Yes, that's definitely a consideration (it being hard on everyone to wait an extra year). At the same time, in addition to the other factors, she's been contemplating a "gap year" on and off for a while, and has so many things she really wants to study in HS. I guess we'll take it one step at a time. You have a point - and it will be clearer in a couple years where she stands as far as maturity.

Thank you for this. From my point of view, the only downside here is that she's hell-bent on graduating in four years. At the same time, she's a fairly reasonable and rational being, so there's hope.☺️

Thank you to all - you’re confirming my gut feeling that we need to kick things down a notch. Also, you’ve all raised points that hadn’t occurred to me (e.g. Duolingo, Geography credits) - thank you so much! ❤️

I agree re: Spanish and Logic... I can't decide if I necessarily need to put everything she does on the transcript, even if she ends up putting in enough time for half a credit or so. It seems she's got a lot of electives? As far as AP Bio, the thought is that she'd have taken it before applying to colleges. Statistics not as a prerequisite, but I've read in several places that it's helpful, so incorporated that into planning for 10th and 11th, taking into account the maths she'll be doing; it's not terribly pertinent to 9th.

I finally got a plan in place for my first high-schooler, and wrote out what the credits might look like on the transcript. She realized that she's pretty set on majoring in Molecular and Cell Biology/Genetics. Though this could obviously change, she'd need to get in Bio AP in 11th, with Bio, Chem, and Statistics before then. But she's already enrolled in WHA Physics, so... she's opting to double up. I'm not certain this is doable, especially with the other "electives". I'm fine with taking an extra year to do it right - she just turned 14 in July, so she could be in either 8th or 9th this fall, I think. She does want Logic and then Rhetoric, and I agree that would be useful for research writing. Spanish she'll do during her free time, not enough for a full credit. Fine arts may end up being participation at a local theater company instead of dance. My question - does this look OK?? Logical? Any issues I'm not seeing?? ACK! Please help (talk me down) and thank you... Curriculum Course unit Credit WWS3/VCR English I 0.5 language arts Great Books World Lit I 0.5 language arts SWB/Cultural Landscape World History/Geo I 1 social studies AOPS Geometry Geometry 1 math WHA Physics H (online) Physics H 1 science Novare Biology Biology 1 elective SA Latin II (online) Latin II 1 foreign language Duolingo Spanish Spanish 0.5 elective Art/Music study (time period) Fine Arts 0.5 art Logic/Discovery of Deduction Logic 0.5 elective Dance class 3.5h/week PE 0.5 PE

Thank you!!

ETA: I don't mean to derail the thread, OP! And I agree with LAR - it would be my guess that an accredited AP course would have to teach the material as it will be tested. I was trying to figure this one out. Do you know - is it possible to just take one course at Stanford OHS? I did read that they have admissions criteria with recommendations, GPA, etc needed, and that they have criteria for what's needed in order to receive a diploma from them (obviously), but I could not find info on whether my DD could potentially just take Bio AP at some point.

Thanks for the correct link ☺️ FWIW I should add that the WHA course is just on my radar as a future possibility; we don't have any experience with it nor any feedback to share.

What about Wilson Hill Academy for AP Bio?

Thank you!! I try to screen through sites like Common Sense Media, but obviously not all titles have reviews.

Thank you - I think I'll ALWAYS be looking for new books for her. She's already exhausted the library selections on her own 😉.

Thank you all so much! ❤️

Oh, awesome, Lori Oh, awesome, Lori! There are a lot here that she hasn't yet read (& Christian works are fine)! Thank you!

Taking notes, thank you 🙂 A lot of the ones mentioned she's already read.

I've exhausted the book lists, it seems, or maybe it's just all become a blur... DD will be 14 in a few days, and is the kid that always has her nose in a book. She has asked for books, and when I asked for something a bit more specific, she said she'd love to read something that's deep, but not dark, and preferably a classic. For reference: She loved: Oliver Twist, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1984, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, The Importance of Being Earnest, all the non-tragic Shakespeare, A Wrinkle in Time. Of contemporary books: The Penderwicks series, The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series, etc. She does not like romance of *any* kind, and did not care for: Our Town, Of Mice and Men, The Great Gatsby, Bud not Buddy, The Pilgrim's Progress and the like. I thought if anyone could help me come up with something, it would be y'all! Thoughts??

