That’s the first or second question people ask us when they learn we are travelling throughout the world for 12 months. And some of you asked that question too before we left home. If you want to know more, here are the details:
I did not subscribe to or purchase a specific curriculum program for our 7th grader and our 8th grader. Rather I looked at the specific learning outcomes their teachers would cover if they were at their brick and mortar school. Then I found materials that covered the educational outcomes. For all subjects except math, they have the same curriculum, including assignments and tests, even though they are in different grades. As you can see from the lists below, the books come from a variety of sources and most of them, fortunately, are available on kindle or other e-readers.
Math Books for Eryn:
Algebra II Essentials for Dummies (kindle)
Algebra II Workbook for Dummies (workbook)
Math Books for Ethan:
Algebra I Workbook for Dummies (workbook)
Algebra Practice (workbook)
8th Grade Use It! Don’t Lose It! (workbook)
Science Books:
Spectrum Science Grade 7 (workbook)
Spectrum Science Grade 8 (workbook)
Elements and the Periodic Table (workbook)
Mystery of the Periodic Table by Benjamin Walker and others
Phineas Gage: Gruesome But True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman
Writing Book:
Fearless Writing Essay Guide (middle school level) by Danielle Denega
Reading and Religious Books:
|
Topic |
Title |
Author |
| Adventure, survival | Lost in the Barrens | Farley Mowatt |
| Responsibility | Red Kayak | Priscilla Cummings |
| Perseverance | Eric Liddell: Something Greater Than Gold | Janet Benge |
| God’s Leading | Finding Waldo | Ken Smith, David Smith |
| God’s love, survival | Child of the Crossfire | Ruth Alycon Fleck |
| Faith, perseverance | Zion Champion for God | Joy Matthews |
| Perseverance, survival | Far North | Will Hobbs |
| Literature | Holes | Louis Sachar |
| Intelligence, Fortitude, Courage | Adventurous Women Eight True Stories | Penny Colman |
Books about Countries or Continents We Visited:
|
Topic |
Title |
Author |
| Australia (optional book) | New Great Australian Flying Doctor Stories | Bill Marsh |
| Namibia | Hyena Nights & Kalahari Days | Gus and Margie Miller |
| Botswana | In the Company of Cheerful Ladies | Alexander McCall Smith |
| Botswana (optional book) | 20 Chickens for a Saddle | Robyn Scott |
| South Africa | 50 Flippen Brilliant South Africans | Alexander Parker |
| South Africa (optional book) | Don’t Look Behind You | Peter Allison |
| South America | The Case of the Monkeys that Fell From the Trees | Susan E. Quinlan |
| Greece | Galen & the Gateway to Medicine | Jeanne Bendick |
| Greece | Archimedes & the Door of Science | Jeanne Bendick |
Social Studies Books:
Homework Helpers US History 1492-1865 by Ron Olson (kindle)
Homework Helpers US History 1865-present by Ron Olson (kindle)
Social Studies Books – Additional Reading:
|
Topic |
Title |
Author |
| USA | Horrible Histories – The USA | Terry Dreary |
| Colonial | Horrible Histories – Cranky Colonials | Elizabeth Levy |
| Elizabeth I | Beware Princess Elizabeth | Carolyn Meyer |
| Mary Queen of Scots | Mary Bloody Mary | Carolyn Meyer |
| Ben Franklin | Ben Franklin (10 Days) | David Colbert |
| Revolutionary War | Funny But True History – Revolting Revolutionaries | Elizabeth Levy |
| Revolutionary War | American Revolution | Bruce Bliven |
| Revolutionary War | Secret of Sarah Revere | Ann Rinaldi |
| Abigail Adams | Abigail Adams Girl of Colonial Days | Jean Brown Wagoner |
| Late 1700’s – Yellow Fever | Fever 1793 | Laurie Anderson |
| Sacajawea | Sacajawea | Joseph Bruchac |
| War of 1812 | Billy Green Saves the Day | Ben Guyatt |
| Industrial Revolution1780’s + | The Industrial Revolution: How Science & Technology Changed the World | Carla Mooney |
| Texas Alamo | Victor Lopez at the Alamo | James Rice |
| Davy Crockett | Davy Crockett: Young Rifleman | Aileen Parks |
| Underground Railway | The Freedom Stairs | Marilyn Weymouth Sequin |
| Civil War | Shades of Gray | Tim O’Brien |
| Civil War | Hear the Wind Blow | Mary Downing Hahn |
| Civil War | Across Five Aprils | Irene Hunt |
| Civil War | Elijah of Buxton | Christopher Curtis |
| Reconstruction Era | The Coffin Quilt | Ann Rinaldi |
| West Exploration | Jason’s Gold | Will Hobbs |
| Early 1900’s – Ukraine | Days of Terror | Barbara Smucker |
| 1900s – Typhoid | Deadly | Julie Chibbaro |
| Theodore Roosevelt | Theodore Roosevelt Up Close | Michael L. Cooper |
| 20th Century | Horrible Histories – 20th Century | Terry Deary |
| Women’s Suffrage | You Want Women to Vote Lizzie Stanton? | Jean Fritz |
| WW1 | Horrible Histories – Frightful First World War | Terry Deary |
| WW1 | Unraveling Freedom: The Battle for Democracy on the Home Front During WWI | Ann Bausum |
| Great Depression | The Mighty Miss Malone | Christopher Paul Curtis |
| WW2 | Horrible Histories – Woeful Second World War | Terry Deary |
| WW2 | We Were Heroes: Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins, a WWII Soldier | Walter Dean Myers |
| WW2 Pearl Harbor | Under Red-Blood Sun | Graham Salisbury |
| WW2 | Rosie the Riveter: Women Working on the Home Front | Penny Colman |
| WW2 | Navajo Code Talkers | Nathan Aaseng |
| Holocaust | I Have Lived a Thousand Years | Livia Bitton-Jackson |
| Holocaust | Shadow of His Hand (Daughters of Faith series) | Wendy Lawton |
| After WW2 | The Circuit | Francisco Jimenez |
| Civil Rights Movement | My Louisiana Sky | Kimberly Willis Holt |
| Civil Rights Movement | The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963 | Christopher Curtis |
| Civil Rights Movement | I Am #4: Martin Luther King Jr. | Grace Norwich |
| Vietnam War | All the Broken Pieces | Ann Burg |
| Vietnam War | The Cracker: Best Dog in Vietnam | Cynthia Kadohata |
| Cold War | Smuggler’s Treasure (The Wall book 3) | Robert Elmer |
| Communist China | Red Scarf Girl | Ji-Li Jiang |
| Communism | The Seventh Escape | Jan Doward |
| Reagan | Ronald Reagan Up Close | James B. Sutherland |
| 9/11 | Thunderdog | Michael Hingson |