Starting to home school in "8th grade": can I skip it and go straight to high school?

[staceyneil]

Hi all-

We homeschooled our daughter in 3rd and 4th aboard our boat. She's back in public middle school now, making high honors, going to math in the grade ahead, and doing what little A.G. stuff the school offers.

 

We plan to move back on the boat to sail around the world, so we'll be homeschooling what would correspond to grades 8 through 11 or 12.

 

Since I want to take full advantage of all that we'll be seeing, doing, and experiencing on the voyage, I want to get the "basics" out the way early so we can do in-depth classes pertaining to our immediate travels.

 

I was thinking of skipping normal "8th grade" SS and Science classes, and moving straight to the basic/core high school classes, to get them out of the way early. Do you think this is a good idea, or will she skip some important material that's a prerequisite for the high school classes?

 

Specifically, I had thought to do this in 8th grade (I'm thinking of using the Glencoe materials because you can get the student texts and extras in CD-ROM form, which is a HUGE help to us on our space- and weigh-constrained small sailboat!):

-MATH: Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1 (which will be just a quick review) and Geometry

-SS: Glencoe "American Vision" and begin Glenoce "World History"; also a semester in-depth study of the culture, history, arts and economics of the Americas, since we'll be in Central America

-Science: Glencoe Physical Science with Earth Science, and at least start Glencoe Biology

-Foreign languages, art, L/A: not concerned about yet. She's very strong in all these...

 

9th grade:

-Science: finish Glencoe Biology; Chemistry; start Marine Biology or Environmental Science

-MATH: Finish TT Geometry, TT Algebra II

-SS: Finish Glencoe World History, study the South Pacigic, World Cultures and Geography

- Spanish, art, L/A continue as before

 

10th, 11th

-Science: AP Biology, Physics, any other interesting classes she wants

-MATH: TT Pre-Calculus and THEN WHAT??? I have Saxon Advanced Math, would that count as Trigonometry?

-SS: With the basics out of the way, we can focus on where we are (Africa? Geometry? etc.)

-Spanish, art, L/A, continue

 

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated. it is very daunting to homeschool high school, particularly such a bright kid. I want to make sure she's getting the BEST education possible!

 

Stacey

[In The Great White North]

Algebra in 8th grade is pretty normal around here.

 

Colleges say two or three years of a lab science; they don't usually specify and don't care what came before at all. The most common are biology, chemistry and physics, with the fourth year varying widely. If she can handle biology now, the 8th grade "teaser" courses are a waste of time.

 

Don't limit yourself to Glencoe. There are tons of materials out there available on CD-ROM or DVD. She could do everything on the computer and need no books at all.

 

Personally, I wouldn't drop the foreign languages. They have come in handy all my life and fluency is so easily lost. German, Spanish and French can be used in many countries that don't speak those languages as a primary language, because of colonization and trade ties in their history. Auralog and Rosetta Stone make this easy on the computer too.

 

You can keep up the writing within the framework of history papers, essay questions etc and lab reports without doing it as a separate subject. Once grammar is done, that's enough writing.

 

I would feel tortured without literature on a boat for three years. Even if it's not a subject, download a ton of good books she can read on the computer or an ereader. A few "real" books would be nice if there's room.

 

Enough "Great Books," math and science will ensure she's getting the BEST education possible.

[angela in ohio]

Will college requirements be a consideration? Many want to see specific social studies classes (Econ, Govt, Amer Hist, etc.,) and this is generally the area that you can't count work done in 8th grade. Or are you graduating her a year early, which would make that her 9th grade year? Then I would be worried they wouldn't count the Physical Science (it would depend on the school.) Are you looking toward competetive schools, where Calc and such would matter?

[Nan in Mass]

Will she want to go to college? Or will she want to keep travelling and self-educating? My impression is that boat kids grow up early, in which case starting high school in 8th wouldn't be a bad idea. You could get a copy of TWEM and use that and the classics available on-line to do great books for literature. If you post this on the highschool board, people will probably give you lots of suggestions. Sounds like a great trip! Can I come? -Nan

[staceyneil]

I really appreciate the input.

