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Critiques needed on my High school plan


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I'm finishing up my plans for high school for my son.  We are in Ontario, Canada.

 

This is the kid who we were told would never graduate, he would age out of high school.  He can do the work, he just needs a slower path than most kids, so I've opted to extend highschool an extra year.   He is not my college bound kid.  He wants to stay home on the farm and farm with Dad.  His loves are History and anything hands on tech.  He is slow and steady with the Saxon math, so I'll keep going with it.

 

So, knowing all that.

 

Grade 8

Saxon 8/7

IEW Level C

IEW - Grammar Fix it!

Apologia General Science

SOTW 4

Canada, A People's History 3

A Beka World Geography

The Fallacy Detective

Jan's Computer Basics

 

Grade 9

Algebra 1

American Literature (Stobaugh)

Apologia Physical Science

History of the Ancient World

Canadian Geography

Electronics

 

Grade 10

Geometry

British Literature

Apologia Biology

History of the Medieval World

Careers (.5 credit) Life Purpose Planning

Civics (.5 credit) Civics Channel

Electronics

 

Grade 11

Algebra 2

World Literature

Apologia Chemistry

Canada in the 20th Century

History of the Renaissance World

Computers

 

Grade 12

Advanced Math

IEW - Advanced Communication

Canada - A People's History Highschool course

Apologia Physics

Automotive

WORD certification through college

Horticulture

 

Grade 13

Welding

Diesel Tech

U.S. History

Exploring Agriscience

Consumer Math

 

During Grades 9 to 12 my son will get 1/4 credit each year toward gym and art.  We will study art in relation to the history we are studying that year.

 

How does this look?  My son has been helping me for weeks pick out possible textbooks, etc.  He is excited about high school now and can't wait to start! LOL

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I think it looks great, Amy.  For a kid you were told would never graduate, he's doing fantastically!

 

One quick question - what kind of advanced math are you planning on for Grade 12?  In Ontario, students only need 3 years of math to graduate so you could stop at Alg 2 if you wanted to.  You could also move the Consumer math from Grade 13 to Grade 12 although he'll probably find it fairly easy after taking Saxon Alg 2. :)

 

Ah - Grade 13. :D  I did Grade 13.  I've also taught Grade 13.  I tell you - those kids were a joy to teach.  An extra year of maturity makes a world of difference.  I think they were also more likely to do well in their first year of university due to the extra year's maturity.  I was sad when they got rid of Grade 13 in Ontario. :(

 

Actually - I have a few more questions but just because I'm curious for my own dd. :)  What's the high school course that goes along with Canada: A People's History?  Have you used the study guides from Scholar's Choice before?  What are they like?

 

Looks great, Amy!

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One quick question - what kind of advanced math are you planning on for Grade 12?   You could also move the Consumer math from Grade 13 to Grade 12 although he'll probably find it fairly easy after taking Saxon Alg 2. :)

 

Actually - I have a few more questions but just because I'm curious for my own dd. :)  What's the high school course that goes along with Canada: A People's History?  Have you used the study guides from Scholar's Choice before?  What are they like?

 

Looks great, Amy!

 

That Advanced Math would be Saxon's Advanced Math.  I plugged it in just because I know he can do it.  If things change by in the future, I could take out the Advanced Math.

 

I think Grade 13 should be brought back, I think there is a lot of maturity that happens during that year.

 

The dvd series Canada: A People's History has a teacher's guide.

http://www.cbc.ca/history/GENCONTSE4EP99CH8PA12LE.html

 

I was able to borrow it through an Inter Library Loan program.  It was written for a class setting but I can easily adapt it for my home schooled kids.

 

Now, I wish I could find a better Canadian Geography for the high school level.

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My only critique would be to think about doing the Lit programs that correspond to the History timeframe or topics. We find that they enrich each subject when taught together.

 

Otherwise, it looks well thought out and provides a great foundation for whatever he wants to do. Nice job!

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That Advanced Math would be Saxon's Advanced Math.  I plugged it in just because I know he can do it.  If things change by in the future, I could take out the Advanced Math.

 

I think Grade 13 should be brought back, I think there is a lot of maturity that happens during that year.

