8th Grade Course Descriptions
Two elements define classical education: a philosophy or world view and a pedagogical approach.
Latin 8
OXFORD LATIN COURSE I: Oxford
Course I focuses on grammar forms, vocabulary and translation. Grammar and vocabulary are the skills suitable for the grammar (8th grade) stage student. Syntax and translation are logic and rhetoric stage skills, respectively, and quickly overwhelm the student unless they are introduced at a slow, gentle pace and taught for mastery.
-
It is committed to the trivium model of teaching grammar systematically in order to facilitate retention and understanding, rather than topically, to facilitate translation.
-
Extensive workbook exercises ensure skills mastery and rapid recognition of inflected forms.
Mathematics 8
SAXON MATH Course 3: Saxon
This Course develops higher-order thinking skills through meaningful math conversations that occur every day in the classroom. Students learn to express their understanding through continual review and daily practice of several mathematical concepts that foster their long-term retention. The Course also maintains and applies properties of numbers and operations, ratio and proportional reasoning, problem-solving strategies, and more. Additionally, the Course also introduces and develops algebra topics such as graph sequences, linear inequalities, solving systems of linear equations, quadratic equations, etc. Students' skills and wide variety of concepts are evaluated through built-in, frequent cumulative assessments.
English 8
GRAMMAR AND COMPOSITION II: A Beka Book
English 8 dives deeper into higher grammar concepts and composing. It introduces our 8th graders to noun clauses, gerunds, and infinitives, while reviewing the 8 parts of speech plus diagramming. With multiple exercises, including original sentence-writing exercises, it helps our students develop an excellent grasp of grammar. In addition, composition practices are included to prepare our 8th graders for writing a research paper on a great American author. With a condensed handbook provided in this course, our students will have all the tools needed to improve their overall oral and verbal communication skills.
Science 8
EARTH AND SPACE, A Beka Book
Students are introduced this year to the scientific method. Beginning with the study of soil, they will later expand to the study of the surface of the earth and its layers, and how geological forces deep in the earth shape the thin crust on which we live. Students will learn about the minerals and rocks that form the surface of the earth; moving on to oceanography, meteorology, and finally the study of the solar system, our place in the universe. The purpose of science is not only gaining knowledge but also applying this knowledge to the benefit of mankind. Man’s dominion over the earth comes with the responsibility to manage and conserve resources, thus lessons on environmental sciences are included in this course.
History 8
LIGHT TO THE NATIONS, PART I: THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION, Catholic Textbook Project
We're updating our website... Please try again soon.
Geography 8
GEOGRAPHY III: Memoria Press
The general aim of this course is to review all the material from Geography 6 and Geography 7 and to understand current issues and events around the world. Students will develop an understanding of the relation between location and physical surroundings as part of the developments of nations and cultures.
Religion 8
INTRODUCTION TO CATHOLICISM, The Didache Series
We're updating our website... Please try again soon.
Art 8
MUSIC APPRECIATION I: Memoria Press
This course aims to deepen the student’s appreciation of music by grounding the greatest pieces in the canon of Western classical music in their historical context, and by introducing the foundational musical concepts of notation, rhythm, pitch, form, and melody to give a fuller understanding of the inner workings of the pieces and of music in general. Students will listen to each piece of music and then read each chapter and listen to the corresponding tracks, which will demonstrate the concepts discussed. The pieces are mostly ordered chronologically to illustrate the place each one holds in history and in the evolution of music.
Western classical music is as orderly and logical as mathematics, and yet capable of expressing and connecting with the whole range of human emotions. It consists most often of only twelve notes, a few simple rhythms, and a variety of aural textures that manifest in thousands of complex and distinctive styles and forms. It follows a system of rules set in place long ago, but these rules are flexible enough that new music is always being created, building on what previous generations composed, while ever expanding.