A Closer Look at 8th Grade Charlotte Mason Curriculum
Do you have an 8th grader you’d like to homeschool using a Charlotte Mason-inspired curriculum? Well, Missions to Modern Marvels is a Charlotte Mason-inspired, complete, literature-based, Christ-centered curriculum written specifically for 12 to 14 year-olds. It works well for 8th grade and includes all your student needs for a complete year of Charlotte Mason-style curriculum! Let’s take a look at this inspirational 8th grade Charlotte Mason curriculum!
A Charlotte Mason Living Books’ Approach to History
Told in story form, Heart of Dakota’s Missions to Modern Marvels provides students with a chronological and narrative overview of American history within the context of world history from the the spread of modern missions, the Gilded Age, World War I and II, the rise of Communism, the Space Race, the Cold War and more. With a unique blend of living books, engaging activities, and a biblical perspective, Missions to Modern Marvels shows how the gospel of Jesus still meets the needs of an ever-changing world. As students ‘travel’ chronologically through history, they chronicle their journey by keeping a timeline in a beautiful, full-color notebook. Very Charlotte Mason-inspired!
Full of ‘can’t put them down’ books, Mission to Modern Marvel’s history weaves an exciting coherent and memorable timeline. Just as Charlotte Mason advocated, students at this age read their history independently. Christian Heroes Just Like You, Christian Heroines Just Like You, The Story of the World: Vol. IV – The Modern Age, All American-History: Uniting America’s Story, Piece by Piece, Hero Tales Vol. II, Hero Tales Vol. III, and Great Events in American History provide the perfect Charlotte Mason-style books for students to read independently. However, students aren’t the only ones that get to have fun reading Charlotte Mason-style books! Parents enjoy reading aloud the Charlotte Mason-inspired Storytime set of books. So, together, students and parents read Charlotte Mason-style living books to make this time period come to life! Of course, if preferred, students may independently read their Storytime set of books instead!
A Charlotte Mason Approach to Geography and to Independent History Study
Charlotte Mason matched geography lessons to the historical time period, and Missions to Modern Marvels does as well. Map Trek and the United States History Atlas correspond with living book history readings to further bring the time period to life. Students complete this geography study independently, creating colorful maps that help them see how geography impacted the history of the times.
Missions to Modern Marvels’ Independent History Study uses What in the World? Volume III; Draw and Write Through History: Invention, Exploration, and War – the 20th Century; and the Missions to Modern Marvels Student Notebook to further make this time period come to life! Audio presentations, copywork of speeches, notebook entries, guided drawing lessons, primary source documents, and additional mapping activities are all included in these independent 8th Grade Charlotte Mason-inspired history-themed parts of the plans!
A Charlotte Mason Approach to State Study and President Study
Missions to Modern Marvels gives students the option to complete a a study of their individual state. State Study from a Christian Perspective provides a narrative overview of your state! In the course of studying events of particular interest to your state, the student sees, from a Christian perspective, how these events affected that state and our nation as a whole. The body of the book contains state-specific pages. Each state includes four pages to provide a narrative overview of that state. These stories are fascinating and are often written from a spiritual perspective.
Students also have the option to complete a President’s Study with Meet the Chief! and the President Study Student Notebook. This narrative study trains requires students to research the lives of the presidents of the United States. This study of the presidents focuses on true-life stories of the remarkable men who have presided over the Oval Office. Snapshots of each of these Commanders-in-Chief, rare and unseen photographs, and excerpts share their personalities, weaknesses, major achievements, and historical significance.
A full-color President Notebook was specially made to accompany the “President Study” in Missions to Modern Marvels. The notebook pages come 3-hole punched on heavy paper with a cover page for easy insertion into a 1/2 inch binder. This lovely notebook will help students delve into the lives of the presidents and their greatest accomplishments. The purpose of this research activity is to train students to read to find information, to make brief notes, to sift and sort information, and to create a written entry from the information they’ve gathered. At the close of the year students will have a beautiful President Notebook to remember their research by, as well as an appreciation for the men who have guided America through its history.
