These science books fill those requirements The Cartoon Guide to Genetics (there are many in this series) The Way Things Work The Way We Work The Way Life Works All are excellent, in-depth, fun, and challenging. My ds has read them all and really enjoyed them. These are not short reads, you should expect at least a month for some and 3 months for others. Ruth in NZ

Andrew Pudawa of IEW fame came to NZ a few years back and I had the opportunity to hear him. He has been a violin instructor for 20 years and gave great advice to encourage students to practice. He believes quite strongly that until the student OWNS the practice, you will be constantly reminding, nagging, yelling etc. He believes that this sets up a negative loop of nagging and the avoidance of practice. So his big recommendation is the 100-day challenge. If the student can practice 100 days in a row without reminding, then he gets a big reward. So if he forgets on day 87, he has to go back to day 1. It is 100 days IN A ROW. The student is motivated by the reward that he chose at the outset of the challenge. Andrew's idea is that 100 days is enough to set up a habit and some pride. Then you set the 200 day challenge with another reward, then the 1 year challenge with another reward, and then you student is so proud of having practiced every single day without being reminded for 1 full year, that he will never skip a practice because it would ruin the bragging rights. We have done this! And it works! I just asked my son and he said that he is current in his 5th year of practicing every single day. He never ever forgets now. He tells people that he has practiced every day for more than 1000 days WITHOUT REMINDING. The first reward he chose was a large lego airplane (he was 7). It cost $70, so it was a big thing. The second reward was taking the entire family out to a nice dinner. The third reward for 1 year of practice was a weekend of special time with his parents (his brother was sent to spend the night with a friend). There has never been the need for an additional reward. Now the reward is the bragging rights. I will add that his violin teacher has said "If you don't eat, you don't play." Meaning he is off the hook if he is seriously sick. Also, very occasionally on very busy days he just does "exercises" which are strengthening his fingers maybe with a bow but a pencil will also work. (they can take 1 minute if necessary) And I will also say that I made sure in the 100 day challenge that I let him fail by about day 10 or 15 to prove that I was serious (he had to go back to day 1), but then made sure in a sneaky way that he did not forget again. Like humming one of his pieces, or telling him that he had something in his teeth (the mirror hangs over the violin stand so he would have to lean over it to look), or if I was really desperate I would have my husband pick up his instrument and start playing. But we never verbally reminded him. ever. Self motivation is the key. Thanks Andrew! Ruth in NZ

Like your dd, my ds knew how to make nice letters, but just didn't, probably because he was trying to write more quickly. I found that handwriting books did not help, because he knew what to do, he just didn't do it. He needed to want to be more tidy; he needed to "own" it. The best thing I did was get out all of the old letters from his grandparents and great grandparents and have a look at all the different styles. In a very positive and enthusiastic way, I encouraged him to pick a style or develop his own that he could implement. He spent a few days trying different things until he settled on something he liked. He ended up with Getty Dubai italic cursive capitals and small print with the p and f with a small flick to the left below the line. Because it was HIS, he took pride in his writing and everything began to look nicer and nicer. I regularly commented on it (and got my dh to say something once) to reinforce the change. Very very effective. Ruth in NZ

Regarding do-overs, I know we are discussing fairness in American grading, but I thought that some people might be interested to know that the highly-respected Cambridge International Exams allow for retakes. These are high school exams. If you get a poor grade, you are given additional time to study and allowed to take the exam again. From the website: "Cambridge offers a separate retake entry deadline in the November series, in order to give students who have sat examinations in the June series additional time to consider their June results before deciding whether to enter the subject again in the November series." The goal is mastery, not a grade. Why not allow your student more time? Personally, I would HATE to have to sit a final exam AGAIN because I did poorly the first time. Who wants to do all the studying again? That is the motivation for doing well the first time. Perhaps the compromise is no do-overs for tests and quizzes, but the Final exam allows for do-overs. Regentrude appears to me to be allowing retakes by calling the first exam a "pretest" but if the student does well on the pretest, it can count as the actual grade. Subtle difference in language can make all the difference to how the student views the grading practices. In addition, with a class of 1 (your homeschooling student), you have no way to assess the fairness of the exam. Are you expecting too much or too little? In addition, different philosophies consider percentage grades to be equivalent to different letter grades. Saxon expects material to be mastered to basically 100%. Perhaps an appropriate "A" would be 95% or higher. But AoPS expects that students will not know how to do every problem, so an exam scoring 80% or higher could fairly be considered an "A." How do you know what is fair for your student? Ruth in NZ

No idea what you are talking about Born in FL, lived in USA until I was 27, then moved to NZ I'm 42 Ruth in NZ

DS has really enjoyed the Lensmen series for the past month. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lensman_series Ruth in NZ

:iagree: I really think that for many students the goal of all the bitsy tests/quizzes is to dilute the final exam grade.

