My last post shared the struggle I faced in choosing high school curriculum for my daughter. I really appreciate all the encouragement and suggestions that you offered me. Today I share the actual books I chose.
I bought my books at Christianbook.com (affiliate link) because I could get all of this in one fell swoop. (Links below are affiliate links.)
The video element is not great, but you can listen to it instead of watching. The audio is fine. (I have new equipment in the mail.) Or just read the post below.
Ninth Grade Book Choices
MATH: Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1 ($185)
Teaching Textbooks is working for us, so we have every intention of continuing on through the high school years. I think the audio component of this curriculum is a great fit for Emma.
SCIENCE: Apologia biology: textbook, audio CDs, and dissection kit ($58 +$21 +$48= $127)
When Sheri Seligson told me at Great Homeschool Convention Cincinnati that Apologia had an audio book version, I was sold on this choice. Emma does well with audio books, so the extra $21 was a welcome expense! I wish every homeschool curriculum had this option. I looked high and low to find a history curriculum that was audio based, and I couldn’t find one.
HISTORY, ENGLISH: Notgrass world history (includes Bible and literature/English coursework as well as history) plus quiz/exam pack ($90 + $15 = $105)
Now that I have this in my possession, I am very unsure about Notgrass. But we will try and see. That’s all I can say.
Total: $417
The literature course covers these books which we will either pull from our collection, download from public domain sources, check out from the library, or buy from thrift stores. Thus the cost will be minimal.
- Pilgrim’s Progress
- Julius Caesar
- Pride and Prejudice
- Hiding Place
- Animal Farm
- Cat of Bubastes
- Heart of Darkness
- Mere Christianity
- Imitation of Christ
- Tale of Two Cities
- Eric Liddell: Pure Gold Biography
- Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther
- Abolition of Man
Ninth Grade Live Lessons
FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Arabic lessons with local tutor plus Rosetta Stone and Mango Languages (free)
FINE ART: Art lessons with local tutor
SOCIAL SCIENCE: Psychology course from Vicki Tillman (7 Sisters Homeschool) plus book via CurrClick ($75 + $25 = $100)
The psychology course is a half credit class, so we may add on her human development course for the second semester or add extra books to round out a full credit.
Ninth Grade Transcript Plan
English 1: World Literature
Algebra 1
Arabic 1
World History
Bible
Studio Art
Intro to Psychology
Physical Education
Total Credits: 8
Thanks for putting your list out there. I was *thisclose* to buying Notgrass this year and just couldn’t do it. The only reason, for me, is because I love the literature curriculum we use, Excellence in Literature. So for history we are continuing with TruthQuest History.
Looks like you’re using a lot of our favorites. We love Notgrass. I know it is more of a “textbook” but my kids have done well with it. (I do add to the English and Bible because I don’t feel like it is enough on its own.) I have a post on my blog listing sources for free e-books for most of the literature titles. I’m planning to add in audios soon as my 5th child does better with those. Here is the link: http://lilliputstation.blogspot.com/2012/01/notgrass-historys-literature-selections.html
And I LOVE 7 Sisters. My daughter will be doing their human development class this year (on her own, not using the live class).
Hi Jimmie,
I see that you are unsure about Notgrass for History. We have been using their curriculum for several years. I really do like it. If your daughter does not like to read the books see if you can find them on audio. A site I use occasionally is http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/.
Also, we have split the books up. For us Notgrass history has always sparked discussion and an interest in certain topics. We would then explore those and take our time on the people, places or events we enjoy. So book 1 would be our first year and book 2 would be our second year.
We are taking a break from it this year and are going to try History Revealed by Diana Waring. We’ll see how that goes.
Blessings on your new school year!
My son used 7 Sisters Psychology this year and it worked well for him. The books selections were good too. It is such a good program that he is now thinking about being a Psychologist.
We even did Apologia Biology. I hadn’t seen an audio version, I am going to look into that.
For my 9th grader it looks like we are on the same course of study. One difference is that we might use Streams of Civilization for SS.
Thanks for posting. I always enjoy your blog.
