Study to shew thyself approved unto God,
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)
LORD Jesus, we praise You for You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Forgive us, O God we pray, that we so often neglect to start from the very Foundation that is found in Your Word. Enable us to diligently seek Your Will, Your Wisdom, and to learn from Your Teaching. Help us so that we are able to give great effort to teach our children in the Way that they should go. In Jesus’ mighty name we pray. Amen.
This year I’m working with the A Beka Book Homeschool English 11 again. The difference is that, even though I’m making use of the whole set of books, for time’s sake I will not be going through all the lessons of the curriculum. The plan is to pick and choose what is needed to close learning gaps so that I can move on to the 12th grade English later on in the year.
On a high school, level I could have started this student in 9th grade first and then work through all four years of books, but I have chosen to do the 11th and 12th grade instead. Why? I will give you a short overview of my reasons:
Handbook of Grammar & Composition
Learning to use a handbook for the English language is a great skill. The student will be able to continue to make use of this book later on in college as well.
Grammar and Composition V Worktext
The Grammar worktext, which refers to and goes along with the handbook, provides plenty of exercises for the whole year. I have, however, ordered an additional workbook that contains supplementary exercises.
I have recently bought and added the English 10-12 Digital Teaching Aids to the curriculum, and I’m finding them quite helpful so far (especially during an independent study). As I have discovered, while watching some of Abeka’s video lessons on demand, the teachers in the video streamings are using them as well.
Vocabulary Spelling Poetry V
There are lists of prefixes, roots, and suffixes found on the inside of the cover pages of the Vocabulary Spelling Poetry V worktext. The student will refer to them a lot to find out the meaning of words and to do the word analysis exercises which are in the worktext. Again, a skill not to be neglected and very helpful for any student who is thinking of attending college classes.
American Literature
The Literature for this grade level is American Literature. That is great for the homeschool family which is living in the States or for whoever is interested in American Literature. (If you want a student text, too, along with the answers, go ahead and buy the Teacher’s Edition. I’m fine with one Literature book to be used by student and teacher, so I just bought and added the Answer Key for American Literature to our curriculum package.)
We will not be studying all of the book. Instead, we will use bits and pieces of the literature package. We are planning, for example, to read The Scarlet Letter, study some of the lovely poetry inside the American Literature book, and do a couple of exercises and essays throughout the year.
A Beka Book Homeschool English 11 Parent Guide/Student Daily Lessons
We are not using the Abeka Academy Video Lessons enrollment for English 11, which would come with a video manual / lesson plan, so I’m using the English 11 Parent Guide/Student Daily Lessons to go along with our independent study this time.
I will share more about Abeka Academy enrollment and videos in the near future, so please stay tuned.
Happy Homeschooling!