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Kezia

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Everything posted by Kezia

  1. We put our 6th grader back into public after spring break last year. We did this suddenly because they were refusing to proctor the EOC math course he would need for entry into the advanced math track in 7th grade. Since they proctored it the year before and had placed him into advanced for 6th, they said that if we enrolled him he would be on the same path he would have been on had he started in the fall, so we did that. It was a smooth transition for him. They were in the middle of testing and did a lot of test prep, but he aced those tests. The teachers may have needlessly worried about their test scores, but I was not thinking of them when I enrolled him. I was thinking solely of the math track. They were very helpful and accommodating in every way. This is not a high performing school/district. It did give him a good idea of workload, testing, and general flow for 7th grade. 7th grade is no different than 6th (in this area) regarding the workload. I do understand some previous points about public schools prepping for testing now and it being a high stress time for teachers vs starting in the fall when everyone starts and not being that new kid.
  2. After 1.25 years of public school, we are planning on homeschooling again. We are so excited 😀. He wants to complete Algebra B online over the summer. How to be a Superstar Student and Cornell notes is the first thing on the list to do. Then: Geometry-AoPS self-study. Physics-DO Windows to the World + R&S 8 MP Classical Studies I World Geography-Guest Hollow (1/2 pace) Greek-he wants Greek- Athenaze at home Latin-he wants this too- Galore Park Latin prep MCT for poetry tea one day a week for fun and light Art of Argument discussion with videos. homeschool band 🤞 and martial arts
  3. Yes, I would definitely need audio and or video to help so thank you for the recommendations! I know that a good teacher adds to the book’s teaching and can fill in any aspects that one can miss in an independent study. While I do have language learning experience, Greek is one that is new to me. I will get Athenaze and a couple of workbooks and start working on it. Thanks, again 🙂
  4. I planned on teaching Latin myself using first 1/2 Wheelock’s and the plethora of help/videos online, but the kid likes the idea of Greek better. My first thought was to do First Form Greek at home in 8th grade in the fall to test the waters, but the kid despised First Form Latin and visibly cringed when I mentioned it. After speaking with him, I have settled on classical Greek and Athenaze. I know CLRC does the first 10 chapters in Highschool Greek 1, Lukeion manages the entire first book in Greek 1, and Schole does about the first 12 chapters. Less aggressive is the better choice for this student. Do all 3 providers give extra material that is not in the book? Are they equal in quality in your experience? He would prefer a self-paced option rather than a live class. Could I get the materials and work ahead (like I had planned with Wheelock’s) and teach this at home at 1 chapter every two weeks pace? I would aim for 10-12 chapters at home, then if he wants to continue move to one of the providers above for Greek 2. Any experience with self-paced courses that use videos and lesson plans that we could manage at home?
  5. I emailed the proctor university this morning asking if I needed to sign up directly with AMC in some way. The response, “Details to proceed for AMC 8 will be sent out NEXT WEEK.” And that was all that was said. So I remain confused. Hopefully what I signed up for is the only thing I need to do because I believe the deadline is approaching.
  6. Very informative! Especially the why a kid should take AMC 😀 I signed my child up at a somewhat local uni in January. I don’t have to sign up with AMC directly? The uni is “proctoring”, I paid a small fee to them and we are good to go? Just show up, take the test and they send results? First time for this and the local school knows nothing about it and doesn’t want to know anything. They do state math competitions only.
  7. So if there is a university nearby offering this, a parent can just sign up their student directly to take this, pay the $15 and show up at the chosen day/time?
  8. I thought the AP version was more advanced college level material even if it is still Algebra based? I also was under the impression that if I did that, I would likely leave the first one off the transcript? I could leave the Algebra 1 and 1st run through of Physics off the transcript because he would have other upper level courses that reflect the interest, rigor and level? Or I could leave those 2 classes on to demonstrate that interest. I am planning so much so early just so I will have options. If he were to fly through the math, maybe I would seek a calculus based AP Physics. I seem to recall something along the lines of it would be advisable to take the university classes in the area of major at the chosen university (not DE, not Clep, not AP) just because uni classes would be better and the student would get so much more out of them. Even if it means taking the class a second time. I hope I understood it all correctly.
  9. I really appreciate all of your kind advice. The experience on this forum is priceless. I am convinced I need to just do fall to spring like most others do for the sake of simplicity. I would love to have the confidence that so many of you exude. The local people I know who homeschool, have younger kids, have less rigorous ideals or they use a university model school. Just trying not to screw up my kid.