Hi Jimmie,
Have you seen Diana Waring’s History Revealed curriculum? – it’s got several great CDs with it – 9 cds with each year of curriculum. I’ve seen catalogs that call the cds optional, but Diana admits they’re not – her curriculum was written with foreign missionaries in mind, so the cds can replace library materials. Diana does a great job offering ideas for all types of learners, and it’s a good price, b/c you supplement so much with library books. (if you buy her curriculum from Answers In Genesis, the publishers, it’s $99/year and free shipping, at least when i ordered 2 weeks ago.
Your list looks similar to mine. It looks great.
One of my friends put this site together. He’s a homeschooling dad (and wife 😉 duo) totally fluent.
http://arabicspeaker.blogspot.com/?m=1
Oh my goodness, I stumbled upon your site out of curiosity, I have littles so I don’t need to be here and found booksshouldbefree.com because of it thank you very much!
You know I was anxiously awaiting this! I hope you and Emma have a good time with all of it. It sounds like a good mix of organized-enough-to-satisfy-the-state and flexible-enough-to-allow-spontaneity. So you know I’m all for that! 🙂
I was excited to see what you would be doing with Emma. It made me feel better about the things that we’ve picked. Sometimes I feel bad when other people are doing all of these extravagant or super hands on things. It’s nice to see just a good, solid plan. Thanks for sharing it. I need to write mine up for the blog soon.
Hi
My daughter is also going into ninth and Also loves audiobooks. I got an app on my phone (for the car) and iPad when we are home it’s free called audiobook. If you search in app store there are many. This summer as we travel we have been listening to the entire Anne of Green Gables series. They have free versions of all the classics you listed above that your daughter has to read. I have never used a text book for history or English but we do also combine the two subjects and read lots of great histircal fictions and biographys. We also love using the beautiful feet guides. Oh by the way you forgot biology on your transcript (we love and have always used apologia science) best of luck!
Thank you for being such a blessing to us all through the years
For learning foreign languages, I highly suggest Pimsleur. Ive tried it and I think its better than Rosetta.
I understand that you have already chosen most of the 9th grade curriculum, but I wanted to share one I came across and will be starting my daughter in when school starts. It is called Time4Learning Interactive High School (more info here http://www.time4learning.com/newsletters/July2013_highschool_info.htm) and it looks like it will work great for my daughter. She wants everything to be interactive and quickly becomes bored with old style “book learning” as she calls it. Since you were unsure about your history choice you might consider checking with T4L High school since you do not have to use the entire curriculum but can get it a few courses at a time. Hope this offers you an alternative if your chosen curriculum doesn’t work. Happy homeschooling!
My daughter will be in 8th grade this year, and it’s always great to look ahead to next year. We are trying Notgrass “America the Beautiful” this year, and we LOVE teaching textbooks. Blessings!
Jimmie, do you have links to the editing and vocabulary resources you use? I’d love to utilize those with my son.
My youngest son is also in the 9th grade and it seems that he and Emma are the same type of student. He also does not like to read – he’ll listen to books just fine though. The problem is I can’t find audio books for all the books he needs to read. My older kids were, for the most part, all readers or at least would read what I assigned them. He’s a very good and obedient kid, but basically flat out refuses to read books he thinks are “boring”. We’re not starting off on a very good foot over here this year…
Are you planning on continuing with Notgrass or have you found something else you will be using?
If you haven’t found a writing program yet, my son is doing well with Essentials in Writing. They use video recorded lessons and student workbooks along with writing assignments. It’s been a good fit for him. http://www.essentialsinwriting.com
Betsy,
Notgrass is so-so to this point. We are sticking it out.
In terms of audio books, I would simply change the reading list to match the books I can find in audio version. I give you permission to tweak your curriculum (wink).
We are using Dynamic Literacy vocab books. This is what we used for editing. We are not doing that so far this year.
Thanks, Jimmie! Tweaking is definitely what I’ve been doing… for many years actually! I’ve been working on it today and think I have it all sorted out.
Thanks for the info. I really appreciate it!