Dd is still in 9th grade but I'm in the process of making a report card for her. My plan was to just use plain ol' A, B, C and not even weigh her grades. The only thing I'm tweaking is that to get an A, dd needs to get an average of 92 and up, B = 85-91, C = 77-85. So instead of weighing, I'm sort of raising the bar a little higher to make her work more to reach it. I do plan on including the grading scale on the report. Pros and cons of this idea? Should I use the + and -?

Thank you, Connie! I was just sitting down to plan out our physics for next year. I do have a question for the experienced physics people out there: how did you handle the review questions and exercises? Do you do all the review questions? How do you choose which exercises to answer? :-)Anna

Yes, another mom and I have registered an NJCL chapter for the past 4-5 years. In our state, we also have to sign up for the state league to be able to compete in the Certamen. The high schools also have regional activities in the fall and a state convention in the spring. The Certamen is held in the spring a month before the state convention and a week after the NLE. So my students get to use all that studying twice ;) Schools compete in three different Latin levels to vie for a spot to compete at the convention. I don't know if each state is set up the same way. The coolest thing for me is that the Certamen in held in Princeton University, I just enjoy walking around and checking out the neat architecture and being able to go inside some of the buildings. I like how it gives my children a chance to interact with other students in an academic setting. My students have gotten quite competitive, which would not have been the case without participating in the Certamen. My team came in 2nd place in their level this past March! The state convention also gives them a chance to see a slice of public school life. My challenge now is having enough students to be able to sign up as a chapter. My friend is done teaching Latin, while my students keep dwindling every year. I managed to find another mom whose children are taking an online Latin class to join with me this schoolyear. HTH! Anna P.S. My students are in middle school and they were thrilled to beat the high schoolers. But their toughest competitor this year was another middle-school team.

My friend's son is in University of Sciences in Philly http://www.usciences.edu/ From what I can recall, this school's PT program is a 6-year program culminating in a DPT. The son opted to apply to schools with the 6-year program just so he wouldn't have to deal with applying to a DPT program after his first two years. So this could be a possible option to look into. Then the classes are already tailored to go up to the DPT level.

Has anyone ever taken lit classes through CTT? If yes, can you give a review here or pm me? Thank you! Anna

Almost all the public schools in our area do two years of US History for 2 credits, so it shouldn't not be unusual to have two years of US history on a transcript.

I went to the Thinkwell website and this is what is stated about the AP Bio. Though similar to our college-level biology course, AP Biology also includes diagnostic assessments geared toward AP exam preparation. HTH!

My ds went into ps at 9th grade. Our high school is ultra-competitive due to the demographics in our area. Based on conversations with friends in other towns, each high school has its own set of criteria to determine placement. But definitely be able to answer algebra 1 level questions, know some basic lit analysis terms (theme, symbolism, etc), and be able to write a short essay from a prompt. Other skills would be to know how to take notes in class, manage her time to maintain grades, and know how to take tests. I know the last point might sound like a "duh" statement but being homeschoolers, we might not be giving our children tests like the ps. Since this is a new school, the course offerings might not be as broad as a regular high school. Many magnet schools in our area have very limited choices in terms of classes. For example, in our county's science magnet schools, everyone takes the same classes and follow the same progression. Also, no AP classes. You study and take the test on your own. Try to find as much info as you can about the class offerings of the school. Will there be honors and AP classes? How many students will be accepted? If the number is small, it might affect the number of classes that they can give. HTH!

I enjoyed Windows to the World a lot! It is structured so well that I was able to use it with much success with my two older ones. It is a very logical way to introduce lit analysis with enough hand-holding for a math/science person like me who never had much exposure to analyzing lit. I do have the Writing Research Papers set but haven't used it yet so can't comment on that.

Environmental Science is an option. Or how about Hewitt's Conceptual Physics? I admit I haven't used Conceptual physics yet but I am planning on using it with my dd since it's not supposed to be as math heavy as regular physics course. It's sort of like an Intro to Physics.

Thank you! I hope you don't mind a few more questions. I see that there are different versions of Ways of the World. One has both volumes in one book. Then there are separate books for Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, both says "with sources" on the covers. Do you recommend the separate volumes with sources? Did you supplement the books by using the book website?

Swimmermom3, do you think Vols. 1 and 2 can be used by themselves for studying world history? If those were the only books I use, can they be reasonably finished in one year, or would it be better to stretch it out to 1.5-2 years? I just asked dd what history she would like to cover next year and she wanted to study world history. We loved using SWB's Ancient World book two years ago but I found that I needed help in coming up with ideas to get her to write more, to make connections with ideas instead of just writing about facts.

We have a friend whose daughter is taking an IB Visual Arts class. They are asked to produce a workbook of not just drawings but also their research, ideas, thoughts, etc. The workbooks get submitted somewhere at the end of the class. So I searched around and found this site that can give you more details about what an IB art student is required to do. http://ibart.wetpaint.com/page/Mrs.+Anderson's+IB+Art+Curriculum+and+Handouts Look around the site and the links to get an idea of what a workbook should contain. So in addition to a previous advice to draw a lot, making a workbook like this would be a great experience in expressing the ideas that went into creating an original piece of art. HTH!

