Yes, you would discuss the true event in the author's life and then the novel parallel. However, getting enough information about events in the author's life might be difficult. It will be easier to discuss an historical trend/event that occurred during the author's life and then discuss the novel parallel. Using the example from The Greats Gatsby, the student would research materialism in the 1920's and write a page or so discussing the historical thread - a long opener. Then, they would discuss each character; i.e. Daisy Miller, Jay Gatsby, etc., and their response to materialism with examples from the text.

If truth be told, after years of homeschooling, we probably have everything we need for last dc on the shelves in our house. Other than science and foreign language, we really don't have to buy anything. I think it's like that for most of us. We forget about curriculum that we bought, planned to use, and have tucked away. We liked it when we bought it, and it's probably still good.

If you can determine specifics for the papers; i.e. length and parameters, it will help. For example, you might schedule one month for a 4 to 6 page research paper with documentation. Two weeks for the character sketch. Two weeks for literary analysis with one week for reading and notetaking and then one week for writing and editing. If you have nine months, then you can put together the schedule. Research paper in October. Another in November. Character sketch in December. Also, you might want to look at Writer's Inc. It has examples of many types of writing. You could include a month of letter writing in January - business and personal. Also, write something for publication during the month of February - letter to the editor or an essay contest. Use March for fiction writing if your student has an interest. Since you plan to include history summaries and other short writing, one month for a major writing project might be the best benchmark. The end result would be nine quality pieces.

I'm not there yet, but I have been wrestling with your dilemma as I plan for high school. If we use textbooks, how do we fit it the study and test cycle with research, especially since both are important and require different skills? I decided that alternating might be a possibility. First chapter for the traditional work of testing; i.e. vocabulary, answering questions from the text, notetaking, studying, etc., and the next chapter for research work.

On broader scale. The materialism of the 1920's, and each character's response to materialism in The Great Gatsby. Discuss the historical thread first, and then launch into the novel tie-in. Or, the role of women during Alcott's era. What was the prevalent expectation for young women? Discuss that. Then, look at each of the characters. Who fits the mold and who breaks it?

Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers by Barbara Frank After the student works through the credit card project, the car project (purchase, insurance, and loan), the rent project, the health insurance project (who knows if this will still apply), the rent project, the food expense project, the utilities project, the budgeting project, etc. and reads a few books like The Millionaire Next Door, Your Money or Your Life, and Learn to Earn, they will have earned a credit and learned a few things about real life.

When I look at your son's schedule, the writing instruction jumps out at me. While there is nothing wrong with writing instruction at the high school level (we will be doing that in our house as well), it means your son is still working on foundational skills. Math, reading (even for strong readers) and writing take a lot of brain work. Can you pare his academic schedule to 5 subjects; i.e math, history, writing instruction with WriteShop, Latin, and Biology? Boys, especially those who are linear thinkers, often need streamlined schedules with time to dig deep. They can't focus and get into anything in 30 minutes, and bits and pieces don't work for them, but it doesn't mean they have a learning disability. They just don't see a clear path for their day, week..year. Allowing one hour for each subject and keeping the academic subjects to 5 might work better. Also, I don't know what your son is working on with music, but he probably needs more than 15 minutes of practice time to enjoy the work and be successful. If he is serious about his music, that can be an additional credit. I know there is pressure to earn credits and build a transcript in high school, but it also helps to think in terms of skills and purpose. What skills does your student need to be successful for the remainder of high school and in college? Why do I have this subject/task in the schedule? Since writing is critical, you might want to focus on writing plus the essentials this year. Get through WriteShop I this first semester (use WS writing across the curriculum ideas if there is time) and then complete WriteShop II or whatever else you plan to use for essays by 10th grade.

We have a stack of ACT and SAT practice books from many different publishers. Our sons worked numerous practice tests at home with simulated "real" conditions; i.e. same start time, breaks, etc. No matter how they performed on the practice tests (one son repeatedly scored perfect scores on the practice tests), they always scored lower on the actual test. Nerves, too cold, too hot, late starts, sniffers and coughers, etc. It's a difficult day.

We've used several grammar programs in the past. MCT is working in our house as well.

I would get SWB's lecture on lit analysis. It's $3.99. She has questions for fiction and biographies, and the questions can be used for any book. It's enough for after school. We have an easel in our school room, and I wrote the questions on a flip chart for easy reference.

Sent you a pm.

You are right. If the writing, etc. works, then we should forge on. We're still in Level 2, and even though we've used other grammar curriculum, including diagramming last year with Bridge Road, the review is good. Btw, your posts have been helpful, and your post about MCT grammar wasn't the only thing that made me think about MCT grammar. We enjoyed diagramming last year, and dd did well with it. The 4-level analysis is stretching her, which is not what I expected.

