and swapping them with their friends.

This is the year Benny is officially a kindergartener. He's been doing "school" along with his sisters sincve he was 3, since he loves it so much, but this is his first official year. This is the first time I'll have to account for his education at our school board reviews.

I'll post soon what I'm using this year for all the kids, in case anyone is interested.

Some pics from Trunk or Treat! A halloween party at our church, participants decorate the trunks of their cars in the parking lot and kids trick or treat from the cars. Molly decorated our car this year, it looked great!

Molly was a leopard, Sophia , Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, Benny was Spiderman and I was Cleopatra. We had lots of fun.

Fall Hike

We took a beautiful fall hike last Sunday. What a gorgeous day. We hiked at McKeldin, They have great trails through the woods, and one that ends at the rapids. Even though the air was warm, the water was freezing, but that didn't stop the kids from playing in it.

Apple Picking!

We had a blast today picking apples at Larriland Farm. We met up with a bunch of friends and picked a gazillion apples.

Curriculum!

We are finally settled into a new year of homeschooling. We've been going at it for 4 weeks now, heading into week 5. I thought I'd post what Molly is using for 7th grade.

Literature: She's reading from the late Renaissance to early modern time period. Formal reading list includes:
Don Quixote,Perraults Complete Fairy Tales, Gullivers Travels, The Pilgrims Progress, Robinson Crusoe, Wordsworth poems, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Coleridge), The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Way to Wealth (In Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography and other writings), Alice in Wonderland, Pride and Prejudice, The adventures of Tom Sawyer, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, A Christmas Carol, Edgar Allen Poe selections, Narrative of Frederick Douglas

Math: Life of Fred Fractions and Decimals and Percents. This is considered pre-algebra review, she'll start algebra 1 in 8th grade

English: Rod and Staff

Vocabulary: Vocabulary From Classical Roots

History: History Odyssey level 2 early modern

Spanish: Spanish For Children

Critical Thinking Book 1

Science: Ellen McHenry's the Elements and Carbon Chemistry. Also the Mystery of the Periodic Table

Art: Artistic Pursuits and claywork classes

Music: Classical Music Start up volume 1 and 2 and piano lessons

These are her formal subjects. She is also taking a yearbook class, and is in 2 plays, A Christmas Carol and Charlie Brown's Christmas. She is also in a drama ministry troupe which has performances once or twice a month.

The Little Mermaid

Molly had a great time being the evil jellyfish Evsam in TOL's performance of the Little Mermaid.