Here is a strategy. Your son should take a complete test in one sitting with the same time parameters as he will face on the test day - start, timed sections, break. He should have the snack he will have on the test. Score the test. Analyze the wrong answers. Take an ACT. Go through above process. Take an SAT. Repeat process. Then, retake the ACT. Repeat process. One week for each test to take and analyse.

Fwiw, I have home schooling a number of years, and we almost finished. It has taken me a long time to accept that I can't create more hours in the day, and I can't shoehorn three hours of work into one, and I can't rush skill building. Even if your time is reduced, which will be disappointing, you can still do something wonderful. I would decide on the one thing that is most important for your son and focus on that. I follow several blogs. Please read this one for a helping of realistic encouragement -- https://centerforlit.wordpress.com/.

We have used Bravewriter for years, and dd just took the Expository Essay class. Even though she understands the material, she has quite a ways to go for mastery. So, if your children have not mastered the Expository Essay material from that class, they should practice, practice, practice. Mastering the material from the Expository Essay class is a must for college writing. Have them go through the lessons using the topic suggestions from Assignment #2. Do every one of the topics if necessary. Now that your children have gone through the class, they should be able to use the assignments for the persuasive essay to write short, researched/documented essays on their own with you providing input as needed. You should be aiming for 2-week turnaround, start to finish. Your children can be working on an Expository Essay related to school subjects as they are learning other writing. Most of the topics from Assignment #2 can be part of health or government credit. For example, dd is now working on an essay on immigration reform, which will be part of her government credit. She is also working on timed writing. Regarding LToW, your children may find parts of LToW easier than the Bravewriter Expository Essay material, but even so, the invention and elocution work in LToW I is excellent and worth learning. A Bravewriter Expository Essay is a standard, documented academic essay; i.e. classroom essays, and while the essays include some original thought, the bulk of the writing is outside support for points combined with some analysis. With an LToW persuasive essay, every point/particular (using Bravewriter terminology) will come from the student's brain. It is an original essay start to finish. I have the new material, and the videos look great. If you have questions, feel free to pm or email me. Also, sign up for the yahoo group to get support. I think this order is good for the curriculum you mentioned. LToW I to mastery. Expository Essays to mastery. Follow that with lit analysis papers. The skills and thinking your children will learn in LToW I and Expository Essays will make traditional lit papers much easier. Also, Andrew Kern wrote in a yahoo group post about lit analysis, that a student who uses LToW I can't avoid doing literature analysis. Perhaps, the work won't look like a classroom lit paper, but the student will be considering the characters and the issues they face, which is really the core of a novel. Themes, etc.unfold through the invention work. Feel free to pm.

Even using Jill's schedule, WttW begins with short stories. I would use different lit with LToW. WttW teaches intro lit analysis. LToW teaches the persuasive essay using rhetoric. I think it would be fine to use both if you have the time. You will need to schedule 2 hours daily (approx.). 1 credit composition, 1 credit literature. Btw, LToW is written for 1 year, and it will take that unless you are working with strong writers. If you decide not to do them simultaneously, I would do LToW first.

Last dc and I are home schooling this summer, but what you describe is what we began last summer. Math - Dc has always been significantly behind in math. Last summer, we found Tablet Class math through a post on this forum and began working through the material with 1X weekly tutoring from the author. Dc and I watched the lesson videos together; we worked the problems solo; and then, we checked the work together. I have been very involved in the entire process. Fast forward to this summer. Both of us will be finishing algebra 2 and geometry (repeat course) in a few weeks and moving on to pre-calculus. I also will be doing pre-calculus with the same materials, but dc will be working solo because the foundation, understanding, and confidence are in place. Writing - I think we have messaged each other about writing in the past, so you know that we have used various writing approaches throughout the years. I still recommend Bravewriter courses, and even though I could teach the material, last dc just took the Expository Essay course. Excellent course as always. I was part of the process because dc needed help with various aspects of the material, but dc had the deadlines of a syllabus and outside input. Bravewriter is offering the Expository Essay course this summer. Study Skills - Does your son know how to take notes from a lecture and from a text? If not, find a TC course that interests both of you and have at it. Compare notes & discuss. Ditto with text notes. Find a textbook that isn't painful for both of you. Take notes, compare notes, and discuss. Outlining is another skill to develop. Outline, compare, discuss. Perhaps your son can earn the science credit through a combination of lecture and text notes and outlining. I wouldn't put an emphasis on outlining if your son doesn't like it -- just introduce. Consider ways to use skill building to earn a credit. Finally, can your son annotate fiction? If not, teach him to annotate. Then, both of you can annotate the same book and discuss. I also want to suggest Diane Lockman's Road Maps for grammar, logic, and rhetoric stages. I think you can get them if you sign up for her email list. With older dc, I could not do what dc and I have done during the last year. I just didn't have the time. Learning alongside my child has been lovely. No mistake -- we have butted heads, etc., but our relationship has improved from the experience. I am not just the assigner and scheduler.

