Levi’s High School Course Descriptions ~ 9th Grade [and a complete high school plan]

I’ve been working on mapping out Levi’s high school courses and schedule. (Though we are not bound by credit requirements for our homeschool transcripts, I’ve used these Oregon requirements as well as the requirements from our local public high school as general guides.) Levi has no specific post high school plans at this time. We will consider a gap year before any college plans.

[You’ll notice that his courses are reading-heavy. Levi is a strong reader and enjoys discussion and content-based learning, but his struggles in other areas balance out his hefty reading list. I promise.]

Levi is participating in the Classical Conversations Challenge program, in addition to a few other courses. I’ve tried to indicate what courses are CC specific, and I’ve put any additions I’ve made to the CC course specifics in parentheses.

Shakespeare/Drama [CC]
1/2 credit (Language Arts - Elective)
Dramatic radio reading and discussion of play; Oral presentation on topic relating to Shakespeare
Shakespeare presentation (memorization of three monologues--comedy, tragedy, history)
(Attend plays [The Comedy of Errors, Hamlet])

• The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare
• (Leon Garfield’s Shakespeare Stories)
  

Music Theory [CC]
1/2 credit (Fine Arts - Elective)
Introduction to music theory, including reading and analyzing a musical score
Math in Motion
Score Analysis Project

Latin [CC]
1 credit (Language – Required)
Includes basic parts of speech, verb tenses, translations, and Roman history
Henle I
National Latin Exam (Intro)

American Literature and Composition [CC]
1 credit (Honors Language Arts – Required)
Read texts, discuss and analyze literature, writing assignments (persuasive and comparison essays)
The Lost Tools of Writing [persuasive essays]
CC Literature, Poetry, Speeches, Essays, Autobiographies, and Sermons [unabridged texts]:

• The Sign of the Beaver (Elizabeth Speare)
• The Call of the Wild (Jack London)
• Johnny Tremain (Esther Forbes)
• The Red Badge of Courage (Stephen Crane)
• The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
• Gold-Bug and Other Tales (Edgar Allan Poe)
• Billy Budd, Sailor (Herman Melville)
• Through Gates of Splendor (Elisabeth Elliot)
• Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain)
• Harvey (Mary Chase)
• The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Barbara Robinson)
• To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
• Born Again (Charles Colson)
• Up From Slavery (Booker T. Washington)
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Douglass)
• The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)
• Self-Reliance (Ralph W. Emerson)
• Walden: Or, Life in the Woods (Henry David Thoreau)
• Starship Troopers (Robert Heinlein)
• An Old-Fashioned Girl (Louisa May Alcott)
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond (Elizabeth Speare)
• Short Stories, Poetry, Sermons, Documents, and Speeches

Additional Novels:

• Pudd’nhead Wilson (Mark Twain)
• Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain)
• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (Twain)
• The Prince and the Pauper (Twain)
• The Chosen (Chaim Potok)
• Peace Like a River (Leif Enger)
• The Lonesome Gods (Louis L’Amour)
• Little Britches (series, Ralph Moody)
• Fahrenheit 451
• Ender’s Game
• The Giver Quartet
• The Hunger Games Trilogy
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin
• Cheaper by the Dozen
• Louisa May Alcott
• Moby Dick (retelling or abridged)
• Education of a Wandering Man (Louis L’Amour)
• The Wild Muir
• Various American drama selections

[The above is an abreviated list. See this link for the full list in chronological order with brief descriptions and links.]

Good Books II: Tolkien [Roman Roads]
1/2 credit (Language Arts – Elective)
Weekly online live class discussion
Weekly online written discussion
Memorization
Essays

• The Lord of the Rings trilogy
• (Bilbo’s Journey by Joseph Pierce)
• (Frodo’s Journey by Joseph Pierce)
• (The Philosophy of Tolkien by Peter Kreeft)

Algebra I [CC]
1 credit (Math – Required)
[He participates in math discussions and presentations in his CC class but uses Khan Academy at home rather than the CC recommended Saxon.]
Khan Academy Algebra I
(Life of Fred)

American Government [CC]
1/2 credit (Social Studies – Required)
Read, annotate, and summarize original government documents, essays, and speeches; discuss historical significance; oral presentations
American Documents
Memorization [U.S. Presidents, Preamble to the Constitution, Outline of Bill of Rights]
Speech memorization/recitation [Individual Event] (“Spirit of Liberty” by Judge Learned Hand)
Timeline notebook
(Crash Course U.S. Government and Politics video series)
(U.S. Citizenship Civics Exam)

Economics [CC]
1/2 credit (Social Studies – Required)
Read texts, discuss current economic policy, oral presentations
Cost of Living Project
Stock Market Project

• Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? A Fast, Clear, and Fun Explanation of the Economics You Need For Success in Your Career, Business, and Investments
• A Bluestocking Guide: Economics
• The Money Mystery: The Hidden Force Affecting Your Career, Business, and Investments

