9th Grade Mid-Year Homeschool Curriculum Review

For those of you who have followed us for a bit, you’ll know that our 9th grader, freshman, 14 year old – call her what you will, started her high school credits early in anticipation of having wiggle room to work and possibly take a few college classes (or concurrent enrollment) in her later high school years. We’ve affectionately dubbed her a ‘freshmore’ since she has earned quite a few high school credits already, and feels a bit further along in her high school journey to call herself a mere freshman. :)

And you all – she is doing AMAZINGLY well. Not that I’m bragging, but I am very proud of her dedication and commitment to the classes she is taking as well as competitive swimming and many additional outside school activities. Laurianna has been working as a mother’s helper two afternoons a week and also began serving on the worship team at church (and is teaching herself guitar). The girl is really, truly a gem of a student and child.

Overall, we’ve been really happy with our homeschool curriculum choices – and I thought you all might like to see what she is enjoying the most as well! You can also see our You can also see our 3rd grade mid-year review, 5th grade mid-year review, and 7th grade mid-year reviews as well.

9th Grade Curriculum Choices

Credits to earn: 7.5

• History: Exploring World History from Notgrass (1 credit)
• Math:  Algebra 2, Teaching Textbooks (1 credit)
• Science:  Biology from Science Shepherd w/lab (1 credit)
• Literature: Literature and Composition (1 credit) full reading list HERE
• Foreign Language:  Spanish Tell Me More program – year 2 (1 credit)
• Apologetics: Lightbearers from Summit Ministries (1 credit)
• Foundations in Personal Finance from Dave Ramsey (1/2 credit)
• PE – swim league and weight training (1 credit)

My one sadness for Laurianna is that her workload hasn’t allowed her as much free reading time. Between her course load and also extra activities (granted, these also include movie nights with friends and working to earn cash), she doesn’t have as much time to read ‘fun’ books for herself. When we were recently snowed in for the weekend, she took that time to put everything aside and devoured a three book series. Other than that, her workload truly isn’t too difficult – just typical.

Algebra 2 – Math is never her favorite subject, but she is happy she switched back to Teaching Textbooks this year for math. It was her decision to try a different curriculum last year (which wasn’t bad), but she definitely prefers the format of Teaching Textbooks.

History – So far, this has been a fun class for her. Each week there is a some type of project for her to work on which she has really enjoyed. A few of them have been more involved for her (mainly because she wanted to do something more detailed than what was required). Overall she is enjoying it.

Biology – Until about 2 weeks ago, we were loving biology (and the lab she does with a friend). Right now she is in a chunk that we aren’t crazy about the layout, but that will hopefully get back to normal soon.

Literature and Composition – This is a class we are working on as a co-op and this year has definitely been fun. There are 2 more teens in the class this year which keeps it hopping, but definitely a fun one! As the teacher of this class it has been great seeing each of the kids grow and really put out some amazing work.

Apologetics – This is another of Laurianna’s favorite classes. Again we are working through this as a co-op (six kids total) and the conversations being generated are at time hilarious and also fun to listen to.

Personal Finance – This is one of Laurianna’s favorite subjects overall, and I’ll admit that I’m really enjoying it as well. The program from Dave Ramsey has been very thorough and generated some great discussion (and eye opening

PE/Swim – Laurianna has been working so hard with swim team. Out of all the kids swimming she has been most dedicated from the beginning, really pushing herself during practices and meets. She is practicing at least 3 times a week, sometimes 4, depending on our schedule.

Spanish 2 – For the first month and a half, this subject was a struggle because we were trying to figure out how to transfer all of her progress from one computer to a different one. Once we managed to get Laurianna’s Spanish program transferred to a different laptop (i.e. not the one her siblings are constantly using for school), lessons picked back up in wonderful time and she is back on track with her year.

Does High School Have You Scared?

If homeschooling high school is worrying you, don’t miss the free middle and high school planning printables and map out your middle and high school years! Might I also suggest the Embark Webinar coming up later this month?

If you are new to homeschooling and aren’t sure where to begin in choosing homeschool curriculum, please don’t let this post overwhelm you! Here are a few posts that you might find helpful as you discover what is best for your family. Be sure to check out the entire Homeschool Basics series for answers to more frequently asked homeschool questions.

See What the Other Kids Are Up To…

Take a peek at our  7th grade, 5th grade, and 3rd grade curriculum choices for the year as well! Click on one of the images above to look over their curriculum piles.