Finally! I have reached the end of our homeschool curriculum choices for 2020-2021!
With 5 children – 4 of whom are school-age – it takes awhile to list all of our curriculum picks for the year.
My oldest boy, 10th grade, will be home with us for school this year and I could not be more thrilled. My son was homeschooled Kindergarten through 6th grade, yet attended various private/university-model schools for 7th through 9th.
My husband and I decided to have him finish high school here at home for a variety of reasons. While it’s challenging for me as the homeschool mama to be thrown into the “high school deep end,” our whole family is excited to have him back home for school.
Other 2020-2021 Homeschool Curriculum Posts:
→ 4th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices 2020-2021
→ 6th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices 2020-2021
→ 8th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices 2020-2021
Browse through all of the homeschool curriculum posts here at Mama’s Learning Corner.
This post uses affiliate links. You can see my disclosure policy at any time. I am not affiliated with Memoria Press at this time, except as an affiliate. I’m just a very happy customer.
A couple of years ago, we moved to mostly using Memoria Press. While I taught my children using unit studies and more delight-directed learning in the very early years, our homeschool is one that teaches classical education now.
My 10th grader hasn’t experienced the same classical education that my girls are receiving. Thankfully he has taken a year of Latin using Henle I, and is fairly well-read to be only 15 years old.
His 10th through 12th grade years will be spent making up for a bit of lost time classically-speaking, and fulfilling college requirements while giving him time to pursue some of his passions.
Speed cubing! Synthesis! Politics!
We also chose to outsource a few of my 10th grader’s classes for various reasons. My son is an extrovert and craves other people, and I promised him I would set up his math and science classes as in-person.
Also, there’s only 1 of me and 5 children. I have to spend significant time studying for the subjects that I’m teaching him, and there is only so much time in my day.
I pray we have chosen wisely in what is outsourced and what will stay here at home.
Also, I’m still trying to fully grasp how high school credits work. Even though I don’t have total understanding of how to award credit, I will list what I’m tentatively putting on his transcript in regard to credit.
When you look at this long list of subjects, please keep in mind that many of them will only be for 1 semester, worthy of 0.5 credit.
10th Grade Latin – Henle I, Units 6-14
Last year, my son and I worked through the first 18 lessons of Henle I Units 1-5 using Memoria Press’ lesson plans and quizzes. Unfortunately, I was unable to carry on with his Latin at the pace he needed. Essentially, he taught himself the rest of the units 1-5.
I’m so proud of him for finishing it himself! Latin works much better when you have an experienced teacher, as I found out by taking the Latin Summer Intensive for Adults this year.
This year, my young man will work through the rest of Henle I in Memoria Press’ Online Academy for Henle I Units 6-14. I’m excited he will be able to study this harder material under a master Latin teacher!
High School Credit: 1.0 credit
10th Grade Algebra II
We are outsourcing this class to a local in-person teacher. We will see if it stays in-person with all of the coronavirus restrictions!
High School Credit: 1.0 credit
10th Grade Chemistry
We are also outsourcing Chemistry to the same local in-person teacher.
High School Credit: 1.0 credit
10th Grade Christian Studies
My son is studying the History of the Early Church using the lesson plans and study guide from Memoria Press. Henry Chadwick’s The Early Church is used as the main text, with readings from Eusebius’ The History of the Church as a primary reading source.
My son is very interested in theology, so this is a perfect fit for him. Our discussions on the material have been so rich! I look forward to the rest of the study with him.
High School Credit: 1.0 credit I am unsure how to award this credit. I have a feeling it will end up being 0.5 credit.
10th Grade Composition
Learning to write well is a big focus for my 10th grader this year. I set this as a goal for him, and he quickly agreed that he would like to improve his writing and understand the structure of different types of writing. I have chosen to outsource some of this and work on portions of it here at home.
My son will take High School Composition I through Memoria Press’ Online Academy. This class includes the first four levels of Classical Composition, condensed into an appropriate amount of work for a high school student.
I’m excited my son will study under an experienced writing teacher, and I hope to glean some tips from her by listening in!
High School Credit: 1.0 credit
My son and I will also work through Windows to the World from Institute for Excellence in Writing. One of my son’s biggest challenges is identifying and then writing about literary elements such as theme or foreshadowing. This is just simply from his lack of exposure and practice over the last few years.
We are working through Windows of the World together, which has proven to be an excellent course thus far! I’m very pleased with it as we enter into our 4th week.
High School Credit: 0.5 credit
10th Grade Traditional Logic II
Even though my son was in a university-model school last year (meaning: I didn’t have control over his school subjects), I still had him take advantage of Memoria Press’ free Traditional Logic I intensive class this past May.
What an excellent introductory Logic class!
My son will continue on in his Logic studies with Traditional Logic II via Memoria Press Online Academy.
High School Credit: 0.5 credit
10th Grade American Government
This year, my son is using BJU’s American Government text 4th edition. I was a little hesitant to use a textbook to study American Government, as I wanted to include many primary sources.
I have been so pleasantly surprised at the amount and variety of primary sources included in the supplemental Activities Book from BJU! Those are a primary focus during our class discussions.