 

Just to be clear about a couple of things:

 

WE certainly aren't dropping reading, writing, foreign languages. Sorry if I was unclear on that. It's just that I don't feel like I have major questions in those areas at this stage of my planning. We will be doing 4 years of Spanish (Rosetta Stone and then Glencoe Spanish 4) plus a year of French for when we're in French Polynesia:001_smile:. L/A will be fun and easy to teach as, I am a writer and she's so gifted in it: I'll probably make up assignments and courses as we go along, although I'm bringing lots of classics, some lesson plans, and resources like ELements of Style, etc.

 

Re: college. Yes, I'd say she'll be applying to highly selective colleges. So, what the transcript looks like IS important. That's one of the reasons I was worried about, for example, doing American history in 8th grade, as you mentioned the college admissions folks might not like seeing it omitted in high school.

 

Nan, you are right, boat kids do grow up early in many ways (although happily not in the ways that public school kids "grow up early" if you know what I mean!) I suppose its possible she might graduate early, but I don't think I want to count on it. There are just too many variables when you're sailing, and if we COUNT on cramming a lot of schoolwork into less time, we might not be able to enjoy the trip as much. if we were homeschooling at home, I think we'd definitely shoot for early graduation, though. She's extremely bright and motivated.

 

What is TWEM?

 

I was wondering about Calculus. WE're doing Teaching Textbooks through Pre-Calculus and I wasn't sure what to do after that. I have Saxon Advanced Math on my shelf, would that count as Trigonometry? Maybe I should bring the Saxon Calculus set as well....?????

 

RE: taking courses that depend on the internet... unfortunately we CAN'T do this. We'll have email (over our HF radio) but not internet access. When we're in more developed areas we can use internet cafes, but we will be cruising in very remote areas a lot of the time. So we really do need to bring our materials with us.

 

Does anyone have recommendations for courses (other than Glencoe) with CD-ROMs rather than textbooks? WE do prefer secular materials, so that really narrows the field!

 

Thank you all for your help!!

Stacey

[SkateLeft]

I've done my fair share of sail-schooling too! :D

 

If you're going to skip 8th grade, I'd suggest actually just putting in on her transcript as such, so any coursework she completes is done as a 9th grader. That's what I'd do if I were in your shoes. Many colleges will balk if they see American history listed in "8th grade" but not in 9th-12th. Not to say that you can't argue, but if you're looking for the path of least resistance, then calling her a 9th grader is probably easiest. Otherwise, they'll assume it's junior high American history, not high school American history, if that makes sense. High school math and foreign language are commonly seen starting in junior high, so those would be easier to advocate for than other subjects, I think. But, I'd actually contact the colleges where your daughter may apply and build your transcript plans around those requirements. :)

[Nan in Mass]

TWEM is The Well Educated Mind. It is a guide to read through the classics. It sounds like you are fine in that area, though, so maybe you don't need it. It is an overview of the history of each genre and general questions to answer that help you delve deeper into the books. There is one set of questions for each genre, not for each book. It is an expensive hard cover, so you probably would want to look at it in the bookstore first. I have a feeling that you won't need it. I like it because it works for whatever books we choose to read, and I tend to read things just on a surface level, only for the story, if left on my own. I like your LA plan.

-Nan

[Nan in Mass]

We're putting together a transcript for my older son, who is applying to colleges in the fall. I'm listing the courses by subject, not by year. Some people here have done that and the colleges didn't question it. Others have had colleges come back and say they wanted to see a year-by-year list because they wanted to see only the last 4 years. It depends on the college.

[3musketeersmom]

We're putting together a transcript for my older son, who is applying to colleges in the fall. I'm listing the courses by subject, not by year. Some people here have done that and the colleges didn't question it. Others have had colleges come back and say they wanted to see a year-by-year list because they wanted to see only the last 4 years. It depends on the college.

 

Nan, do you know if there is a difference between TWEM and TWEM AT HOME? I just did an Amazon.com search and several versions of TWEM showed up.

[Kareni]

Nan, do you know if there is a difference between TWEM and TWEM AT HOME? I just did an Amazon.com search and several versions of TWEM showed up.