We're moving through MCT Level 2 and hope to get through Level 3 this year for 8th grade. I see (and remember) that you are now using MFW, so I assume you are using their grammar and writing. I realize that circumstances change so I may not be able to plan every subject for four years of high school, but I would like to find a core for grammar and writing. I looked at the table of contents for all three of the MCT Advanced Writing books and the papers are the type of papers our son wrote in college, so I want to include those books in our high school plan if we can afford it. However, MCT doesn't cover creative writing, letter writing, etc. Since there are only four papers in each of the MCT upper levels, can the upper-level books be covered during the first semester of the year? That way, the student could write several of each type of MCT paper for the first semester and then work on other writing for the second half of the year. I have several creative writing resources I would like to use as part of high school. Thank you for your help.

We did not use Saxon elementary for our youngest, and I consider that one of our biggest homeschool mistakes. We floundered through many programs trying to get ready for Saxon 54. Yes, the Saxon elementary lessons are scripted, but I should have recognized that I needed a script since I am not a math person. We're finally rolling with Saxon and playing catchup. Btw, we used Saxon with our two oldest, and they did very well on the SAT and ACT math sections. One of them is not a math person, and the other can do complicated math in his head. We've been homeschooling for a while, and I am a Saxon fan. I realize other families get excellent results with different curriculum, but Saxon works in our household because the student can self-teach, for the most part, when they get to 54.

Are any of you using MCT Level 4 or above? I know MCT suggests working through the grammar book first and then using the practice workbooks for the rest of year, but I would like to know if you supplement the MCT grammar. Also, do you add diagramming as the 5th level of sentence analysis? After reading several posts, I see that most people love MCT writing, but there are different opinions on the grammar, especially from the grammarians on the boards. We used Bridge to Latin Road and AG high school in the past, and the diagramming work provided a visual for grammar concepts, though the third cycle of AG was a bear. I want to find a language arts curriculum that covers poetry, grammar, vocabulary and composition with an emphasis on documentation. MCT fits the bill except the grammar work is light on diagramming. Thank you for the input.

Sounds like you have the correct inklings. I would suggest some way of keeping a record of your writing lessons. This would help your son self-edit. For example, I taught dd lessons on eliminating passive and vague verbs, verbs that imply emotion, eliminating cliches, using synonyms for the word "said" in dialogue, sentence variety, showing versus telling, and using words that create a picture. The information is included in dd's writer's notebook. Before I give input, she runs through her list and corrects what she can. She always finds ways to improve before we get together.

Yes, what everyone said, especially the idea of working on one thing at a time, which is a wonderful piece of advice that I learned from Julie Bogart. We worked with Julie Bogart's materials and classes for several years, and Julie helped me understand the writing process and my role as a mentor. You might try developing a Writer's Notebook with your son (if you want suggestions for this I can post or pm). Most teens don't resist the Writer's Notebook as much as other forms of mom/parent input. Also, I often write suggestions and evaluations in the form of a note/letter. This helps to eliminate Charlie Brown syndrome. OYAN looks like a wonderful course, but if the price is too much for you now, there are many books in the library about story writing. I have found wonderful books geared for teens, which you son can read on his own. Also, IEW sells, How to Write a Story, by Lee Roddy.

Jackie and Nicole, Occasionally, I read posts that give me vision. Yours did just that. Thank you.

Yes, don't apologize for the link. I think it sparked good discussion; i.e. marketing and historical science. We have struggled with science for years in our house. Always too something -- easy, predictable, work (for me), hard to schedule. I feel that I have a handle on other subjects, but would love to find something that would fire dd's curiosity. I, too, went to school in the country and got funneled into the home ec track. I am proud of the high-rising meringue I can turn out on a lemon pie and the neat scallops that I can sew on the hem of bell sleeves, but I do wish I had received a better education in science and math. The only saving grace of that school was Latin. Who would think that a Latin lover would leave a small town and come back home to teach it?

Yep, the science thang is difficult. Perhaps the historical approach is the "window." Have you posted about your historical approach? Btw, if you fold science into history, how do you handle labs?

Yes.

The course might be good, but I would like to know if all these homeschooling marketeers took the same sell-yourself-and-your-product workshop. They present their sales pitch in this way: building excitement with a FREE preview...buy now...building with warnings that some dire thing will happen to you and yours if you don't use their product...buy now...building with promises that this course, etc. is the best ever...buy now...building with testimonials... They must assume that we throw reason to the wind and buy their product because of a catchy format. Bring out your logic books and let your children have at it.

Check out TOPS science. I recently exchanged emails with one of the mothers who works for TOPS. She mentioned that the problem with curriculum experiments, for the most part, is that they recreate someone else's experiments. One of the goals of TOPS science is to help the student learn to create their own labs. TOPS uses household items, and they have units for all types of science and at the high school level. Btw, could you share your writeup and review format? Thank you.

I agree with the other posts - IEW and MCT are very different approaches. I would not mix IEW and MCT. We used IEW for years, and while we learned from it, none of our children became strong writers. We are now using WWE with MCT Town level, and it works beautifully.

You might want to pre-read SWB's book for sexual content.