While it’s not what I’d envisioned for my very politically-interested son, this has been a solid choice so far.
High School Credit: 0.5. credit
10th Grade Literature
As I mentioned, my young man is catching up a bit in his Classical Studies. Even though my son read several children’s versions of Homer in his younger years, he’s never studied the full texts.
During the first semester, my son is reading and studying Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey using the Memoria Press materials, which include Samuel Butler’s translation.
He (and I really mean we) will study The Aeneid during the second semester.
The studying of these texts have proven to be time consuming and frequently tedious, but they are so fascinating!
I have not read any of these classics, and honestly, I’m having to work pretty hard to keep up with the reading and discussion. The immense effort on my part, however, has been very worth it!
High School Credit: 1.0 credit
10th Grade Geography III
Another area we are working on this year is my young man’s knowledge of world geography. My son used Tapestry of Grace for years, so he had excellent geography exposure through 6th grade. However, I felt he would benefit from a one-semester course in world geography prior to taking a high school level World History course.
My son is working through Memoria Press’ Geography III course, using all of the Honors Work so it can be counted as a half credit.
High School Credit: 0.5 credit
Do you have a 10th Grader this year? What do you choose to teach and what do you choose to outsource, if anything?
8th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices 2020-2021
Hey Lauren,
I love your curriculum posts- we have similar taste in curriculum so it is nice to see what you choose each year. I am very curious about Windows to the World as I am 99% sure I will use it for my ninth grader next year. How do you feel about it as you are further into the year? Is it easy to implement? Not to sound lazy, but we have a move next year and I can’t have a Literature that requires too much parent involvement.
Thank you for your encouragement.
Blessings,
BRI
Hey Bri – Neat to see someone else with similar choices/children. 🙂
Honestly, I would NOT to WttW if you aren’t going to have the time to work through it with him consistently. A couple of reasons why:
1) Once you get into it, you’ll see that it is definitely an older and less-streamlined style of homeschool curriculum. It takes a bit of work to line up the Student Guide against the Teacher’s Guide, since they both have completely different content. It’s not open-and-go in the way IEW’s newer items are.
2) While the Student Guide is written TO the student, there’s still a lot in the Teacher’s Guide that needs to be taught or guided by mom. This is definitely not a hand-to-the-child-and-go curriculum, in my opinion. I met with my son a couple of times during the week to talk through the items in the Teacher’s Guide, edit writing, etc.
That being said, I did LOVE the way it taught the student to think about writing. It wasn’t formulaic per se, but there was a skeleton in how to think through different types of writing. If you have the time, it IS worth teaching, in my opinion.
But you and I both know there is only so much time in a homeschool mama’s day, and it is definitely NOT lazy to know your time limits as the teacher! It’s very wise, in fact. I still really struggle with unrealistic expectations of myself and my time.
I’ve never used it, but I have looked at Essentials in Writing/Literature MANY times through the years. Maybe that would be a good fit for this subject?
Moving is not for the faint of heart! Best wishes to you this next year as you manage all of the balls in the air!
xo, Lauren
Thank you. I really appreciate your detailed response. I needed to hear this. I have looked in to Essentials in Literature as well and my second choice will be Memoria Press Lit guides. I may just make it a priority to teach WTTW to my daughter- I do respect your opinion and you aren’t the first person who really likes this course.
I still have plenty of time to change my mind- and then change it again- haha.
Thanks again,
BRI
I’ve used a wide range of Memoria Press Lit guides, and I love them. But they don’t teach much in the way of *how* to think through the writing process that I have found. I am a person that needs tremendous amounts of hand-holding with teaching writing, so that has been a bit frustrating to me in regards to MP (which I love). Just thinking through and writing the answers to the essay style questions has proven to be so beneficial for my children.
Because I personally need so much hand-holding as the teacher, I am going to use something brand new to me this year: Excellence in Literature by Janice Campbell. This will be for the same child of mine, as he moves into 11th grade. While I’ve read through most of it already, I haven’t actually assigned it to him, so I don’t know how it will look in real life. I really like the way it is written to the student, and there are multiple instructions and helps within the student guide (there’s not a teacher guide). We won’t do most of the extras (music of the time, etc.) just because his schedule will already be full.
It has a lot of the concepts that I want him to be more independent in doing – thinking through a writing prompt and outlining his response, then writing his response, and then editing. All of the how-to for that is laid out in the book, so I expect this to be much more independent than WTTW.
Just thought I’d mention it in case you want to add something else to your research list. 🙂
And yes, we both have plenty of time to change our minds! Ha!
xo, Lauren
Lauren,
Thank you, honestly I can’ t thank you enough. I actually did read about Excellence in Literature but wasn’t sure if it teaches basic literary techniques or it assumes the student already know them. My soon-to-be ninth grader has had very little Literary analysis so I wasn’t sure if this book would be a good starting point for her.
Well, you have given me much to think about. Do you think Excellence in Literature or WTTW would be better for a ninth grader with very little literature study? Answer only if you have time.
Appreciate you !!! XO
BRI