My 13 yo son is interested in learning Scratch. He is about to finish Jacob's Algebra I, so I am wondering if he should jump into something more advanced along the same lines? I want it to still be fun, but I would like to steer him away from anything that might be too basic. I know next to nothing about Scratch, I have just heard of 5th graders doing it? Does anyone have any ideas on where he should start and which resources might be helpful? He has a very scientific mind (unlike me!) and is great at self-teaching. Thanks in advance for your advice!

My son is interested in learning Scratch. He is about to finish Jacob's Algebra I, so I am wondering if he should jump into something more advanced along the same lines? Does anyone have any ideas on where he should start and which resources might be helpful? He has a very scientific mind (unlike me!) and is great at self-teaching. Thanks in advance for your advice!

I would love a list of great high school homeschool blogs. Which ones are your favorites?

I cannot make this decision. I have poured over lesson plans and book lists, and I still can't decide. Does anyone have ay experience/advice? One of my concerns with choosing Kolbe is that it will consume her already very full schedule. One of my concerns with MODG is that it will not be as interesting or thorough as Kolbe. I'm not sure if this is warranted, but there it is. Thanks in advance for your help!

Yes, we read that book last year and absolutely loved it!

I was pondering putting together a class for my son on celestial navigation. This is an area he is very interested in, and there is plenty of material to put together a full course. Do you think this would look odd on a high school transcript if it had a good course description? Would you consider it an elective or an extra science credit? Thanks in advance for your help!

I have heard mixed things about Potter's School and Pen Homeschoolers Spanish courses. I am looking for a program that is solid in grammar as well as conversation. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Wow -- these are great resources! Thank you, Ladies!

Any advice or resource options would be greatly appreciated! :confused1:

My "7th grader" is currently taking several high school level classes and is academically very gifted, but he is immature for even a 7th grader. I hate the idea of having him go off to college when he is just 17. I would much prefer he go as an 18 year old. I know it is common to hold boys back a year if they have a late birthday. I am trying to figure this out before he is in high school. Should I redefine his grade back one year (we do standardized testing every spring and it is reqired to give their current grade) or do I have him do a "gap year" in high school? Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

I keep reading great things about The Great Courses. I went to see if they had a particular course which I knew my son would be interested in. The cost of this course is almost $700!!?? Is there something about gaining access to these which I am not aware of (coupon code, discount, library loan?).

Can anyone share their study schedule/process with me? For example, how do you master vocabulary (pronunciation, spelling, definition), grammatical rules, etc. on a daily basis for each chapter? How long does it generally take you? Do you master the vocabulary before you attempt the sentinae at the end of each chapter? How do you master the vocab? Do you write everything out? Listen to audio? How much time do you spend on this each day? Any study tips and suggestions would be appreciated. I have seen the various links for study aids in previous posts. I was just wondering how much time and in what sequence to do all this work -- it's a bit overwhelming and I don't think my dd is scheduling enough time for drill.

I would love to hear from people with experience. Why are you glad you chose to home school high school? How did it help your college-bound student achieve his/her goals? I am going to a family reunion in July where many of the parents are middle/upper school teachers and professionals ( many PhDs in this group). We have not seen them for some time, and I know they already think we are crazies for choosing to continue home schooling the high school years. I want to be prepared as possible so that I can educate them on the benefits of our choice. One of their children already told my son that he will never get into college without a diploma. My 11 year old son has huge academic hopes and it really took a lot to convince him this was not true. Another family has just spent several thousand dollars traveling the country visiting different colleges for their daughter. I can see traveling a lot to choose a graduate school, but we have no intention of traveling the globe for and undergrad school. I'm not really interested in their approval, but I do want to be as prepared and confident as possible for my children. Hopefully, my children's behavior, attitude, and love of learning will speak for itself and I will not have to say anything. Can you tell I'm a little nervous? Thanks in advance for your help!

:bigear: I am wondering the same thing! So glad you asked this!

