I'd like for my son to begin 12th grade science ASAP. (His 11th/12th will overlap for next 12 months) He has always struggled with math and is struggling in Algebra 2. Physics with math will NOT be a good fit for him. There was an old thread about Physics for Poets... maybe I should find it. He has done Apologia Biology and Chemistry. Will have a half credit for "Applied Science" this year. He needs another full credit of science on his transcript. Suggestions? Thanks! Pam

We had a great time with cooking! Now... he is the family cook on night's I work.... about four nights a week! :)

Unschooling would really work for him. Most of the time his "fun" and "free" time is spent researching antiques, political issues of the day, watching documentaries, reading history books, reading law books, etc. He loves and thrives having so much time for his own projects. On the other hand, he is the last one at home... so he gets lonely. He misses brother and sisters... and me. He misses "stay at home" mom. And DOES want more of my attention. And, I want his last homeschooling year to be good for him. He is not mature enough for dual enrollment. He does not have his driver's license yet. There are some "delays".... math is HORRIBLE for him... even after remediation... but that is a different thread maybe. :) Thanks to everyone... I really appreciate all replies and suggestions! Did not realize how much I missed WTM forums! Maybe just spending some time here will help! :)

Thanks for replying so soon. :) I've been gone from these boards so long I thought maybe no one would reply to me.... Anyway.... We DO take time to sit together about once a week for our "school meeting". We've had school meetings for many years....it is just our habit.... We discuss schedules for the week, goals for the week, pages to read, lessons to do, what did not get done last week, chores while I'm at work. That is maybe 30 minutes per week. Another short time... 30 minutes...We drive to town on Wednesday for some fun shopping. Thrift stores... he is an antique buff and LOVES "treasure" hunting. After that he has 3 hours of speech/debate club. On the drive into town we usually have some type of academic discussion. Not always. Sometimes we listen to the radio or just enjoy sitting in silence! So, it is not like we have NO time together.... I just want MORE time and QUALITY time to actually TEACH my own child and DISCUSS academics with him!

Two of my children did a stint with SOS languages... 2nd DD did Spanish. It was "ok".... got the job done. She was not interested in learning a foreign language, so it was a "check off the box" subject for that year. I think I still have it here somewhere if you want it....???

Wonderful memories of beloved Five in a Row! :) No suggestions, but thanks for the post!

Hello, Everyone, I used to be a regular here, but have not posted in over a year. I'm working two part-time jobs now. One in retail. One an adjunct professor at a local college. I MISS my days as a homeschool mom with four children! Reading literature, outdoor play, trips to the library. I am only homeschooling my youngest son now. He is 17 and finishing the 11th grade. I've got ONE more year with him! Here is my problem: I am away from home for several hours a day. Sometimes all day for several days per week. I feel like I am neglecting my son's homeschooling although I YEARN for and PINE for quality discussion time with him. Either I have to leave the house for work OR he is busy with projects/reading/research/worthwhile UNschooling when I am ready to "teach" homeschool! Schedules don't seem to work. Or , I have not found a schedule that will work. Or maybe, I have been strict enough to force the schedule. I am discouraged. I want our last year together to BE TOGETHER. What do you do when you've gone back to work and yet still homeschool? Thanks in advance! Pam

We do both. And we watch plays rather than read them. :)

I'm not sure there are "typical" expectations. For 9th grade, my kids, read through a literature textbook, discussed several sections with me, memorized the literary terms, discussed literary terms with me, and wrote a few short papers and a few poems. I think you'll find a very wide variety of how much and / or how little is expected.

I was a sub teacher a few years back. I would sub sometimes for teacher's aides and got to sit in the back and help, or grade, or work one on one, etc. I saw first hand how many minutes out of a class time was actually spent on academics. Depending on the class... usually about 30 minutes out of 50.. was spent "really learning."

I've just graded a pile of book reports from community college freshman. I would have been happy to read one to three well written paragraphs!!!!! :) And, my son that would not/could not write a couple of decent paragraphs for me, made an A in Freshman Comp in college! Concentrate on basic writing. Good basic writing. Don't worry so much about length.

Thank you all for the suggestions. I'll have to look into them all. I have the suggested "Superstar Student" on VHS somewhere in this house! Not sure if I have VHS player. LOL :)

Thanks! Both resources look great!

I need help teaching some basic study skills: studying and memorizing for a closed book test and taking notes from lectures and videos. Any good books, curriculum, resources? Thanks! Pam BTW.... this question is prompted after teaching college freshman this semester. The college students are sorely lacking in these skills! As well as, BASIC writing reports and finding important concepts within a chapter!

