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The Best Ninth Grade Homeschool Curriculum | Tips And Recommendations

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Let’s look at some of the best ninth grade homeschool curriculum to help make this year your best one yet. Also, you’ll love my page Homeschool Curriculum for more ideas and grade level curriculum and my page How to Homeschool High School.

Ninth grade aka freshman year is the kickoff to the high school years.

And it is a pretty big jump from middle school, but is also filled with exciting milestones like getting a driver’s license.

The Best Ninth Grade Homeschool Curriculum | Tips And Recommendations

Technology will likely play a big part in your child’s education by this time from using online calculators to classes, music appreciation, language apps, and more.

It is a time of growing independence and branching out into more electives or at least learning more adult life skills.

If they are not mostly independent in their daily work already, they will be able to take on more of their own work load whether their school takes place online, in books, or even in the woods.

Homeschool 9th Grade Tips and Recommendations

College and Career-This is the optimal time to start thinking about a career track for your student, leaning heavily into extra classes, maybe even dual enrollment to be sure that they have all the things that they need.

That is not to say college is the only, or even the best option for your child. They may intend to go into cosmetology, guess what?

They can start learning that skill now through online tutorials, friends, and even on the job training.

 Do you have a Marine Biologist on your hands? Be sure to load up on science classes and incorporate field trips that teach and feed that interest.

Flexible Scheduling-If your child has a job now make sure that you adjust their school schedule to accommodate work hours. Flexible doesn’t have to mean you cut way back on schooling at all, it might just mean that they do math in the evening instead of the morning or double up biology on the weekend.

Field Trips-As new interests will be developing at this level, long standing ones might increase or fade away all together.

Field trips, while they will look different than that early visit to a local farm, they are a wonderful way to support their interests and possible career choices.

Additionally, field trips can be a visit to a location for their career field of choice like the state capital building, behind the scenes at a hair salon or law office.

The Best Ninth Grade Homeschool Curriculum | Tips And Recommendations

You could visit a local pottery studio or glass blowing studio, watch a Broadway theater performance, or they could be in the form of take your child to work day in the office.

More Ninth Grade Homeschool Curriculum Tips

Best Homeschool Curriculum For All Grades

9th Grade Homeschool Curriculum

Lastly, look at some recommendations and tips.

9th Grade Homeschool Curriculum

Add these fun curriculum recommendations to your 9th grader's homeschool day.

6 Resources for Making Homeschool High School Science Easy

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have 6 resources for making homeschool high school science easy. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School.

Science has been a subject that we have always tried to add naturally into our day.

Too, I folded it into our unit studies even at the high school level.

However, we do love spending our time reading about history and geography.

So, I wanted to be sure as the boys entered high school that they received more formal training in science.

6 Resources for Making Homeschool High School Science Easy

It didn’t mean we had to give up our hands-on things we were doing with our unit studies, but I wanted to be sure our activities were high school level because I wanted our transcript to reflect that.

Like history, science is a subject that you and your teen need to determine how in depth to cover it.

Though my boys loved science, like me, they had a bent toward history and geography so that did affect their choice as to curriculum.

If you’re a science minded family, its important which science track your teens takes.

Even if your teen is not choosing a career in science, the advantages of covering science at the high school level go far beyond just college or career.

5 Questions Before Purchasing A High School Science Program

Before I mention those advantages for us, look at these things to mull over before you pull the trigger on a high school science program.

  • Do you want to only cover the  major sciences like biology, chemistry and physics?
  • Do you want to cover subjects outside the traditional subjects, like astronomy or botany? Having homeschooled from the beginning, this is what appealed to my sons. They could feed their minds on subjects they were passionate about. So not only does science stir up a deep appreciation for creation, but the logical thought process that science teaches sticks with your child lifelong.
  • Does a Christian or secular view matter?
  • Is any teacher prep involved?
  • What kind of costs are involved for hands-on and lab? We stuck to curriculum that just used items we could find around the house and purchased a few other things like microscopes and lab things, but for the most part, we just used what we had.