  10. Don’t worry about saying things gently. I need solid feed back. I probably should have chosen my words more carefully. I am not trying to acquire anything for him, but I do want to help him develop his passion, his way to stand out. If we decide to homeschool 8-12, I need a plan that will showcase that passion and ensure at least what he could get from public school high school. He says math and science are his passion. He watches science Great Courses, but only if I turn it on. He does AoPS math but I would not say he devours it. He works on 5-6 problems from C&P and calls it a day on weekends only. The science books that are cluttering my shelf have yet to be read. Books like: Backyard Ballistics, Potentially Catastrophic Science, Totally Irresponsible Science, Robotics…all sit gathering dust. He is an academically minded kid. He does want to learn. Maybe I will see something develop in the next year or so as far as passion.
  11. Thank you! I was looking for Chemistry recommendations 😀
  12. See? I have no idea what I am doing. I know SAT scores are no longer required by many schools. I know that based on current grades, MAP and required other state test scores, that my son would highly likely fall in top 10% of his class granting him automatic admission to most home state universities. I do not think that means $$ will automatically be offered because of class percentile. I figured AP courses would help verify the level of work completed at high school level. I was thinking a couple of DE courses also prove that. Based on this current 12 year old 7th grade boy, I would guess that he would do fairly well on the SAT. I don’t know whether it would be the level for National Merit Scholarship. I would also guess that he would do fine when prepped for AP exams. This child has no special interests. He is involved in a top 4H robotics team. Making him stand out in the “other” category is going to need some thought…
  13. Nothing aligns perfectly with my Jan-Dec academic year plan except my kid’s birthday. The material would have to be covered from Sept-May having my student test mid way through his “senior” year. Leaving either a dual enrollment course for the fall, self study or some sort of opportunity to tutor other students. And then I have no idea about SAT testing and scholarship applications on an alternate schedule. It just makes more sense to my stubborn self to promote in December. I was hoping graduating mid year would be advantageous regarding scholarships. I could always push the graduation date out to normal May if he needed some extra time….he also could just have that one class that will have to go until May, then he can officially graduate.
  14. I homeschooled 4- the most of 6th. In spring of 2023 we put him back with his public school class. He has asked to come back home after 7th. I have been perusing all the wonderful material in the pinned “motherlode” threads and have penned a plan for a strong high school transcript. I have questions about my math/science sequence. I plan on a 8th-9th grade span of 1.5 years because I prefer full calendar year rather than fall-spring and year round vs 3 months off for summer. I also planned on having that 5 months as flex time if necessary instead of “graduating” in December. Goals: strong transcript, showcasing passion for math/science and high SAT scores getting him scholarship $$$$$. I think that means he needs 2-3 AP courses w/ good scores. 8-9th AoPS Algebra B, finish C&P, Geometry DO Physics (~6 months) & Biology 10th Intermediate Algebra Chemistry 11th AoPS pre-cal AP Physics fall start-outsourced 12th AoPS Calculus (No AP Calculus= bad?) Extra Science maybe Astronomy DE The above plan still uses my preferred calendar year, but loses the AP calculus. I was trying for 2-3 AP’s, maybe DE the foreign language. If he is lacking AP Calculus, is that a bad thing? My original plan was to do AP Calculus through an outside provider the same as Physics, but I forgot about Intermediate Algebra. Are 2 AP classes like that even advisable? Why am I planning for Physics AND AP Physics, but I don’t do that for Calculus? I could: 1) wait until grade 12 for Calculus (he loves AoPS) and do a “normal” fall-spring academic year- killing my desire for calendar year grade levels. Wing it and hope he can pass AP exam or can still do outside provider, but stuck with standard year. Either way the precious AP can be done. 2)don’t use AoPS. Do AoPS class for Algebra 2 (called B with them), DO for Geometry, pre-Cal, and outside provider for AP Calculus 11th grade with that AP Physics. Can I jump ship mid AoPS sequence like this? 3) possibly he moves through AoPS material faster than in one year and could get through precal with AoPS with time for AP Cal like I originally planned? For us to do this high school thing, I have to feel that homeschooling can be done with at least the academic level of our local high school. (Shouldn’t be too hard to manage that, but I worry nonetheless.) Academically he would be so much better off at home, but I want to ensure I won’t be making a phenomenal mess of everything.
  15. I have a 12 year old who loves math. He recently started playing with the AoPS practice questions. He has enjoyed it so far. I want to sign him up, but I am not finding exactly what I need to do. Registration opens Sept 6 and the competition is in January? Someone other than the parent has to proctor? If homeschooling who does the proctoring? If public school and the school doesn’t already do any AMC prep or proctoring, how do public kids get signed up? I apologize for all the questions, but I can’t find answers.
  16. I remember there was a lot of talk about which version was the best one. I have a version with copyright 1988, 1985…is this the one everybody likes or was it the 1992?
  17. TGTB constitution study, AoPS and Philosophy for Kids were his favorites. I always enjoy R&S English. He can’t say he likes it, but it gets the job done.