Yes, snowbeltmom, whether it is exaggeration or not, there is a big difference between full-ride and magic carpet ride. We know many students working multiple jobs to pay room and board, and others getting into significant debt to live on campus. Since dd doesn't like either path, she is going into the college app process with expectations that have changed/lowered.

mom31257, Did your daughter's ACT give her full tuition and full room and board? If so, would you be willing to share the name of the college? Dd is looking at a local Christian college. She has earned the max merit scholarship for academics and may be able to earn some scholarship through music auditions but will still owe quite a bit for room and board. We are trying to find Christian unis that give full tuition, room and board for a strong ACT. Thank you.

Since you don't like to teach writing and have a reluctant writer, I would not suggest a book or curriculum. I would definitely look at classes like the ones offered through Bravewriter. Those classes offer the instruction, examples, and feedback needed by reluctant writers. Fwiw, reluctant writers often hate writing because they just don't know what to do when it comes to writing. No one really likes to do what they don't understand, especially the non-natural writer. The author of Lost Tools of Writing, Andrew Kern, claims writers basically have 3 problems -- coming up with ideas, arranging those ideas, and expressing those ideas appropriately. Reluctant writers usually hit a roadblock at the starting gate; i.e. coming up with ideas. Lost Tools is wonderful because it gives the student tools to come up with his own ideas. I would recommend a class for LToW as well.

retrainthebrain.com

Not a tutor, but Bravewriter has a timed essay class. Instruction & feedback spot on.

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday (on days w/no appointments, special rehearsals, etc.) - Up at 6:30., 3 mile walk w/Mom, breakfast, begin school around 8:30 - Morning Time, math, composition, violin, lunch, test prep, science, violin, voice, electives, dinner, orchestra. These days can go until 8:00. Wednesday - Same as above except leave at 2:30 for photography lessons, youth praise team rehearsal, adult choir Friday - Same as above except leave at 1:00 for violin lessons and grocery shopping w/Mom - our favorite day Saturday - Clean in the morning and study after lunch, usually Latin this year Sunday - Church at 8:30 for orchestra rehearsal, church followed by youth choir practice, followed by 2 1/2 hour youth orchestra rehearsal During the school year, evening rehearsals for college orchestra concerts Daily work around the house includes clearing the table, unloading the dishwasher, and keeping room/bathroom somewhat tidy We school year round to make the music possible, but summer work doesn't have outside deadlines, which makes it more relaxed. Also, no orchestra and no Saturday school work.

Not at all. The inspiration, help and ideas from this forum has gotten us through quite a few rough patches. I hope my posts will do the same for others.

I posted separately about dd's April ACT because I wanted to credit the people who have helped us this year. Dd's improvement has come with lots of hard work. Throughout the years, I have seen posts from parents who have children struggling with academics in various ways. In fact, there was a recent thread on average children. I want to encourage those parents to never give up searching for materials and methods that can help your child move beyond average. It is possible.

