Revised for 2012!


We believe that you are looking at the best complete curriculum package available for eighth grade. We've combined language arts, math, thinking skills, science, and history programs to make this year an engaging and memorable, yet simple-to-plan, year of learning.

What is included in this grade?

Free Customization Available! Contact us with any questions; we are eager to serve you in any way we can!

Language Arts and Reading Most children dread grammar study because it is too complex. But Easy Grammar Ultimate Grade 8 is just that, easy. By deleting and marking certain words or phases, Easy Grammar Ultimate Grade 8 employs a virtually "hands-on" approach. This very logical, simple, no-nonsense grammar program is easy to use because each lesson focuses on just one topic. Lots of review helps to ensure comprehensive learning with excellent results. Best of all? The lessons are very manageable, often taking as little as ten minutes to complete! Sequential Spelling is not only the most logical spelling program we've seen, but it is also one of the easiest to use. Simply read your child one list of words a day to write down, correcting any mistakes as you go. That's it! The sequences are based on building from easy words to advanced words, such as from all, to tall, stall, install, installment, and installation; this is an intuitive approach with no memorization required. If your student has not yet completed Sequential Spelling books 1-6, you will want to do them first. Editor-in-Chief B2 provides your student with a mock newspaper article and photo. Interesting and often entertaining, the stories suffer from multiple problems which the child must correct; this is a fascinating way to review grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and attention to detail. Everyone agrees that children who have a solid grasp of word roots are bound to be children with better spelling and reading comprehension skills, primarily because they have acquired the ability to decode words. But how do you teach Latin and Greek roots? Well, we knew we didn't want something too dull, too schoolish, too intense, or based too heavily on mythology. We also knew that moms are busy enough without another teacher-intensive topic to worry about. With those objectives clarified, it was easy to see that Word Roots B1 is perfect, with its self-teaching, simple, and engaging approach. We've not seen any word roots program more effortless than this one! While we believe reading is the single most important skill your student will need, you'll notice that we did not include any traditional readers. Don't let this puzzle you. Our experience is that the best way to help your child become an eager reader is to constantly supply him with reading materials that interest him. Future doctors may want to read up on anatomy, young explorers are drawn to the escapades of adventurers young and old, and the baby-lover in your family will be captivated by adoption stories. Assign reading if you must, but encourage it at all costs; a child who enjoys reading will find it easier to excel in every area.

The Mystery of History Volume II Written by homeschool mom Linda Hobar, this is one spectacular masterpiece. Not just a textbook, it is brimming with multi-age activities, book and video lists, memory helps, and timeline suggestions. Written in a conversational style, what appeals to us most about this program is its worldwide approach to history. The Mystery of History Volume II provides a historically-accurate, Bible-centered approach to learning about the Early Church and the Middle Ages from Pentecost to the printing press! The completely chronological lessons span the continents to shed new light on who walked the earth when God revealed Himself to mankind during this pivotal period of history. The user-friendly format presents three lessons per week, with hands-on activities, quizzes, tests, weekly timeline, mapping assignments, and a supplemental reading and resource list. Volume I is not required, but we highly recommended that you complete it first. Call us if you'd like to switch volumes in this bundle.

Math Finally, a math text designed for homeschoolers! Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra's friendly text and often humorous line drawings are specifically intended for independent learners and contain far more explanation than any other math program on the market. Because the Teaching Textbooks series was designed for homeschoolers studying independently, it uses far less irrelevant jargon than other textbooks, while still retaining all the terms that students need to know for those important standardized tests. What ultimately sold me on this program are their computer CDs with down-to-earth, step-by-step multimedia solutions for every problem in the book, plus an additional CD-ROM with complete, step-by-step solutions for every test problem. The lectures -- one for each lesson in the textbook -- provide hours of instruction. They cover the same material as the written lessons in the textbook, but many students prefer to listen to (and watch) an explanation for each lesson rather than read it out of a book. Field-tested with outstanding results, this is a brilliant idea, long overdue and skillfully done, with many hours of instruction. Enjoyable, efficient, and effective; what more could you want from a math program? For those of you continuing on from Teaching Textbooks Math 7, you'll want to know that its computer-based format shifts a bit this year. You'll find that your student works out of the textbook now, going to the computer for lectures and solutions. It is just as self-teaching as ever, so you should still find yourself doing little more than giving assignments and watching his progress!

Wonders of Creation Series What makes the Wonders of Creation series great earth science books? It is more than just the dramatic pictures, colorful illustrations to explain complex subject matter, and attention-grabbing text. These books tell the truth. If you, like us, are excited to have your children simultaneously learning scientific facts and being pointed to the Creator, then you will love the Wonders of Creation series. Your children will study a wide variety of topics, such as how to identify fossils, what a supernova is, unusual cave animals, how hurricanes are forecast, and so very much more. Each book in this seven-book series has about eighty pages and is accompanied by a study guide workbook. Striking pictures, vivid graphics, and remarkable text that you can trust to be real and honest -- that's the Wonders of Creation series!

National Geographic Elements of Science Science this year is focused on reviewing all essential and general scientific concepts before proceeding to high school science. The more-than-100 kid-friendly experiments in National Geographic Elements of Science explore the full spectrum of biology, chemistry, and physics and will show your children hands-on how these three core disciplines relate. The engaging, full-color, 112-page book, with its helpful, clear illustrations and well-written text, is organized into fifteen chapters that include investigations into Bernoulli's Principle, centrifugal force, rockets, electric motors, simple circuits, chemical reactions, camera obscura, prisms, the human body, and much more!

The Thinking Toolbox Written by Nathaniel and Hans Bluedorn, the same young men who wrote the widely popular The Fallacy Detective, The Thinking Toolbox is destined to be one of those rare must-have books for all homes where thinking skills are prized. Lessons cover (1) When it is dumb to argue, (2) Using the scientific method, (3) Five rules of brainstorming, (4) Who has a reason to lie? (5) How to analyze opposing viewpoints, (6) How to analyze evidence and sources, (7) How to list reasons why you believe something, and much more.

Other A fidget-friendly, hand-exercising, stress-relieving, creativity-enhancing study tool, Thinking Putty helps students focus by giving their hands something to do while their brain is working. Thinking Putty is Silly Putty but enhanced with knock-your-socks-off colors that shift or morph completely as you squeeze. This non-toxic, non-gooey putty will bounce, stretch, tear, drip, snap, even shatter. Silicone-based, it never dries out. Includes an impressive, adult-sized handful of high-quality, moldable putty. Many of you are required by your state to test your child yearly. Spectrum Test Prep gives you a way to prepare for that in a no-stress manner. Includes actual test questions, tips on test preparation, strategies and techniques for answering different kinds of questions, and full-length practice tests.

Gourmet Scented Pencil Smencils Gourmet Scented Pencils are made from 100% recycled newspapers; you can even see the layers of recycled newspaper when you sharpen them! Individually packed in their own freshness tubes (made of corn-based biodegradable plastic), the ten "scent-sational" fragrances are guaranteed to keep their delicious aromas for two years. (One smencil included with each core curriculum).