9th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Plan
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My daughter and I spent quite a bit of time this summer choosing the best 9th grade homeschool curriculum plan for her. I can’t believe she is already in 9th grade! I knew that time would go by fast, but I didn’t realize it would be this fast. Where has the time gone . . .
I let my daughter have a voice in selecting her 9th grade homeschool curriculum plan because I want her to feel a sense of educational ownership.
Homeschooling isn’t something I’m doing to her. She is an active participant in her education. I think she is more likely to take an active interest in her studies if they are courses she helped select.
Of course, I provided her with information about the typical high school course schedule, possible curriculum choices, and current co-op offerings. She doesn’t have any experience with high school, so it is my job to help her.
Together we filled in the beginnings of the high school planning template. We used that plan to choose her 9th grade homeschool curriculum picks.
9th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Plan
9th Grade Language Arts
There are 3 components that make up the language arts portion of my daughter’s 9th grade homeschool curriculum.
Poetry and a Movie
I was so excited when I saw that my friend, Vanessa from Wright at Homeschool, is teaching this class at our co-op next year. Hannah can learn from someone other than me while hanging out with friends.
This course looks really interesting. It teaches literary elements through poetry and movies.
The instruction happens mainly online, so my daughter will be able to work pretty independently outside of the co-op class. I do intend to follow along with her progress in the class so that I can offer help and guidance whenever necessary.
We will continue to have family poetry tea time, which pairs perfectly with this curriculum. I love our family tea time and will savor this tradition as long as my kids are willing. Thankfully, they seem to like this tradition too.
UPDATE: Our co-op canceled classes in April due to the pandemic, but the online format of the poetry class made it easy to continue at home. This poetry and movie class was a fun way to earn a language arts credit. I’m glad we included it in her 9th grade homeschool curriculum.
WriteShop II
The Poetry and a Movie course includes a bit of writing. The students will be creating poems and doing poetry analysis.
However, I am going to supplement that with a bit of WriteShop II. We are slowly working through the WriteShop high school curriculum. My daughter started level II last year, but I don’t expect her to finish this year. After all, she has a pretty full language arts plan as part of her 9th grade homeschool curriculum already.
UPDATE – My daughter continued working her way through WriteShop II. We moved through it slowly because her main language arts course this year was the Poetry and Movies class.
Girls Book Club
My daughter and I are hosting a monthly book club through our co-op for girls 12 – 16. Hannah is 14, so this will be a great opportunity to grow closer to girls around her age.
The girls will choose the books they want to read together. I tried this format years ago with my daughter’s elementary book club, and it worked really well.
So often I suggest books to my daughter and am met with either a sigh, an eye roll, or just a straight “No”. A friend can recommend the same exact book and my daughter will happily read it.
I don’t understand it, but that is parenting a teen.
I’m offering up my list of young adult books for teens to get the girls started on their book club book list.
Related: How to Start a Book Club for Kids
UPDATE – The book club was a huge success! The girls had a great time together and read a variety of books. Unfortunately, our last session was in March. By the time our April date rolled around, we were under stay-at-home orders. My daughter was burnt out on Zoom meetings so we opted to just end our book club year there.
The girls chose to read:
- Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
- Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh
- Sisters by Raina Telegmeier
- Murder is Bad Manners by Robin Stevens
- The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
- My Name is Victoria by Lucy Worsley
9th Grade Math ~ Algebra
Math builds on previous lessons, so I definitely wanted a strong math program as part of my daughter’s 9th grade homeschool curriculum.
Last year I added in some hands-on middle school math lessons and realized how well this format works for my daughter.
She was able to understand the pre-algebra lessons much more easily through the use of manipulatives.
After realizing that math manipulatives really increase her retention (and thus boost her math confidence), I suggested she use the Math U See Algebra curriculum this year. She watched a few YouTube videos and decided that this does seem like a good fit.
I like that this curriculum includes:
- Hands-On manipulatives
- Instructional dvd
- Teacher’s manual
- Student book
- Test manual
Math U See goes all the way through Calculus, so if this works well, we won’t need to switch math curricula again for the rest of her high school years.