I know there is an ACT thread for the April test but wanted to post separately. Dd began this year, her junior year, very behind in math. It wasn't any surprise that she did not score well on ACT practice tests and the real deal. Fortunately, we found TabletClass Math and Mr. Zimmerman, the author of TC. Since September, she has brought her composite up 5 points, but we are jumping around the kitchen today because her math score has gone up 6 points! I know the tests vary in difficult, but this is one confirmation that dd is finally, finally learning math, and we give credit for that to Mr. Zimmerman's tutoring and TC. For a struggling student, learning and understanding math is life changing. Also, we have been working with Beasley College Prep. BCP offers quite a few services and test prep for ACT/SAT is one of the services. We did not use a test prep service with our other children, but we felt this was the right direction for dd. Each student is assigned a mentor, who provides support and input as the student works through materials to become familiar with the tests, learn strategies, and analyze practice tests. While better scores are the goal of a test prep service, I've also seen a tremendous improvement in dd's critical thinking, reasoning, etc. because of the work she is doing with BCP. Fwiw, BCP has track record of excellent results. All in all, the improvement on the ACT is sweet finish to a difficult year. Of course, the additional scholarship dd has earned is another reason for the happy dance. P.S. I want to give a shout out to regentrude. In one of your posts, you mentioned that your physics students sometimes fail because of poor Algebra skills not because they haven't had high school physics. Because of that post, we backtracked and decided to make sure that dd really understood Algebra. It wasn't an easy decision, but in the end, it has been worth it. 1togo

Gratia, Thank you for the reply. It helped me understand a few issues. Fwiw, initiative and self-motivation are not always the problem with a class/teacher/program, which I have learned after many years of home schooling. 1togo

We have used Phonetic Zoo with good results for high school students who have not mastered spelling rules. It takes 15 minutes per day. The IEW website has a placement test. After PZ, IEW offers advanced spelling curriculum. For us, vocabulary comes from writing, reading, and Latin.

Bravewriter has an inexpensive packet/pdf ($9.95), "Bravewriter Goes to the Movies," we have used for writing about movies. It is 11 pages and would be excellent prep for a movie appreciation course this summer. Pick movies from the class modules and use the packet for writing or informal discussion.

Gratis, Did your daughter take Latin 3 with Lukeion? Was the grading timely? Did she receive clear, constructive feedback on papers? I am wondering if her Latin 3 experience was the same as her AP Latin experience? Also, is your daughter a strong student who can work without much input? Just thinking through direction. Thank you.

Yes, 2 sections, 10 minute break, 2 sections.

Dd has taken the ACT several times. She did not finish all the sections on her first two attempts. However, after working on the test throughout the year, she now finishes the sections.

What you describe are the dress-ups required and taught by IEW at the elementary/middle school level. I am bringing attention to those wordw because there have been numerous posts throughout the years about IEW and formulaic writing. At the high school level, students have learned dress-ups, etc. and moved past style requirements. So, IEW high school curriculum includes: The Elegant Essay, Windows to the World, Speech Boot Camp, Essay Intensive, and Excellence in Literature. Of course, high school students who have had little writing experience may need to use Level C material which teaches dress-ups, etc., but the high school products I mentioned are not going to be focused on formulaic writing. However, they do teach specific structure. Bravewriter also teaches structure in high school courses like Expository Essay and SAT/ACT writing.

Yes, dd took it today.

TabletClass with weekly tutoring from the author is my suggestion. After you discuss what your dad had covered, goals, etc., he can map out a plan. We've gone from frustration and struggles in our house to working through Algebra 2 and Geometry with understanding this year. I am hoping for TC Pre-calc next year, but if not, the foundation is now in place.

University of Alabama Early College online I know they offer Japanese; not sure of the format.

Adding this. You pay a monthly fee for ALEKS, which allows you to use any of their courses. However, your student can only be in one course at a time for the fee. There is no general placement test. So, you place your student in the course that you think is appropriate and go from there. For instance, you look at the topics in Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 and decide that your student could do Algebra 2 but needs to review Algebra 1. He begins Algebra 1 and flies through it in six weeks. At that point, you can transfer him to Algebra 2. As soon as the student completes the course pie chart, he can move on.