8th Grade Curriculum Picks
This year I’m homeschooling 2nd, 4th, and 8th grade. Later this week I will be sharing curriculum picks for my 2nd & 4th grader so be sure to come back and check those out.
I am SO excited to be homeschooling TEENAGERS this year! I can’t even believe it! My girls make homeschooling such a joy and I feel so blessed I get these years with them. Even though they’re identical, they definitely have some differences, but when it comes to curriculum choices it’s nice because they are actually a lot alike in most things.
So let’s get into it!
Morning Time
Our morning time always includes a short devotional and we usually do our scripture study during this time. We’ll be continuing to work through our Old Testament study materials and after the New Year we’ll move into the New Testament.
Language Arts
Independent Education Program English: This course is taught live in Utah or online. My girls took it last year and I have only good things to say about it so we’re going to keep on going!
Storytellers Studio: One of my daughters has been working on writing her own story so when I found this class I signed her right up! We are already LOVING what we’re seeing. The program is made up of three courses that guide kids through the entire process of developing their own story to publishing their book through Amazon KDP. We just started with the first course and if it goes well and she sticks with it…then we’ll keep going! My other daughter wasn’t as interested in publishing her own book right now, but she’s going to listen in on the course.
And because I know someone will ask - I don’t think this course is necessary on top of their other English class. We’re just doing it because it’s a high interest of my daughter and she wants to work on this during her project time in the afternoons. And, I for sure think it’d make a fantastic stand alone writing course…there is even a junior writing studio that’s for ages 7-11.
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Pretty Simply Lettering: This will be the first time in 7 YEARS my girls haven’t used a Good & Beautiful Handwriting book, guys! Their handwriting is fantastic and I credit it all to TGTB. But, now that they’ve maxed out with TGTB I think the girls will love this and I grabbed one for me too and I think we’ll all love working on it together.
Math
Denison Algebra 1: Here we go! I’d originally written this math curriculum off because so many reviews say it’s for students who struggle with math and my girls don’t. In fact, math is one of their favorite subjects! But, after a lot of prayer, I kept feeling like this was the direction we were suppose to go and I’ve learned not to argue with that.
What I am hoping is that Denison might just be what will help both my girls maintain their love of math! To me, that’s just as important, if not more important, than pushing them through a more rigorous program simply because they’re capable of it. On Denison’s page, the creator, David Denison, talks extensively about how his program adequately prepares kids for high school, the ACT, and college level math. He even took the ACT along side his 11th grade daughter to see how he felt his courses compared. So, I’m here for that! I think it shows how passionate he is to help and support the homeschool community…and that’s something that gave me some reassurance that this could potentially be a great fit for my girls.
I think it’s important to note that there are two algebra 1 courses: Algebra 1 is for kid’s on a standard math track and Success Algebra 1 is for those who do have learning challenges and need more support.
Of course, only time will tell what we ultimately think, but for now, we’re all excited to try it out!
Family Unit Studies
This year I’m going all out on our family unit studies and working to integrate more subjects. For all my kids, these studies will cover science, history, geography, art & music, and definitely some literature, reading, and writing practice as well. Since we do these together as a family you should know I’ll be pulling from a variety of resources and adapting activities to better cater to each of my kid’s levels though. What I have listed here will likely change and evolve over the year, but I wanted to share the jumping off points with you guys!
I’ve prioritized 5 units + we’ll for sure plan a Christmas unit study and we’ll just see where all of this takes us. This year I’m feeling pretty relaxed and I’m not setting a certain amount of time for each unit. I think some of these might only take us a few weeks while others may take us a few months. One of my favorite things about unit studies is the freedom to follow rabbit trails and explore things that capture our interests. So, as we move through the year, I’ll just add some more studies or simplify as needed. And, if history is any indication, I’ll probably have a mid-year reset where I end changing up something anyway.
Wilderness & Survival Skills: We’re kicking the year off with this unit and my boys, especially, are super excited about this. And to be honest, Waldock Way’s Survival Unit has helped me get pretty excited about it too! We’ll be using the Bear Grylls Books for my boys. For my girls I snagged Hatchet and My Side of the Mountain. And, I think they’ll all enjoy this knot tying kit and the game Survive the Island.
Utah History: It’s high time we did a unit on Utah history. I couldn’t find a spine I loved so I am going to be pulling from this Utah History Unit from TPT. It’s huge and covers an entire year’s worth of material, but I definitely don’t want to spend that long on this study so I’ll for sure just be cherry picking little units out of this. And, I’m planning to pull some of these printables out for history notebooks so I think that should be fun. We’ll also pull from the Utah study unit from Road Trip Around America inside the Art Makes Me Smart membership. I also have a booklist going on Amazon. I’ve read NONE of these so take these recommendations with a grain of salt. I’ll update it as we narrow down our list.
Character & Leadership Skills: This is a mini unit I’m just pulling together on my own. For my older girls we’ll be using the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens and for my younger boys I am going to be using the 7 Habits of Happy Kids + these supplemental Ready to Read books (they cover the same habits - just different stories).
Health & Human Body: We’re going to primarily be doing the Human Anatomy unit inside Art Makes Me Smart. But I’ve also got The Good & Beautiful Health & Physical Body unit on hand and we LOVE their science videos so I’m excited to pull from both of these resources.
Music Appreciation: We’ll for sure be using The Good & The Beautiful Music Appreciation 2 Course. (Expected release is summer 2026 so depending when you view this - the link may not have it listed yet.) We did Music Appreciation 1 last year and loved it so we’re excited for this one! This will likely be a shorter unit study and we’ll also be pulling from the Spiritual Lives of Great Composers and the composer study resources inside Art Makes Me Smart.
As these studies evolve, I’ll try to post on IG & save on my story highlights as well as come back and blog what we end up doing!
Piano, PE, & 4H
The girls take private piano lessons and we’ll just keep chugging along with those.
They played organized sports when they were little, but as they’ve gotten older they’ve narrowed in on other interests. We have a family rec center pass and they spend a lot of time swimming, riding bikes, and staying active through everyday activities.
Lastly, for those that know us, you’ll know my girls LOVE animals. They have a great little pet sitting business and we’ve finally gotten them involved in 4H and this has been a great fit for them. I’ve been super impressed with the education they’ve been receiving from some of their mentors. They’re narrowing in on rabbits right now (see my Buttercup highlight on IG) and, of course, they love it and I feel like they’re learning so much about responsibility, mothering, and money management because they pay for everything for her.
Daily Rhythm & Final Thoughts
Last school year we had a lot of classes and activities out of the home that really disrupted our rhythm. They were all good things, but our schedule was just a little all over the place. After talking with all the kids, we’re all craving more unhurried time at home. We especially want to do more reading and projects.
So this year my goal is to keep our rhythm a bit more consistent but just add some variety at home. Each day I think we’ll aim for our devotional > family unit study > independent work & one on one time with mom and then I’m hoping we can wrap up our core by lunch. After that our afternoons will be wide open for the kids to play, dive into projects, or spend the time on any independent work or reading or interests they’re excited about. This also gives me a little time to work and get some projects done. Most of our sports and other activities happen later in the afternoon and evening so I think this rhythm should give us the best of both worlds…more focused time at home in the morning and plenty of margin for the rest of the day. We homeschool four days a week and have a flex day on Fridays.
Let me know what fun things you’re excited about for the 26/27 homeschool year!