UPDATE – Math U See was a great success for Hannah. The format of video instruction, hands-on manipulatives, practice, and plenty of built-in review has really strengthened her math ability.
9th Grade Science ~ Physical Science
Right now the plan is for my daughter to complete a pretty typical high school sequence – physical science, biology, chemistry, and finally physics.
This sequence tends to line up well with the necessary math skills.
I had a few requirements for choosing a physical science curriculum:
- Secular or neutral (nothing against religious curriculum – secular curricula just tend to fit our Lutheran beliefs best)
- Reasonably priced
- Included a lab component
- Included a teacher’s guide
I had no idea how hard it would be to find something that checked all of those boxes!
Eventually, I decided to use Prentice Hall Physical Science: Concepts in Action.
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I like that each chapter has a study guide and assessment included right in the textbook. The answers, along with instructional tips, are in the teacher’s manual.
Friends, it has been a long time since I studied high school science, so a teacher’s guide with answers is essential!
The laboratory manual contains 2 experiments per chapter. I am hoping that I will be able to find most of the materials, but know that I will likely have to substitute other experiments on occasion. I’m okay with that. Even if we only do one of the experiments for each chapter, that still amounts to 21 experiments.
This curriculum also includes a reading and study workbook with math support. It is essentially a study guide. I purchased this because I felt it would really help set my daughter up for success in high school science.
This textbook was definitely created for public school, but I think we can make it work as part of our 9th grade homeschool curriculum.
UPDATE – Overall, this science curriculum worked just fine. The study guide was a huge help in teaching Hannah how to best use a textbook. The lab guide was not very helpful, though. It relied upon a lot of classroom science materials that we don’t have. I expected to be able to do more labs with Hannah, but I didn’t plan this as a lab science credit, so it was fine that it wasn’t very hands-on.
9th Grade History ~ World History
This year both of my children will study world history. It has been a while since we studied world history, and this fit neatly in my homeschooling high school plan.
I really want to knock world history out in one year, but many homeschool history curricula stretch it out over two. Thankfully, I found Holt McDougal World History: Patterns of Interaction.
- Used Book in Good Condition
- Hardcover Book
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This textbook is incredibly comprehensive. There is a ton of information crammed into one book. It covers 4 million B.C. to the 1960s through 36 chapters.
That means we should cover one chapter a week. Each chapter has 3 – 5 sections, so while it will move at a fast clip, it is doable.
I didn’t purchase the teacher edition because I don’t plan to do much teaching for history. One of my goals for high school is that my daughter learns to work a bit more independently. The plan is for her to read each chapter and then answer the questions.
We have never really used traditional textbooks, but knowing her way around one will likely help her in college. At a minimum, it is something I want her to be familiar with.
UPDATE – This textbook was great for providing an overview of world history. Hannah ended up not finishing all 36 chapters because I chose to add in videos and discussion. That is okay, though. She finished about 90% of the textbook before we stopped for summer. I don’t remember ever finishing a history textbook when I was in high school. I’m glad we included this textbook in my daughter’s 9th grade homeschool curriculum plan.
Related: Video-Based World History Curriculum
Foreign Language ~ Spanish I
I allowed my daughter to choose her foreign language, and she chose Spanish. I’m so glad she chose Spanish!
It has been a long time since high school and college, but at one point her father and I were both pretty fluent. I might be a little rusty now, but I definitely remember enough to teach Spanish I as part of her 9th grade homeschool curriculum.
We are using ¡En Español! mainly because I found the first two volumes of the student textbook at a used textbook sale. We paid $8 for a bag full of books, so each Spanish textbook probably only cost us a dollar or two.
The books are from 2000, but entry-level Spanish doesn’t really change.
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In addition to the student textbook, I also purchased the teacher’s edition, the Unit 1 resource book, and two student workbooks (Ben wants to learn Spanish next year too).
