I can hardly believe it when I think back to those first days of homeschooling preschool, but our first year of high school is approaching quickly. There’s no time for nostalgia though. Instead I’m gathering resources and making my final purchases for our 9th Grade Homeschool curriculum choices.
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It’s been a rough year around here, but we’re on the up and up and we’re looking forward to a new homeschool year. I’ve already shared our Charlotte Mason-inspired 3rd Grade Year for my youngest kiddo, so now I’m excited to share with you what’s in store for my oldest in the upcoming year.
Before we jump into those 9th grade curriculum choices, keep in mind that we’re using my son’s career interests and potential college choices along with Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophy to guide us through his high school years.
Also, while my daughter has always known a Charlotte Mason education, that’s not the case for my rising freshman. His journey has been more gradual and diverse in the way of homeschool curriculum and teaching methods. That’s why some aspects of his 9th grade year are more CM-aligned than others.
Our 9th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices
Now that you’ve got some background on our selection process, here’s a look at what we’re using for his first year of high school.
9th Grade History
We considered several literature-based options for history, but in the end we decided to go with Early American and World History from Beautiful Feet Books.
We’ve had great experiences using other offerings from Beautiful Feet Books before — we love Teaching Character Through Literature and Geography Through Literature!
Our past experiences with Beautiful Feet Books helped make our decision, but we also appreciate that Beautiful Feet has enough history options to last through his high school years. In fact, in addition to this Early American/World History course, there are four other high school history options for us to consider in coming years.
9th Grade Science
We’re moving to Sabbath Mood Homeschool for 9th grade science. This Charlotte Mason science approach allows us to dig into one topic once a week throughout the year, but allows us to rotate through three other topics on a quarterly basis.
My son chose biology for his primary science topic and weather, geology, and astronomy for his quarterly topics. That means we’ll get to dig into the following spine books:
- Men, Microscopes, and Living Things
- Look at the Sky and Tell the Weather
- The Planets, and
- Rocks, Rivers, and the Changing Earth.
Nature study is also a part of our science plans for my big kid’s 9th grade year. We’re keeping nature study pretty simple since his other science plans are pretty substantial, but he’ll join his younger sister and me for weekly nature walks, continue nature journaling, and do some self-guided nature study through The Nature Connection.
9th Grade Math
That biology theme will also come into play as we work through Life of Fred Pre-Algebra 1. When we finish that one, we also plan to work through Pre-Algebra 2 with Economics, and possibly move into Beginning Algebra.
This may sound like a lot, but each of these pre-algebra books are designed to be completed in 45 days. That’s why it’s totally feasible to get through multiple volumes next year.
9th Grade Language Arts
My kiddo has a pretty big change in store for language arts his 9th Grade Year. We’re taking a break from Learning Language Arts Through Literature this year while we wait for the new editions of the high school resources to release.
Since LLATL isn’t available to us this year, we’re turning to Brave Writer. In particular, we’ll use Help for High School and the Boomerangs for A Christmas Carol, A Wrinkle in Time, and To Kill a Mockingbird for help with writing and mechanics.
In addition to Brave Writer, we’re adding this Poetry and a Movie course to our 9th grade language arts plans. The format of this course is especially nice for us because it allows us to take breaks in between poet studies to mix in those Boomerangs mentioned above. It will also allow us the flexibility needed for my kiddo to participate in NaNoWriMo this year.
9th Grade – Everything Else
Spanish
For the most part, we’re turning to our local co-op for foreign language this year. However, we’re using Mango Languages to help with review while we’re between co-op semesters. Mango is new to us, but we’re happy to give it a shot because we have free access through our local library.
I mentioned this when I shared our 3rd grade plans, but I’m excited to try Mango because both of my kids will be using it. I’ll be able to track their progress in the same place and in the same format, which is super helpful for me!
Art Instruction/Art Appreciation
My 9th grader will continue using our Masterpiece Society Studio membership and wants to focus on the art school lessons this year. These lessons will help him fine-tune the skills needed for drawing, watercolors, and acrylics.
As for art appreciation, we’ll deep dive into Masterpiece Society’s Art Appreciation course.
Music Appreciation
We’re keeping our music plans pretty simple for 9th grade. My son is joining my younger kiddo and me as we work through A Year of Charlotte Mason Music Lessons and will continue to practice ukulele.
Handicrafts
Lastly, I’m taking my own advice and making sure my big kiddo has some non-academic fun stuff to look forward to next year. That’s where Doodle Crates from Kiwi Co. come into the picture. This will give him a chance to jump in on projects like leatherworking, candlemaking, ink wash painting, and more.
That’s all for our Charlotte Mason-ish 9th Grade homeschool plans. If you have tips or questions about any of these resources, leave them for us in the comments below! :)