A Charlotte Mason Approach to an Economics Study
Missions to Modern Marvels provides an 8th Grade Charlotte Mason-inspired Economics Study! With living books at the heart, this innovative study weaves economics, history, current events, social studies, government, math, and a little science into a delightfully revealing look at the foundations and inner workings of our monetary system. Students develop a real sense of economics with Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? These clever letters written from “Uncle Eric” introduce students to the concepts of recession, inflation, the demand for money, government spending, investment cycles, velocity, and more.
Student learn sound judgment and basic business principles with Common Sense Business for Kids. As students read this narrative book, they learn the simple truths behind salesmanship, market potential, fixed and variable cost, price strategies, and more. Even though business success seems complicated, in the end it really is just common sense! Finally, students make connections with the living books while writing simple summaries of economic principles gained from the reading. As students read, they record these principles in their Missions to Modern Marvels Student Notebook.
A Charlotte Mason Living Books’ Approach to Science
Missions to Modern Marvels features a unique, Charlotte Mason living books approach that focuses on an exploration of chemistry, genetics, 20th Century scientists, and a study of evolution vs creation – all while using God’s Word as a foundation! Living books integrate with notebooking, narration, probing questions, vocabulary, and hands-on experiments using fully- equipped science kits. Join award-winning author John Hudson Tiner for an intriguing tour through the realm of chemistry in Exploring the World of Chemistry: From Ancient Metals to High-Speed Computers.
Discover groundbreaking scientists from the 20th Century – learn about the lives and legacies of Marie Curie, Enrico Fermi, and Albert Einstein through reading the following fascinating biographies: Marie Curie and the Discovery of Radium, Atoms in the Family: My Life with Enrico Fermi, and Ordinary Genius: The Story of Albert Einstein. Investigate two opposing views of the origin of life as you compare the theory of evolution with creationism in Evolution: The Grand Experiment. As students read, discuss, and watch their way through this revolutionary study, they will examine current evidence both for and against the theory of evolution. Join Dr. Carl Werner in examining the fossil record, spontaneous generation, natural selections, chance mutations, and more!
Explore chemistry and study DNA using hands-on experiment kits along with tiered lab forms emphasizing the scientific method. Test electrochemical reactions, isolate DNA from a tomato, breed a bacteria colony, investigate how traits are passed down, examine the composition of hard water, and conduct many other insightful experiments. This balance of 8th Grade Charlotte Mason living books, hands-on experiments, and scientific methods, provides such an enjoyable way to learn science.
A Charlotte Mason Living Books’ Approach to Literature
With Drawn into the Heart of Reading, students read captivating books, explore nine different genres, learn common story elements, discover Godly character traits, and complete fun activities. This flexible literature program will help your 8th grader become passionate about books, while still teaching necessary reading skills. Based on clear instructions and engaging activities, this innovative program will work with any literature. You can even choose your own books! Or, use our engaging Level 7/8 Book Packs instead! This 8th grade Charlotte Mason curriculum takes a beautiful living books’ approach virtually every subject it can!
Oral and Written Narrations
Oral and written narrations provide important Charlotte Mason assessments, and Missions to Modern Marvels plans include both! Just as Charlotte Mason recommended, only narrative, living books provide the basis for narrating. In response to their independent history living books’ readings, students write 12-16 sentence written narrations. Next, they use the provided Written Narration Tips to edit their narrations. Written narrations focus upon the whole Reading About History daily reading. This helps students chronologically narrate their way through their living books’ readings. Likewise, students work through the Written Narration Tips one at a time when they are editing. This helps 8th grade students develop strong written narration skills!
In response to the history-based living books read aloud or read independently for Storytime, students orally narrate their way through stirring historical fiction, thought-provoking biographies, inspiring nonfiction, and classic literature living books. Students also give oral and written narrations in response to their inspirational 20th Century scientists’ biography readings. Build retelling skills through Charlotte Mason-style oral narrations. As students sift and sort information, they make connections with the text and draw their own conclusions. This 8th grade Charlotte Mason curriculum helps students learn to successfully narrate in both oral and written form!
Charlotte Mason’s Method of Dictation and Grammar
In Missions to Modern Marvels, the Charlotte Mason method of studied dictation is used. In this method, students study the passage prior to having it dictated. This is an important step in learning to visualize the correct spelling of words. All items in the passage must be written correctly, including punctuation marks, before going on to the next passage. Studied dictation focuses on the goal of using correct spelling within the context of writing. Multiple levels of dictation are provided, so you can place your student properly. Rod and Staff English instruction is also included to teach students proper grammar.