Here is another online classical school that is much less expensive and fairly new. They offer Latin, History, Logic, and German. http://www.therollingacresfarm.com/school/COURSE_CATALOGUE.php

We have been using Saxon since 3rd grade. This year we completed Algebra 1/2. Saxon has always been an easy fit for us; it always gets done, standardized test scores are great, and comprehension has never been a challenge. Both of my children plan on going in to science related fields, so they will definitely take math through calculus (possibly beyond) in high school. I keep reading that Saxon is not good at teaching mathematical thinking and students struggle when they get to calculus because they cannot think outside the box. I am nervous about switching away from a curriculum that has worked so well for us (even though my children really hate Saxon). I guess I am wondering if anyone has had any experience switching at this point? Has anyone had their students use Saxon successfully through calculus? Any input is appreciated!

Approximately how much time would an above average student need to devote to this course to do well? I read somewhere on their website that students need to spend 1 1/2-2 hours per day on Latin?! My daughter is fine with spending an hour 4 times a week and 1 hour a week for the actual online class; anything more would seem overwhelming given her other coursework. Thanks in advance for your input!

Sorry, that is Latin I not Latin Ine!

Approximately how much time would an above average student need to devote to this course to do well? I read somewhere on their website that students need to spend 1 1/2-2 hours per day on Latin?! My daughter is fine with spending an hour 4 times a week and 1 hour a week for the actual online class; anything more would seem overwhelming given her other coursework. Thanks in advance for your input!

Will the Rainbow curriculum thoroughly teach/reinforce the scientific method? I plan to use this with my 7th grade son and 8th grade daughter. We have doctors and teachers in our family who all hail from top tier grad schools. They do not live nearby where they can see what my two dc are learning and how they are flourishing. They cannot comprehend why we would want to continue to homeschool middle and high school. One of them is a middle school science teacher. I know she is going to ask this question and I want to be prepared (isnt that terrible?). Both of my children are very science/math minded like their father (and his lovely relatives). They know all the steps of the Scientific Method, but they do not yet know about things such as dependant variables. I'm hoping Rainbow will go into more detail on these things?

My daughter takes a Latin 1 live class through Rolling Acres. They are offering a live Middle Ages history class for 2012-2013. The prices are very reasonable. They teach with an authentic classical approach. Classes are college prepatory and very thorough. You can see samples here: http://www.therollingacresfarm.com/school/COURSE_CATALOGUE.php

My 11 year old has been using IEW for about 3 years. I have never been concerned with his writing because it has been very impressive. Recently, I did a few lessons with him from WWS and it was like he was a completely different kid! I was shocked. The grammar was fine, but the writing was very amateurish and did not flow well at all. His paper from the day four exercise was pitiful and needed a ton of revision. Now I am second guessing my writing approach. Should we drop IEW and focus on WWS completely? I will miss the way IEW integrates vocabulary into each paper...any advice would be appreciated!

Rolling Acres offers history, and it is classical and authentically Catholic. Also, their prices for live online classes are very good. http://www.therollingacresfarm.com/school/ABOUT_US.php#About%20the%20Instructors

Everyone I know who does Saxon only does the odds or evens. They also do not do all of the tests. I have always been told they need to do everything if they want to do well. We are currently in Algebra 1/2 and are averaging around 94% on the tests. It takes my children 1 1/2 hours to do a lesson and about 45 min to do a test. I am tempted to let them skip problems to allow more time for other subjects, but I don't want to do them a disservice. Any advice?

Will the remaining pdf files (16 on) be available before December? I don't want to get too far into this if we will not have anything to use after December. Also, is there a scope and sequence to ALL available? I am just trying to decide if the material being covered in ALL will be enough for my 7th grader who has finished R & S 6. We have LOVED all the FLL levels, and we were so excited when we heard about ALL. I really want to use ALL if it will truly be available this year ( all the lessons -- even if just in pdf). Thanks!