I'm still just a little bit in denial, but here goes. Grade 9 for my eldest: Math: AOPS Intro to Geometry Science: Physics Honors (WHA online) History: finish up SWB's "The History of the Medieval World", begin "The History of the Renaissance World" LA: finish up WWS3. Also, literature that coincides with the historical timeperiod she's studying. Foreign Language: continue Spanish with Duolingo? Begin French? Also, Duolingo has apparently changed its format recently, and it's really not working for her at all. I may have to look for another foreign language resource. Electives: Latin II (Schole Academy online) and Logic (Discovery of Deduction) Art & Music: informal discussion according to historical timeperiod studied PE: dance class 2x/week I'm not feeling like I have my thoughts organized as far as History and LA. Thus far, history has been reading along with a brief written chapter summary. LA has been WWS and a ton of independent reading with very informal discussion of books. My "plan" is to look to WTMA and SA book lists and syllabus for some ideas/guidance...

Thank you so much for all the replies! I'm sorry to have disappeared - had a bit of a health crisis... Ruth, I'm definitely a "classical unschooler"! It seems documentation and accompanying explanation are everything. Thank you all so very much for the input!

Thank you for this input! (And I'm honored that this is your first post! 😄) My hesitation is that the fast pace of the online courses (my subjective impression based on comments from others) will be too much for our schedule - we've already committed to two online courses (and all three have dance class several times a week) - and her personality. While she's very strong in math, and we've considered it, I think this is the one subject that outside scoring would cause enough stress to be counterproductive. Still, it's worth considering - thank you.

Thank you! I think part of my problem is that, other than science (which will be with WHA), we won't be using anything that has built-in assignments/tests/etc. We're planning for reading and discussion in History, and Literature/Language arts corresponding with the historical time-period she's studying. Naturally, she will write essays, and it seems that is all that I'll be grading?... AOPS does not have tests and she tends to make a lot of sloppy mistakes on the first work through of a chapter, with few remaining questions or mistakes after re-working incorrect answers. So an A with mastery if she continues with the same pattern? Spanish is with Duolingo.

Thank you both! All that makes sense. I'll have to figure out how to grade AOPS; I'm certainly not the first one using it for HS! 😛

no one?

Ok, please help. Even after reading the “motherload” high school help posts and searching extensively, I’m still completely flummoxed by grading. I’ve not given grades until now, but have done annual testing. DD13 is very motivated by external evaluation (and currently taking one online course that is graded), perhaps too much. With the necessity for grading and transcripts in HS, I’d prefer to give just semester grades to keep her focus on mastery of the material, and not the grade. That seems doable? What about essays in Language Arts and History? We've been doing outlining and written narrations thus far, and I plan for more analysis. At the same time, I can’t wrap my head around how to actually grade if there aren’t quizzes/tests/etc. For example, she’s currently working through AOPS. She tends to be very distractible and can make a lot of careless mistakes. However, we check all the problems, and she goes back and corrects and/or works through the answer book if she doesn’t see what she’s done incorrectly. We don’t move forward until we’re both confident she got it. How do I assign a grade? If it’s for first check, initial number correct, it would often be a “C”. But overall she’s gifted and advanced in math, and mastery is very high. Her IOWA test scores are also consistently high. Other than trying to help her focus to avoid sloppy miscalculations in math specifically, which is really not the question, how does one give a grade overall mastery and understanding in any subject? Wouldn’t the student end up with all “A”s? I don't know why I find it all so confusing, but I just can't figure out a system.... Halp?!

Thank you for asking this question; I feel like I'm in the same spot with my DS. My older DD was able to easily transition from SM5B to AOPS PA (with JA on the side as an occasional "supplement" or to reinforce what she was learning), but she's very mathy. If it might be helpful, my current plan is to go the route of Jousting Armadillos (which is based on Jacobs, if I understand correctly?) and some BA for the remainder of the school year (he just completed SM5B two days ago 😉 ). I have been going back and forth and back and forth and back again with MM6. It seems the new, CC aligned MM6 scope and sequence overlaps quite a bit with SM5, even though the end of year MM5 eval was pretty easy for him, and MM6 end of year eval was over his head in quite a few spots - which makes me think jumping to MM7 would be too much of a leap, perhaps? SM was an excellent for our kids, I agree the older grade alternatives that are based on the Singapore method don't seem to be as good a fit - i.e. Dimensions, or even MIF. Ack.

Thank you everyone! And I had no idea one could close the chat bar... which obviously makes sense. ?

I agree that 8th was hard to figure out somehow! Here's our lineup: LA: WWS (with some selected parts of Killgallon and W&R), Vocab from Classical Roots, Sentence Diagramming, LOTS of reading, poetry, and Shakespeare on the side ? Math: AOPS History: SWB's The History of the Medieval World (& listening in to SOTW2) Science: Earth Science/Novare (& listening in to Wile's Science in the Ancient World), Natural History/Nature Study co-op Latin: Schole Academy Latin I using Latin Alive (her first online course!) Spanish: DuoLingo Geography: homegrown studies in countries and cultures Typing: The Good and the Beautiful Extracurricular: Tap/Ballet/Jazz/Hip Hop, Field Hockey