Jenny - I think your schedule looks perfectly fine and very competitive. However, in regards to those saying that it will be 8 credits, that isn't actually true. The state of Florida has dictated how much high school credit each dual enrollment college class is worth and even if you change it for your homeschool transcript (I have heard) that the college admissions evaluators (for Florida colleges) will readjust it to match the rest of the FL public school transcripts. So Comp I will be 1 credit but the other two classes will be .5 credits each. :)

Cassandra Evyn Marina D'artagnan Alexander

I need to make a decision and register dd this week. Without all the back-story, which of these history sequences seems the strongest or most solid? Dd plans to earn her AA through dual enrollment, in which case none of this will matter. In case that doesn't happen and she has to apply to colleges based on her transcript - which looks best? She plans to major in the area of theater, music, film, etc. She will have a strong transcript in those areas. She will be in 8th this year. Option 1 9th - H US History 2 (FLVS) + CLEP 9th - H US Government (FLVS) 11th - Humanities 1 (Anc. - Ren.) and 2 (Ren. - mod.) (DE) 2.5 credits Option 2 8th - US History 1 (FLVS) + CLEP 9th - H US History 2 (FLVS) + CLEP 9th - H US Government (FLVS) 11th - Humanities 1 and 2 (DE) 3.5 credits Option 3 8th - H World History (FLVS) 9th - H US History 2 + CLEP 9th - H US Government 11th - Humanities 1 and 2 (DE) 3.5 credits Option 4 8th - H World History 8th - US History 1 + CLEP 9th H US History 2 + CLEP 9th H US Government 11th - Humanities 1 and 2 (DE) 4.5 credits (but two earned in 8th grade and dd must drop music for 8th - Dd not a fan of this choice) Option 5 9th - H US History 2 + CLEP 9th - US Government 10th - (some sort of history) 11th - Humanities 1 and 2 (DE) 3.5 credits (but must drop Spanish 2 in 10th grade - this could also be 4.5 credits if adding an 8th grade history) This is the option I am leaning toward. But, if chosen, do I add 8th grade World History or 8th grade US History I? Again, without the long story these are really the only options available. Thanks for your thoughts!

We put in three weeks this year, but now are back on break while I make some needed changes. We are going to school five days per week at six hours per day, though some of her American Lit reading will need to be done after dinner or on weekends. Several evenings per week dd is out of the house for extra-curricular activities: theater, guitar, fencing Mornings 8-11 Spanish 1 (Breaking the Barrier Spanish) English 8 (Hake 8 / WWS) U.S. History 1 (FLVS) Intro to Screenwriting (Movies as Literature, Perrine's Literature - Drama segment) Afternoons 1-4 Pre-Algebra (Saxon, LOF) Earth/Space Science (FLVS) American Literature (Excellence in Literature, TC lectures, ++)

I think it depends on how the technology is used. I received a text a week or so ago that simply read - Urgent email. Please read. So I checked my email and was notified of a death in the family. The email was sympathetic, well written and contained all of the important information. And I received it in enough time to allow me to drive 18 hours and make the funeral. I think it is nice that our very large and spread-out family can all be notified immediately when something like this happens.

