I don't know anything about this book yet--it is assigned for my ds's great books study next year (they are doing ancients) but I'll throw it out there as something to look at. The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. I'll be buying it this summer to look over before ds starts his class in September.

The geometry on the SAT: area and circumference of a circle, area & perimeter of rectangles, triangles, and shapes made from combinations of these. Vertical angles, parallel lines w/ alternate interior angles, sum of the angles in a triangle, Pythagorean Theorem, "special" right triangles, volume of a box. Knowing how to set up and solve a proportion involving sectors of a circle and arc length. Most of the formulas are provided but it's better to have them memorized--it takes too much time to look them up and these are basic things they should already know.

We're using Vocabulary for the High School Student and Vocabulary for the College-Bound Student by Amsco. They were recommended to me by several people on this board. I am spreading the two books over 3 years. http://www.amscopub.com/price_list_book_information.html?CM=Prod&CID=32&PID=340

I let my kids use calculators starting about halfway through their algebra I text. They didn't use them that often and still only pull them out occasionally in geometry. I got the TI-30 XII-S which is a nice little scientific calc (not graphing) that will take them through algebra II. It was less than $15. http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StaplesProductDisplay?&langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&productId=11830&cmArea=SEARCH

My ds just turns 15 this summer, so he is too young for many paying jobs. He hopes to pick cherries this year--that was a pretty lucrative job for a lot of his 15 yo friends last summer. He'll also spend a lot of time swimming and do two weeks as a counsellor-in-training at a Christian youth camp.

Here's a link to the scope and sequence for Spectrum. We are using it this year and ds really likes it. I like that he is so independent and the labs are all laid out so I don't have to search for materials! We also used the Bridge math supplement which covers math needed in chemistry (scientific notation, significant figures, etc.) http://www.beginningspublishing.com/ChemS&S.pdf

A dad taught a 9-week "Careers" course at our co-op last fall but my kids weren't in it so I don't know many details. I know he used an interest inventory test to help the kids determine where their skills, aptitudes and interests were. They had to research careers they were interested in using the Occupational Outlook Index (or something like that) from the library. They had to interview at least one person about his or her career (I think he helped them find someone in their field of interest if they didn't already know someone). We did something similar when I was in high school. In WA one of the 11 required subjects is occupational education. Way back when I was a freshman, all the 9th graders had to take Careers. We did six 6-week rotations through the vocational classes at our high school, including one session taught by the librarian about looking up career information, plus auto shop, agriculture, home ec, drafting, and business. I like choirfarm's idea about having people come in and report on their careers.

I had my ds work through Apples: Daily Spelling Drills for Secondary Students. There are two books and he did them at ages 12 & 13. They are right on target for older students who need a review of spelling rules for commonly misspelled words.

I'm planning to use Conceptual Physics next year with my high school sophomore. It does not require a great deal of math--as the title suggests it is concept-centered rather than problem solving-centered. A good trig text is one by Lial and Hornsby. I believe the newest edition is the 8th but I'm sure you could use an older one that would be much cheaper. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0321227360/ref=nosim/coffeeresearch26013-20

Well, after reading the article, "Joe Knows Latin" in the Memoria Press catalog today, I'd have to say The Aenid. I haven't read it yet but it is on my list. Homer--Iliad and/or Odyssey. And some Plutarch. A drama such as Oedipus Rex. Histories by Herodotus or Thucydides. Some Plato and/or Aristotle. I'm interested to read others' opinions. We can't do all or even most of the recommendations from TWTM while in high school, so I am narrowing down our choices to only a half-dozen or so per year.

It looks very similar to my son's plan for next year. We are using some different materials but mostly the subjects and amount of work are parallel. My ds will also be working on A Beka 9th grade grammar next year. :tongue_smilie: He did more than half of it this year but I finally had to drop it so he could catch up in some other subjects. We use Vocab for the High School Student instead of Word Roots and a Great Books class at co-op for composition, so pretty similar. I am not familiar with that Alg II text, we are using Foerster's Algebra and Trig for Algebra II. We're doing Conceptual Physics--ds doesn't want to do astronomy. I'm not familiar with your social studies choice. I think we are just going to do some context papers for our great books and some reading from SWB's Ancient History book. I've heard the SOS Spanish I and II are good but the Secondary Spanish is a bit light. I dont know which course you're looking at using. I was hoping ds would choose to do Spanish in high school but he wants to continue his Latin studies instead. I think he made that choice just so I couldn't help him. :D We're also doing a speech/debate class at co-op. I don't know when we are going to fit in driver's ed.--probably next spring. Your schedule looks realistic & well-rounded to me! Any art and/or music? We fit that in occasionally w/ concerts and museum visits but it is not a course I schedule or do for credit. English II: Grammar - A Beka Grammar 9th grade (he's behind in grammar) Vocabulary - Root Words B1-B2 Composition - Home2Teach Mathematics: Algebra II - A Fresh Approach to Algebra by Walters Science: Earth Science - Astronomy Today Social Studies: World History by Western Civilization Foreign Language: Spanish - SOS Electives: World Literature I - Smarr Speech - The Thinking Toolbox, & Toastmaster And maybe drivers Ed. - he's not really looking forward to this class.

