Eighth Grade Curriculum

Overview:

Eighth grade is where planning ahead becomes fairly mission critical! We may have transcript classes at this point. In high school, written communication becomes very important as well. What do you need to do now so that high school writing, whether for clear communication or research, is fully supported by the work you did in middle school? Thinking this way about each subject is sure to be helpful! Your child’s interests and abilities also come to the forefront at this point. If you have a science minded kiddo, time to look at how you can support high school and advanced science classes and so on and so forth.

I plan to update these each year and this is our first year in a co-op. I chose this for several reasons. I know I can go it alone in homeschooling, but I also have my hands (and brain) full at all times and decided that seeking outside help and organization made sense as we venture into online classes, and more advanced academics. We also are potentially adding two classes to our 8th graders’ high school transcript this year.

Language Arts:

• Our co-op choices 2023-2024: Fix it Grammar with IEW, and IEW United States History Writing

• What I would be doing for all classes if we hadn’t joined a co-op: Redefining School. We used it for 7th grade, and it’s a fantastic resource that really took a lot off of my plate as a parent. Discount Code: TEXAS5

Reading:

• Several novels are on the docket in 2023-2024, and they are history aligned with our Modern Era history (Biblioplan: Remember the Days)

Math:

• Mr. D’s Math for Pre-Algebra/Algebra (High School Credit)

• Note: My oldest is in 8th grade and he is taking this class this year, but not everyone has to be or should be in Algebra. It’s where he has ended up under our particular guidance of his education. My younger children may not be taking Algebra in 8th grade. It really depends on the child.

History/Social Studies:

• Biblioplan: Remember the Days Modern Era

• Geography will be at our co-op so I’ll focus on games at home:

• Continent Trek game to learn continents and place countries on the map

• Trekking the National Parks

• Catan Settlers of America

• Ticket to Ride

Science:

• Nature Study Club Expert Explorer will still be something I use as a way to integrate some fun or research on topics we have tied to field trips (Example: We are often in a nearby city for medical reasons, and they have a geology museum, a river, and places we frequent that I can pull from NSC for)

• Co-op Choice: Abeka Order & Design

Electives:

• Some electives can be tracked starting in middle school for high school credit. The most common are foreign languages or typing that I’m aware of.

• Spanish 1 (high school credit if mastery is achieved/”grades” pass)

Eighth Grade: What I wished I would have done & what went well

1. I don’t exactly know yet, so I’ll be filling this in later this school year.