What does a Year Eight week look like? (Lydia's Grade Eight)

In past years we have tried a LOT of school-organizing methods. Some of them were aimed at Mama Squirrel (keeping a binder of what was to be done next for each subject), and some were meant more for the Squirrelings (workboxing).  By the time the Apprentice and Ponytails reached Grade Eight, it was time for them to take on more responsibility, and to have more opportunity to schedule their own time.  That might seem to fly in the face of Charlotte Mason's strictly-timetabled daily work, but it didn't end up being as haphazard as it sounds; we did settle into a general routine, worked around independent / group / "With Mom" times.  For our older girls, giving them a checklist for the week turned out to be good preparation for managing their schoolwork in public high school.

Dollygirl Lydia and I will be doing the core subjects together, or partly together, and reading some books out loud. I've written out plans based on what we've been able to get done in the past, oomphed a bit for Grade Eight but again taking into account that doing more independently (and having to do more written work) might actually cut down on the number of pages read.  But that's okay.

So here's a sample of the plans for Grade Eight.  The little circles are for checkmarks.

Dollygirl's Lydia's plan for Week One (with annotations)

Commonplace Books, Copywork, and Recitations (Memory Work)
o Copy passages from poetry, plays, and the other books read
o Practice Scripture passage(s):
o Practice poem(s):
o Other memory work:

Narration
o Oral narrations of readings
o Reader's Journal: one page, twice a week, on any of your readings
o Keep Book of Centuries and/or other notebooks handy as you read or listen; make entries at the end
o Other kinds of narrations: dramatic, musical, artistic...

Bible and Church History 
Matthew 8; Psalm 112, 113; Proverbs 4:14-27  (Use Bible Reader's Companion as a commentary and study guide--you can write in the book.)
o   o   o   o   o

Read Beautiful Girlhood [last-minute change]
o 2 chapters/week

Read The Bible Through the Ages
o 10 pages/wk (starting on page 11): Introduction, The World of the Patriarchs

World History
Keep a Book of Centuries with all history studied (Bible, English, Canadian, etc.)
o

Read History of England by H.O. Arnold-Forster
o 35. Henry VII: (1) The Tudors, (2).The King's Title, (3)  Lambert Simnel; or, Carpenter, King, and Kitchen Boy; (4). Perkin Warbeck

Read The Golden Book of the Renaissance
o page 7-bottom of  21

Literature 
Read Mythology by Edith Hamilton
o ten pages/week

Read Westward Ho!  (see online study notes)
o chapters 1, 2

Poetry 
o England in Literature,  Sir Thomas Wyatt, pages 132-133 [read together]

Read The Roar on the Other Side: a guide for student poets
o  Introduction

Plays: A Man for All Seasons
o spread over the term

Grammar and Composition
Read How to Read a Book, Coming to Terms With an Author [read together]
o page 96-half of 106. Words vs. Terms; Finding the Key Words; Technical Word and Special Vocabularies.  "In this chapter so far, there have been only a few important words: 'word,' 'term,' 'ambiguity,' 'communication,' and perhaps one or two more  Of these, 'term' is clearly the most important; all the others are important in relation to it."

Earth Science
Read Exploring Creation With Physical Science,  Module 1: The Basics (spread over 4 weeks)
o Read Student Notes on Pages i & ii
o Experiment 1.1 "Atoms and Molecules."
o Write up the experiment for your lab notebook.

Ecology and Nature Study
Read [Reader's Digest] How Nature Works
o  pages 30-31, Ecology.  This is a two-page version of what you will be studying throughout the year in [Gary Parker's] Exploring the World Around You.

Keeping a Nature Journal
o p. 33 Where to roam with your journal
o  Roam somewhere and make at least one entry

Geography 
Read Kon Tiki: Edition for Young People
o Chapter 1: How it All Began.   Study questions at the end of these notes.
o Chapter 2: An Expedition is Born.   Study questions.

Citizenship 
Keep a calendar of current events in the back of your BoC.
o

Read Ourselves Book II, Section III, The Function of Conscience.[read together]
o page 109-114, Chapter XVII, Conviction of Sin.  "Then, when conscience says nothing we are all right? you ask.  By no means, for the verdict of conscience depends upon what we know and what we habitually allow."

Read Whatever Happened to Justice 
o  Introduction
o chapter 1, The Cause is Law

Read Plutarch's Life of Marcus Crassus [read together]
o one lesson

Mathematics 

o  Balance Benders Level 3: do two per week
 
Mathematics: A Human Endeavor.  Chapter One, Mathematical ways of thinking
Lesson One
o Introductory problems
o The path of a billard ball, Set I, Questions 1-8, on graph paper
o The path of a billard ball, Set I, Questions 9-15
o The path of a billard ball,  Set II, Questions 1-14
o  Optional: Set III (using a mirror)
Lesson Two
o Introductory problems
o  More billiard ball mathematics, Set I, Questions 1-11

French: French Smart 7 
o Story unit 1: A monkey fable
o  Folk song to learn: Ram'nez Vos Moutons, included in Canada: A New Land, page 130

Composer Study
o Wagner: Siegfried Idyll (orchestral)

Picture Study: Titian
o  The Descent of the Holy Ghost (c. 1545)

Be a Girl Guide Challenge
o Know how to make two different knots to join two ropes together.  (Guide Handbook page 202).
o Make notes in your Enquire Within notebook.

Handicrafts
o [probably making fabric flowers]