My son is in ninth grade. He is sweet and grumpy and smart and likes to blow things up. I have a list of graduation requirements and they are depressingly sparse. They suggest math, science, English. I am thinking Modern World History, American Literature, Africa and the Islamic World. The State of Alaska prefers that we use text books and curricula. There is pressure to cave in and have him take “pre-approved” classed from “standardized” text books that meet some criteria. We browse through the biology text books and neither of us is impressed. I go home and read about text books for days. This is very boring. I learn few thing. I do learn that textbooks are put together by committees of people so that explains why they are so hard to read. They are also expensive. With almost no resale value. I buy him used art history text books (Art History, Vol. 1 & 2, 2nd EditionPaperback by Marilyn Stokstad) for $3 plus $3.99 shipping on Amazon and save $288. There is a more recent edition (this one is 2002) but its Art History so I don’t think it will be a problem. I buy myself Art History for Dummies. Its not here yet so no idea on how that is. I have never bought one of those books before but this one got good ratings on Amazon.
We settle on classes. It looks like so much. He is taking:
- Art History
- Art
- Spanish (Rosetta Stone)
- Conversational Mandarin (Rosetta Stone)
- Modern World History (my own version)
- Africa and the Islamic World
- American Literature
- Math
- Science – four quarters each year:
- Life Sciences: Human Anatomy and Physiology I
- Chemistry: Organic Chemistry& Biochemistry
- Physics: Thermodynamics and Engines
- Earth Sciences: Geology and Paleontology
- Piano
- Backpacking (spring)
- Service Internship (spring)
But here is how we do it:
- Monday – English & World History
- Tuesday – Art, Art History & Africa
- Wednesday – Math, Piano and Spanish
- Thursday – Science and Mandarin
- Friday – free day
- Saturday – free day
- Sunday – free day
Now we have to figure out what he produce. He always made Main Lesson Books (MLB) but now he seems kinda old for MLBs. But he still likes to draw and he is still proud of his MLBs. Maybe a spiral bound black sketch book, I think? They are $13 at Barnes & Noble. I think that is a lot. I buy him one. For Anatomy and Physiology.
