2023-2024 School Curriculum

Tenth Grade – Eighth Grade – Sixth Grade

This year we’re really changing things up! God knows our thoughts before we speak them and continues to remind us that He is faithful to provide all we need along our learning journey. This is Jordan’s last year of junior high. He really wants to attend LUOA next year. In order to prepare him, we needed to strengthen his reading and mechanics in writing. Our main goal was to include grade-appropriate reading material and a new writing program.

We love his FIAR curriculum and the addition of Mystery of History for social studies, but we needed a better solution for language arts. My husband and I work together to find solutions to any homeschool problems we face. I decided to start looking online for other options. After talking to my friend, who has years of experience teaching junior high kids, I began searching other programs and showing her possible options. She was so gracious to read through materials with me. Initially, I thought we would piece together vocabulary, grammar, literature and creative writing; however, I didn’t have peace about this academic-patchwork solution. While researching different curriculum companies, I happened upon Blackbird and Company. Both my friend and I liked what this company offered.

After much prayer, I wrote an email to the company expressing my predicament, showing interest in their program, explaining my plan to piece together a LA program, concerns for stronger literature and writing components and wondering how Blackbird & Company might fit into this plan. Whew! That was quite a long and loaded email, but Kim, the owner of the company, responded quickly. She graciously answered all my questions, gave me feedback and offered a phone appointment. Within a few days, we were chatting over the phone, all my questions were answered, my concerns were addressed, and I had tremendous peace about the program. My husband and I reviewed everything, put together an order and followed up with Kim to ensure we had what we needed. What a huge answer to prayer! We look forward to using this wonderful program in the fall!

10th GRADE CURRICULUM:

Haley LOVED everything about her Freshman year with LUOA (Liberty University Online Academy). She especially enjoyed her English class. The teachers are very helpful and are always available to clarify lesson plans and answer student’s questions. She’s looking forward to meeting her new teachers and starting her sophomore year.

8th GRADE CURRICULUM:

BIBLE:

Though FIAR has a wonderful Bible supplement, we often complete the Bible lessons before we finish rowing each book. Last year, we used various supplements to fill in the gaps. This year I wanted to use one of Tony Evan’s books alongside the FIAR Bible supplement.

Though I loved his book about the armor of God, I knew Jordan would want a book that he read before his little brother. I chose Tony Evan’s A Kid’s Guide to the Power of Words as a Bible and character supplement.

SOCIAL STUDIES:

Five in a Row (FIAR):

The FIAR independent learning, with chapter books, was a great fit last year. Jordan’s reading scores went up and his independent study skills improved. This year, he will continue the program by studying the Level 6 chapter books while reading the Level 6 guide independently. This program covers Bible, social studies and science as well as critical thinking and applied mathematics.

Mystery of History:

In addition to topical resources Jordan will be reading with the FIAR chapter book studies, he will continue the next volume of The Mystery of History (Volume 2). I really love the gentle spiritual influence of this curriculum.

Literature Packs:

Blackbird and Company literature packs cover reading, vocabulary and writing. They offer four literature packs available for middle schoolers or an a la carte option.

Kim, the owner of Blackbird and Company, suggested we use the a la carte option so Jordan could pick the six literature books he wanted to study. My friend also suggested getting Jordan involved in the selection process. Hopefully this vested interest will help him manage and be successful in his assignments.

Composition:

Jordan will be working through three composition components this year. Kim suggested we use a combination of Tools of Style – One True Sentence, The Essay and Research Studies.

We chose the first two Tools of Style guides, 1 and 2.

We chose The Essay Volume 3, because it featured several FIAR picture books Jordan studied over the years. The boy is nostalgic, so hopefully he will tap into those feelings; thereby, creating a passion for writing.

There were so many wonderful people wanted to choose, but he narrowed his choice to Fred Rogers and Neil Armstrong.

6th GRADE CURRICULUM:

This is the first year Parker will be using FIAR as his primary curriculum. He’s always been a Sonlight student, so we planned to continue the same path as his sister. It seemed like the logical and economical choice; but the last school year confirmed what we had been feeling for awhile. It’s hard to switch from the familiar, but change is a necessity when things aren’t working properly. Early on, the social studies and historical-based literature was a perfect fit for our entire family; however, the boys struggled to stay engaged over the last few years.