Our 10th Grade Curriculum

One of the things I have always loved best about homeschooling is that we get to choose what we want to learn about.  With my oldest entering 10th grade in the fall we talked about going the traditional school route and learning about geometry and biology but that's not really what we wanted.  My son truly wanted to take on chemistry and since we just finished up algebra 1 this year it made more sense to dive right into algebra 2 and save geometry for another year.

While I am trying to mostly meet the state requirements for graduation I realized in my post about 9th grade and high school planning that I never once mentioned we don't have to meet these requirements at all.  In our state a homeschool falls under the category of a private school and my husband and I can set our own graduation requirements.  I just figured keeping those state guidelines in our minds helps keep his options open for beyond high school in case his goals change in the next few years.  So once again we're shooting for 6 credits.

Here is what we'll be using to teach 10th grade.  It looks like a lot and I really hope we didn't bite off more than we can chew:

English II: Once again we'll combine writing, grammar, and reading together for a full credit.

Writing: Write Shop I and begin Write Shop II-- (.33 credits)
Grammar: 180 Daily Teaching Lessons for Grade 10-- (.33 credits)
Reading: We'll continue reading books of his choosing combined with family read alouds and books on CD-- (.33 credits).

Math:   We have three books we'll work through this year: (1 credit)

 No- Nonsense Algebra Practice Workbook (to practice what he learned in 9th grade), Straight Forward Math Series Algebra book 2, and parts of E-Z Algebra 2 (it's a good 500 pages so we only plan to use it if and when he gets stuck on a certain area for more practice).

Science:  Ian really wanted to learn chemistry this year so we'll piece together our own curriculum using Lifepac Science 11th grade and Top Shelf Chemistry along with our chemistry lab set.  (1 credit)

Civics and Government: We want to focus on civics and government for part of the year-- (.5 credit).  We have The Three Branches of the Government DVD and we plan on visiting the state capital, attending town meetings, state hearings, and even hopefully a short trip to Washington DC!

And we'll study current events for the other 1/2 year using local and national newspapers, the news, and on-line sources. -- (.5 credits).

Electives:

Foreign Language-- He will continue with his German practice using Duolingo everyday (.5 credits)

Study Skills-- Using the Victus study skills system I'm using with Alec, Ian will learn test taking strategies, how to take notes, how to get organized and manage time. (.25 credits)

Work Study/ Machine tool and Die-- Ian will continue working on the model screening plant he started in 9th grade and finish building it from scratch. He will also continue working for his father, grandfather, and uncle. (.75 credits)

Home economics/life skills-- We'll introduce more cooking, cleaning, and household tasks this year focusing especially on auto maintenance in preparation for getting his license.  (.25 credit)

Physical Education-- (.25 credits)

We also plan to work through a PSAT prep book and at least talk about why people take the PSAT's, how to prepare for a multiple choice test, etc. And we'll add in Driver's Ed classes in the spring.


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