Mr. Senior 2013, enjoyed the textbook approach of Apologia during his junior years but when it came to high school, he wanted a change.

He was pursuing some electives like public speaking that he wanted to focus on and writing.

But first, look at some of these how to homeschool high school books.

How to Homeschool High School Books & Resources

How to homeschool high school can be daunting at first. With a little help and these great resources, you’ll be a homeschool pro in no time.

Too, Apologia had advanced courses like Advanced Physics that I knew we could come back to later if he wanted to pursue science in more depth.

So after reading about the interactive content Switched-on Schoolhouse used, he decided to use SOS Integrated Physics & Chemistry.He enjoyed the video clips, animations and games.

He ended up really liking their courses because they had courses that were outside of the traditional approach and kept science fun for him.

That program was discontinued but I find that 1) Glencoe Science Integrated Physics and Chemistry was similar and used with my second son.

Too, courses like 2) family consumer science are offered. Such practical courses in preparation for adulthood are sometimes not easy to find.

So, my next son didn’t follow a traditional approach either.

Random Efforts Can Pay Off

He liked more of a simplified approach to science and wanted to study only subjects that interested him like the stars.

So we used 3) Lift Up Your Eyes On High: Understanding the Stars (Christian Liberty Press High School Curriculum) .

And he also liked 4) Biology: A Search For Order in Complexity, 2nd Edition.

Too, Christian Liberty Press borrows some of their books from A Beka and Bob Jones.

Then for Mr. Awesome 2015 we also used part of 5) Biology by Bob Jones and then back to Christian Liberty Press for part of Chemistry or it was really by Bob Jones.

Lastly, we loved the straightforward approach of 6) Lifepacs. They are like worktexts which are good for independent learners. We loved Lifepac Biology.

Mr. Senior 2015 stayed on just one or two science providers.

Mr. Awesome 2015 was all over the place on subjects but liked the combinations.

Too, the process of scientific investigation is critical to higher thinking skills and logical thinking ability is a lost art not just among teens, but among adults too.

These are skill sets my boys should have.

So we didn’t follow a traditional approach by a family that would be pursuing a science career.

But we enjoyed having the variety of topics that fed my sons’ curiosity at the high school level,

However, it kept their passion for science.

What has worked for your family or what are you mulling over?

More High School Science Tips

6 Resources for Making Homeschool High School Science Easy @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

7 Fun Geometry Hands On Activities For High School

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Fun geometry hands-on activities for high school can mean the difference in just getting by and really getting engaged in lessons. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School for more ideas.

Just because your child is in high school does not mean that they’ve set aside their love for Lego.

A fantastic way to incorporate Lego into lessons is to use them to create examples and identify angles.

7 Fun Geometry Hands On Activities For High School

We have done Lego math in the past. But you can even use it for high school manipulatives for learning geometry.

First let’s talk about what geometry is.

Geometry is the part of mathematics that we use for calculating the distance around a circle, the angles that make up a triangle, or the amount of room inside of a cube.

We use it daily in art, navigation, in construction, sports, and even simple household tasks like measuring a surface area for wallpaper.

So, you can see why it is a necessary skill for your teen to learn.

7 Fun Geometry Hands On Activities For High School

Next, look at some of these activities.

These activities are a wonderful way to create a break in the typical textbook, worksheet lesson of high school geometry and can help make complicated lessons more understandable.

  1. Look at this LEGO for geometry idea Pythagorean Theorem Lego Proof.
  2. This Geometry Roller Coaster Project is a large scale lesson in engineering and problem solving. Although it’s written for a classroom, it can be used for one or two students.
  3. Using Hands-On Inquiry in High School Geometry gives you ideas for creating some hands-on geometry lessons that include their observations and geometry tools.
  4. Play the Simplyfun Shape Whiz game for an enjoyable lesson to reinforce some basic geometry shape information.
  5. Bonus, this one post includes 5 Geometry Projects for Middle and High School that are fun while
  6. Grab your deck of uno cards and try Using Uno as an Intro to Teaching Proofs for an advanced geometry lesson.
  7. While Geometric Art For Kids is geared to younger kids I still really think it has value and appeal for the high school bunch as well.
7 Fun Geometry Hands On Activities For High School

Also, look at my post Ancient Greece Unit Study Play Stomachion Like Archimedes {Explore Geometry} to add a math element to your favorite unit study.