(Life of Fred: Financial Choices)
(Life of Fred: Pre-Algebra with Economics)
(Crash Course Economics Videos)

Policy Debate [CC]
1/2 credit (Language Arts – Elective)
Study basic elements of policy debate; Conduct research for resolutions and participate in live debates
An Introduction to Policy Debate by Christy L. Shipe
Two formal debates [Death Penalty—affirmative team, Immigration Policy—negative team]

Physical Science [CC]
1 credit (Lab Science – Required)
Read text, discussion, demonstration/experimentation labs, text assignments, unit tests, lab journal, formal lab reports
Exploring Creation with Physical Science by Apologia
(Life of Fred: Pre-Algebra with Physics)
[research paper for health credit]
Additional reading (not scheduled through CC)

• The Martian: Classroom Edition
• What Einstein Told His Cook

Teen Pact Leadership [TeenPact]
1/2 credit (Leadership - Elective)

• Real Citizenship by Tim Echols

4-day leadership camp at state capitol
Homework: send letters to state senator and representative, memorize bible verses, vocabulary, write a one-page bill, state political fact sheet, read or listen to governor’s most recent State of the State Address and take notes, complete a bill analysis worksheet, constitutional analysis
(Leadership TED Talks)

Swim Team [High School Team/YMCA]
1 credit (Physical Education – Required)
(+hiking)

Health [Various]
1/2 credit (Health – Required)
Lifeguarding Certification Class (CPR, First Aid)
Khan Academy videos: Drugs, Infectious Diseases 
Crash Course Anatomy and Physiology videos
Research Paper (Exercise and the Brain):

• Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain;
• The First 20 Minutes: Surprising Science Reveals How We Can Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer;
• The Teenage Brain;
• Brain Training (DK);
• Brain Agility; 2 Weeks to a Younger Brain;
• The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, MD;
• Various scholarly articles

Food and Nutrition:

• Omnivore’s Dilemma
• It Starts With Food
• Grain Brain by David Perlmutter, MD
• Various documentaries, articles, and videos
• Gary Taubes, ‘The Case Against Sugar’, (rebuttal and response to rebuttals)
  

Total: 9 Credits

Extras:

Formal Protocol Event (with the local Classical Conversations Challenge students)

Driver’s Education

Additional Reading List:

• In Defense of Sanity: Essays by G.K. Chesterton
• The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief by Francis Collins
• Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
• The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
• What’s So Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancey
• Sophie’s World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder

Lifeguarding (summer job)

Volunteering at student camp(s) during CC Parent Practicum(s) and vacation bible school

 

Tentative Plan for the Remainder of High School:

10th Grade [CC Challenge II]

Henle Latin 2 [CC]
1 credit (Language – Required)

British Literature and Composition [CC]
1 credit (Honors Language Arts – Required)
Socratic dialogue, persuasive essay writing
CC Novels:

• Beowulf
• Selected Canterbury Tales (Chaucer)
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Retold by J.L. Weston)
• Paradise Lost (Milton)
• The Pilgrim’s Progress (Bunyan)
• Gulliver’s Travels (Swift)
• Pride and Prejudice (Austen)
• A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
• Jane Eyre (Bronte)
• Animal Farm (Orwell)
• A Passage to India (Forster)
• Something Beautiful for God (Muggeridge)
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Carroll)
• Robinson Crusoe (DeFoe)
• Favorite Father Brown Stories (Chesterton)
• Out of the Silent Planet (C.S. Lewis)
• The Hobbit (Tolkien)
• The Screwtape Letters (C.S. Lewis)
• Short Stories

Additional British Literature:

• Far From the Madding Crowd (Thomas Hardy)
• Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
• Lorna Doone (Blackmore)
• Ivanhoe (Sir Walter Scott)
• North and South (Elizabeth Gaskell)
• The Woman in White (Wilkie Collins)
• Lord of the Flies (Golding)
• Three Men in a Boat (Jerome)
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Robert Lewis Stevenson)
• And Then There Were None (Agatha Christie)
• The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Windermere’s Fan, An Ideal Husband (Oscar Wilde)
• As You Like It, Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear (Shakespeare)
• All Creatures Great and Small (James Herriot)
• The Time Machine (H.G. Wells)
• The War of the Worlds (H.G. Wells)
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Adams)
• Watership Down (Richard Adams)
• 2001: A Space Odyssey (Arthur Clarke)
• Kim and others (Rudyard Kipling)
• The Once and Future King (T.H. White)
• Pygmalion (George Bernard Shaw)
• Jeeves (Wodehouse)
• The Hound of the Baskervilles (Arthur Conan Doyle)
• Short Stories and Poetry

European Literature:

• Don Quixote (abridged) (Cervantes)
• The Count of Monte Cristo (Hugo)
• Les Miserables (Dumas)
• The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)
• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Jules Verne)
• Pinoccio (Collodi)
• Swiss Family Robinson (Johann Wyss)
• Russian novel selection

[I will be posting a final master list in chronological order with links at the beginning of the school year.]

