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Need Help Choosing 12th Grade Materials (crosspost)


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This will be my very last year to homeschool so I am melancholy about that (year 27). I have reached a sort of impasse and simply can't seem to make any decisions so I am asking for your help. Our youngest daughter just turned 18, and this year was diagnosed with dysautonomia, which is similar to Aspergers or autism. She is so bright and intuitive but is often very difficult to teach, short attention span, extremely opinionated lol. I've tried almost everything out there through the years but most materials and methods have fallen by the wayside. She is behind in most subjects despite my best efforts but I press on and I try to hold onto thankfulness for the opportunities to make her life as meaningful and successful as possible. She wants this to be her last year, even though her 11th grade was a disaster. **If you had only one year left to try and give your child a world of worthy skills and knowledge (I am asking too much, I know), what would you choose as the best of the best?** She is still trudging through geometry so math is behind but consistent. I need an awesome writing program (Lost Tools of Writing?), some kind of classic literature guide that could keep her on a manageable schedule (Ambleside, Sonlight?), a worldview program?, a simple world history (MOH 4?), she wants chemistry so I am looking at several simpler programs (Guest Hollow or Chemistry 101?), she will try Spanish again, (with a tutor), and basically some kind of amazing program or guide that will help us both 'finish this race' on a positive note. My most favorite thing to do is reading aloud and having discussions so I always lean toward materials simply for the beautiful books. Even though she acts bored a lot of the time, she still hears me.  :) She struggles with too much reading on her own and has very little personal discipline so this is a big factor that I need to keep addressing. Sorry to ramble but, as you can see, my mind is tired and since all my best laid plans have been a washout, I need other thoughts! Thank you so much for helping me this late in the year but I still have faith that it may be our very best. 

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I would focus on life skills -- how to apply for and hold a job. Does she understand what sort of career options she might have? What sort of training would those jobs require and is she prepared? (Focus on one or two year community and technical college programs perhaps. Since she has a diagnosis, her training may be free through your state's vocational rehab program, too.) Can she manage money? File taxes?

 

Has she registered to vote, learned how to read the news and tell the difference between straight news and the partisan stuff? Can she drive? Cook a decent meal?

 

Since reading is hard, should she learn to use text to speech software and a tablet to help her process text? I would focus on short works of fiction and nonfiction to match her attention span.

 

Can you instill lifelong curiosity? Writing might be establishing the habit of keeping a journal. If she'll never read long novels on her own, try to cultivate a love of audiobooks. Take her to all the museums and galleries you haven't been to in a while and read a bit about the topics you encounter.

 

A last pass at history might focus on the parts of the world dominating the news -- try to understand the Middle East, Russia, North Korea. Teach her how to figure out things for herself so she can research whatever countries are in the news in the future. Again, lifelong curiosity will serve her more than any particular history curriculum

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Hi! Things I would consider:

 

Writing--I've heard good things about Lost Tools of Writing, but I don't know if it's really easy to jump in and just "do." If you want something fairly open and go, you might look at Essentials in Writing by Matthew Stephens. (I'd probably do an earlier level, not the 12th grade one--the instruction in that one is not as incremental. I think it's easier to follow the early high school levels--unless your dd doesn't need a lot of instruction at this point.)

 

Classic literature guide to keep her on a schedule--I really Sonlight for choosing good lit, but I wouldn't rely on their schedule for a student who struggles with too much reading on her own. (My kids are slower readers, and usually did about 8-12 of the high school level books, rather than the 20+ they often schedule. I did choose some of the others for read-alouds though.) Anyway...use that if you are willing to adjust the schedule to her needs, drop books if needed, and so on. I usually required 30-45 minutes of reading, and suggested a minimum number of pages or chapters (sometimes I read a sample to see how long it took me, adjusted for my kids' age & stage, and gave it my best guess for a target.)

 

Worldview--I used Understanding the Times. I used just the book, but they do have lectures etc..., depending on how much time you want to spend on it. I had my kids read and take notes and we discussed issues in each day's reading. 

 

World History--MOH 4 is a nice choice for high school and fairly straight forward--and you can spend as much or as little time on it as you want (you can add in the mapping they suggest, the projects for older students as time allows, and so on, or just focus on reading and discussing.)

 

HTH some, and I hope you have a good final year!

 

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World History - She could use Diana Waring's What in the World is Going On Here? audio CDs: https://www.dianawaring.com/store/history-audio-cds

 

Instead of geometry what if you do something with finances? My ds like the audio CDs from Financial Peace (we owned the regular program).

 

For literature - I'd recommend you choose 3-4 titles and consider Garlic Press guides. I used their guides, and they are very well done!

 

For chemistry - I'd start with Crash Course Chemistry on Youtube and a funny chemistry book, such as Chemical Chaos. The Disappearing Spoon would make a great read aloud as you learn about elements and their involvement in history. You can really learn a lot of theory through these types of resources. 

 

For Worldview - You may want to consider PragerU by Dennis Prager. He has short videos by different speakers about a wide variety of topics. It has made for great discussions in our home. 

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