The resource Everything You Need to Ace Geometry in One Big Fat Notebook is a fantastic supplement to any curriculum.

In addition, it can be used for independent study and worked well to use with my LEGO activity I have for you today.

Teaching Geometry With LEGO Activities For High School

You will need:

  • LEGO
  • LEGO Baseplate
  • cardstock
  • Pen
7 Fun Geometry Hands On Activities For High School

Single row, long LEGO bricks work best for these activities.

And if you need a good basic set of LEGO because you don’t already have them lying around the house this is a fantastic option.

Two ways we discovered to practice basic geometry are through learning terms and identifying examples of them as well as identifying different angles.

The first way I have to practice geometry is a way to introduce or reinforce geometry terms.

Geometry Vocabulary

  • Point- Indicates a location.
  • Line-a straight path that extends infinitely in both directions.
  • Line segment –Part of a line with two endpoints.
  • Ray- Part of a line that starts at a point and extends infinitely in one direction.
  • Vertex  –The point of intersection of two or more line segments.
  • Triangle – A shape with 3 sides and 3 vertices.
  • Angle- is formed of two rays with the same endpoint, vertex.
  • Parallel lines- Two lines in the same plane that are at equal distance from each other and never meet.
  • Perpendicular lines– Lines that intersect at a 90 degrees angle.

Write each of these terms onto cardstock and cut them into small strips to create labels.

7 Fun Geometry Hands On Activities For High School

You can carry out the activity in one of two ways, either create examples of the terms using various LEGO pieces or lay down the terms onto the base plate and have your highschooler create an example by building it with LEGO bricks.

7 Fun Geometry Hands On Activities For High School

Get creative with using single row bricks to create the examples, use single studs for your points, and make arrows at the end of rays with smaller pieces.

7 Fun Geometry Hands On Activities For High School

In the same way, create labels for acute, right, and obtuse angles and make examples for your student to match or let them create an example of each using random LEGO pieces.

7 Fun Geometry Hands On Activities For High School

Because LEGOs are meant to snap together at right angles and not obtuse or acute you will need a little help. Place your long skinny bricks on single studs to lift them above the base plate

7 Fun Geometry Hands On Activities For High School

You will then be able to swing them around freely to create different angles.

7 Fun Geometry Hands On Activities For High School

Homeschool High School Literature Guides

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

You’ll love these homeschool high school literature guides which make teaching easy. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School for more ideas.

Though I was over the top giddy at accomplishing the feat of teaching my first son how to read, deep down I was anxious because I was already thinking about the upper grades.

Homeschool High School Literature Guides

The thought of teaching literature at the high school level made me feel defeated before I even started.

Many years later and after teaching all of my sons how to read well, I learned that one secret tool (not a secret anymore because you now know) to teaching literature in the upper grades is a simple, but well-thought-out high school literature guide.

Have you seen the nifty high school literature guides by Dover Publications? They are the Dover Thrift Study Editions. More on that in a minute.

I was given free books from Dover Publications and I was compensated for my time. However, paid for my time does not mean paid off.  ALL opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. When I do accept a product it’s because I’m giddy to tell you about it. Read my full disclosure here. Now on to the fun stuff!

Why You Should Teach Classic Literature

First, to clear up any confusion, there is not an exact grade where reading turns to literature.

Somewhere during the middle and high school years, reading turns from learning to read to reading to learn. A big difference.

Like the early grades, classic literature plays a huge role in reading to learn.

When teaching a beginner reader, the focus is on phonics, comprehension and vocabulary.

Some of those elements don’t completely go away in the high school years, but reading to learn is about peering closer at literature.

high school literature guides 1

Look at a few of the common elements of reading to learn that a high school student will want to cover.

