At grade 6, he should be able to do SOTW independently. Buy the PDF download of the printed comprehension questions. Then he can answer them on paper without you. Buy the tests. Get supplemental literature to his grade level. Give him access to the activity guide; he can look up the mapping activity instructions for himself.

I work at a university admissions office. I'm sure not all offices operate the same, but most of our admissions decisions are based on the end-of-junior-year transcript. We require the final high school transcript be sent at the end of the year, but it goes straight to processing. Someone checks to make sure that the student actually graduated, and then it gets filed. If the person doing the filing notices that the final semester is full of D's and F's, they might send the file over to an admissions officer to review, but otherwise, nobody looks at it. The one exception is if we offered a provisional admission. If your ds's acceptance is provisional or contingent upon completing a particular class, you'd know it. It would have been clearly stated in the letter of admission. It's HIGHLY unlikely that a 4.0/1390 student was given any provisions :) The one caveat I'll add is that sometimes an offer of admission, while not strictly provisional, is still based on the assumption that the student will successfully complete a particular course (usually math) they are currently enrolled in. If they don't, we might not catch it when they mail the transcript in, but it would likely affect their performance on the math placement exam they have to take before enrolling. At a high-tuition school like this, you don't want to make the mistake of having to take a prerequisite math course that doesn't count towards degree requirements and could delay graduation by a semester. I don't know what the typical math sequence for nursing majors is, but that is something I'd recommend checking on before dropping/easing math. Same with science. Many university level courses will be based on the assumption that you are already familiar with basic bio/chem/phys concepts from high school.

I've noticed there's two kinds of homeschool parents. There's people like me and a lot of people on this board. We love homeschooling. We love education. It's more than just a job, it's like our hobby. It's our life. We love researching educational philosophies and learning styles and different types of curriculum. For us, no box curriculum is going to do the job. We're just too into it to not pick out and choose exactly what's going to fit our philosophies and our children. (Also, there's finances to consider. Picking out my own curriculum is usually less expensive than subscribing to a boxed curriculum service). But I know a lot of moms who homeschool because they think it is the best option for their children and family, but they don't really care much about anything except getting the job done. It's a personality thing I think. They just don't have a strong inner need to do all the research and in-depth examination of every book and curriculum. For them, they'll choose one program that fits their overarching goals and they're done. The fact that you've identified choices from multiple publishers suggests you're in the first group. Go with it.

This looks like something that might fit what I'm looking for when I do high school literature next year. However, it looks very similar to Well Educated Mind, which I already have. How is this different? Is it worth the purchase of the seminar? I admit I never actually made it through ALL the steps in WEM myself. I'm afraid to use it with ds because I fear I won't follow through on the whole thing. So something similar but with more hand-holding would be good.

Maybe what you need to do is sit down and come up with a generic schedule for each day of the week for each kid. For example: Monday 8:00am - 9:00am Writing 9:00am - 10:00am Math 10:00am - 10:30am Science 10:30am - 11:00am Logic 11:00am - 11:30am History 11:30am - 12:00pm Literature ...and so on. If there are subjects they do on certain days of the week instead of every day, make a different schedule for Mondays, Tuesdays, etc. This is what I do. Then every Sunday I sit down with my schedule and use it to write out their assignment list for each day that week. Honestly, my 8th grader could probably make his own assignment lists by now if I wanted him to. He knows our routines and how I divide up the lessons in each of his subjects. He also knows how to print out or make copies of his worksheets and tests if I forget. I work 20 hours a week so I understand the need to streamline. The schedule also helps me to budget my time in the mornings because I have to finish in time for work at noon.

I work in a university admissions office. We do not care about the writing score. It absolutely would not count against the student. Also, yes you can call and ask the admissions office how it is treated. That is what admissions counselors do, they counsel you on how best to approach things.

Thanks! My gut was telling me to stay the course with WWS, but it's nice to have the reassurance.

