Justice ~ 11th Grade

     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 Franklin
        Common 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 Orphans
      Mysterious 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