9th Grade Homeschool Overview
Looking toward the future
Starting in 9th Grade, your student is concerned about more than just next year. They are thinking about what comes after they complete high school. College? Trade school? Missions? Sonlight has designed your high school courses to be flexible for a range of grade levels, to ensure your student covers all of the subjects they need to find success in whatever they pursue next.
9th Grade History / Bible
As you and your student map out the future, if college is on the horizon, examine your history options and choose a program that will fulfill your college's requirements. If your student is taking a different direction with their future, feel free to select the program that would best pique their interest. Any one of these programs will provide an excellent year of study.
For high school credit consider:
- American History: Your student will dig deep into American history and discover the players of American history as real people. You'll move chronologically as you work through time and take a look at the empires that existed before Columbus, the founding fathers who created a Constitution that has become the model for countries around the world, WWI and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. While you may have touched on these before, this course provides an opportunity to delve deeper into these subjects. Many states require American History to graduate; use this program to satisfy that requirement.
- History of the Christian Church / World History: Your student will learn both traditional Church History, as well as the expansion of the Gospel from the early days in the Roman Empire until now. Additionally, because the Christian church has had such a huge influence on the world and culture, this is an excellent program to choose if your student needs a World History credit to graduate. This course offers the opportunity to study history and interactions from around the world through the unique lens of the Church. Many states require World History to graduate; use this program to satisfy that requirement.
If you need more options, Sonlighters have also successfully used either World History, part 2 (level H) or World History for new Sonlighters (level W) for their 9th grade year.
Check out all of Sonlight's History / Bible modules here.
Unsure which program would be best for your students' requirements? Check out our free report on creating transcripts here.
9th Grade Lesson Plans
At the high school levels, we have designed the lesson plans, our Instructor's Guides, to move you into more of a supportive role. The notes in the Instructor's Guides (IGs) are written to the students, and each high school program includes both a Parent Guide and a Student Guide.
The Student Guide contains discussion and thought questions. Some questions cover basic comprehension, and some are closer to college-level analysis. The Parent Guide contains all the same information, along with answers.
So, while you still receive the book-by-book, and subject-by-subject schedule and notes, the tool matches your family's needs for high school season.
Your student will be able to work independently for much of the time and you are able to choose when and how you would like to work with them.
IGs are included with your History / Bible and Literature / Language Arts or All-Subjects Packages. Use them for record keeping, a daily schedule, notes, or any combination of the three. At the high school level, your Apologia Science program comes with a Sonlight "Schedule Plus" which provides a Sonlight-style schedule to accompany the Apologia program.
9th Grade Literature / Language Arts
In the high school levels, History and Bible combined into a course as are Literature and Language Arts.
As your students read the literature, they will spend some time on comprehension questions and continue to look in-depth at literary analysis and deeper thought questions: What does this text reference? What do you think of this character's actions?
Your student will continue to learn terms like allusion and climax, think through ethical questions, and build their cultural literacy. Their writing assignments mostly come from their reading.
You can also choose from several optional workbooks, with assignments scheduled in the IG. Wordly Wise improves vocabulary and Analogies helps your student learn to reason. Analogies are part of college admission standardized testing, as well as helpful in overall communication. If you suspect your student needs more instruction in grammar, add on a grammar program here.
Check out all of Sonlight's Literature / Language Arts modules here.
9th Grade Science
Sonlight offers Apologia's Exploring Creation with Biology, with the addition of the Sonlight-exclusive Schedule Plus (which provides the familiarity of Sonlight's IG for your Apologia studies). The CD-ROM version of the program is less expensive and includes all of the information found in the print version, with multimedia add-ons such as animations, videos, narrations, and audio pronunciation guides.
This is a thorough high school-level biology program designed for use at home and is presented in a conversational style, making it easy to understand.
The primary topics included are a general introduction to biology; monerans (bacteria); protists (protozoans and algae); fungi; the chemistry of life (atoms, elements, molecules, osmosis and diffusion, photosynthesis, enzymes, etc.); cells; cellular reproduction and more.
Student exercises (with detailed solutions), experiments, and tests (with detailed solutions) are all included.
Recommended for use during or after Algebra 1.
Choose the matching 9th Grade Science level or browse other available Science programs to find the best program for your family this year. If you would prefer to study something else, you can customize your science selection and still get our best discount of 20%.
9th Grade Math
Sonlight includes Math-U-See's Geometry in our 9th Grade All-Subjects Package. Geometry covers topics such as points, lines, rays and line segments, planes, angles, circles, triangles, quadrilaterals, the Pythagorean Theorem, conic sections, proofs and more.
Your students will work with parallel and perpendicular lines with midpoints and bisectors, they'll explore supplementary, complementary, interior and exterior angles. They will learn how to find the perimeter of a rectangle, triangle, parallelogram, and trapezoid. They'll also learn how to find the areas of these shapes as well as how to construct and identify triangles.
While Math-U-See is included in Sonlight's All-Subjects Package, if you are interested in another program, you can easily swap out the math and still receive our best 20% discount. Learn more about your other 9th Grade Math options here.
Ways to Buy
Two ways to choose your 9th Grade curriculum
Put together a customized program OR select the recommended everything-you-need package. Compare your choices and pick the path you want. Either way, a wonderful adventure in learning awaits you and your family.
Start with History
Use with one or more children. Add subjects as needed.
Get a Complete Package
Everything you need for one child. Fully customizable.
Start with History
Choose one of the options below.
Select the program that covers the history focus you'd like to use this year. Because you'll teach with real books, each Sonlight program works with a range of ages and allows you to teach multiple children together. View the full curriculum scope & sequence for additional information.
Need help choosing? Chat with an Advisor.
Add other subjects as needed.
If you need more options, Sonlighters have also successfully used either World History, part 2 (level H) or World History for new Sonlighters (level W) for their 9th grade year.
Get a Complete Package
Customize as needed, add all required subjects, and still save up to 20%.