I just want to point out how incredible it is that I was able to find 2 blank student workbooks that are almost 20 years old. Amazon really does have everything! They also had the VHS tape that accompanies this program, but we are going to skip that 😉
I expect that I will teach the lesson, we will work on one workbook page together, and then assign one workbook page to be done independently, but that is flexible.
Duolingo is also an option for extra practice.
My goal is for my daughter to have 4 years of foreign language before college, so it is a critical part of her 9th grade homeschool curriculum.
UPDATE – This is the one 9th grade homeschool curriculum choice that I was really displeased with last year. The traditional classroom style of this program just didn’t translate well into a homeschool. The lessons felt very random and like they didn’t build on each other. We gave it a solid try for a few months.
We ended up switching to Easy Spanish: Step by Step. This is not a curriculum per se, but a workbook with good instructions.
- Easy Spanish Step by Step proves that a solid grounding in grammar basics is the key to mastering a second language
- Grammatical rules and concepts are clearly explained in order of importance, and more than 300 verbs and key terms are introduced on the basis of frequency
- Numerous exercises and engaging readings help learners quickly build their Spanish speaking and comprehension prowess
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I also found that my kids had an easier time grasping Spanish when I worked with them individually. This took a little longer each day but hopefully will take less time in the long run.
Elective #1 ~ Beyond Personal Finance
We are rounding out the 9th grade homeschool curriculum with a few electives.
Financial literacy is extremely important to me. In fact, this is not an elective that my daughter got to choose.
She was allowed to choose when in her high school career she participated in a personal finance course, but it is not considered optional (my rules – not North Carolina). I consider this course to be part of our family graduation requirements.
My daughter decided to go ahead and add it to her 9th grade homeschool curriculum plan.
This curriculum can be taught in person with Charla – the curriculum creator (if you live in the Raleigh area), at home, online, or through a homeschool co-op.
One of the moms in our co-op graciously offered to teach this course, so Hannah is all signed up.
The course works sort of like the Game of Life.
Each week students learn a new aspect of adult financial literacy – career choice, car purchase, budgeting, home purchase, children, etc. Sometimes they get to make choices, and other times they roll a die, and they need to figure out a way to deal with whatever happens.
I love that they can not plan everything. That is life. Things don’t always go according to plan.
The course is 20 sessions, one per week, so I am counting it as a half credit.
UPDATE – I was incredibly impressed with Beyond Personal Finance. Hannah learned a ton about managing her money as she prepares to be an adult. She learned things like:
- How to pay for college
- How to choose an apartment
- Making sure you are financially compatible before getting married
- How to budget for unexpected events
- Children are expensive
Hannah enjoyed learning about Personal Finance, so I created a short book list for her. Once she finished the class and the book list (reading and discussing with a parent), I gave her full credit.
Her Personal Finance book list included:
- Love Your Life Not Theirs: 7 Money Habits for Living the Life You Want by Rachel Cruze
- All the Money in the World: What the Happiest People Know About Wealth Laura Vanderkam
My goal with this book list wasn’t to make her a financial genius who can get rich in no time. I just want her to have a plan for her money, to make wise choices, and to feel empowered.
Elective #2 ~ Home Economics
Home economics is another one of those ‘mom mandatory’ high school classes in my house. Hannah decided to just go ahead and do it this year.
Truthfully, I am still designing this curriculum. I have the framework laid out but am still tweaking the assignments.
Hannah will essentially learn how to manage a household – food safety and prep, cleaning, laundry, routine maintenance, and basic child development as part of her 9th grade homeschool curriculum. These are skills that pretty much every adult needs, which is why it is mandatory in my high school.
UPDATE – Hannah is now a natural at cooking and cleaning. She could probably manage the house as well as I can at this point. In fact, this summer I was sick and stuck in bed for a few long days. I expected the house to be a disaster when I finally came downstairs after 4 days in my room. It wasn’t. Hannah had quietly taken it upon herself to pick up where I left off. She kept the house tidy, prepared simple meals, and even kept the grocery list updated.
I am excited to tackle high school with my daughter. The next four years are going to fly by, and I am thankful for this extra time together.
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