 

The dvd series Canada: A People's History has a teacher's guide.

http://www.cbc.ca/history/GENCONTSE4EP99CH8PA12LE.html

 

I was able to borrow it through an Inter Library Loan program.  It was written for a class setting but I can easily adapt it for my home schooled kids.

 

Now, I wish I could find a better Canadian Geography for the high school level.

 

The only curriculum I've seen for high school Canadian geography is the one by Vince Marquis that accompanies the text "Contact Canada" from Oxford University Press.  I've never looked through it so I can't give an opinion as to its quality.  Here are some links to purchase:

http://homeschoolandmore.ca/catalogue_det.asp?id=2045&categoryid=146 for the text

http://homeschoolandmore.ca/catalogue_det.asp?id=2046&categoryid=146 for Marquis' guide

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The only curriculum I've seen for high school Canadian geography is the one by Vince Marquis that accompanies the text "Contact Canada" from Oxford University Press.  I've never looked through it so I can't give an opinion as to its quality.  Here are some links to purchase:

http://homeschoolandmore.ca/catalogue_det.asp?id=2045&categoryid=146 for the text

http://homeschoolandmore.ca/catalogue_det.asp?id=2046&categoryid=146 for Marquis' guide

 

Ouch!  That is pricy!  The problem is I know the amount of work actually done in the local high school for Canadian Geo and Canadian History and well, it leaves much to be desired. 

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Ouch!  That is pricy!  The problem is I know the amount of work actually done in the local high school for Canadian Geo and Canadian History and well, it leaves much to be desired. 

 

That company is closing down and everything is at least 40% off - that might help a bit. :)

 

You could also get the text used from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.ca/Contact-Canada-Fraser-Cartwright/dp/0195414896/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2DPPHEHU796TB&coliid=I37JU7D8GHQZTN

 

The guide from Marquis doesn't seem to be available on Amazon but it might be available on a different site.

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I decided to go with Strobaugh because I had heard the books were good.  Then I found two of them on sale through Christian Book Distributers ( http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?Ntt=Strobaugh&N=0&Ntk=keywords&action=Search&Ne=0&event=ESRCG&nav_search=1&cms=1&search&view=default&Nao=0 )

 

I wanted a teacher's book for me to use with a good, solid list of books for me to assign my children.  Many of the books I have been able to find for free on Kindle and some I've purchased for one cent through Amazon.  So, I've been able to slowly stack those books onto my shelves ahead of time.  I've watched too many friends freaking out because they couldn't find a book when their children needed it.  I like to plan ahead. :)

 

I knew that I was going to be applying the writing skills from the IEW program onto this Strobaugh curriculum.   I felt that marking their papers would be easy for me since I understand how IEW works.  I haven't used the program yet, I plan to put myself through the program in September so I have a good understanding of the books he'll be reading and what I can expect from him later on.

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The only thing that jumps out at me is that I would think it would be difficult to go from SOTW to History of the Ancient/Medieval World.  If you find that History of the Ancient/Medieval World doesn't work out, the K12 text World History: Our Human Story is a high school level text but is based on their excellent Human Odyssey series for the middle grades.  I don't think they sell it on their website, but you can get it used on Amazon.

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I decided to go with Strobaugh because I had heard the books were good. Then I found two of them on sale through Christian Book Distributers ( http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?Ntt=Strobaugh&N=0&Ntk=keywords&action=Search&Ne=0&event=ESRCG&nav_search=1&cms=1&search&view=default&Nao=0 )

 

I wanted a teacher's book for me to use with a good, solid list of books for me to assign my children. Many of the books I have been able to find for free on Kindle and some I've purchased for one cent through Amazon. So, I've been able to slowly stack those books onto my shelves ahead of time. I've watched too many friends freaking out because they couldn't find a book when their children needed it. I like to plan ahead. :)

 

I knew that I was going to be applying the writing skills from the IEW program onto this Strobaugh curriculum. I felt that marking their papers would be easy for me since I understand how IEW works. I haven't used the program yet, I plan to put myself through the program in September so I have a good understanding of the books he'll be reading and what I can expect from him later on.

I am a total planner too. I also love a good list. That makes sense about finding the books. I am leaning this way as well due to the price. Omnibus is SO expensive and I have found a couple of Strobaugh for much cheaper.

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