8th Grade

Spiritual/Bible:  Wise Up! Wisdom in Proverbs.  The curriculum takes the factual knowledge the students have and teaches them to apply it to their daily lives.  It’s designed to help students form personal convictions based on their study of God’s work and to “get” the connection between biblical wisdom and everyday life.

Reading:  Students will read four novels during the school year.  We work on literary analysis through discussion of key themes and literary devices.  We also use these novels as the subject matter for practicing our technical writing.  Novels we currently use include Call of the Wild, White Fang, The Trumpeter of Krakow, Hostage Lands, Jane Eyre, and The Count of Monte Cristo.

Writing:  In addition to the writing taught through the Grammar class, writing is incorporated throughout the middle school curriculum in all subjects.  We focus on writing in our Reading/Literature classes as we practice our technical writing while we analyze the novels we read each quarter.

Grammar:  Grammar principles are taught along with various writing styles including, Descriptive, Expository, Persuasive and Narrative.

Math (Pre-Algebra):  Students use the text Algebra Basic Mathematics II.  Students build on the concepts from previous years as well as prepare students to enter Algebra as either and 8^th grader of high school freshman.  Out studies include units on:  Basic Skills, which review fractions, decimals, ratios and percents, Measurements, Algebra, including exponents, algebraic expressions, equations, graphing, square roots, and positive/negative numbers, Graphs, Statistics and Probability, Business Math, Geometry, and finally, Trigonometry.  Depending on readiness, some 8^th graders are taught Algebra 1.

History/Social Studies:  Students use the Bob Jones University text American Republic.  Students begin their studies at the Revolutionary War and continue through the Civil War.  We end the year looking at the civil Right movement in the 1960’s, comparing civil liberties of African Americans pre and post Civil War.  Students will also do a term paper. The primary focus in teaching history is to encourage students to see the past as a key to the future.  I also help them explore both sides of an issue, using logic and discernment to make decisions.

Science:  Emphasis for Science class is to explore, uncover and discover God’s creation through the application of critical thinking skills, the scientific method, and scientific inquiry while emphasizing the need for examining the results through a Biblical worldview.  Through the use of instructions, inquiry and laboratory experiments, students gain knowledge in matter, atoms, basic chemistry and some space science.

Computer: These grades also begin the year with an increase in their words per minute typing goals.  They continue to review and expand on their previous categories of study, with a more in depth focus on word processing skills, spreadsheet and database programs, and slideshow presentations.  By the end of the year they will all have completed projects demonstrating their ability to use each of these programs.  They also learn Internet researching skills, the results of which will be included in their slideshow presentations.