Yes. You can use the NZ system, which has both internal assessment AND external exams to give a final grade in ALL courses in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. The internal assessment is moderated by a national body so that all teachers grade in the same way. Teachers send in an example of tests/writing assignments and a sample of how they grade for A,B,C,D,F, and the moderators insure that there is consistency across the country in grading. You actually get a national class rank here. This is why mommy grades mean nothing, because homeschooler's grading practices are not moderated. There might be a few classes like art where you submit a portfolio to the national body, and don't take a written exam. You can also use the British system here for university entrance. These are the IGCSE and A levels Cambridge International Exams. But for university entrance using Cambridge (what we will do), you need a certain number of points which are based on the number and grades of the exams you do. For entrance using this method, you do not need to take tests in all subjects, just score an "A" on 4 A-level exams or an "C" on 8 A-levels or something like that (It is more complicated than this. A-levels are like AP exams). You don't have to take the 10th and 11th grade exams if you don't want, and can just go for the A-levels. There is nothing similar to SAT here. All exams are subject exams. Who really knows. From what I have read on the high school board, once you meet the academic requirements, getting into a top tier school is really a crap shoot. Ruth in NZ

Last year when my son started asking about external written exams and got a few butterflies, I told him that he would do as many practice tests as he wanted until his grade was up to his satisfaction. THEN he would be ready for the final, cumulative exam. So the practice tests don't *count* but they are learning tools. This removes the stress of the exam and the practice tests leading up to it. In university, there are typically just 2 or 3 grades that are in some way averaged to give you a final grade. In the British based system, High school students only take a final exam for each course - the external exam. And other tests and quizzes are used for the reasons I listed above in my previous post. So, yes, give just 1 or 2 exams for each course if that is what you and your students desire. I think that a large percentage of students in school would not do well on a cumulative final. So either a cumulative final is not given, or all the tests and quizzes taken throughout the year get averaged in to what is often a poor final-exam grade and help to bring it up. :iagree: We are really in an impossible situation. When I was in high school, I got As in every course every year. If I were to give those same grades to my ds, these mommy grades would be questioned. Ruth

We started term tests in Math because of your persuasive arguments in previous threads. But in the end, his grade will be dictated by an external exam. AoPS is the only course material I am using that is not tied to the exams, so it *needs* separate testing. The early external math exams are easier than AoPS material. Yes, cumulative long-term retention is key. It will be tested by an external exam, rather than by an average of many small quizzes and tests. I am sure I will need to give term tests for chemistry next year to encourage him to study as he goes, but in the end the course grade will be dictated by the external exam not a mommy grade. Grades on tests that I give will show him where he needs to focus his studying, but they will not "count." University entrance here is dictated solely by external exams, so there is no reason to give him a mommy grade in each course. He will take about 15 exams over the next 6 years, but not all things he is learning will be tested. For example, he loves history. We read historical fiction and nonfiction, watch documentaries, discuss, etc. I do no testing. He loves it and is clearly learning and I have no problem putting it on a transcript, but for this course there will not even be an external exam. We are early on in this process and I may find next year when he prepares for the chemistry exam that we need more testing. But in the end, a mommy grade is pretty worthless here, and I don't get the impression it is worth much to the US universities either. Ruth in NZ

I don't plan on giving course grades, ever. The purpose of grades is 3 fold IMHO. 1) to help a classroom teacher evaluate how much a student knows when there are many in the classroom, or to communicate with the parents where a student is at. -- I know what my student knows and what he needs to work on because of the intimate homeschool setting. 2) to encourage a student to learn. -- We do term tests in math and he is motivated to study and do well. But I don't give a course grade because that would not motivate him. He will be doing practice tests for external exams, but I will not count them for a course grade. 3) to help universities evaluate how well a student has done in high school. -- From what I have read, most universities ignore mommy grades and just look at external testing. So we will focus our effort on external tests. For my ds, many small tests and quizzes stress him out. The sense of constantly being evaluated is unpleasant for anyone, and for my ds did not desensitize him at all to testing (we tried one term). However, external exams taken just once a year have not bothered him so far. He has done 2 for music in the past 2 years. Just depends on the kid, I guess. Just another way to think about things. Ruth in NZ

