Have any of you used Building Brilliant Architects? https://www.buildingbrilliantmindsonline.com/building-brilliant-architects1.html I'm interested in the Introduction to Architecture course. Thanks, Kendall

Thank you, both for giving input.

My son, who is also an older child of many siblings and was/is very good with children, would suggest consciousdisciplne.com or better yet the book by the same title or Easy to love, difficult to discipline has similar material by the same author (and is shorter) . As with all books, there will be a thing or two to throw out, but he has worked part time as a preschool teacher for 3 years and has gained very effective skills through this. One big thing he has learned is to view his time with the children with a focus on connecting with them rather than taking care of them. The nominal charge could pay for supplies. i agree that without payment people often don't show BUT if it is a chance to leave your child somewhere for free? I think they will show up!

This year I did something similar to what is discussed in Write Beside Them by Penny Kittle or 180 Days by Gallagher and Kittle (I didn't do the reading part, because my kids already do a lot of reading). It features modeling and mentoring and feedback and writing time and time to experiment. I wish I could point you to the perfect website for a quick overview, but I haven't found one. movingwriters.org has so much that I hesitate to send you there nor to link to just a few articles for fear you won't get the wonderful picture that I did from the books. But I will risk it. https://movingwriters.org/2018/02/01/what-time-is-it-notebook-time/ https://movingwriters.org/2015/09/14/891/

I think all of my daughters(6th through 12th) could tell me what alliteration is. What are the goals of learning such figures of speech? What would be the benefits of looking at examples from excellent literature if they already know that figure? Maybe trying to imitate? Maybe locating that figure in their reading? Recognizing the effect the alliteration has on the work? How can I take teaching figures of speech beyond the remember/understand level? Thanks, Kendall

This does help. It will especially help me feel better when we have a medically difficult year and only get 5-6 short polished pieces and lots of regular short writing that isn't polished. Which we did. This year will be better.

Thank you, all! This was so helpful. I'm going to set some kind of goal, with rough deadlines because working on any writing one piece can just stretch and stretch for weeks and weeks.

I think I need a clear goal with regard to the number of essays I should require for English each semester. I would love to get an idea about what other people are doing. I tried searching for senior english high school syllabus on google, but that didn't give me any with specific requirements. If your kids took an online class or if you taught this at home about how many did they write each semester? My kids are rising 10th and 12th graders I would also be interested in how much they wrote in other classes, particularly homespun courses. Thanks, Kendall

I don't remember what all that entails, and my guess is that it is the process and not the product that is important . I don't know if these would be of interest to you, but if you want other ideas that might be related search google for one pagers and also sketch notes.

I'm taking a close look at how we are using our time and I'm wondering what you think about analogies I've been using the Analogies books by Liebman I'm trying to decide whether to go ahead with the 3rd book when my rising 8th grader finishes the 2nd book. What do you think the value of these is. If vocabulary is a big part of your answer, I'm wondering how effective learning vocabulary is with regard to long term retention. Thanks, Kendall

https://www.masterbooks.com/catalog/product/view/id/2753 I'm looking at this and wondering if anyone here has used it. I tried to search, but couldn't find anything. Thanks, Kendall

I also use the Foerster Algebra books, though this would work with any text. Each concept/skill that we went over I put a problem from the book on an index card with the answer and also sometimes work shown on the back. Each day the child starts with a 5-10 minute session of working problems on the flash cards. So review is brief but consistent. The index card stack gets thicker as the year goes on, but it is slowly cycled through and then repeated.

I love having access not only to practice tests, but also to the forum. At least for AP Calculus, the forum was really helpful to me. I haven't used the forum for AP Govt (I don't even know for sure that there is one). And getting approval is a quick process.

