Homeschool Notes

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9th Grade Homeschool Curriculum

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I wasn’t sure I’d have a post to write about ninth grade homeschool curriculum. Last year my daughter was leaning towards going to public school. Two of her friends were enrolling and that sparked my daughter’s desire to experience school.

I was on the fence about what to do. I saw the pros and cons of going public school vs. homeschool, but I wanted to let her make the final decision and support her either way. My daughter came to the conclusion that she liked homeschool too much to give it up.

She wanted a challenging curriculum and wasn’t sure she’d get that in school. The freedom to make her own schedule was a big factor too. She likes the flexibility to do her work when and where she wants to. As far as friends go, it dawned on her that homeschooling had never prevented her from seeing her friends in the past. Why would ninth grade be any different?

I felt relieved. I secretly wanted this for her and our family too.

Homeschooling High School Has Options

By the time your child gets to high school you really have lots of options. You can structure your child’s education in a way that fits your needs too. If you want to be actively involved in teaching subjects, you can. Or, if you want to be less hands-on and are willing to pay more, you can outsource. My daughter’s ninth grade homeschool curriculum is completely outsourced. This is the first time I’m not teaching her any subjects!

Our homeschool group has evolved over the years. It once acted more like a co-op, but now it functions more like a private school. You sign your child up for classes taught by experienced teachers and the teachers take care of everything. There are no responsibilities on my part.

It has been wonderful for us to have this resource, especially in our little state of Maine. I couldn’t possibly teach my daughter with the same depth and complexity while homeschooling my first grader. Being with other kids also her age gives her the opportunity to experience and learn from class discussion, that missing piece in homeschool.

9th Grade Homeschool Curriculum by Subject

Literature & Writing

My daughter is taking this class again at our homeschool group. The readings correspond to the time frame her history class is studying. She’ll learn to analyze literature through class discussions on topics like theme, characterization, and plot.

In addition to literature study, my daughter will have weekly vocabulary study and writing assignments. She’ll learn about sonnets and work on developing essay writing skills.

My daughter has also been using a new curriculum for high school by Institute for Excellence in Writing. She watches streaming videos of the instructor teaching in a classroom setting and does follow-up writing assignments. The focus is on writing structure and style. We’re currently reviewing this product for the Homeschool Review Crew.

Latin V

My daughter completed the Memoria Press Latin Form Series and is now ready for Latin V. She’s taking this class at our homeschool group, but her teacher is also an online Latin instructor for Memoria Online Academy. The focus in Latin V is more advanced grammar and reading De Bello Gallico by Julius Caesar. My daughter will also be using Henle Latin 2 (affiliate link) as a text.

Like she did last year, my daughter will take the National Latin Exam in the spring.

Spanish I

When my daughter was little a women, originally from Guatemala, came to our house and taught Spanish, through songs and games, for a small group of homeschoolers. Since then my daughter has always wanted to learn Spanish.

Now that she’s in high school we wanted to make sure we made foreign language a priority. We stumbled upon Homeschool Spanish Academy and took a free class. We had a live one-on-one 25-minute class with a Spanish teacher in Guatemala.

My daughter’s excited to get started in October with Spanish classes twice per week. We’re opting for 60 classes for 1 high school credit. You can also choose your teacher and the time you want to meet with your instructor. Homeschool Spanish Academy is so flexible, that it’s easy to work into your schedule.

Math

This is the first year I won’t be teaching math to my daughter. She strictly used Singapore math throughout her elementary years, and it has done wonders for her math understanding. How many kids do you know who look forward to math word problems?

If your child uses Dimensions Math by Singapore for middle school, then you might find yourself in a dilemma like we did. That program gives your child such a good foundation in Algebra and Geometry, that a typical high school Geometry and Algebra class will be too much review.

After doing tons of research I found an answer to our problem, High School Math Live. Brenda Barnett, the founder, is a math teacher and homeschool mom who loves Singapore Math too. She, and her team of math teachers, provide online classes for students. Brenda custom designed an Honors Math 9 class for students in the same boat as my daughter, covering concepts in both Algebra 2 and Geometry that were not taught in Dimensions Math.

It turns out that my daughter is doing the class as an independent study, but she has access to all of Brenda’s pre-recorded class instruction, and she can correspond with Brenda directly when problems arise. When she finishes the Algebra segment with Brenda, she’ll do Geometry with a different instructor.

History

History, another class taught by a teacher from Memoria Online Academy at our homeschool group, is based on Tapestry of Grace Year 2. Starting with the fall of Rome, the students will cover events in history up through the writing of the U.S. Constitution. The focus of class will be the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the American colonies, but time will be given to the English Civil War, absolutism in Europe, and the French Revolution.

The reading list for this class is substantial. We tried to use our inter library loan system for many of the books last year, but it was a lot to manage. This year I decided it was worth buying the books to add to our home library. Thanks to so many used book sellers, it was a reasonable price to pay.

Science

My daughter is in a biology lab class with only one other student for science. Science has never been of high interest to her, but she’s enjoying this class. She’s making connections to things she learned back in elementary school science which is neat to see.

I think having a biologist for a teacher helps. Science is not my strength. One of the real challenges my daughter will face is taking tests. In the past I gave her tests, but they were never graded. High school transcripts change everything. Here are the texts for biology:

Music

The beginning of the pandemic last winter brought music to an abrupt halt. My daughter had auditioned and made it into the middle school district festival and the jazz festival for clarinet, but both were canceled. Fortunately, her Mid Maine Youth Orchestra had its concert the first weekend in March, before everything shut down in our state.

This year the band teacher at the public high school has given my daughter the option of doing class virtually. She wasn’t going to participate because of scheduling reasons, but this option works. Now she can practice, send recordings to her teacher, and be eligible to audition for All State this fall. Orchestra may be canceled entirely though. We’re waiting to hear the news.

Physical Education

Last year my daughter ran cross country and played basketball at our public school. Sports were up in the air with Covid-19, but as of now she is participating. The school provided the kids with custom mascot masks, which is fun. It’s like a new take on sports uniforms. Students are expected to wear masks when they’re not running.

Conclusion

We feel excited about our ninth grade homeschool curriculum. It was a bit stressful this summer trying to piece it altogether, but it’s turning out to be a great fit. Continuing on with classes at our homeschool group and adding some new resources, like High School Math Live and Homeschool Spanish Academy, has given me confidence that it’s going to be a great year of learning.

Homeschool Curriculum by Grade Level

Kindergarten

1st Grade

4th Grade

5th Grade

6th Grade

7th Grade

8th Grade

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