Another just for comparison, In New Zealand if you have enough points, you get in. You get points by passing national exams or "internal assessments" (which are grades in class but these grades are moderated by a national agency so that all teachers must grade in the same way). Different grades earn a different number of points. The number of points is an objective criterion so there is no guessing if you will get in. So if you don't have enough points you just take more classes. Certain majors like engineering require additional points. So if you get a 5 on 4 AP exam equivalents, or a 3 on 8 exams, either would get you in. I'm not fully clear on what is required if you go the internal assessment route because that option is not available to homeschoolers (because our grading is not moderated). As homeschoolers you can use the correspondence school if you want internal assessment, but from what I have heard, the materials are boring. When I first came and mentioned that I went to a top-10 school, and they just shrugged because there are only 7 universities here. :D Ruth in NZ

I found a list somewhere of the most famous 100 stories of the old and new testament. I read to my children from the bible (not using an interpretation/curriculum/retelling), and we discuss the importance of each story to society and to our family. Easy to do and completely adaptable to your own beliefs. Ruth in NZ

We started Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry and I assume that the physics book from the same publisher for the same exam would be similar. The Chemistry book has quite a lot of industrial examples so you are not just learning esoteric material but definitely putting it in context. I also like the layout. Nice summary graphs/diagrams/charts with long descriptions written out. The text flows and is not bitsy. The sample exam questions require a LOT of synthesis, and I would think it would be worth your time to do the practice exams even if you were not taking the real thing, because they bring the entire course together integrating chapter 1 through chapter 12. You also want the workbook because it covers interpretation of data and design of experiments, which is not covered in the coursebook. On the negative side, some times there is material in the chapter that has obviously been thrown in because it is on the exam syllabus, but it doesn't really fit in the chapter. Not sure how helpful this is because obviously it is not the same book! But hope it helps somewhat. Ruth in NZ

Week 11. 6th grade Ok, it's crunch time. We have continued with graph making for part 1 of his project (determining the correlation between weather and sand movement). Come June 1, we will be ready for Part 2: calculating the total directional movement of the sand in May at each beach. We worked for 45 minutes today to make up his schedule. He will need to darken and enlarge his graphs (by hand) for his poster because the originals need to be in his notebook. It is supposed to be a complete record of his project, and the poster is just a summary. M pick photos, make last graph T design methods for part 2, copy graph 1, print photos W write the results for part 1, copy graph 2 H write discussion part 1, copy graph 3 F calculate part 2 M write results and discussion for part 2, label photos T summarize methods and results for poster, copy table W summarize intro and discussion for poster H proof read, print F glue everything to the poster M design presentation T, W, H practice presentation F science fari! Graphs 2 hours Discussion and planning: 2 hours Total time: 4 hours Weeks 10 and 11. 2nd grader I have not really been focusing on his project this week, but he has drawn up his fractal diagram and finished his last graph. Today we chose the photos and went out and took a few more. Tomorrow we will print them and make up a schedule for the next 2.5 weeks. Graph and Diagram: 2 hours Write up of methods and results: 1 hour (me typing) Photos: 1 hour Total time: 4 hours over 2 weeks

This is exactly what my ds did. He has been studying AoPS Intro Algebra for 2.5 years, doing all the challengers, teaching himself, and looooving it. No hurry, no pressure, just loving learning at the perfect pace for him.

Eyeballs. Can't put on mascara and freak if I have to use eye drops. I almost fainted in the Ophthalmologist's office when they numbed my eyes and moved that big stick in to pressure test them. When I asked him if a lot of people have this kind of trouble, he said "people who are as fearful as you are about eyes, don't get their eyes checked." I guess that meant that I was the worst he had ever seen. Can't stand the part in Clockwork Orange when the hold open his eyes with clips. shudder.

I didn't mean it that way! I have been referring to his summer reading too. Just trying to keep everyone on their toes! Ruth in NZ, where it is currently 50 degree with 50 mph winds outside!

I use them. But *how* I use them is important IMHO. My incentives are not $ based and typically not food. Usually they are either visual (paper chain) or special time with a parent. I discuss what needs to be done not from the point of "I want you to do this" but rather "you need to learn how to do this and sometimes I find that a little reward helps to motivate me. Do you think it would help you?" And I give an adult example, like "I let myself play on the computer for 15 minutes if I finish reading my textbook chapter." And I talk to them about a reward helps motivate a person until the *habit* is created and then you don't need the reward any more. Just today, I sat down with my son and we talked about how he is 8 and he is ready to do his chores without me reminding him, and how I wanted to help him make it a habit. We brainstormed ideas and he suggested that if he did his chores for 3 days without me reminding him, that then we could work on making a new character for him for Dungeons and Dragons. We will continue that agreement for about 3 months. I also make sure that I help him check things off, and make sure it is all positive. No withholding rewards, but rather "ok, you are forgetting and I want you to have a reward, how can we make sure you remember?" Then we brainstorm ideas. I regularly remind him that the goal is NOT the reward, but rather learning to do something you don't want to do by making it into a habit. Overall, in our family the rewards are to help HIM internalize something rather than to make him compliant. It keeps him in the power position and keep the rewards as a tool that *he* uses to help himself. Hope that makes sense, Ruth in NZ

