10th Grade Homeschool

It's time for a post about Kylen's schooling for the upcoming year!  (Here's an evaluation of what he did in 9th, for comparison.)  He has a pretty heavy schedule, because we are preparing him for college.  Click on the subject links below to see what curriculum we're using.  :)

Our first day of school was yesterday, but we ease into it slowly by staggering the harder subjects.  Yesterday, he did math and all the easy ones.  Today we'll be adding English.  Probably add science tomorrow.

Math ~ Algebra II ~ 1 credit
We're FINALLY switching to Teaching Texbooks.  We have high hopes that this will be a happy math year instead of a nightmare like the last three years.

Honors English II ~ Poetry & Literature and Composition ~ 1 credit
We're using the same currick as last year (literature based), but I'm bringing in a poetry unit this time.  We will also be substituting our own essay topics.

Science ~ Biology ~ 1 credit
Most of the homeschool families we know use Apologia, but Kylen has never liked that curriculum or even science for that matter.  Last year, we tried A Beka, and he didn't like that either.  So this year, I decided to try a video based program.  In addition to watching videos, I will be printing out the book that goes with it and having him read this book: Exploring the World of Biology by John Hudson Tiner.  Also, he will be doing live biology labs at co-op.

History ~ World History ~ 1 credit
Identical to last year.  Kylen will read BJU's World History textbook, and I'll be doing read alouds from Sonlight and Notgrass.  I don't text, quiz, or give assignments for this subject.  It's mostly reading, and it's incredible how much stronger his history knowledge is than mine.  Memorizing a bunch of dates and facts got me A's, but it sure didn't get much history into my head.

Social Studies ~ World Geography II ~ 1/2 credit
This isn't a subject I planned for this year, but our co-op is offering it, and it sounds like a fantastic class.  Can't have too much geography, right?  Last year, we focused on location of countries, lakes, rivers, etc., read about flags, and went through an atlas and another book with information on a variety of world topics.  This class will have more culture with map work, games, missions/prayer, and personal projects.  Very different from what we did, so I think it will be worth another year of social studies.  We'll also get current events from WorldTeen again.

French I ~ 1 credit
We're going to try Rosetta Stone.  Last year's curriculum was fine, but Kylen feels he needs a change.  It was workbook based, but Rosetta Stone is on the computer, so it will definitely be different.  I may supplement with watching movies in French, reading Asterix comics, and memorizing French scriptures.

Bible ~ 1 credit
Between church, Bible study week day evenings, and youth group, I could count this as more than a credit.

Art Appreciation ~ 1/2 credit
This is a class I'm teaching at our co-op.  I'm not using a curriculum but am planning it from scratch.  Class time will mostly be devoted to fun educational games and activities that will reinforce the information, and there will be optional homework for those desiring to earn a half credit.  I will probably do posts about it.  Homework will consist of reading through a textbook at home, watching online videos, drawing, and writing assignments.

Violin ~ 1/2 credit
Kylen is switching back to violin, which he's very excited about.  He tried cello over the summer and didn't care for it.  He's taking lessons at Creative Music Learning Center.  To get a half credit, he has a half hour lesson each week and 1 1/2 hours of practice minimum.  It works out to practicing about 1/2 hour four days a week.

PE ~ 1/2 credit?
I'm not sure he'll be able to pull this one off, especially since he won't have basketball at co-op.  Greg wants him to try, so I'm having him be in charge of making it happen.  If it doesn't work out, no big deal.  He'll still have two years to finish up PE credits.