What is the best ACT science prep book , course, or video ? I know that the science portion does not directly relate to subject content, rather, it is more data interpretation. Is there a good book or curriculum that you would recommend? Thanks! Pam

((( Sherri ))) I understand the best I can. If you searched some of my old posts you would see some of the difficulties that I've gone through. Some of the same struggles you describe in your post. In fact, I am now working 2 part time jobs to ease our money problems. Despite several years of attempting to home school in the midst of some pretty difficult circumstances, I've managed to graduate three educated young adults. My oldest dd, who was very sick in high school, is working two part time jobs and working on her own writing/art project with hopes of publication. Next, dd with diagnosed LDs, has a B average at a state university while working . My oldest son is also working and has a B average at a local community college and plans to major in engineering. I'm down to home schooling my youngest now. There were SEVERAL years where I thought we were completely failing! But the end result: confident, educated, well-read, well-spoken, valuable, hard-working employees. These kids are regularly asked to work extra hours (make more money) because of their work ethic, productivity levels, and cheerful personalities. It is March. Everyone feels like a failure in March. Don't worry about what you have not gotten done or if you are behind. Do you need to take a break? Even just one day of staying in pajamas, drinking tea, and watching movies can help you feel a bit more refreshed to tackle the problems on a day that you feel better. What about school? Read a novel, watching some documentaries, muddle through a few math lessons for the rest of March. Then, re-plan the remainder of your school year. Don't go back to the old plan.... but , make a new plan using the materials you have on hand. ((( hugs hun )))

I love seeing what other's are doing too. :) Algebra 2 -- still deciding on curricula.... leaning towards Teaching Textbooks English 3 -- The Language of Literature and IEW materials..... still deciding which IEW materials Western Civilization 2 -- Jackson Spilvogel's vol 2 with study guide Science -- undecided Music History -- Kaimen's text plus several living books Political Science -- various materials. (DS is so interested in poli sci and has read so much already that I'll probably just assign a research paper and call it a credit.)

While you are deciding what to do next, look at this: interactmath.com The Developmental Mathematics, 7th ed, by Bittinger book's problems look great! I've assigned about 25 problems for my son to do online this afternoon. and it is FREE! :)

OR you could probably use it for pre-algebra/ easy algebra 1 ! :) Interactmath.com Bittinger's Developmental Mathemathics 7th edition I was looking for some basic review of circumference and area of a circle. Just some extra problems for ds to do while I'm at work this afternoon. The problems in the geometry section are just what I was looking for! I've used different books on Interactmath.com for several years... mostly beginning and intermediate algebra. I did not realize that the books titled "developmental" actually covered basic algebra topics. So, go ahead and explore ALL the books... well maybe not ALL .... there are LOTS and LOTS...on interactmath.com. :)

My youngest has been on the slow side of math. We had done MUS because it was a good fit for him. But we lacked consistency, and we moved, and dh was .... well a whole set of life situations..... and he was "behind" traditional grade levels. We did use some key to books to fill in some gaps. He did TT7 which was a perfect fit... and then we floundered with curriculum. He has done Algebra 1, using several different texts, for one high school credit. He did not really understand well graphing and factoring of polynomials. We have been doing MUS Geometry and reviewing algebra 1. If I had it to do over again with my son, I would not "worry" about the high school credits. I would settle on ONE curriculum for algebra and stick with it. I would do math 4 days a week all around the year. Now that he is 16, developmentally, math is finally 'clicking' with him and he is understanding. He is able to comprehend well and move much faster through the material. I'm planning on going back to TT for Algebra 2. I wish I would have just progressed from TT7, but I was so worried about those high school credits! So..... forget about the high school credits (for now). I bet your son will mature enough to be able to handle the higher maths in plenty of time to graduate. Doing math year round gives you the extra time you need... you'll be able to do 2 academic years worth in one calendar year (or almost anyway). Find a curriculum that works and stick with it. THat is my 2 cents.

He will be beginning at a community college that does not require physics. I was considering anatomy and phyisiology. Also considering geology. I like the idea of environmental science and / or ecology. Thanks! Any one else with ideas?

Jean... Thanks for 'just sayin'. :)

DS has a biology credit, is doing chemistry now, and needs a third "lab" science. He is not interested in physics at all. I've got some astronomy materials on hand, but he isn't that interested in that either. He is very interested in the evolution vs creation debate. (Especially since members of our household have different views on the subject!) And ideas for a third credit that would include evolution/creation? Life science? Earth Science? Geology? I'd like to use a college text that could be found cheap on Amazon. I know he'll be reading Darwin anyway, so I'd like to be able to use that as part of our credit. I think I need some course titles to begin my search. Any and all ideas welcome! Thanks! Pam

I just spent over an hour with my son discussing school. And, I feel much better about our year. :) He has "read ahead" in several subjects in the past few weeks with my attention elsewhere. I'm going to let him "just read" for several weeks. So, he'll be finishing the reading of some textbooks early. After books are finished, I"ll pull out some topics from each book for short papers to write. He agreed that MUS Geometry is easy enough to do 2 lessons per week, and he admitted that he has not been diligent in doing the geometry assignments at all. He wants to keep reviewing algebra, but will use interactmath.com independently until geometry is done. He also contracted with me extra cooking and cleaning for pay. He does not have a job and it will be worth it to me. :) I feel so much better! :)

My son is doing Spielvogel's Western Civ Volume 1 this year and will do Volume 2 next year. We have the study guide and do some of that for written work to grade. He is also reading classics that align with (somewhat) with the chapter in Western Civ text.