And I thought Honor getting to 7th grade was big. 11th is huge. The final stretch is in sight. Clearly even. It's one of those, "We're really gonna make it! But WAIT!!!! Have I done everything I need to?!?" moments. The first time I experienced that feeling was when I was in third trimester with him. I wonder if it ever goes away. LOL
Justice has been a challenge to raise/teach/parent/befriend at this stage of the journey. Looking back, I'm so glad we kept him home in spite of the challenges. He's read original Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dante, and more this past year. We've had some amazing conversations about the ideas these books wrestle with. He's really going to make it through algebra. Biology is finally d.o.n.e. His writing has obviously been influenced by all the middle ages Great Books he made it through this year. I totally see him writing epic poetry some day.
He's the reason we started homeschooling in the first place, and he reminds me every year why it's absolutely been the best choice for him.
Here's his plan for 11th grade. Yes, that is two full-size literature courses. By specific request. He thrives on lots, and lots, and lots of high quality literature.
English
- homegrown American lit
- Twenty-five Books that Shaped America by Thomas Foster
- Classics of American Literature lecture course from Great Courses
- Invitation to the Classics by Louise Cowan
- Writing With a Thesis by Skwire
- They Say I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing
- Argument Rulebook
- probably another rereading of The Elements of Style by Strunk & White
(All these writing books will be completed one at a time. No overlap.)
Math
- Intermediate Algebra by Larson, with the Mosely DVDs, no more daily tutoring, but the tutor is available to answer specific questions and help if he hits a wall
- keeping the idea of Teaching Textbooks on the back burner
Spanish
- Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish, hopefully finishing
- Spanish for Children DVDs and possibly the workbook too (Yes, "for Children." It's such a strong grammar route, and I've heard of highschool tests being passed with SFC as the foundation. We already know the CAP methods work well for Justice.)
- Duolingo for extra practice
History
- AP prep US History using the FundaFunda schedule
- A History of the American People - Johnson
- History of the United States lecture series by Great Courses
- Lies My Teacher Told Me by Leowen
- Critical Thinking in United States History (This may get shelved.)
- The Presidents DVD series from History Channel
- John Adams miniseries DVD
- Up From Slavery by Booker T Washington
Science (very recent switch from chemistry and still under construction)
- Forensics Illustrated
- Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) Forensic Science
- Illustrated Home Guide to Forensic Science Labs
- Forensic Science textbook by Saferstein
- he'll still have to absorb some chemistry from three family members studying it this year
Elective 1 - novel writing
- scheduled time to write!!
- Writing Magic (warm-up to start the year)
- One Year Adventure Novel
- NaNoWriMo
Elective 2 - British Literature through the Inspiration of J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter's Bookshelf by Granger
- Unlocking Harry Potter
- Finding God in Harry Potter (just for fun)
Bible
- Encountering the New Testament, working straight through it front to back as a real textbook - He decided he wanted to work on a real Bible credit instead of doing our usual Bible reading with extra religious books. Rather than adding another whole credit this year he'll bump Old Testament to 12th grade.
American literature
Autobiography of Benjamin FranklinCommon Sense (Paine)
Scarlett Letter (Hawthorne)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Killer Angels (Shaara)
Huckleberry Finn (Twain)
The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
Walden (Thoreau) - portions
The Call of the Wild (London)
White Fang (London)
Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury)
Something Wicked This Way Comes (Bradbury)
Grapes of Wrath DVD
Death of a Salesman (Miller)
Catcher in the Rye (Salinger)
Lord of the Flies (Golding)
Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee)
Inspiration of J.K. Rowling literature, 10 units based on chapters of Harry Potter's Bookshelf
Mysteries and Dickens OrphansMysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
Father Brown Stories by G.K. Chesterton (few shorts)
Lord Peter Whimsey by Dorothy Sayers
Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (maybe....)
Great Expectations by Dickens
Austen Influence
Mansfield Park by Austen (Pride and Prejudice and Emma on DVD)
some David Hume and Samuel Taylor Coleridge research to contrast Austen
Boarding School Novels
Tom Brown's School Days
Greyfriar's Billy Bunter
Gothic Romance
Frankenstein
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
The Castle of Otranto by Walpole
On the Night of the Seventh Moon by Victoria Holt
Northanger Abbey DVD
Postmodern Epic
Van Helsing DVD
Flashman Papers by George MacDonald Fraser (portions)
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Satirical
Gulliver's Travels
Plato's Cave Allegory
Watership Down
Phantom Tollbooth
George Cruikshanks cartoons
Everyman Allegory
Everyman Play
Brothers Karamazov DVD
Phaedrus by Plato
Idylls of the King
Magic
Psammead trilogy by Nesbit
Alchemical Magic
handful of specific Shakespeare plays
The Chymical Wedding by Lindsay Clarke
Secret of the Mirror and the Seeing Eye
The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge
The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis
**** Mid-year notes added March 2016 ****
Blunt honesty ahead.
Well, THAT year didn't go as planned. The challenge to parent only became more challenging, more disrespectful, and the boy was under the clear impression he knew more than his parents. The daily drama was negatively affecting the younger kids and tension just. kept. mounting.
We snapped by December.
In January Justice started attending a brick and mortar school. He was very mad, didn't want to go, and experienced daily culture shock. He's since adjusted to school life, the anger is gone, and he's FAR more pleasant to be around.
The curricula and plans mentioned above weren't even completed 1/4 of the way before we were interviewing schools. Kindly disregard all lofty notions. :P