Each week is split into four days worth of assignments. Each day will generally have a writing and a grammar assignment. I believe the program is only available on computer CD so you would need to work off the computer or have it printed. The student book is 350 pages. For this program, it is better for the parent to have a good understanding of English. There is an answer key for the grammar assignments. But there are many times where the student is writing his/her own sentences and so the answer key will offer example sentences, but the parent would need to make a decision about each of the student's answers. And for the writing portion there are grading rubrics and a few example essays, but much of the writing instruction comes from the parent. If you have any specific questions I can answer just let me know. Here is the table of contents: Table of Contents Unit 1 Week 1: Description of a person Review parts of speech, parts of a sentence Week 2: Personal Narrative “The Whistle†by Ben Franklin Complements Week 3: Picture Study The Historian Prepositional and Infinitive Phrases Week 4: Opinion Paper “Indian Burial Ground†Participles and participle phrases Week 5: Persuasive Writing “Speech to the Indians, 1657†Gerunds and Gerund phrases Week 6: Expository Essay “Beavers†by Suchi Myjak Clauses Week 7: Expository Essay, “Concord Hymn†By Ralph Waldo Emerson Clauses Week 8: Recollection “A Recollection of the Boston Tea Party†Clauses Week 9: Picture Study Washington Crossing the Delaware Review Unit Two Week 10: Poem Study “When the Frost is on the Punkin†Concrete and Abstract Nouns and Collective Nouns Week 11: Tall Tale: Apple-Seed John Appositives Week 12: Tall Tale: Pecos Bill Writing a Tall Tale Part 1 Week 13: Short Story: The Capture of Father Time by Frank Oz Writing a Tall Tale Part 2 Week 14 Picture Study Daniel Boone at Cabin on Osage Lake by Thomas Cole Descriptive writing Week 15: Reflection “Bud and Bird Voices†by Nathaniel Hawthorne Writing a Reflection Week 16: Expository Essay “Always Move Forward; Never Turn Back†Writing a Research Paper Part 1 Week 17 Expository Essay: “A Confident Humility: Venerable Father Solanus Casey†by Elaine Woodfield Writing a Research Paper Part 2 Week 18: Picture Study On His Holidays by John Singer Sargent Review and Assessment Unit Three – Expository Style Week 19: The Duty and Valor of Patriotism by Archbishop John Ireland “This I believe†essay Week 20: “O Captain! My Captain!†By Walt Whitman Copy Change Poetry Week 21: by Dawn Hanigan Nature observation Week 22: Picture Study Compare and Contrast Essay Week 23: “Laundry Car Incident†by Ralph Waldo Emerson News Article Week 24: Families recover after Katrina News Feature Week 25: O Shenendoah The Definition Essay Week 26: Biography of Thomas Edison Writing a Summary Week 27: Picture Study Review and assessment Unit Four – Short Story Unit Week 28: “The Ransom of Red Chief†by O’Henry Characterization Week 29: “To Build a Fire†by Jack London Setting Week 30: “Brer Rabbit and Tar Baby†by Uncle Remus (Adapted) Plot Week 31: “The Ambitious Guest†by Nathaniel Hawthorne Theme Week 32: Dust Bowl Photography Point of View Week 33: “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky†by Stephen Crane Literary Analysis Week 34: End of Book Review Literary Analysis Appendix

We use a couple thousand every year. I just bought 24 packages or so, but will likely buy more if I can find a better price. We use white cards but different colored ink/pencil depending on the subject and/or part of speech.

:svengo: I have a belt full of school supplies: 24 packages of index cards, at least 40 notebooks, 4 boxes of crayons, 4 packages of pencils, etc. not to mention four children standing around me. And the cashier tells me I cannot buy 2 bottles of Elmer's rubber cement without producing picture ID. I can just imagine my look, as she felt the need to repeat herself. At 40 years old I need to produce ID to purchase glue. I would laugh if that wasn't so, so sad. :(

Can you or a family member sit in on practices? I would watch the practices and see how things are going. If parents are not allowed to watch practice, I would likely seek out another gym. There is too much opportunity for abuse (physical, emotional, psychological, etc.) Having said that, there are tears during competitive gymnastics practices, especially at the beginning when a student is new to the raised expectations. But certainly not every day. And the tears aren't generally out of pain, but rather frustration. Also, it is very important that the athlete hold the proper position during splits even if the child cannot get all the way to the ground. And it does hurt. Shifting the leg so that the child can sit comfortable on the ground is counter-productive. I sit in on some of the practices and do not have any complaints about our gym and yet if the athlete had shifted her leg to rest during splits she would be required to do the minute over again (and often her teammates would join her in the extra minute.) I have found that competitive gymnastics sometimes walks a fine line and it is not always easy to decide what is best for our child. I often listen to my dd in these matters. If after a few days of rest and reflection she was not eager to push on, I would begin to question our continuance in either gymnastics or at the very least, our current gym. :grouphug:

We've found it very helpful for specific information. My dd vetoed a summer entomology class after reading that a specific professor would require her to catch and mount 30 unique insects. She worried that that might be too much for a six week class (as many of those rating the class had found it very difficult.) She also chose one of her current classes based on the facts that it had many, many positive reviews about the professor loving plants in general and always giving out many free plants during the class. She now has a budding garden and it is her favorite DE class yet. However, we take other information with a grain (or more) of salt. Things such as hard tests, mandatory attendance, boring lectures, etc. are too subjective to determine the truth from a handful of comments. Most colleges have very easy drop/add for the first week while students get a feel for the professors and classes. Dd has found meeting and talking to the professors during the first week and looking over the course syllabus to be the best way to determine a good fit. She has dropped a class and added another after deciding on the first day that the class/professor would not be a good fit. And so far she has been very happy with all of her classes.