I don't think you necessarily have to decide now. Like Jill, OK said, you can start high school level work, keep records in case this does go on his high school transcript, but hold off on making the decision about graduation for a couple years. My boys both have late July birthdays, so they are on the young end of the spectrum for their grade. In fact, I held my older one back starting school because he was behind in reading & writing but we later had him skip 5th grade (he actually did two years worth of work in one). I had concerns that have been expressed here--maturity, leaving home at a younger age, etc. God has been working these out as we go along. I thought ds would be like me and ready to fly the nest as soon as he finished high school. Instead he has asked if he can do two years at the local cc before taking off for a 4-year college. Probably some of this will overlap his high school years, but we are taking it a year at a time. It is a very individual decision, but if your ds is motivated, like you said, I don't see a problem with letting him try it. At some point he is going to want to support himself and possibly a family, and being done with all that schooling a year earlier could be a very good thing!

Well, I haven't, but generations of Christian school and homeschool kids (including some I know) have used BJU all through high school and gone on to college. It's probably one of the most "tried and true" curriculums around! I'm sure it will be fine.

Well, I didn't spend a great deal of time comparing the depth and difficulty of the two programs because I rejected Apologia for other reasons.:D Also, I wanted something with a lot of hands-on lab work and I didn't realize at the time that I could get a lab kit and supplement the Apologia text with it. At the demos I saw it was all text and computer and that wasn't what I wanted. I ended up choosing A Beka because it was recommended by a community college biology prof and homeschool dad who does bio labs for homeschooled high schoolers in my town. I took two years of bio in high school, including AP, and I thought the content of the A Beka bio was challenging and very appropriate for 10th grade (which is the year for which A Beka recommends it). My ds used it in 8th but biology is just his thing. He was ready for high school-level bio after finishing Rainbow in 7th. My younger ds will not be doing the A Beka bio next year as an 8th grader, he'll wait until 9th or possibly even 10th. You will definitely want to do the lab component of A Beka to get the most out of it. Lab kits are available from various suppliers. A Beka also offers a DVD of lab demonstrations but I believe a lot of learning happens with hands-on experience!

The most popular science program for homeschoolers is Apologia--they have a complete high school series. It is young earth creationist. We are Christian but I didn't care for Wile's tone or the wordy style of his texts so I picked some other options. (BTW, we did Rainbow too and really liked it). My older ds did A Beka Biology last year, is now doing The Spectrum Chemistry, and next year will do Conceptual Physics. After that he can choose to do an advanced/AP study of one of those subjects or take some science at the cc. He is looking at microbiology as a possible career. My younger will do the same series in high school but he'll be older and may not do any more science after those three. He is a mathematician to the core but not so crazy about science. HTH! At least now you have some names to research. :)

Have you looked at Veritas Press? I think it has everything you want. (I'm talking about the 2nd-6th grade series, not Omnibus)

Check out this book--I haven't read it but I've heard good things about the author. Also, Doug Phillips of Vision Forum has a CD about making decisions about college & life after homeschooling. http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=156316&netp_id=275284&event=ESRCN&item_code=WW&view=details

:lol: I thought the exact same thing! Unfortunately When I just picked up my mail there was no Memoria Press catalog--only A Beka. :glare:

Here's one, I'm sure with a little searching you could find more. http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/writing/. I have used rubrics found in Jensen's Format Writing, Evaluating Writing (the teacher's book that goes with writing strands) and Teresa Moon's book, I think it's called Evaluating for Excellence.

Typically an honors class works faster and gets through more material than a regular class. So, I would say you must complete your algebra text, then add something extra. Perhaps an activity like Mathcounts or math olympiad, problem solving workbooks, or reading biographies of mathematicians and doing a research project. Just do something that goes "above & beyond" the basic text. In my opinion, this should be done in one school year. If it takes you 1.5 or two years to get through the honors class, it is no longer honors because part of what that designation implies is the ability to move through the material quickly. Just my 2 cents. I decided not to name any of my classes honors--they will have to stand or fall without that designation. :-)

BJU offers two years of high school Latin--have you considered that option? We are using Latin in the Christian Trivium. Or I should say my ds is--I have nothing to do with it except give him the tests periodically and check his work. I believe there are also online courses for it, but we are just doing it at home. http://www.latintrivium.com/

:001_smile:Lol! Great minds think alike.

You may want to take a look at the Sonlight catalog or website. They have literature lists for the high school years that are not quite as intense as Omnibus. :D Check out the courses numbered 100, 200, etc. http://www.sonlight.com/

I've always done this, since my kids were little. Elementary math texts have a lot of review built in at the beginning of every book, so we would sometimes skip whole chapters. I would have them do the chapter tests just to make sure they could do the problems in that context. In high school texts there is much less review, but sometimes we skip problems or sets that are repetetive. Again, though, I would make them do all the problems on the test.

I outsource lit for two reasons--it provides someone else to critique ds's writing and gives him a class of students and a lit-loving tutor to discuss the books with. :001_smile: This year for 9th he read: Dante, The Divine Comedy Milton, Paradise Lost Rousseau, The Social Contract The Constitution of the United States Darwin, The Origin of Species Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov Lewis, The Abolition of Man Next year for 10th he will read: Homer's Iliad (Lattimore trans) and The Odyssey (Lattimore trans) The Rise and Fall of Athens by Plutarch Three Theban Plays (Oedipus Rex, Antigone, and I can't remember the name of the third one) by Sophocles The Last Days of Socrates by Plato The Histories, Herodotus and The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature by Howatson I hope we can continue with this tutor. The minor inconvenience of not choosing my own books is more than made up for by the other advantages. And ds loves the classes.