Back to Homeschool – 10th Grade Curriculum

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Summer is winding down, and it is time to start thinking about the new school year. This week I am participating in a Back To Homeschool blog hop with many other homeschool bloggers, to share our tips, ideas and encouragement for the new school year. One of the biggest parts of back to homeschool is deciding what curriculum to use. This year I only have one student, my son in 10th grade, and here are our curriculum plans.

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indexScience
This year my son is studying biology. I am planning to use Biology from Miller & Levine. This is a classic text that is used in many of the public schools around here, and I was able to get a free copy last spring. I am not that great at biology, but my oldest is an Environmental Biology student at college, so she will help out if needed.

Our local homeschool coop is doing biology labs, so we will use that for the lab component. We will supplement with The Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments in some areas. I also want him to do an in-depth research project to enter in the Science Fair that our local science museum hosts. He is planning to do a study on stream pollution, with some help from his big sister.

Literature and History

This year we are combining these two subjects and using The Greeks, from Old Western Culture, which I reviewed last week.  I love this curriculum, and think it is going to be a big hit with my son this school year.

Writing

My son is signed up for an online writing class through Circe Institute, The Lost Tools of Writing.  I am hoping this class will help him take his writing to the next level, and it will be good for him to try an online class to see how the format works for him.

Math

My son has been using Videotext Geometry, and he has about 2 months worth of work left in that program.  Then it will be time to start Algebra II, and I am not sure yet what to use, probably because I have too many choices. I own four different Algebra II curriculum (can you tell I like math?).  They are:

Algebra 2 and Trigonometry : Structure and Method – I used this book with my oldest, and it was okay, but nothing very exciting.  It is a standard high school math textbook.Modern Algebra : A Logical Approach Book 2 – This is an out of print and hard to find text from the 1960s.  My son used Book 1 of this series for Algebra I, but I think it might be better to use a more modern text that is more aligned with what will be on standardized tests.Saxon Algebra II – I must be one of the only homeschoolers who has never actually used Saxon math.  So I probably won’t start now, but you never know.
Algebra 2 by Larson – This is another standard high school textbook, and I have a lot of the teacher’s material for this one, so it would be easier for me to use.

Good thing I have a few months to make a choice!  I just have to stop myself from buying more math curriculum in search of the perfect one.

Computer Programming

My son is going to continue to learn computer programming this year, with the possibility of taking the AP exam in Computer Science next May.  He already knows some Java, which is the language used on AP exam.  He is planning to use the free Amplify MOOC, which is designed to prepare students for the AP exam. There are so many interesting courses available as MOOCs now, and it seems like a great way to extend learning at no cost.

Web Design

Our local homeschool coop is offering a course in web design, and my son is very excited to take this.  He loves creating things on the computer, so this should be a fun class for him.

Art

He is taking a three dimensional art class to finish up a half credit in art.  Art is not his favorite, but the hands on aspect of building sculptures and working with clay keeps in interested.

French

My son is about half way through French II, and we are going to finish it this year.  We are using Breaking the Barrier French, and once my son finishes this he is planning to call foreign language done for high school.  He is planning to go into a science or technical field, so hopefully only 2 years of a foreign language will be enough!

Career Planning

I am not sure what we are going to use for this yet, but we are planning for him to do this for a half credit of elective once French is finished.  I will probably use some online resources and some kind of career inventory test.

 

Back to Homeschool Blog Hop
This post is part of Back to Homeschool Blog hop hosted by the Schoolhouse Review Crew, which includes over 50 blogs. Be sure to visit these fabulous blogs for their articles!

I will have more Back to Homeschool posts on Wednesday and Friday, and in the meantime check out the big post on the Schoolhouse Crew Blog here, for all the participating blogs and a chance to enter a huge giveaway.

anne

Hi, I’m Anne!

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5 thoughts on “Back to Homeschool – 10th Grade Curriculum”

  1. Looks like a great plan! My 10th grade son is not artsy either, and that’s the one subject we are still not sure about for this coming year. I’d like him to do his Fine Arts credit and get it over with, since I know it’s not a favorite subject. LOL

    Reply
  2. I do not home school my children but I appreciate and respect a parent’s choice to do so. I wish I could, but my oldest has a learning disability that I’m not experienced with. She gets a lot of help in school and it shows!

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  3. I am looking forward to hearing about how you and your son like The Lost Tools of Writing! I was going to sign my girls up for that this year, too, but decided to wait one more year so my younger one can take it at the same time as my older one.

    We love VideoText Algebra, and hope to be able to use that for Geometry, too.

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