The plan is still for her to take the PSAT. Thanks for the note about scholarships/merit aid. I totally forgot about that in the whole equation. To be honest, having her take tests, any test, is easier than having her think about colleges. Since she is both academically and artistically gifted (but undecided as to what she wants to do) I have to make sure she's "covered" in both areas by having her take various SAT II subject tests and a few APs. ( I know this has nothing to do with my original question but I find that I need to think out loud when I'm unsure of myself and this whole homeshcooling high school thing.)

Dd already took her first SAT as an 8th grader and she scored pretty high, even without geometry under her belt. She's finishing up geometry this year as a 9th grader and I wanted her to take the SAT again before too much time elapses. As you mentioned, once one has a high score, it usually improves only by a little bit. So my thinking is if she takes the SAT sometime later this year as a sophomore, she can only get a higher score than she did at 8th grade, and that would already be in the competitive range. Then we don't have to worry about the SAT in her junior year. (Of course, there is always the possibility of her bombing it but I'm ignoring that idea for now.)

Will taking the SAT as a 10th grader matter much with colleges? Would colleges rather see SAT scores taken as a junior? Assume both scores will be in the same narrow range.

My son is in his second year on a First Tech Challenge (FTC) team. Most of his teammates are from a math and science academy so here are some areas ds has to learn on his own. Electronics - in the high school level teams, there is a lot more leeway as to the materials allowed. Teams can build their own circuit boards, protoboards, switches, etc. One has to know electronics concepts and how to solder. Ds will be using the book "Make: Electronics" over the summer to learn more. CAD - FIRST uses PTC CAD for their teams. This is one very useful skill since three kids on his team who are good at CAD were able to get summer intern jobs at an engineering firm and get paid way above minimum wage and be mentored by real engineers. I think another popular CAD program is Autodesk. We use PTC since it's free to FTC teams. These are the two things that come to mind right now. HTH!

I agree with Barbara H about the fewer DBQ and fewer FRQ practice. As for content, between the online lectures and the readings, IMHO, it is enough. Nancy in NJ posted about looking at previous exams and finding the DBQs and FRQs that go along with the topic for the week. Those then get assigned to the student. This part you would have to do yourself. Afterwards, both of you have to go over the samples given to see where your child can improve in her essays. I am also supplementing with the Kaplan test prep book. http://forums.welltr...bq#entry4421507 Check out this discussion and read OSUBuckeye's posts about the DBQs and FRQs. She has great suggestions about tackling those questions.

This is our first year dealing with AP. We went with Brinkley's text, An Unfinished Nation, since I was able to find that book for dirt cheap and it's the same book used in my niece's school for their AP USH class. We went with the montereyinstitute,org site because it has the answer keys. But dd did say at times there are questions on the tests that were not covered. I don't know if that has anything to do with the book used. Anna

Thanks to everyone for their replies. He is definitely going to shoot for the honors track now since that is the only way to get into AP Calc. The regular track Calc is not enough for him to be able to take the AP.

I am definitely going to get in touch with the school's math supervisor. We have a very competitive high school and it's one of the very few left that has three levels. The regular and honors tracks are for students going on to 4-yr colleges. Those in the lowest track are for students who are not shooting for the 4-yr colleges. It's not easy switching tracks since the school sticks to its rules on how to move up a track but based on how ds is doing so far, he will be able to request a switch into the honors math and science classes next year. I see now as a time of arming myself with information since his guidance counselor tends to dissuade him (and me) from taking the harder classes. Why? I don't know, but we tend to not listen to her too much anyway. Thanks for your help!

We are using book 1 of the grades 4-6. I decided to use it this year after talking to a rep from Artistic Pursuits at our homeschool convention. I think he is related to the author Brenda Ellis but I'm not 100% sure. I told him my concerns about teaching art since I am totally "unartistic." Stick figures are the most I can do. He explained to me that AP is not meant to teach students to become the next Van Gogh, but to teach students observe and see things around them the way an artist would. For example, I can see that my lawn is green, but how green is it? Is it all one shade of green? How many shades of green are there? Are there shadows? Where is the color the lightest? The book tackles and teaches the student to focus on one element at a time. The presence of many examples from students and artists, and the use of famous works of art to point out art elements makes it easy to understand each lesson. The best thing, IMHO, is that the lessons are laid out clearly and are very easy to follow. It is written to the student, though I do find I need to go over it with my 9 yo dd. As for materials, I have an older dd who is an artist so we pretty much have everything we need already. Just keep in mind that quality art materials does involve a fair amount of investment. I definitely would continue using this program for my children. HTH! Happy New Year!

Ds' school has a few tracks in math: Regular track = Geometry, Algebra 2, Trig, Calculus Honors track = Geometry, Algebra 2, Pre-calc, Calculus Ds is in the regular track but can be placed into honors track next year since he is doing very well. My question is what is the difference between Trig and pre-calc? One thing I was able to find out is that the honors track covers a few more topics than the regular track. What those extra topics are, I'm still in the process of finding out. So for the math gurus, what would be the advantages and disadvantages of staying in the Trig class for the whole year? In case this info would help, ds wants to go into engineering in college. Thank you! Happy New Year to all!

Yes, it does. Thank you!

Why am I not allowed to post on those forums? The bar says I cannot post a new topic.