  18. Thank you! It does seem like a great thing for him. Here he is one of only two kids accelerated in math in his grade. This type of competition can help him feel more like a smaller fish in a bigger pond.
  19. I assumed they would give no credit for anything unless coming from another public school. He has been accelerated 2 years in math already. I wouldn’t want him any more ahead, at least not officially. They don’t have a math team thatI am aware of. He is in his grade level of TMSCA (another separate math class) which is some sort of competitive math. He does seem to love the challenge of AoPS, (but I can’t teach that particular math as effectively as I could Saxon or Foerster, the frustration level is just too high for me personally). So we could work through the books at home but his teacher sucks. Why should he take this? He does like math and problem solving and does well with tests. I am not familiar with it except seeing it mentioned on this forum and the AoPS site….
  20. I homeschooled my child for 3 years and recently put him back into public (6th grade) because of various reasons. He was midway through 7th grade materials with homeschool. He is, however, not being challenged at all esp. in their supposedly advanced LA/reading (cursive packets and Easter parts of speech coloring sheet for 6th grade 🤔). No homework with lots of time to finish work in school. We will summer school/weekend/after school fun discussion based things like Logic, Philosophy for Kids and Classical Studies, some Literature and Rod and Staff Grammar (finish 7 and get through 8 before high school). So currently he does a couple of hours of AoPS self paced Algebra A mostly on weekends. He wants to continue AoPS even beyond Algebra A, by his own choice. Questions I have are: Math? AoPS classes work for after schoolers, but are so fast paced… Have those classes worked for you? I have considered the sequence of C and P online and then Algebra B while in public school he will be doing a second pass through Algebra 1. Derek Owens is another option that looks to be viable for after schooling and self paced as well. Are those classes going to feel as awesome for a kid who says he likes the AoPS style and challenge (but really I suspect he sometimes tires of the constant challenge)? Sequence would be Geometry starting in fall while he does a second pass concurrently through Algebra 1 in public school. Language Arts?? Writing: WTM academy (delayed class) for expository writing 2 as an after school class? How much work per day? Would this be excessive for a kid who hates writing? Second option is summer only light writing using mixture of Lantern, EIW level 10 and Wordsmith series.
  21. Yeah ☹️ and I am wondering if this is me all sad and teary over losing that control and being overly critical of what annotation is vs isn’t. Maybe annotation is any interaction with a text, even just underlining the main idea (likely topic sentence then) in every paragraph. Or maybe they are labeling something a nice term of annotation so it sounds good and advanced , but really teaching it as just underlining the main idea. I have after schooling/summer plans. I don’t want my kid to lose confidence in me as a teacher.
  22. I do not disagree with underlining the main idea as being helpful. And I am certain that it does have to do with state standards. This is part of STARR practice questions. My son says they do this “annotating” one day and answer attached questions the next. The questions are super easy, and I am betting it is to help focus on the parts of the text that can help answer those STARR questions. She told him no thoughts, no opinion on what the author may be trying to say. No questions in the margins.
  23. He told me this was his first assignment for reading. He is 12 so I was doing annotation with him a little early. The practicing we had done was solely narrative fiction, but I saw he was trying to do what I had taught him on his assignment. I told him he was doing great. He doesn’t write enough in the margins but we had just started so he was doing okay. He told me the next day that she said annotating was just to underline the main idea not all that other stuff. I don’t know if she said “You are doing it wrong!” or “Hey, all I really want here is the main idea underlined.” I feel so sad to put him back into public school when homeschool was working so well for us (well minus some attitude from him). I also put him back in now instead of the fall so we abruptly stopped in the middle of some things I had planned to finish. So I took it personally and was hoping I had taught him correctly. Mainly I didn’t want my child to think my teaching was severely lacking in this area. I would have encouraged note taking or outlining from this informational text.
  24. I taught my son annotating recently in our homeschool. It was putting notes into the margins, interacting with the author by writing thoughts, interesting things, underlining unknown words, predicting what might happen, any questions you have as a reader, noting literary elements…. I just put him into public school and the teacher told him to annotate an informational text. I wondered why annotate such a text?? He says she wanted the main idea of each paragraph underlined. He didn't add this but why not underline the supporting points also and call it a beginner outline basics. Is finding the main idea really called annotation?
  25. This is approximately what we did when I was guiding him just with the books at home. We did chapter one like that then we skipped to chapter 5 and then 8 because he had high interest in new material. I only asked for a handful of the Challenge problems, but he did all problems and exercises. With online self paced, he has not yet touched the book. I told him I want him to read/work through the problems in the sections when he gets to chapter 6. I still am present and working through the self paced with him the majority of the time. I know he would have done quite a few more problems total had we gone through the book like we were previously.
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