Can you believe another year is coming to an end? I feel as though this year just flew by, but either way it is time for another homeschool update. Check out my End of Year 10th Grade Curriculum Review | 2018-2019 to find out what did and didn’t work for us.
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10th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Selections
Kenten used the following materials for his 10th grade year:
History-
- Cartoon History of the Universe I
Volumes 1-7 - Cartoon History of the Universe II
Volumes 8-13 - Cartoon History of the Universe III
Language Arts 10-
- Writing With Skill Book 1
- Wordly Wise 3000 Book 10
- Banned Books List
Math-
- Teaching Textbooks 2.0 Geometry
Chemistry-
- Friendly Chemistry
- Chem C3000
History
This year we tried something completely different for history. Kenten does not particularly enjoy history, so I wanted something that he would find more interesting than typical textbooks or heavy novels. I found The Cartoon History of the Universe graphic novel series while browsing Amazon. He absolutely loved this series.
I do feel these books were a great jumping off point. Kenten followed a few rabbit trails of his own after reading about certain topics, but we had to make compromises based on what was currently available at our library. If I use these books in the future for Jack and Julia I will purchase books to go along with them, so no compromises have to be made.
Language Arts
When I reflect on my own high school years it amazes me how very little reading we were required to do. If you have been around here for any length of time you know that I am addicted to books and reading, so I was determined to make sure my children were exposed to a lot of the classics before graduating. I tried to find a curriculum that included the books I had in mind, but couldn’t find anything… So I made my own reading list!
15 Books Every High Schooler Must Read
I’m not going to lie- Kenten was a little annoyed with me when he seen his stack of books this year. Some of these books are intimidating, but you know what? He did it. He read every last one, and he even enjoyed most of them! For the most part I simply had him read the books, but if I felt that he was not fully engaging (aka slacking off because he is a teenager) I had him write a book report/summary after completing the book.
As far as Writing With Skill Book 1 and Wordly Wise 3000 Book 10 I don’t have much to say. At this level I expect my teenagers to complete most if not all of their work on their own. I have always liked the Wordly Wise 3000 series though. There are great vocabulary builders. My children use these books every other day as part of their “morning work”. Both Kenten and Julia found Writing With Skill tedious, but I did see improvements in their writing throughout the year.
Math
Kenten continued on with Teaching Textbooks 2.0 Geometry this year. This is the first year he has ever struggled with math. I don’t believe this has anything to do with the program itself. I think some people (myself included) just don’t understand Geometry as easily as other math topics. When he struggled with a concept I had him go to Khan Academy for some supplemental help.
Despite his struggles this year, I definitely plan to continue to use this program. If you are not familiar with it- Teaching Textbooks not only teaches the lessons for you, but it also provides all the assignments and quizzes. It is also self-grading! Umm, what more could a homeschool mama wish for?
Chemistry
This year Kenten used Friendly Chemistry as his core science curriculum. It was not a good fit AT ALL! I feel as though it is written for public school students NOT for homeschoolers. A lot of the activities required you to play games with your classmates… Well, he obviously does not have classmates to join in with him and as I said earlier my high schoolers complete most of their work on their own when I am working with my younger children. We scraped this program a few months ago, and I purchased The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry. This book is obviously not enough on its own, but now that it is warming up here Kenten will be using his Chem C3000 kit out on our back deck over the summer. I wish I would have gone with my gut and made the switch earlier in the year, but coulda-woulda-shoulda! Moving on…
Homework and Horseplay’s final thoughts…
Overall I am very pleased with how Kenten’s 10th grade year went. I had to make very few changes to our original plan, which I am thankful for. Making spur of the moment changes is really hard for me. I like to plan months ahead, and when things don’t go as planned I turn into a hot mess.
It was very important to me for Kenten to be exposed to books that I never was in high school, but I definitely missed having a written curriculum. I have spent months researching and planning for his upcoming 11th grade year, and I finally found a curriculum. The program I selected is still literature based, and he will be revisiting Chemistry. Which I definitely think is necessary after such a flop of a year as far as science goes. Make sure to check back for our 2019-2020 Curriculum selections soon!
Thank you for checking out my End of Year 10th Grade Curriculum Review | 2018-2019…
I hope all of you had a wonderful 2018-2019 homeschool year. Wondering what did and didn’t work for my 6th and 8th graders? Check out my reviews ↓
End of Year 6th Grade Curriculum Review | 2018-2019
End of Year 8th Grade Curriculum Review | 2018-2019
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