Handwriting/Copywork, Common Place Books, and Scripture Memorization
Inspirational daily practice of handwriting is scheduled from a variety of excellent copywork sources. Students keep a Charlotte Mason-inspired Common Place Book. In this special book, they copy anything which is timeless, memorable, or worthy of rereading. It is for copying text and not for original writing. Bible verses, classic poetry, and memorable quotes are written in the Common Place Book in Missions to Modern Marvels.
In their Bible Quiet Time, students use their own Bible to and coordinating lessons from Explorer’s Bible Study: Quest – Faith at Work to study Romans, Galatians, and James. Students learn to think, evaluate, understand, and apply what God is communicating in His Word. They keep a daily prayer journal using “Preparing Your Heart for Prayer” questions and pray through the four parts of prayer: adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. This inspirational study includes Charlotte Mason-style memorization, recitation, and copywork. Students find scripture memorization a joyful experience by using recitation, repetition, and copywork to memorize all of Romans 12 and James 4.
Charlotte Mason loved studying the hymns! In Missions to Modern Marvels, 8th grade students learn 12 of the greatest hymns ever composed with Hymns for a Kid’s Heart: Volume Two. This beautiful full-color book and fully orchestrated CD set includes richly orchestrated music, hymn writers’ stories, heartfelt prayers, Scripture verses, and printed sheet music. This 8th grade Charlotte Mason curriculum makes memorization, recitation, copywork, and hymn study meaningful parts of the homeschool day!
Charlotte Mason-Style Nature Study and Poetry
Explore God’s Creation and read classic poetry about the great outdoors in Heart of Dakota’s inspirational, one-of-a-kind Charlotte Mason approach to nature study! Missions to Modern Marvels provides a unique combination of nature-themed poetry and painting, using art to illustrate scenic poetry. In this year of study, students gain a fresh appreciation of nature as they bring descriptive poetry to life through watercolor paintings.
Students sketch and paint with nature illustrator Rosalie Haizlett as their guide in Watercolor in Nature! Alongside these beginner-friendly step-by-step tutorials on painting the natural world, Haizlett shares her very own nature journal entries that are sure to inspire. Haizlett’s colorful illustrations, inspirational descriptions, photographs, and copies of her own paintings help students visualize and create their own Charlotte Mason-style nature journals!
This one-of-a-kind nature study combines poetry and painting in Paint Nature’s Palette! Designed to accompany the “Nature Painting” plans in Missions to Modern Marvels, this notebook provides scenic poetry from classic poets, vivid photographs of woodland wildlife and botanicals, and a place for students to showcase their completed watercolor paintings.
Study Worthy Words Study Using Primary Source Documents
Finally, this 8th grade Charlotte Mason curriculum includes a stirring Worthy Words study. Each unit includes reading Worthy Words from a primary source that directly relates to the history study for that day. A primary source is something that originates in the historical time period being studied. Letters and the text of speeches written during the time period are primary sources. The Missions to Modern Marvels Student Notebook and Book of Great American Speeches contain all the primary sources needed for this inspirational 8th Grade Charlotte Mason curriculum!
Within the Worthy Words activity, students read, analyze, and evaluate the primary source document by answering provided questions on an index card to prepare for a Socratic dialogue. A Socratic dialogue is one in which the participants come prepared to share their thoughts, feelings, and opinions about the spoken and written word. Before beginning the dialogue, a parent reads the provided primary source document out loud. Next, participants discuss the questions in the guide. All participants should use life experiences, and/or the text to support their responses. Students are expected to refer to their notes throughout the dialogue.
Studying the speeches and letters of famous men and women through history in this Charlotte Mason manner helps students begin to recognize various points of view, learn how words can stir emotions and impact history, and gain a glimpse into the mind of the speaker. Speeches have been chosen for their narrative quality and their ability to paint a diverse picture of American and world history, as well as their capability to give a glimpse into the speaker’s wit, deep-rooted beliefs, emotions, and passions. We hope you enjoy this 8th Grade Charlotte Mason curriculum as much we have with our own families!
In Christ,
Julie