I used EIL 1 with my eldest when she was in 7th grade. I don't think those other programs were recommended to be used first when we used it. Actually, they might not have been written yet. Either way, I've never used Elegant Essay or Windows to the World and my dd did just fine. :)

We average 8 hours. Dd has seven credits at approximately 1 hour each. However, history and math generally take longer.

peeps babydaddy LOL - this is not a word! Typed/texted is fine, but either use an actual laugh or say 'That was funny.' Don't say 'L-O-L.'

We use only the test grades - average them out and there is the final grade. I also grade by semester, not by year.

Breaking the Spanish Barrier

This is basically what my 8th grade dd is doing as well, except we are doing it over two years (8th and 9th grade.) Along with the Johnson book and History of US lectures we are also reading the Howard Zinn book and for primary documents we are using the Annals of American History (purchased at a library sale for $20.) Dd chooses one relevant document each Friday for reading and discussion. I also plan to require the outside reading of one biography/non-fiction history book per term (6 weeks,) but did not require it for our first term as I wanted to get a feel for how the course would flow. We try and watch a movie each weekend. Last weekend we watched a very old movie on Columbus that I found on Netflix. (The acting brought more laughs and comments than the history - fun, but not really helpful.) Yesterday we watched a 3-hour documentary on Franklin that I checked out of the library. The girls found it very interesting and watched the whole thing, though I only required they sit through the first hour. Dd will take the CLEP US History I exam at the end of 8th and the CLEP US History 2 exam at the end of 9th.

Why does the student developmentally need the extra challenge? I have a dd that is very good at math. It would probably be her best subject if she put any effort into it. But she doesn't like it AT ALL. I still require a constant movement forward in the subject - usually at a pace of one book per year. I have laid out my graduation requirements and left it at that. Rather, I challenge her (or she challenges herself) in areas that she does have an interest and a willingness to go the extra mile.

For Spanish we are using Breaking the Barrier Spanish I. It is a good fit, as some of the lesson questions deal with current culture (current actors and actresses and such) which appeals to dd and keeps her interested. She did have two years of jr. high Spanish. I'm not sure whether it is the best program for beginning Spanish. It moves fast and assumes some things. But that may simply be because it is high school level. For Intro to Screenwriting we are using Movies as Literature and Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense (Drama unit only.) She adds additonal material on her own. She plans to be a theater/film studies major in college. Next year she wants to tackle Connect the Thoughts: Master Screenwriter program for Screenwriting I. I may turn that into a two year program.

My 8th grade dd has the same basic schedule. Even her one elective matches up with your schedule. :) We started two weeks ago and her schedule feels very full and academically appropriate. Prealgebra Physical Science American History American Literature English 8 Spanish I Elective - Intro to Screenwriting (includes lots of movie watching, book/movie comparisons and some writing) She also has multiple extracurricular activities involving drama and music.

4th grade school literature list: Literature (Kolbe) Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM The Black Cauldron Misty of Chicoteague Where the Red Fern Grows My Side of the Mountain Caddie Woodlawn I am David Historical Literature Epic of Gilgamesh (Zeman trilogy) Tales of Ancient Egypt Black Ships Before Troy Wanderings of Odysseus D'Aulaire's Greek Myths Tales from India Tales from China Additional School Literature Tales from Shakespeare Burgess Animal Book Current Free Reading (dd chooses): Chronicles of Narnia series American Girl series Additional Free Reading Books (suggested by dd for later in the year): Edgar Eager series Charlie Bone series Harry Potter series American Girl mysteries

I really like Paper, Scissors, Stone. I also use lots of Primary Journals from Walmart. The top half is blank for a picture and the bottom half is lined. They go on sale during school supply sales. And I pick up regular artist's sketchbooks, usually with the coil-wire binding, for the older girls.

It's just a form. The college should have one for you to sign. Here is a copy of the form from our local CC. http://dept.sfcollege.edu/admissions/content/_media/forms/Home%20School%20Affidavit.pdf The county school board should be able to email their form straight over to the college with just a phone call from you (or from the college.) HTH!

The last I heard, this was the last year of the FCAT anyway. Florida is switching to whatever tests coincide with the Common Core.

None of my children have ever finished The Moffats. They just don't like the book. So, it could be that. We use Kolbe Literature and do the chapter comprehension questions and vocabulary orally. The only writing we do is the weekly paper (1-2 paragraphs) and the exam & book report at the end of each book.

Hamilton College is considered a college that focuses on writing. www.hamilton.edu ETA: Sorry, the WTM website isn't letting me add links??