8th Grade Mid- Year Check- In

Alec and I worked long and hard to come up with a good plan of attack for his 8th grade year. We put a lot of ephasis on skills he'll need if he gets into the high school he's applying to.  He's already taken his placement test and we're waiting to hear what the next step in the admissions process is.  In the meantime he's been making huge strides in his work and I wanted to take the time to check in on how we're doing following the plan we put in place last spring.




Here is what we're using:

Spelling/Grammar/ Writing/ Language Arts: Alec will use Write Shop I this year for year.  We are on lesson 6 of 16 so we're doing OK but will have to start working on this every single week if we want to finish the whole thing.



We'll use The 100+ Series Grammar book to continue refining and honing his grammar skills. Alec is exactly 1/2 way through this! 



Math: Alec will be finishing up the last couple of units in his Kumon Pre- Algebra book and then we'll dive into his No- Nonsense Algebra book.  We debated covering Algebra this year because I know it's a high school freshman requirement but Alec thought it would be great to have some understanding of the math ahead of time making his transition to a brick and mortar school just a bit easier (we hope!). He is nearly finished with the math minutes and is already starting chapter 3 in the No- Nonsense Algebra book; doing really well with the work so far. 



He'll also work on 8th Grade Math minutes to keep other skills sharp.



Reading: Alec is a voracious reader and I want him to just keep reading as many books as he'd like.  I figure once he hits high school and is assigned reading he may not love it as much and I want him to really hone that love of reading. Check!  I honestly can't even keep up with what he's reading. 

Geography: We'll continue to explore new countries and areas through reading and movies, try out new foods from other lands and play lots and lots of geography games.

History: Civics and Government-- We plan to watch Understanding Government and read a few books on how our government works as well as touring the state house, taking in a couple town meetings, and watching other history based films.



Science: Alec will  be focusing on kitchen chemistry. We plan to work through the book I'm Just Here for More Food and to cook up new recipes found in the book. We'll also be learning more about kitchen chemistry through one of Ian's books that he's using this year and I'm sure Alec will be watching and learning too.  Alec finished up Alton's book (and is just starting to try out recipes but we also added in Culinary Reactions and he' working his way through that too)




Art: Alec has a wide variety of interest in art and we'll continue to nurture his love of drawing, painting, sculpting and the like. Check!  

Physical Education:  Alec will continue with his karate classes and we'll continue hiking, biking, roller skating, etc. trying to get in at least 30 minutes of physical activity each day. Check!

Misc.:  To get Alec prepared for traditional schooling we'll be using the Victus Study Skills System to learn how to take notes, study for tests, and keep deadlines on track. We finished this off completely. 



He also needs to take a standardized test to get into the school and since we've never taken any sort of "real" test we plan to use a PSAT book to learn how to take a multiple choice test.  I've warned him that the actual questions might be hard to answer since it's meant for older grades but we can work through it together and see how answers are eliminated.  We worked on a few pages in this before his placement test and he did really well with it.



Again the only subjects I seem to have dropped the ball in are geography/ government.  But knowing that we are shifting our focus for the second 1/2 of the year.

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Comments

  1. I love how intentional you are with your kids' and their schooling!

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    1. Thank you! This time of year it's hard to keep everything just in my head and it helps to write it down and see where we are; it also helps me to start planning for next year.

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  2. First of all, I would like to wish him good luck for a successful result. Appreciate your effort you are making for Alec, I found Write Shop 1 useful for my daughter it was really useful for her writing skills and grammar. Math Minutes is very productive and polishes the skills, sharpens mind. PSAT Prep Book is really effective, specially to handle the full fledge exam pattern and time management.!!! Best Wishes. Keep posted!!! Great Week.

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