Thanks for the reply. I'll look into the timeline song. I found this site with ideas for the science cards. I haven't had time to sit down and see how to apply them to the history cards. https://www.halfahundredacrewood.com/cc-science-cards/

I'd love to hear your creative (and not creative) ideas for using these Ancient History cards that I bought from the Classical Conversations booth at the homeschool conference last year. And haven't used even though we have done ancients this year. My girls are 5th and 7th. Thanks, Kendall

All of the texts that I have looked at tell students to substitute the answer into the original to check for extraneous solutions. Aren't there some situations where you don't need to check, you just need to determine if the solution is in the domain? I'm thinking of functions with a variable in the denominator and logarithmic functions. In these two types of functions, is there a function for which this would not determine which ones were extraneous? Thanks in advance, Kendall

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Several have been mentioned that I haven't looked at before. We've been just doing books and videos (101 series). Maybe they are learning enough and I shouldn't worry about it. I am drowning in 3 high schoolers so unfortunately my two kids that are below high school can't get any more of my prep/teach time than they already have for grammar/math/Latin/Writing.

What I know: I don't want to use Apologia General and Physical Science I don't want something history/biography heavy I've never done these years well, IMO. Secular or Christian is fine What is out there? Thanks, Kendall

My girls have liked some of the lighter topics (crayons for example) in the Stuff You missed in History Class. We also liked some of the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast-the ones with guests-Daring Destinations, Creating World Class Service, Vision:A conversation with Frank Blake, I feel like there were a few others. These were ones my 5th/7th/9th graders liked. My 9th grader has liked the Revisionist History, but those might be emotionally tough for the younger ones sometimes. At least the few we have listened to. Not a podcast, but yale has a REvolutionary War course that has both audio and video options. All ages here liked those. (3rd and up) https://oyc.yale.edu/history/hist-116

I also would add reading. My kids read fiction on their own time, but during school I do assign a literature book that is a bit more challenging usually or at least a fiction that they wouldn't pick up on their own but will probably enjoy when it is forced upon them:). It sounds like you have that covered. Then mine also read a history book of some kind--biography, autobiography or other engaging history read (beyond their spine or textbook). they also have a living science book of some kind. We do longer picture books such as the scientists in the field series or any interesting living science. Another idea is to assign a 15 minute logic puzzle time- either a mindbenders/perplexors type book or a solitaire logic game like Rush Hour or AntiVirus or IQ fit etc.

I think there is a great deal of value in wrestling with difficult material, regardless of how/if you will use it directly later. This is one reason why all of my children, regardless of future major or ability, have done/will do physics, chemistry, and biology. Physics seems to be the science that you can see happening the most. They drive cars and throw balls and swing things around etc. I want them to know as much as they can about the physics behind it all! In Physics the mathematical difficulty and number of topics we have covered has varied among children. One son wrestled through the first semester and the second semester we covered less in the book and he spent the rest of the time reading books I found at the university library about physics topics related to an area of interest (audio). Conceptual Physics is an option for less math.

I had 2 kids test in NMF range as sophomores with most of geometry completed, and then again junior year with most of Alg 2 completed. 1 kid in NMF range both years who was a semester ahead of his brothers so he was just starting Alg 2 sophomore year and just into precalc junior year. That was before the redesign. After the redesign I think the first few practice tests had some precalculus which didn't seem quite fair, but I'm not sure I noticed any this year. I can check later.

