Dd used an app written by APHG teachers, iScore5 APHG, with increasing levels of difficulty. She also used the Barrrons prep book. She wrote a ton of released FRQs which we graded together. I lurked on the APHG teacher weekly twitter chat and received a lot of good discussion topics (I faciliated a small group of 3 kids--dd was the onky homeschooler).

Yes. I felt tremendous guilt while doing so.

I have a deep fondness in my heart for CPO Earth. Dd and I used it during our first year of homeschooling (she was in fifth grade) :) I cannot compare it to Elemental Science, but I could answer any questions you might have about CPO!

This is a listing of the labs dd has done/will do this semester for AP Environmental: Biogeochemical cycles in the community* Eating lower* Biodiversity on the school campus (multiple day)* Physical and chemical properties of soil lab* Plate tectonics How much land?* Carrying capacity of a mature oak forest Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel burning Testing indoor particulate pollution (multiple day)* Identifying and assessing sources of indoor air pollution (multiple day)* Collecting and analyzing data of household water use (multiple day)* Ingestion toxicology: LD50 calculations* The labs marked with * involve "wet" work, collecting and analyzing data. The others involve manipulating and analyzing data. There are two different indoor air pollution labs because the weather did not lend itself to an outdoor lab when it was scheduled.

It's time for me to get off the boards now, so I'll share later today :)

I am afraid to look at all the WIPs I abandoned when we began homeschooling five years ago :eek:

Thanks!

Hey guys :) My posting time has been slim lately! But let's see... --I'm still plugging away at intentionally shopping local merchants and local farmers! I have yet to move to truly local eggs as the weather is still too cold. And seafood/fish is a problem. I've been buying American wild-caught fish at a locally-owned supermarket. Would you believe our grocery bill has decreased since I began this experiment?! --Food waste is limited to the odd squishy potato and the tomato with a dinged bottom. Nothing freezes in our new fridge (I used to lose lettuce at the back of the crisper drawer). --Dh and I have had a few dates: a world music concert (through the university subscription) with dinner after (the music department paid except for our drinks-----dh is on the board for the concert series) and then we saw Zootopia today using a gift card from our Discover points. --I signed up for another 6 months with the trainer at the gym. I love lifting heavy. I love learning new things. I think of the trainer sessions as an indulgence, but dh reminds me constantly that it is an investment in longterm health :) --We bought tickets on Southwest for our 25th anniversary trip this October for an amazing price. We'll be going to WDW during the Epcot Food & Wine Festival :D --Library usage remains high. I have purchased one kindle book in a month. Ds is coming home during Easter. We'll see him part of the time; The Girlfriend gets most of his time ;) That's ok, we like her! Grocery spending will be increased as dd21 will also be home on her spring break.

Maize, what almond do you have? We're on the edge of 6b/7a on the east coast. My great-grandparents and their sons grew almonds commercially, and we used to visit them in the summers :)

The modern history series is called Pages from History. https://global.oup.com/academic/content/series/p/pages-from-history-ph/?cc=us&lang=en& The difficulty level is higher than the other books. Dd used the US-specific volumes while studying US history with K12's American Odyssey as a spine. It was an awesome history year. Our plan is on this subboard somewhere :)

The typical AoPS student is either (1) a public- or private-schooled student who has already taken their school's version of the class and is repeating the material through the AoPS online class to go much deeper or (2) an advanced student who enjoys challenge and is working through the books independently or with a parent/tutor. My dd is a strong math student like regentrude's. She began homeschooling in fifth grade during which we futzed around with a bunch of resources. The prealgebra book was published the summer between fifth and sixth. Intro to Algebra takes a LOT of time to do properly. 6th: prealgebra Sept-Feb, intro to algebra March-early June 7th: continued w intro to algebra Sept-March, did Number Theory concurrently, online geometry class March-Sept 8th: intermediate algebra once geometry finished, Counting & Probability in summer 9th: precalculus 10th: calculus She's graduating early, with next year becoming 12th.

Yes :) Biodiversity, rocks and minerals, soil, water, air... I could give you specific labs we've done if you'd like :)

Dd watched Egyptian "Sesame Street" the other day! (Look for Sesame Street Around the World on amazon----8 or 9 (?) episodes from various countries were free the other day.)