My ds will by in 9th next year. Currently he's about halfway through WWS-2; we're on the slow track. I absolutely love this curriculum. Ds doesn't love it, but I am so impressed with his writing. He needs more practice getting efficient with it, but the writing and construction skills are there. All along I've figured that we would continue on with WWS-3 next year for 9th. Why quit a good thing, right? But lately I've been wondering... since his writing is already pretty good, and since he already has the know-how to put together a basic research paper, maybe he would be better off skipping 3 in favor of a rhetoric level writing program. I wasn't planning on doing writing as it's own subject after 9th. My hopes are that after 9th, he'll just be applying what he's learned to various papers across the curriculum. Curious to know from those who have finished WWS-3 if you thought it was a valuable step between WWS-2 and rhetoric. Or, if anyone knows of a source that would be more of a reference for us to apply rhetoric skills to his future writing assignments without it being it's own curriculum (hope that makes sense...).

I'm planning on doing the Starting Points worldview curriculum next year when ds starts 9th. A friend of mine is using it now and she said she is giving her kids a full credit for US history. Even though the history portion only goes up to the writing of the constitution, she feels that her kids did a full credit's worth of work. I feel that it is important to cover events up to the present. But I also want to be efficient. I don't want to cover the early part of history twice with a whole separate history curriculum. Based on my friend's feedback and other reviews I've read, it sounds like we won't complete the entire Starting Points curriculum in one year. What I'm thinking now is that next year we get it all done except for the history section. Then in 10th we do the history section which would take only some portion of the year, and then for the rest of the year use some other source to cover the remainder of history. What I'm stumped at is what to use for that. I don't like the idea of buying a full US history curriculum and then jumping into the middle of it. I like the idea of just buying a couple of books to read that cover the remaining periods of history. I have no idea what books might be good, or any idea of what kind of output I'd require. I'd like something that comes with assignments and exams already prepared, as I don't have the time to figure that sort of thing out myself. I'm curious to know how others who used Starting Points handled US history. Did you supplement, or did you read it alongside a full curriculum, or did you not count it as history, or.... what did you do?

Become an RA. Most universities offer free room and board to RA's. At the university I work for, SGA members also get a tuition stipend. My university also offers free software downloads. We tell incoming students not to pay extra for Office when they buy their computer because they can download it for free. Also there is free printing on campus including color printing. A lot of students save their work on a thumb drive and then print their stuff in the labs or library. When I was in college I elected not to buy a meal plan after my freshman year. I cooked in my room using my little microwave, and there was a stove down the hall. I saved a ton of money that way, although there was a social trade-off. My friends all went off to the dining hall together and I stayed behind in my room by myself. Maybe this seems obvious, but... stay on track with your degree requirements and take a full load of courses each semester. Graduate in four years or even three.

I'm not familiar with HO but I agree that WWS is enough writing by itself that you don't need heavy writing assignments in other subjects. I also agree that the training in WWS is more valuable in advancing skills than to continue writing summaries and outlines. I'm not sure I'd recommend dropping them, though, because I wouldn't think maps and timeline are enough for any retention. Are there any worksheet options? Or maybe do the outline but not the summary? Also WWS is a LOT of work. My ds gets to set the timer for one hour and whatever gets done, gets done. Often it takes him several days to complete one "day" of work.

My son started WWS in grade 6. It was definitely a challenge, but it was doable. I did find it necessary to go at a slower pace. It is just a lot of work. And I found that in order for him to really get it right, sometimes we had to take an extra day on a lesson making corrections before moving on. We finished volume 1 about a quarter of the way into grade 7. Now we're about a third of the way through grade 8 and we're about halfway through level 2. I'm starting to wonder if we're even going to finish level 3 by the end of 9th. So I suggest at least starting WWS and see how it goes. You can always drop it and go back to it later if you decide it's too much for now. Think about whether you plan to do all three levels and if it matters to you when you finish the whole series. Because you might find that you need grade 6 in order to finish when you want to. Possibly a 7th grader could knock out WWS 1 in less time than a 6th grader can, but... WWS 2 is even more time consuming, so I wouldn't count on an 8th grader completing it in one year unless he is going to invest a lot of time in it.