  • Understand an author’s background or biography;
  • Understand an author’s message;
  • Understand literary analysis; and
  • Explore examples of literary terms like plot, theme, point of view and even complicated ones like similes and metaphors.

Why It’s Important to Go from Broad to Focused

Also, one more significant difference in teaching literature at the high school level is that a reader moves from being exposed to a variety of genres in the younger grades to a more focused look at one genre or time period of literature.

For example, a student will do a yearlong study of American, British or even World literature.

We recently started using high school literature guides by Dover Publications because not only did I want something that Tiny could do independently, but I wanted to contain the overflowing amount of high school curriculum.

Focusing on British literature, I was tickled that I got in my bundle the following books.

 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Homeschool High School Literature Guides

Look at some of the reasons why we are using the comprehensive study guides.

  • The unabridged book and comprehensive study guide are together in one book.
  • There is an analysis of the chapter.
  • There are study guides with answers, thank you. I loathe extra bulk in curriculum and sometimes it’s unavoidable with high school curriculum, but an all in one book where the questions and answers are together is very useful.
  • There are suggested essay topics. I love that I don’t even have to think about topics for him to write about.
  • One more detail worth noting about the essays is that not only are there suggested topics, but also suggestions for the type of essay. For example, in reading The Scarlet Letter, there is a suggestion for a compare and contrast essay. Can you just say practical help for the new high school mom?
  • There is a biography of the author at the beginning, which gives Tiny a fuller understanding of the story. For example, in reading Frankenstein, Mary Shelley is a young author with a lot of unhappiness early on in her life. She goes on to write Frankenstein, which is Gothic fiction and it is the early beginnings of science fiction. Did she write to console herself or to escape? Are the two reasons really any different? The guide and book together allow for some great debate conversation with my teen.
  • Having used very comprehensive study guides before, I wanted something that gives me a framework instead of dissecting every literary element. Maintaining the love of reading at the high school level is paramount to the technicalities of elements. The Dover Thrift Study Editions have been just the right amount of balance for us.

Too, my roots have been classical though I love the freedom and mastery that learning through unit studies engenders.

Classic novels are a mainstay I expect my boys to cover in high school, but I love the fact too that studying a whole novel can be quickly turned into a unit study.

Homeschool High School Literature Guides @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

For example, when we read an abridged version of A Tale of Two Cities, in the early years, Tiny can draw from what he knows about studying the geography and culture of France and England.

It wasn’t necessary at that time to develop the underlying theme that no historical period will be free of serious problems.

However, now in the high school years by reading an unabridged version of A Tale of Two Cities he can connect what he knows previously and turn the book into a high school level unit study.

Focus is on the ugly side of war or the French Revolution.

Of course, for us, you know any time period we read about history has us always thinking about a unit study.

The point I’m making is that it’s so much easier making the jump to language arts, science and history when the books are classic.

Homeschool literature guides do not have to be cold, austere and overwhelming, but helpful, compact and motivating.

Not only can they teach critical thinking skills to your high school student, which helps him to dig deep to find the hidden message in a story, but study guides help you to move to the reading to learn stage of literature.

Finally, look at this short list I created. Grab one or two!

Dover Thrift Study Editions For Easy High School Literature Guides

The guides are literature and analysis in one book. the guide includes:

• Scene-by-scene summaries

• Explanations and discussions of the plot

• Question-and-answer sections

• an author’s biography

• List of characters and more

Dover Thrift Study Editions feature everything that students need to undertake a confident reading of a classic text, as well as to prepare themselves for class discussions, essays, and exams.

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Creative Solution for Homeschool High School When Life Happens

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I’m sharing a creative solution for homeschool high school when life happens. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School.

This made homeschooling my second high school son, Mr. Awesome, not only meaningful but one that I am really treasuring.

Although I had my reservations at first.

Let me back up first because you have to understand what happened when homeschooling high school with Mr. Senior 2013 to understand how I came up with the solution, which I am going to share in just a minute.

Creative Solution for Homeschool High School When Life Happens

When homeschooling Mr. Senior 2013, I had planned all four years.