Western Cultural History [CC]
1 credit (Social Studies - Required)
Artists and Composers
Philosophy
Historical Timeline
Debate
Research, exposition, and logic
Books:

• The Annotated Mona Lisa
• The Gift of Music
• Classical Music for Dummies
• How Should We Then Live (Francis Schaeffer)
• Saving Leonardo (Nancy Pearcey)
• State of the Arts (Gene Edward Veith, Jr.)

Biology [CC]
1 credit (Lab Science – Required)
Exploring Creation with Biology by Apologia
[I’ll be adding to his reading list and possibly adjusting his work load with the text book.]
[Additional reading:

• The Story of Western Science: From the Writings of Aristotle to the Big Bang Theory by Susan Wise Bauer

Geometry
1 credit (Math – Required)
Khan Academy Geometry

• Euclid’s Elements
• The Works of Archimedes
• Life of Fred: Geometry

Logic I [CC]
1/2 credit (Elective)
Traditional Logic I by Memoria Press

Socratic Dialogue [CC]
1/2 credit (Elective)

• Gorgias by Plato

Health
1/2 credit (Required)
(Social and mental Health)

• Please Understand Me;
• How to Win Friends and Influence People;
• Peacemaker;
• 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens

Swim Team/YMCA
1 credit (Physical Education – Required)

Total: 7 1/2 Credits

 

11th Grade [CC Challenge III – tentatively]

Latin 3 (Caesar and Cicero) [CC] and/or Spanish
1 credit (Language)

• Henle 3

Poetry and Shakespeare and Composition [CC]
1 credit (Language Arts – Required)

• Much Ado About Nothing
• Julius Caesar
• Macbeth
• Henry V
• Hamlet
• Brightest Heaven of Invention by Peter Leithart
• The Roar on the Other Side by Suzanne Rhodes

American History [CC]
1 credit (Social Studies – Required)

Chemistry [CC]
1 credit (Lab Science – Required)
Exploring Creation with Chemistry by Apologia
[We may cut way back on what is required with Apologia Chemistry through CC and supplement with the following living books and additional documentaries.]
[Additional Reading List:

• Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History
• The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
• Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World
• The Chemical History of a Candle by Michael Faraday (with supplemental lectures and teaching guide)
• Michael Faraday: Father of Electronics
• Exploring the World of Chemistry: From Ancient Metals to High-Speed Computers by John Hudson Tiner
• The Mystery of the Periodic Table (Living History Library)
• Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe [spectacularly gorgeous book!]
• Molecules: The Elements and the Architecture of Everything
• The Joy of Chemistry
• That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles: 62 All-New Commentaries on the Fascinating Chemistry of Everyday Life
• Life of Fred: Chemistry

Algebra II
1 credit (Math – Required)
Khan Academy Algebra II

Advanced Philosophy [CC]
1/2 credit (Elective)

• The Consequences of Ideas by R.C. Sproul
• Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl by N.D. Wilson

Traditional Logic II and Socratic Dialogue [CC]
1/2 credit (Elective)

• Plato’s Meno
• Traditional Logic II by Memoria Press

Swim Team/YMCA
1 credit (Physical Education/Elective)

Total: 7 Credits

 

12th Grade [CC Challenge IV – doubtfully]

He will have all his required credits so this will be a flexible year depending on his needs and desires. I’d love to have him go through Challenge 4, but he will likely choose something else. He may need to complete or retake a math or science class scheduled in previous years.

Latin Literature [CC] and/or Spanish
1 credit (Language)

• The Aeneid by Virgil
• Henle 4

Ancient Literature and Composition) [CC]
1 credit (Language Arts)

• The Iliad by Homer
• The Odyssey by Homer
• (The Aeneid by Virgil)
• Oedipus Rex
• Heroes of the City of Man by Peter Leithart
• Theogony by Hesiod

World History [CC]
1 credit (Social Studies)

• The Discoverers by Daniel Boorstin

Theology [CC]
1 credit (Elective)

• What the Old Testament Authors Really Cared About by Jason S. DeRouchie
• Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
• Jesus Among Other Gods by Ravi Zacharias

Swim Team

[Physics and Pre-Calculus are on the CC schedule, but he would likely opt out or complete/re-take a math or science course schedule in previous years.]

Additional Reading List:

• For the Love of Physics: From the End of the Rainbow to the Edge of Time - A Journey Through the Wonders of Physics
• How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog
• The Forces of Matter by Michael Faraday
• Exploring the World of Physics: From Simple Machines to Nuclear Energy by John Hudson Tiner