Yes. He's about nine chapters in so far, and I think there was only one section at the beginning that was review for him. And none of the new material has assumed prior knowledge he didn't have. ...based on the feedback he's given me, anyway. Math is an independent subject for him.

Also regarding an anthology, I also re-used DeAulaire's. He read it on his own this time instead of me reading it aloud. He didn't remember most of it the first time anyway. I feel that it is still beefy enough for middle grades.

My 8th grader is using SOTW for the second time. I bought the PDF from the WTM Press site of the comprehension questions typed out. So this time around, he has to read on his own and write out the answers to the questions. I also have him create a timeline notecard for a key event in each section. I still have him do the map activity. I don't make him fill in the outline page this time. He also reads corresponding pages from DK History of the World and Kid's Guide to American History and outlines. I also give him the test, which we didn't do the first time. Because all of that takes a lot of time, I am not having him read any additional nonfiction. However, we're following the logic stage literature suggestions in the WTM that correspond to the time period.

We completed both A and B books of level 6 in about a semester, then moved directly to Dimensions 7A in January of 6th grade. Dimensions is challenging and it took most of grade 7 to finish 7B. Then he started 8A and at that point it was just a little too difficult for ds. So for grade 8 we switched to Foerster's Algebra I with the Math Without Borders videos and he is excelling. Math is his favorite subject this year.

I introduced mythology to my kids right along with SOTW volume 1. My son was 5 and my daughter was 6. I did not have any difficulties in getting them to understand that the myths were fiction while the Bible is truth. I told them to view the gods more like we view superheros today. As we read through them, it is very obvious to find human-like character flaws in their behavior, which you wouldn't see in our True Creator. I pointed these out as we read. I also explained how as the biblical stories got passed down through the generations, they were in some cases corrupted. This is why you can find flood stories in so many cultures that are similar to but not the same as Genesis. It's interested to read the other flood stories which, in a way, confirm the truth of the flood in that it was recorded in so many cultures. Also, another fun exercise is to study the Egyptian gods and then read the plague story in Exodus. It's interesting to parallel the specific plagues with the gods and see how each plague is, in a sense, a judgement on that god. I don't think SOTW portrays specific rituals but you might screen any additional literature you find. There's a few "You Wouldn't Want to..." books that cross the line. Personally, I like the books that just give you a straight representation of the story. Some books like to weave in spiritual commentary, elevating and glorifying the god or belief system. I avoid those. D'Aulaire's Greek Myths and Norse Myths are fine.

Yes, call and talk to Admissions. If they have rolling admission, then it isn't too early. Find out what the status of her application is - did they receive all of her required documents? Find out what the timeline is for getting her admissions decision. Ask about an online portal but calling is probably better anyway. I work in an admissions office and I can tell you that sometimes we receive documents that don't get marked in their electronic record, so you'll get more accurate information talking to someone who can physically pull your file and look at it. Occasionally a completed file doesn't get marked "ready for review" and then it just sits there in the cabinet until the student calls and asks about it. Also there's all kinds of reasons for the conflicting email messages, so don't need to worry about that. Reporting software is based on download of information from the night before, so she could have applied and gotten an auto response saying "thank you for applying", but then an email blast to students who hadn't applied could have gone out the same day, and based on previous day's data, she was still not applied. Also depending on how well the application software integrates with the student record database, there could be a delay in having her application status show up in her student record. These scenarios could happen if the conflicting emails happened within a day of each other, two tops. More than that, and I'd probably call Admissions just to make sure everything was okay.

I agree, I wouldn't add additional subjects just for the sake of filling up time. If he's getting through his work that quickly, then possibly he needs more challenging material. Or perhaps you could quicken your pace and cover more material in a day. Possibly he could handle learning about more than just WWI in a semester's time, for example. ...not to negate the possibility that he is simply an extremely bright student who is able to take in and process information very quickly. I wouldn't penalize him with more work if he's just very efficient. But when I think of how many hours my 12yo spends each day... granted, he's got additional subjects going like Hebrew, logic, and our read-aloud, but even without those, he would still probably spend at least four hours a day on his work. He's a bit of a daydreamer and I'm sure he could approach his work more efficiently, but I really don't think he's wasting two hours of time per day. If he were getting through everything that quickly I would definitely be reviewing my curriculum to make sure I was at eighth grade level, or looking to see if anything else was amiss.

