Our Curriculum Plans for 9th Grade, 2011-2012

(This was posted a few months ago, but I thought I'd share it on the Not Back-to-School Blog Hop that is going on this week, 8/8/11. Thanks for stopping by!)

I hate being unsettled about plans for school.  I thought this year would be different, as I had a pretty solid plan for 2011-2012 for my oldest as early as January. However, as new opportunities and resources came my way, the "final" schedule started constantly evolving.  It wasn't a matter of one opportunity or course changing another.  It was more like one change having a domino effect, requiring several adjustments.

When I look at my daughter's plan for next year, it is very clear that I am now a full-time facilitator and coordinator, rather than homeschool teacher. After many hours of agonizing what our first year of homeschooling high school would look like, I now present the final-at-the-moment plan. (Just a note that not all of the below is a typical 9th grade schedule, so please no worrying if your 9th grader's plan looks different.  It is appropriate for my daughter, though, which is the beauty of homeschooling.)

Drum roll, please....

Math: Jacob's Geometry with Derek Owens (www.derekowens.com)

History: AP U.S. History with Susan Richman at PA Homeschoolers (http://www.aphomeschoolers.com/)

Science: Anatomy and Physiology with Greg Landry (http://landryacademy.com/classes.html)

English: Comp I and Comp II at a local univeristy

Foreign Language: Latin 400 at Lone Pine Classical (www.lonepineclassical.com)

Fine Arts: Piano, possibly a theater production

Phys Ed: Shotokan karate

The only possible adjustment is our science option.  I've been toying with switching to Adv Biology, which my daughter says she prefers.  The class, however, is a bit of an unknown since the provider does not have an instructor nor text assigned to that course yet. There are other factors involved, too, so I'm leaving it as is for now.

While heavy with online options, two of the online classes have a lot of student interaction.  One has none and the other I simply don't know yet. There are several local students taking the AP online class, so I sense an in-person study group being formed. Between the potential study group, the university classes, and extracurricular activities, I think my extroverted teen will have plenty of people exposure to keep her happy.  

When I look at this schedule, I realized that with the exception of Latin and karate, all of these resources are new to us this year.  After sticking with the same resources for the past couple of years, this year will certainly bring about some changes. Changes are inevitable now that we are officially heading into high school. After 9 years of homeschooling, it is a bit scary to be heading into official everything-I-do-could-impact-the-rest-of-my-kid's-life territory.  Ok, that isn't exactly true, but it sure feels like it sometimes. It is also sad to realize that college is just around the corner.  Changes indeed. I'll save you my David Bowie impression here...it isn't pretty.

Now to finalize my 7th grader's plan.  It was so much easier when our day consisted of curling up with a great read-aloud, practicing colors and letters, and heading out to Park Day.