The homeschool curriculum choices blog posts are great, but what I really want to know is what families thought AFTER they used the curriculum they chose! I will be sharing a series of posts with you; evaluating our choices in each grade level from this homeschool year.
{disclaimer ~ affiliate links are used}
First up, 8th grade! Here’s a reminder of the original 8th Grade Curriculum Choices post.
8th Grade Subjects
- Science ~ Apologia Physical Science
- Math ~ Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1
- Reading {& spelling} ~ Sonlight’s American Historical Literature 130
- Grammar ~ Growing with Grammar 8
- Writing ~ Write Shop 1
- Vocabulary ~ SAT Vocab by MindSnacks app
- World History ~ Mystery of History {group subject}
- US History ~ YWAM Heroes of History {group subject}
- Overall it was a very successful year for my son! Thankfully it was a fairly uneventful year especially compared to last year. He was VERY independent and overall our choices for him worked.
Below I will give a small review of each subject, if you have more specific questions about anything, just leave me a comment and I will do my best to answer!
Science ~ Apologia Physical Science
He did this subject with guidance and leadership from his Dad, praise GOD! Seriously I am so so thankful my husband handled this subject. They both felt this was a solid science program and have chose to stick with Apologia for Biology next year for 9th grade.
The experiments were his favorite part…
Math ~ Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1
This was a big success for our son. I can’t say he loves it, because it is a lot of work, but he likes it better than other math curriculums he has used. We will be continuing on with Teaching Textbooks Geometry for 9th grade. Many do Algebra 2 next but my husband manages math and wants him to do geometry and then Algebra 2 right before Pre-Cal.
Reading Sonlight’s American Historical Literature 130
This was a great fit and he read almost ALL of the books {click to see them all}!
We didn’t stick with the guide intensely throughout the year, but we discussed the books. I had one goal this year and it was for him to truly love reading. I prayed that by making him read SO many books, he would fall in love and I am THRILLED to say, it worked! Since he completed this book list he has went on to read more including: Out of Water, A Long Walk to Water, Wonder, Paperboy and more! He giggles as he tells me I was right all along, reading is awesome.
Grammar ~ Growing with Grammar 8
This is a good fit for both of us. He doesn’t love grammar, but said he prefers this program if he HAS to do grammar. This is the last in the GWG series so he is done with this.
Writing ~ Write Shop 1
This has been such a tough subject for us. We made it through over half of the lessons, even bought the video course to go along and help. In the end we have decided to move away from Write Shop and on to something new for next year. It’s NOT because WS is not a great program, it really is. The organization of the manual and lessons just doesn’t fit with my brain and after two years of trying to make it fit, we are letting it go. I truly believe it is an incredible program and I just cannot figure out why my brain couldn’t jive with the layout. I am kind of sad to be moving away from WS, but hopeful that a different structure might help me teach better.
Please don’t let my moving away from this program shed a negative light on the curriculum itself. I honestly think it is me, not the program. WS will be a GREAT fit for many of you!
We have chosen IEW for next year and he will begin with Student Intensive C. I bought the combo package including the Teaching Writing: Structure & Style in hopes of better training myself to teach writing.
Vocabulary ~ SAT Vocabulary App
This was a GREAT decision! On a whim I got this app for him and it turned out to be a perfect solution. My goal with vocabulary at this point is to prepare him for SAT and ACT testing. The app is free to try and then $4.99 to get all of the lessons, which is what we did.
Spelling ~ Sonlight’s Word List from American Historical Lit. 130
This worked perfectly for him! The words were more practical. I created my own set of spelling sheets to reinforce the words. You can download those here if you want to use them!
Group Subjects ~ History & World Geography
Pac joined us for The Mystery of History this year, which will be his last year with us. We will continue on with MOH with our younger children, but he will be moving on to Notgrass History for next year.
He will also move on to his own geography after years of doing it as a family – bittersweet! He will be using North Star Geography next year.
Stay tuned, I will be sharing our year-end review for 1st Grade soon. I will also be sharing our curriculum choices for 9th grade, 5th grade, and 2nd Grade.
See our 4th Grade Year-End Review here!
See last year’s Year-End Review posts by clicking on each grade level below!