I think that all the good reasons to pull her have been stated. I wasn't bullied but I don't have any fond memories from middle school. Even now at age 42 I can struggle with feelings of low self worth, and I believe many of those seeds were planted in grade 6 and beyond. The scars are lasting. Mostly just wanted to give you suggestions on what to do with her for November and December if you choose to pull her immediately. I am so busy with homeschooling that I don't always have time to enjoy the holidays like I'd want to. Second, figuring out your homeschool philosophy and what curriculum matches is going to take some time and not something to rush into. So if I were you I would spend November and December doing all the things I wish I had time for - watching Thanksgiving/Christmas documentaries and movies, reading relevant stories, baking, and doing lots of fun seasonal crafts. Recently I took my kids on a field trip to the local farm where they got to play and pick a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. First time I've gotten around to doing that and they loved it. Someday soon we'll make pumpkin puree and roast the seeds, and then find pumpkin recipes. I'd keep up math but take your time choosing a curriculum. In the meantime just find worksheets online. I like mathdrills.com. Use the remainder of the year to read The Well Trained Mind and other books to figure out how you want to approach homeschooling and choose your curriculum. Start in January. Also I'd think about a doing a daily Bible study on who she is in Christ. To remind her that she is a beloved daughter and special creation. This to undo the screwed up messaging she's been getting for the last two months. Not a catholic so don't have any specific resources to recommend other than to just start reading through the epistles.

Colleges will utilize separate web hosts that are capable of sending out massive emails. Those are going to look funky on the receiving end. The college can plug in the email address that they want the email to be "from", so as long as you've got the general admissions email address in your safe senders, that should cover it. A yahoo address is a concern. An official department of the university should have a university address. A yahoo account suggests that it is possibly a student organization on campus and not a department, if it's legitimate at all.

I went through a period of several years with ds who took forever on his work (in every subject...) due to daydreaming. It was very frustrating because despite all of my lectures and reasoning with him, he didn't seem to care how much of his free time he was losing. I don't think anything ever actually truly helped until he just grew out of it. BUT, I think it helped a LITTLE when I started making him set a timer and record how much time he spent to complete each assignment. When he actually saw how much time he had let go by, I think it motivated him a tiny bit to buckle down. The suggest above to let her "test out" of extra practice is a good one. Between the text and the workbook, there are probably more practice and review pages than really necessary in Singapore. Sometimes I allow one to be skipped if a perfect score is reached on the previous. Linking it to time taken to complete is an idea I wish I had thought of back when ds was daydreaming... Now algebra is his favorite subject and he blasts through it with gusto! Take heart!

You don't have to drop AAS just because of the tiles. I know a lot of people (me included) drop the tiles early on and write on a whiteboard instead. I eventually dropped AAS anyway just because it is teacher intensive. I switched Ds over to R&S at grade 4. (He had made it about halfway through level 4 of AAS). I switched Dd over at grade 3 (Completed half of AAS level 3). Not for any reasons related to the curriculum, but because that was the point when I needed my time back. I stuck with the books that matched their grade level. Most of it is words they already know, but there's a few new ones sprinkled in.

Totally. I just bought a big package of the disposable mechanical pencils several years ago and we're still on it. The regular pencil sharpener just eats colored pencils, but finally I pulled out my really nice sharpener I bought for an art class ages ago and it works perfectly. I need to figure out where to buy another since ds basically assumed ownership. Wait - you said mechanical colored pencils?????? Where can I find those??????

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Has east and west coast campuses Strong in all the STEM subjects you listed selective small Not really the place to go for a focus on humanities, mostly offered to meet gen ed reqs. Aviation students are subject to random drug testing. Students in most other majors are looking at future employers who will require a security clearance. Partying happens at every college; that's a given. But these students are pretty focused on their careers.