 

Not Nan, but the one you want is this one:

 

THe Well-Educated Mind

 

[i believe the "at Home" you saw was the subtitle of the Well-[b]Trained[/b] Mind.]

 

Regards,

Kareni

[summer]

There are certain sequences generally followed in brick and mortar high schools that colleges generally look for. Any math algebra and above gets high school credit reqgrdless when started. If the foreign language is in depth enough to count as a high school year, that would be 1 credit too when completed in 8th grade. Beyond that..here is a basic idea of what I see.

 

 

Science 7th, general 8th physical or Earth science, 9th biology, 10th chemistry, 11th physics, and 12th an AP science course of chosing

 

Math.. Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, precalculus (which should have trig in it) and then AP math which is essentually calculus. If that is completed, then your child will want to do distance learning or start at a local college for the higher levels.

 

Social studies.... 1 yr world history, 1 yr American History, 1/2 years government and 1/2 yr economics and there is 1 more year in there..some schools let that be an AP year, others have another course requirement such as world geography or some elective.

 

English...English with literature is expected all through

 

Foreign language..minimum 2 credits, prefered is 4 for college admission

 

I will say, for my DD who had already advanced in school, I am using harder curriculum, but I am not using "leveled" things. We are doing American History this upcoming year, but will not count that in high school. We will repeat a high school course in US history then too.

 

I hope this helps.

[threetreasurs]

You could easily have a bright 8th grader in high school classes.

[yslek]

I was wondering about Calculus. WE're doing Teaching Textbooks through Pre-Calculus and I wasn't sure what to do after that. I have Saxon Advanced Math on my shelf, would that count as Trigonometry? Maybe I should bring the Saxon Calculus set as well....?????

 

 

The Public High School I attended used Saxon materials, except calculus. Their progression went: Algebra I, Algebra II, Advanced Math, Pre-Calc, Calculus. I went through Advanced Math (11th grade). It does include some trig, but I'd think that doing this after Pre-Calc would be going backwards. Doesn't pre-calc normally include trig? It seems like you should be able to go right into Calculus after Pre-calc.

 

BTW, if there's a even chance of graduating your dd a year early, maybe you could keep records in such a way that "8th grade" could be re-labeled "9th" if need be. (One of the advantages of hsing :) I skipped 9th grade in ps, and the biggest pain of it was trying to cram in enough credits to graduate on time; it had nothing to do with skill level or that I'd done "high school level" work before. Unless it was done in 9th-12th grade, it didn't count. :glare:)

 

Kelsy

[dmchr6]

Yes, you can definitely skip grade 8 for a bright student, especially one that likes to read.

 

Are you making up your own transcript, or how are you doing this?

 

If you want an accredited transcript and/or high school diploma, a good way to do it is through NARHS http://www.narhs.org. It's a high school in Maine that's super flexible and will give high school credit for almost anything you can document. They'll even give "back" credit for stuff already done. We may go that route, haven't yet decided (even though son has already done some high school courses.)

 

The e-reader is a GREAT idea, I think that would be rough to homeschool without reading!

[Storm Bay]

IRe: college. Yes, I'd say she'll be applying to highly selective colleges. So, what the transcript looks like IS important. That's one of the reasons I was worried about, for example, doing American history in 8th grade, as you mentioned the college admissions folks might not like seeing it omitted in high school.

 

I was wondering about Calculus. WE're doing Teaching Textbooks through Pre-Calculus and I wasn't sure what to do after that. I have Saxon Advanced Math on my shelf, would that count as Trigonometry? Maybe I should bring the Saxon Calculus set as well....?????

 

 

Stacey

 

In light of the fact that your dd will be applying to highly selective colleges and that you're concerned about how your transcript, I'd reconsider math unless she's going into the arts. Teaching Textbook isn't known yet as the high school books are still new. For my mathy, science-oriented dd, Alg 1 wasn't nearly meaty enough, and a good part of the Algebra I is preAlgebra. It might be a good idea to contact the colleges you're considering in advance to learn what their entry requirements are and whether or not they have any special requirements for homeschooled students.

 

 

As for skipping Gr. 8, I'd do it if your dd is mature for her age. Mine isn't, so we're doing an indepth "interim" year called 8/9.