Adding----dd was in a discussion group with 2 other students. Their school didn't offer APHG but they wanted to take it (one was my nephew). These kids did not have much geographic knowledge at all going into the coursework and found some topics to be difficult. Dd was able to use her knowledge to make connections------such as oh, of course they would be different because of a desert in between the communities; and well, they would have access to fresh water----that sort of thing.

Being able to identify major countries is important. Knowing which countries comprise the major regions (Southeast Asia, for example) is even more important. The student should have a basic knowledge of what the EU is. It helps to know major landforms and major bodies of water, including rivers. Much of human geography deals with the interaction of people and the landscape----why and how separate communities develop, evolve, and interact today in terms of politics, religion, culture, and so on. My dd scored a 5 on AP Human Geography last year as a ninth grader. In seventh grade we did a year of geography very, very loosely based on the high school level Trail Guide. She only did the mapping activities and answered the questions. We added Globe Trekker videos for all of the counties (we have a very good library system). The Globe Trekker videos more than anything sparked an interest in other countries and cultures.

The process isn't difficult----it's just time-consuming because of the planning involved. The better you plan, the better the student's learning. It's just like any other course you plan for a student :) First step: choose a spine, either a textbook or a video/audio series if you'll use a GC set. I start with the list of approved AP texts for each subject. Google the name of the book plus the author's name to find any support materials from the publisher, teachers' websites, sample syllabi, etc. I then see which books I can borrow from the library or I hope I can "look inside" on amazon. Second step: print any of the sample syllabi from the AP website plus the list of curricular requirements. Read through your chosen book (or listen/watch the GC) with an eye to the requirements. Look at websites for teachers who use the same book for their pacing and assignments. What activities or labs are necessary? What assignments might best fit the material? What does the student already know? Third step: create a framework for the course by material (ie unit) or by time (weekly or monthly). Start filling in assignments like "read XYZ" or "watch video clip from YouTube" or "answer problem set A" and so on. Annotate with the curricular requirements (SC whatever). Keep going until you have an appropriate amount of assignments for the material covered. Fourth step: upload your completed and double-checked syllabus! Wait for approval :) I have found active teacher FB groups for specific subjects. I have also found great blogs. I rely on those during planning and throughout the year for links to new articles and fresh ideas.

I second Miller-Levine. We used it this year for dd who needed a get-it-done bio to round out her ecology/botany/genetics studies so it could be listed on her transcript as a full bio credit.

Are you certain the CC classes will be accepted by StateU for an entering freshman in engineering? (For option 2)

I found nine residential high school Chinese programs on the StarTalk search page https://startalk.umd.edu/public/find-a-summer-program/?f[0]=im_field_st_language%3A39&f[1]=im_field_program_participant_typ%3A182&f[2]=im_field_grade_level%3A98&f[3]=im_field_program_setting%3A185 Unfortunately several are in July and several have state residency requirements. Troy University has funding for this year but their page has not been updated yet---I'd email. Hawaii has one but the program link is (1) bad and (2) to the general Confucius Institute anyway, though an email is provided. Good luck! StartTalk programs were funded late this year. I was on the mailing list for one :)

BYU's Chinese Startalk will be over by July 1: http://startalkchinese.ce.byu.edu/faq Ole Miss's is all of July, so that won't work.

Are you talking about the school that has the junior visit day or the other one? I'm confused lol (blame calculus!)

I research/plan/purchase for one student who is now in high school. I bookmark links by subject: AP Psych, biology, astronomy, maths, AP Comparative Government, economics, etc. I save whatever I come across, and then eliminate what won't work as I go through the planning process.I began this method when we started homeschooling in fifth grade. I also make notes in my Bullet Journal (see: a zillion threads about this on the chat board). On the laptop (and saved on a hard drive) are the important documents for high school: a running transcript that I update twice a year and brief descriptions of all of dd's courses. She maintains her own list of extracurriculars and awards, as sort of a resume.

Gee, I just got JWs.

Thanks STEM :) Best wishes to you!

I got kind of a weird, cold, standoffish vibe (not snooty, though) from Admissions at the non-junior-visit-day school. There were only students staffing the office. The information session started 20 minutes late. The admissions dude who presented was really not charasmatic at all (I have sat through many a session, sigh). Our tour guides were second-semester freshmen. I hate having younger tour guides because they really don't have much experience yet to be able to answer questions. I mean, they are supposed to be the face of the school! Sorry Lisa :grouphug: