The Grade 8 Learn at Home Curriculum These Homeschoolers Use

Are you trying to make some grade 8 learn-at-home curriculum choices? Choosing a homeschool curriculum can be challenging. That’s why I’m sharing our grade 8 curriculum choices with you! 

OUR GRADE 8 LEARN AT HOME CURRICULUM CHOICES

I can’t believe the years have gone by so fast! Grade 8? How did that happen? 

This year, my daughter is taking three online, teacher-directed classes. I’ll share the curriculum the school is using as well as our curriculum and book selections for the year. 

MORNING TIME

As I’ve mentioned, our morning routine brings peace and beauty into our day. It sets the stage for learning and inspires us. I’m continuing the morning time basket. 

Our Morning activities include Bible study, scripture memorization, prayer, nature study, SQUILT / music appreciation, poetry, history, geography, and art. 

We use some of the curriculum during our morning routine, while others are used during the more structured part of our homeschool day.

I’m often asked how often we study each of our subjects, so I’ve also included a section on frequency. 

LANGUAGE ARTS

This year, my daughter is taking her Language Arts classes online through our homeschool association. As a result, I don’t have a choice in the curriculum used in this subject. However, I enrich her language arts curriculum with a spelling curriculum and literature that I select for her. 

Language – My daughter is taking an online Language Arts Class. This is the curriculum they are using the year: Resourcelines 7/8 and Sightlines 8

Sequential Spelling – A couple of years ago, we started using Sequential Spelling in our homeschool. After trying many spelling programs, we’ve finally found one my daughter enjoys! So, we’ll continue with Sequential Spelling this year.

FREQUENCY OF LANGUAGE ARTS: Daily (online classes are three times per week, but she does two extra days of language arts work weekly).

FREQUENCY OF SPELLING: Weekly

MATH

Math Makes Sense 8 – My daughter is taking math online this year and using Math Makes Sense 8 as her textbook.

Bedtime Math – This is an extra bit of math fun. I read from the Bedtime Math book twice a week, and the girls answer the questions. I’ve shared our love of Bedtime Math on Instagram, and I can’t say enough good things about it! What I love about this book is that it tells an interesting story or fact, and then several questions for different ages and skill levels are tied into it. It’s a beautiful resource, and we love it! 

Prodigy – I discovered this online math program at the end of last year. My daughter adores this program! She has a character who goes on an adventure. Then she practices math along the way to unlock certain elements of the story. I can even set goals for her and send her character “gifts” when she reaches those goals!

FREQUENCY OF MATH:  Daily (online classes are three times per week, but she does two extra days of math work weekly).

SCIENCE

For years, I have been following a delight-filled method of schooling my children. When I can, I follow their interests and incorporate them into our curriculum.

Last year, we decided to focus on human anatomy and physiology. Our chosen curriculum was so comprehensive that we only completed half of it. So, this year, we are finishing our human anatomy and physiology studies. 

The curriculum we’re using is Exploring Creation With Human Anatomy and Physiology. 

I LOVE this curriculum! I also purchased the lab kit, so we have most of the materials to carry out the science experiments in the book. 

In addition to studying the human body, we regularly do nature studies during our morning time. Many of my nature study ideas come from the NaturExplorers books. They’re packed with activity ideas, journaling sheets, and more! 

FREQUENCY OF SCIENCE: The Human Anatomy Curriculum is done two times per week, nature studies are done twice a week, and experiments are done approximately once a week.

SOCIAL STUDIES

My daughter is taking social studies online. Her textbook for this course is Our Worldviews.

FREQUENCY OF SOCIAL STUDIES: Online classes are three times per week. 

BIBLE

This year, I decided to do a loop schedule of Bible activities. We are doing the following activities:

• Reading from the Golden’s Children Bible.
• A devotional reading from Indescribable (100 Devotions for Kids About God and Science)
• Prayer Journalling in our Prayer Map for Girls journals
• Worship songs (singing and dancing to worship music and videos)

This rotation of Bible study activities keeps my children engaged, fresh, and excited to spend time with Jesus!

We are also memorizing a Bible verse every week this year. 

FREQUENCY OF BIBLE STUDIES: Daily

ART

Our art lessons are the best! I include various forms of art in our program. Watercolour paintings, collages, sculpting with clay, and drawing are just some of our regular art activities.

Our favourite art curriculum is the chalk pastel art video lessons from You ARE An Artist. My girls LOVE these video lessons! We have a monthly clubhouse membership which we can access at any time! There are so many lessons available, I can always find something that relates to the topic we’re studying.

FREQUENCY OF ART LESSONS: Two times per week

HEALTH

I recently discovered The Good and The Beautiful’s Health Curriculum and decided to incorporate it into our homeschool this year. We are using the following resources:

• Pre K-8: Safety
• PreK-8: Maturation & Sexual Reproduction

We are also studying financial management and goal setting this year.

FREQUENCY OF HEALTH LESSONS: Two times per week

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

My wonderful husband has taken the torch to teach physical education this year. I’m hoping that I will be able to share more details of his program sometime soon. However, his approach is as follows:

• Thirty minutes of daily physical activity (yoga DVDs, WiiFit, Zumba, etc.
• Wednesdays, he teaches them a sport (the rules, language, terms, etc.), and they also practice it.
• Thursdays, they do KungFu with him (he has a Black Belt in Wing Chun KungFu)
• Fridays, they have a dance lesson (everything from the Waltz to the Cha Cha to The Running Man)

FREQUENCY OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION: Daily

SECOND LANGUAGE

This is the third year I’ve included a second language in our program. We use DuoLingo, and my daughter loves it! I especially like that DuoLingo has the option for an online classroom. By signing up for this feature, I get notifications of their progress through the lessons. 

FREQUENCY OF FRENCH LESSONS: Daily

MUSIC

We love SQUILT (Super Quiet Uninterrupted Listening Time). This curriculum exposes my children to notable pieces of music, and it allows us to include a peaceful ritual of music appreciation in our days. 

My husband also teaches the girls ukulele. 

FREQUENCY OF MUSIC LESSONS: One – two times per week

SKILLS & HANDICRAFTS

One of my favourite aspects of homeschooling is that I can teach my children special skills and handicrafts. This year, we are incorporating the following activities into our homeschool regularly:

• finger knitting
• cross stitch
• latch hook rug-making
• cooking
• sewing
• woodworking
• metalworking

FREQUENCY OF SKILLS & HANDICRAFTS: Two-three times per week

REFLECT

Is there a particular curriculum you love that you’re using this year? Feel free to comment below and share this post with your homeschool communities.

Jennifer Bly

Author of My Kitchen, My Classroom: An Introduction to Homeschool and creator of The Deliberate Mom. Jennifer writes about parenting, homeschooling, her faith, and life with her husband and two girls. Jennifer has a Bachelor of Applied Human Service Administration Degree with a specialization in Early Learning in Child Care.