Melisha
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Health is a required class in IL (for public school students), and as I flip through the book, this information is very important. Of course, my daughter has learned about the body and some diseases along the way in science, etc. Plus, I am very into fitness, and my poor children have had to endure listening to me talk about nutrition, race training plans, calories, and grams of fat all of their short lives! Ha! There is no requirement to go through the entire textbook of course. As an IL homeschool student, she is not even required to take health. However, I really think she will benefit from going through the information in a formal way. In fact, one thing that drives me crazy about public schools is that they never cover all of the coursework material. I am excited to go through it and teach it! I just wish it counted as a real class for college admission. Here are the topics: 8 Units: Mental Health, Social Health, Nutrition, Physical Fitness, Substance Abuse, Human Development, Preventing Disease, Community Health and Safety. 26 Chapters: Making Healthy Decisions; Personality, Self-Esteem, and Emotions; Managing Stress; Mental Disorders and Suicide; Family Relationships; Building Healthy Peer Relationships; Preventing Violence; Food and Nutrition; Making Healthy Food Choices; Digestion and Excretion; Movement and Coordination; Cardiovascular and Respiratory Health; Exercise and Lifelong Fitness; Personal Care; Alchohol; Tobacco; Preventing Drug Abuse; Reproduction and Heredity; Pregnancy, Birth, and Childhood; Adolescence and Adulthood; Infectious Diseases; Sexually Transmitted Infections and AIDS; Chronic Disease and Disabilities; Safeguarding the Public; A Healthy Community and Environment; Preventing Injuries Then, there are 3 to 4 sections in each chapter! But it does not end there! It continues with a first aid appendix that includes things like choking & rescue breathing, etc. I am definitely not an expert regarding all of these topics. Plus, I think that the information is important enough (that when there is some crossover with some of her other classes) that she gets two doses of the information. So, yes, my poor darling daughter will have to learn all of the topics in the 737-page book (no matter rather she gets a transcript credit for it), but maybe she will thank me someday! :-) Smiles, Melisha :-)
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I am glad that I am not alone! ;-) I make plans for everything. I love plans and schedules. Obviously, different personality types do things differently. If I have a plan, then I accomplish it. If I do not have a plan, it does not happen. My favorite quote is "A goal without a plan is just a dream." -- by Joe Friel
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In regards to her artwork... Thank you! I will pass along the compliment to her. Okay, due to all of the feedback, I will not give credit for consumer education, health, etc. I did not realize that those classes were not included on transcripts sent to colleges. Since she has to actually take and do the work for the classes, I thought she would get credit for them. By the way, I received her GIANT student health textbook yesterday. How on earth is all of that information supposed to be covered and learned in one semester!?!? I am so glad that you mentioned the chemistry and biology courses. In regards to the AP Biology course, I looked at the course outline and requirements, and I really think this class is within her ability. In regards to the AP Chemistry for her sophomore year... Originally, I entertained having her take Algebra II then Geometry. According to info that I have read, if she has a high level of success in Algebra II, then the regular high school chemistry class prerequisite can be waived... making her "eligible" to take the AP chemistry. But, I then switched to Geometry then Algebra II order and completely forgot about the chemistry issue! One option is to switch back to Algebra II then Geometry. Then, she would have Algebra II freshman year, and then may or may not (depending on success in Alg II) take the AP Chemistry her sophomore year. However, since I posted my plan, I have learned some things... One of which, it appears to be more advantageous to take an AP class her senior year than her sophomore year. So, this is what I am thinking in regards to math and science: 9th Geometry 10th Alg II 11th Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus 12th Calculus - (OR AP Statistics depending on her desired career path and the requirements of the colleges that she wants to apply. I have actually heard that some colleges want AP statistics instead of calculus (depending on her major). 9th AP Biology (I think that she can handle this specific class right now.) 10th Chemistry 11th Physics 12th AP Chemistry (OR the forensic science and another one-semester science depending on her desired career path and the requirements of the colleges that she wants to apply.) Is this a better use of her time? She is going to be working hard either way. She might as well be working hard on courses that are going to set her up for the best possible success (for college and life). Thanks! Melisha
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Thanks again for all of your input. I did not intend to imply that she plans to apply to only one school. I want her to have zero limitations... meaning that I want her to be able to apply to whatever schools she wants. However, she currently wants to apply to ivy league schools. :-) Luckily she is passionate about many things. Even though she is artsy, she also loves algebra, history, and language arts. She even loved life science, so I expect that she will enjoy biology this year. We definitely will know more about what she wants to do by the end of her sophomore year, but I just want to plan so that she does not miss something important that will knock her out of the running for something she wants to do. I know that the plan will have to be adjusted as we go. Again, I am so glad that I posted. I was completely thinking incorrectly on how the classes should be arranged and how colleges view coursework. :-) Smiles, Melisha
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This is very interesting. We loved HO1-2 in the other world history courses. Modern World History is listed as 1 credit because it is covered in two semesters. I could definitely beef it up with additional materials. However, the course has a research project the 2nd semester and 2 honors projects (one each semester). So, the three projects will dictate that she goes beyond the HO3 book. Is this not enough coursework to merit a full credit? By the way, that is great that your son scored a 730 on the SAT world history test! Both of my kids think that they are history experts... because of the K12 history program. We have always loved it!!! Thanks! Melisha
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Thanks again for all of your input! I really appreciate all of this advice! My DD does want to go to a highly selective/competitive college. However, your comments regarding art are very valid. I will show your course outline to my daughter and see what we can work out to better satisfy the requirements of top tier colleges and still allow her time to take the classes that she is passionate about. :-)