And probably like most new homeschooling high school parents, I had a bit of over planning involved too.

Next, look at some of these resources to help you homeschool high school.

How to Homeschool High School Books & Resources

How to homeschool high school can be daunting at first. With a little help and these great resources, you’ll be a homeschool pro in no time.

You CAN still Homeschool High School!

However, though I didn’t feel like this in the beginning of my homeschool journey (that is another topic), I also didn’t want to turn the teaching reins over to somebody else.

I had not schooled this long to come to the point in my teen’s life to let somebody else make significant decisions.

Some of the best times I have had are homeschooling high school though I was terrified when we started.

I won’t be victim to the idea that somebody else can give my kids better. 

In other words, I won’t make any decision based on fear though many times I didn’t feel so brave.

Then right in the middle of high school with Mr. Senior 2013 as I mentioned in my post Should I Let My Homeschooled Teen Graduate Early, my hubby had a significant heart attack.

It was a set back for us in high school.

After we recuperated from that as a family, I realized that I had gotten behind on supervising some of the courses for Mr. Senior 2013.

However, we buried our noses in the books and he graduated on time and of course we had a huge celebration, Texas style.

The point I learned from what happened to my family was that I never wanted to be in that position again with Mr. Awesome of feeling helpless.

I also learned that instead of planning week by week with Mr. Senior 2013 (he preferred that over my 3 month suggestion of planning and I let him do it because I am teaching him to be responsible for his own methods of learning), that I could have planned out 3 months and still let Mr. Senior 2013 plan weekly.

High School Options for Teens

This would have alleviated the stress and helplessness I felt then.

However, that is water under the bridge and there is no way either my oldest son or I had any control over what happened in our lives.

Are you still with me?

I had to share all of that because it always helps me to make better decisions in our homeschool when reading advice if I understand why the choices were made.

So without giving up my control as the homeschooling high school teacher, I came up with a creative solution to high school.

I have taken at least two years homeschooling Mr. Awesome with subjects we chose together AND he is also completing an online accredited high school program with Penn Foster.

I rejected the popular notion that I had to either do it ALL myself OR give it ALL to somebody else.

The criteria for me choosing an online high school program was that it had to be basic, easy and able to be completed within about a year and half or so.

Creative Solution for Homeschool High School When Life Happens @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Penn Foster, unlike for example, Keystone High School program I knew was a much lighter high school program.

With all the upcoming doctor’s visit, recovering time and upcoming care my husband needed, I wanted to have a back up to my courses.

Too, I wanted Mr. Awesome to focus on the courses I had selected, just like I had with Mr. Senior 2013 and to be able to customize high school for him and spend that one-to-one time I had given Mr. Senior 2013.

Of course, Mr. Awesome had to be on board with this because I didn’t want him to think that I was making him repeat courses either.

Abiding Homeschool High School

In helping many homeschoolers, I was familiar with a wide variety of high school programs and knew that Penn Foster has been around for a while and prided itself on covering basics, which obviously would be a good choice if our life took another unexpected turn during Mr. Awesome’s high school years.

It has given Mr. Awesome a framework and still has allowed me to flesh in with programs like North Star Geography, some of my Bible lessons I want him to have and do our unit studies.

Thankfully, the Mr. has had as good as health as he will have living with the effects of the heart attack and Mr. Awesome has hammered through both the subjects we chose and those of Penn Foster.

It will have taken him about a year and half to finish Penn Foster but it also had some unexpected benefits of using Penn Foster that I will explain in an upcoming post.

Out of struggling, though it may be stressful to go through, I feel, always comes empowerment.

More Creative Solutions for High School Posts

I want each of my son’s homeschool high school experience to be unique and Mr. Awesome has certainly flourished with doing a combination of my subjects and ones we chose through Penn Foster.

Without giving up my goals of being able to give my second son a personal and unique high school experience, it called for creativity not compromise.

Homeschool High School

I am hoping by sharing this today, that if life throws you an unexpected curve, you will not give up but find a creative solution.

The end doesn’t always turn out as planned, sometimes it is better.

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