I agree that there is no magic and directly working with her is what it will take. My advice is a lot of hard work, but it sounds like your husband is doing some of this already so I’ll go ahead and give a few ideas. I have a child that greatly struggles with math. It takes years for her to get mostly solid with terms and skills. Instructions confuse her. Simplify vs. evaluate for example. I have to explain the same things week after week as though they are new. I could say much more. I've wondered about Pysch-ed testing. Hers is not a typical problem, but dyscalculia did not fit at all. It was hard fought, but she did pass the College Algebra CLEP test recently. I have taught her through the first semester of precalculus, which in this text is mostly trigonometry. Now she is taking Stats I at a CC. Her last math ACT was 27. I never, never expected her to get there. New math concepts/skills are still not easy or quick to learn and she still forgets old things. But I firmly believe that everyone can get better, and gotten better she certainly has. Here are some of the things that I have done. First, I taught her math. No videos. When I realized that even though she was most of the way through geometry she still had arithmetic and algebra she didn't know, I dug in for a long fight with the problem (not with her!). At first daily I put 4-5 problems on post-it notes from the current or past concepts she missed that day. The next day she started with those. We did this each day. I tried to space the review a bit once she was getting them correct consistently. I did not worry about getting a certain amount done each day. I also limited the number of challenging problems and helped her through them. I increased this really intense math review after she finished geometry and I was seeing that precious little was remembered long term. We went back to the beginning of algebra. I did let her try problems first that I thought she once knew how to do because I wanted her to struggle a bit to remember. Brain research shows that this helps even if they don’t remember. Especially (or only?) if you give feedback right away. Each concept/skill that we went over I put a problem on an index card with the answer and also sometimes work shown on the back. Each day we start with a 10-30 minute session of working problems on the flash cards (by this time this replaced the post-its). We did this all the way through the algebra book. I actually used a different book(Lial) than we had originally (Foerster) mainly because a sister was using the Foerster book. It helped that a medical event made she and I decide that an extra year of school for her was a wise plan and because we really only lost a half year I had a semester “extra”. If I hadn’t had that, then in your shoes I would have chosen a very easy Geometry program and continued algebra through the summer (lighter time wise) and even into the next year and used an easy geometry either alongside or after. I agree with other posters here that algebra is foundational. If I had to choose I would do geometry light to get the time needed to make algebra I as solid as possible. We also did some “two-a-days” We worked the full hour during the school day and 15-20 minutes many evenings. Because she was older, we also did the flash card plan with ACT problems cycling through the same problems for months and months before trying another practice test. This brought out other concepts she should have remembered and didn’t and forced problem solving type thinking. It might be less stressful for your husband to just teach her from a text and choose his own problems rather than feeling that she has to get certain things done that the Chalkdust tells you. I’m not familiar with it though so maybe there is a way to use it in the way I have described and just cut down the quantity so the review gets a bigger chunk of time. I could do better at explaining this sitting down next to you, but hopefully my unpolished post will give you some ideas.

My situation is a little different because my daughter used Foerster Algebra 1 and the first 7 or 8 chapters of AOPS Introductory Algebra for her Algebra 1 year. Then this year I am using Jurgensen Geometry and she works out of the AOPS book when she needs a break from geometry. She didn't like the thought of a whole year of only geometry.

I do not have time or brain power tonight to write well about this, but this is a topic that is very important to me. I also like teaching and being involved and I personally think it is a very good thing. My junior with a big scholarship in a college that has an average ACT of 30 and has a 4.0 would agree (we have talked about this!) that being involved and teaching and discussing is a good thing. I teach math and they sit near me while they do it. I teach chemistry and physics(though not biology). I do writing with all my kids at once. We do quick lessons and quick writes and then they go write and I rotate around as needed. Other courses I discuss with them when I can (lit and history particularly) but otherwise do on their own. Some courses are completely independent. My goal is not to have an independent learner off in their room doing all their school on their own. My college kids haven't needed hand holding in spite of my larger amounts of interaction/teaching. I do also teach them about doing college. The rude awakening my kids have had about college is that it isn't just about learning. You have to do things to get a grade and they aren't always what they feel is the best use of their time. Also their workload can be impossible to do as thoroughly as they might have done in high school with a mom that focused on learning and not grades. They can still get an A and not do a thorough job. They might like to spend more time reading and researching before writing, but they don't have time. They do help plan their year/schedule and they know they can let me know if things aren't going well and that we will find a solution. When they have had an outside class (pretty rare in our home) I give as much support as is needed, if any. Then as the class goes on I work at transitioning out of that support. Usually (Always, maybe?) that happens naturally and I don't have to work at it.