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Wow! Thank you to EVERYONE for all of the GREAT information! I am so glad that I joined and posted on this forum! I am not sure if it is appropriate, but since some of the topics overlap, I am writing one response. When I came up with the plan, I focused on what information she has already obtained (and at what level the coursework was performed) and what knowledge she still needs. Even though I assigned a credit hour value to some of my daughter’s junior high classes, I did so to show that she has taken those courses and has knowledge of those topics. Plus, her junior high classes (history and otherwise) far exceed the academic level of the classes offered by our local public high school. When given the opportunity, I review what is being covered and what is being requested of the high school students in our school district. In regards to science, I counted her junior high K12 advanced earth science course because it was the advanced version. I did not count her K12 life science and physical science courses because those were regular classes, not advanced. However, if that is not how it works, she will take four years of science during her high school years. She was very excited about taking a forensic science class, but she could easily add a new (and different) science class to get the other needed semester. Or, she could substitute in one of the AP classes that was mentioned… Depending on what college she wants to apply to. As far as the history courses, the world history class she will take her freshman year is the third in "The Human Odyssey" series. Once again, more than giving her "high school credit," my main intention of listing those classes was to show that she has taken world history courses that cover prehistory through the 21st century (by the end of her freshman year). And, yes, the K12 Honors Literary Analysis and Composition I is a high school course. I was hoping that she could get some of her required high school coursework done in junior high, but if some colleges will not look at the class because it was not taken in a specified four year window… I have made life harder on her and wasted her time. :-( Well, education is never really a waste of time. :-) It will make the other classes easier. Illinois does not really require anything of homeschoolers; however, I try to exceed the IL Department of Education's requirements for public school students. One requirement is that high school students must take 50 minutes of physical education 5 days a week each year. Therefore, if my daughter is devoting that much time to P.E., she deserves to get the same credit as the local public school students. However, I would want those credits to be in addition to any academic credits she needs, not a substitute for them. I will rethink this, since the IL P.E. requirement does not really apply to her. She would love the extra time to work on her core classes! Plus, getting up at 6:00 a.m. so she has time to exercise is not her favorite. Ha! :-) I like the idea of spreading her classes out more evenly. She does not really expect to have a light senior year. I am encouraging her to seriously think about her long term goals these next two years and really make some serious decisions before she starts her junior year in high school. So, the vacant spots in her senior year are really so she can take any important classes that are more specific to her career path. However, I did not take into account that colleges look more at the age and years that she took the courses versus what level of knowledge she has based on her actual work in her specific classes. Teacher recommendations will have to come from her piano or theater instructors. I cannot send my daughter to the local public school for any classes. For instance, the high school biology class finished only ONE THIRD of the textbook topics last year and still counted it as a year of biology. I may not be the best science teacher in the world, but we will go through each chapter as we are supposed to and google videos to fill in where my lack of knowledge fails her. Additionally, even though the local school “teaches the test,†only 7% of the high school students met and only 2% exceeded the math proficiency expectations. And, only 54% met and only 6% exceeded English proficiency expectations. In contrast, Alexandria’s 8th grade Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) ranked her in the top 1% nationally. Her complete composite: 99 National Percentage Rank (Note: The test was administered over a course of 3 to 4 days at and by Holy Trinity Catholic High School). She will take SAT subject tests… I just have not researched the tests enough, yet to know how to list them appropriately. I like the 4x5 approach. If I understand some of the comments correctly, I may have some of her electives incorrectly listed. I thought I was finished (with some expected tweaking along the way), but it looks like I have a long way to go! Ha! My daughter does love art and is very disappointed that she will not have time to take art in high school… However, she is developing an art class to teach at a nearby assisted living center. She is going to include an art history section in her class, so she will have a reason to keep her knowledge sharpened! My apologies for this very long post. I probably have not addressed all of the comments. I have read them, and I will reread them. I need to go for now, but I am sure that I will have additional questions and comments regarding all of your posts. Thanks again for ALL of the GREAT information! This has been extremely informative! I welcome any additional comments and recommendations! Thanks again! Melisha
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Hello, I am new to the board, but not new to homeschooling. I have taught my children for nine years, eight of which I used the K12.com independent study program. Due to the dramatic price increase from grade school to high school, I branched out last year for my daughter's 8th-grade year to expand my experience in pulling different curriculums together. My plan for my soon-to-be freshman follows this message. If I have made any errors or omitted important course requirements, please let me know! My goal is for my daughter to have zero limitations. :-) She is used to a very rigorous class load. Depending on what school she wants to get into, she may have to take calculus instead of statistics and computer programing instead of web design. However, she prefers statistics and web design, so we will plan on those for now. Also, I am aware of my typo on the 5K calendar due date. Of course, it should be 2017, not 2007. :-) As far as "life skills," I plan to include things like writing checks and keeping a checkbook in the consumer education class. I also currently have my daughter reading "Home Comforts: The Art & Science of Keeping House" by Cheryl Mendelson. This 800+ page book covers everything from cleaning to electrical safety to insurances. She has to have it read before school starts in August. I also plan to have her follow me around for a week this summer and do what I do (cleaning, laundry, meals, etc). She already folds the towels, sets the table, helps me organize shared closets, organizes her own spaces, and of course, makes her own bed. When she was little, I involved her in more, but I always feel guilty about how much work I make the kids do for school, so I usually let them have their free time to be free. However, I realize that I am short changing them if they leave the house and do not know how to do laundry! Thank you in advance for any advice! Again, the plan is below. Melisha