Ahhh, but you are new to the WTM accelerated board. :D Not only did my son start algebra at a young 9 years old, he used AoPS Intro Algebra and taught himself. He would not let me help him because he considered it cheating. Ruth in NZ

Ok, this is key to your choices. What you are telling me is that she needs to do an outside project - because there is never a mess if it is outside! She learns by doing and she needs to be able to do it independently because you aren't that keen. So chemistry is out because it is messy. So here are a list of topics for her to choose from. Since she thinks from the point of view of hands on, I would have her consider the hands on nature of the topic and then find a book to study rather than vice versa. Physics Mechanics (hands on would be a basic physics kit (has snap together parts so not messy)) Electronics (hands on would be an electronics kit) Biology 1) cell biology (hands on work would be microscope related) 2) genetics (hands on would be building maps of your family's genetic heritage) 3) botany (hands on obviously here would be working with plants) 4) zoology (hands on would be observing animals out during the day that you can see easily: birds, insects, squirrels, or sea life in the rocky intertidal (I don't know what you have available to you) ) 5) ecology (hands on would be looking for relationships between weather, plants, animals, lay of the land, etc - done in forest, desert, ocean, etc) 6) Physiology and anatomy (hands on would be dissections - this would be messy but you could do it outside, probably not good for a girly girl though) Earth Science 1) Astronomy (hands on observing the sky at night) 2) Oceanography (hands on: waves, jetties, sand, etc) 3) Meteorology (hands on understanding weather maps, observing fronts, clouds, dew point) 4) Geology (hands on collecting and categorizing rocks and going on field trips to see road cuts) 5) Environmental science (hands on: pollution, rubbish, researching laws about car exhaust etc.) Ok, there is obviously more out there, but this should get you started. Pick a topic for each term and then pick a book that covers it . She needs to keep a lab notebook and record her research and observations. She really could just make lots of observations over a number of weeks and then draw conclusions. Given that you said no project ever works for you, just make it observational because you can't muck up observations. You could get her to come up with a question and try to answer it. It does not have to be hugely rigorous, but she should work on the project for about 1 hour per week. So she could ask something like, when do bees typically feed? What kind of fertilizer makes plants grow taller? Do different species of birds prefer different species of trees to sit in? Then you just go out and count every week for 2 months, make a table, record your data, graph it, and the draw a conclusion. NOT messy and very hands on. If you want her to, she could write up a paper summarizing what she has learned from her hands on work. If she has no interest in a "project" then she can do microscope work or go through the physics kits and just follow the manual. But I would seriously ask her. Not all kids like to just follow directions; some like to strike out on their own and follow an idea. Hope this was helpful. Ruth

I see. D*mnation through faint praise. ;) If you give me some more info, I am willing to try again. What does she like? What does she dislike? How much do you have to spend? Hands on or theoretical? Single topic or survey? Curriculum or living books? So far I know you want secular, challenging, and engaging. Ruth

You have not mentioned that you think she needs breadth, only that you would like her challenged and motivated to learn science. Given this info, I would use her love of dance to help her see the usefulness of science. How about anatomy and physiology of the human body? Dancers need to know about how all the ligaments, muscles, and bones work together. The Biozone modular books are high school level books so that they would challenge her. http://www.biozone.co.nz/modular.php and they have a book on anatomy and physiology in addition to about 10 other books on different topics. I really like them because of the format. Every spread discusses a new idea with a summary, a graph/diagram/photo, and then difficult questions requiring higher level integration of the topics. The site listed above has all the samples, but then you can find most of them on Amazon. HTH Ruth in NZ

He has the math and science (see siggy). My concern is that music is taking enough time that it is stealing energy from other subjects. Lets say a student should take 6 courses in high school every year; if he can count music, then that is one less course he has to take to fulfill his graduation requirement. For example, each year he could take: math science english mandarin music history/economics/government It sounds like everyone here thinks that he is doing enough music to count. And that I might even be able to count music theory as an additional course in his last year, if we need to. Ruth

Well, my plan was for him to study for and take a theory exam each year until he finished grade 8, which given that he is taking grade 4 in 7th grade has him finishing theory in 11th grade. Are you saying that I should only put it on his transcript in 11th grade because that is the year where the exam would be equivalent to University level? Ruth