Hello! A few weeks ago, Lilly from A Daughter Serving the King posted about the different curriculums she uses for school. With her permission, I decided to do my own version of this post. So, today I am posting about the curriculum I used for my Junior year--11th grade. I will put links to each of the curriculums I used, as well as explain my thoughts on each one. As I mentioned last week, I'm planning on doing a couple of posts on school. But this one will be my first!
Since I don't necessarily recommend all of these, I'm hoping to publish a separate post on alternative curriculums I have used an found helpful. There are also certain subjects which I didn't have to do this year but still enjoyed when I did use them. I plan on posting those as well :-).
English
This year, I took AP Language and Composition through The Potter's School, which offers online classes for homeschoolers. This course is mostly for students planning on going to college, and at the end of the school year you have the option of taking an AP test to get college credit (though it's not required).
Because The Potter's School is a Christian school, the class itself is taught from a (mostly) Biblical perspective (there were some things mentioned that I don't really see as completely Biblical). Unfortunately, none of the class resources are Christian (which is understandable since its preparing us for college). We mainly use AP Classroom (a resource from the College Board) and The Language of Composition textbook. AP Classroom is a fairly clean resource overall, though there are many secular readings woven in (some with an emphasis on science). I would recommend AP Classroom, but as far as I'm aware, it's not easily accessible for homeschoolers. Since I got my account through The Potter's School, I'm not sure how you would get an account individually. If you are interested in self-studying for the test, you can still access the Course and Exam Pages which offers a description of everything you should study, as well as practice questions for the test.
As for the textbook, I don't really recommend it. It does offer helpful writing tips in the beginning of the book, but the rest of the book mostly just contains passages to practice close-reading on. While this is helpful for preparing for the test, most of the topics covered are controversial and written from a secular prospective. If you are serious about taking the AP test, and do want to read this book, I would highly recommend going through it with a Christian parent or teacher.
Math
For Math, I use Teaching Textbook's Pre-Calculus course. I don't think that this is a Christian company, but I have used their math programs since about sixth grade, and I have never noticed anything controversial about the things they teach. Their program is easy to use, with lessons to complete everyday. There are also tests after every couple lessons. You can watch "lectures" to learn each day's material, or you can read the e-book that comes with it. Both seem to be great tools for learning the material, although I personally like the e-book because I can get through the lesson faster.
Spanish
This year I also took Spanish 3, also through the Potter's School. The main curriculum is written by one of the Spanish teachers, so as far as I'm aware, it's not available for public sale. Nonetheless, this has been the best curriculum I've ever used for Spanish. There are four different levels of classes, and if your family is OK with online classes, I would definitely recommend taking one of these (although they can be expensive). The main set of textbooks is written from a Biblical worldview. Some of the other resources are secular, but still mostly clean. The only thing I can think of that I felt a little bit uncomfortable with was that one of the Spanish 3 books included some myths and legends (sort of similar to the Greek myths and legends, just not from Greece).
Psychology
This year I took another AP class: AP psychology. I also took it through The Potter's School, but you could probably easily self-study for the test. The resources we used were AP Classroom, and the textbook Understanding Psychology, 14th edition. Both of these resources are secular, so there are some controversial topics that I don't necessarily agree with or promote. Overall, most of the content was decent, but I would advise skipping Chapter 11 in the textbook entirely. It contains some very discreet and unnecessary information. I do not condone it in any way.
The college board does offer Course and Exam Pages for this course as well. If you are interested in self-studying or just learning more about psychology, this is a helpful resource for sure.
Science
For science, I took Advanced Chemistry with my co-op. We use this textbook, and this textbook (I linked the updated edition since I couldn't find it in the edition I have). They are expensive if you buy them new, but I was able to buy both of them used, which reduced the cost significantly. I would recommend having a basic understanding of high school chemistry before diving into these books : ).
We use these mostly as references, but I think both of these books could be used as actual curriculum. Unfortunately, both of these textbooks are secular, so they do follow evolutionary thinking, but I haven't noticed it as an overarching theme. Overall, they seem to be good for the most part, but I will warn you I haven't had the chance to read through them entirely.
Economics/Government
In my state, I'm required to take one year of World history, one year of U.S. history, and half a year of both economics and U.S. government. Since I already finished World and U.S. history, this was my year to take economics and government.
For economics, I used Exploring Economics by Ray Notgrass. The main textbook contains seventy-five lessons on economics, and can be combined with a book of reading passages, between 4 and 8 readers, and a book of optional questions for each lessons, should you choose. For me personally, I have all of those things, but I only read the main textbook and answered the questions. It can be time consuming if you aren't a fast reader (which is why I didn't use all of the resources), but it definitely covers a lot of helpful information. It is written from a Biblical perspective. I highly recommend this course!
For government, I am using A Republic If You Can Keep It from the Patriot Academy. I really appreciate how easy it is to use. It consists of five chapters and a final exam. It also has an optional schedule, should you choose to follow it (I prefer to just do one full lesson a day). It also shows you your progress as you go through the course, which I really like. It is written from a Biblical perspective, but I don't really agree with all of their interpretations as far as politics go. It definitely encourages Christians to be very involved in politics, which I know some people will agree with and some people will not.
Piano
Piano is one of my extracurriculars. Since a lot of other homeschoolers take piano, I thought I would include it here. I usually learn between four and eight songs a year with my teacher, and then I do scales, technique, and sight reading exercises as well. This schedule helps me to focus more on perfecting each piece rather than try to play a whole bunch without ever fixing the trouble spots.
I'm hoping to share some of the theory books, etc. that I use in one of my next posts, but I have to make sure I have permission to do so first. Otherwise I would have posted them here : ).
Well, that's about it. Feel free to comment if you have any of your own curriculum recommendations, or if you've used anything above!
Linnea
