pgr
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Posts posted by pgr
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4 minutes ago, daijobu said:
Yes, you can apply as a part time student (2-3 courses), single course student, or enroll full time and graduate from Stanford Online High School. Many students will switch their status during their time there. There is a timetable for applying that corresponds to that for regular private schools.
The neat thing is that it isn't just a online vendor of high school classes. Your student and family becomes part of their community with in person meet ups, events, dances, etc. My dd only took 1 class at a time (and then switched to part time), but got the benefit of all these other social opportunities. (I did too!)
Thank you!!
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13 hours ago, daijobu said:
There aren't a lot of good options for AP bio at present. The exception is Stanford OHS which offers an excellent live online AP bio class, but you need to apply in advance and it is expensive.
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.
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5 hours ago, MamaSprout said:
Better link for Wilson Hill (bottom of the page): https://www.wilsonhillacademy.com/academics/biology/
Note that it is taught from a Christian worldview, if that matters one way or the other.
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.
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What about Wilson Hill Academy for AP Bio?
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15 hours ago, JoJosMom said:
Good book, but I agree about checking the content. I reviewed it a couple of years ago for my DD and something bothered. Unfortunately, I cannot for the life of me recall what the problem was, nor can I find the book. (It's heck getting old.) I would let DD read it now (she's 16), but she's done a lot of maturing since then.
Also, how about I, Robot by Asimov and The Perelandra series, by C.S. Lewis?
Thank you!! I try to screen through sites like Common Sense Media, but obviously not all titles have reviews.
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14 hours ago, Kareni said:
Are you still looking?
I'll suggest The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. It's a fantasy with only the most meagre hint of romance. It does mention past physical abuse of the main character but overall the story is incredibly uplifting.
Regards,
Kareni
Thank you - I think I'll ALWAYS be looking for new books for her. She's already exhausted the library selections on her own 😉.
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Thank you all so much! ❤️
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Oh, awesome, Lori
2 hours ago, Lori D. said:I vote for giving a stack of 8-10 books at least, and that will surely end up with at least 1 that is a hit! (:D
Perhaps others by those authors you mentioned that she likes? Example:
- Anne of Avonlea (Montgomery) -- sequel to Anne of Green Gables (although there is more romance in this one)
- Emily of New Moon (Montgomery)
- Little Men (Alcott) -- sequel to Little Women
- Eight Cousins (Alcott)
- David Copperfield (Dickens) -- a bit like Oliver Twist (follows a boy to manhood/rags to riches/happy ending), but much longer
- A Christmas Carol (Dickens) -- shorter and lighter than Oliver Twist
books slightly similar to ones you listed:
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Taylor) -- and sequels -- gr. 6-9 -- similar to To Kill a Mockingbird, black pre-teen female protagonist in 1930s Deep South/Depression
- Howl's Moving Castle (Jones) -- gr. 7-9 -- very slightly along the lines of a Wrinkle in Time
- Enchantress from the Stars (Engdahl) -- gr. 7-9 -- a bit more like a Wrinkle in Time
- Two Are Better Than One (Brink) -- gr. 5-8 -- charming Anne of Green Gables type of friendship between 2 tween girls
- The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Aiken) -- gr. 5-8 -- very like an upper elementary version of a Charles Dickens novel -- FUN!
- Christy (Marshall) -- a bit along the lines of Little Womenother ideas:
- The Friendly Persuasion (West) -- gr. 7+ -- a real hidden gem -- Quaker (pacifist, abolitionist) family on the edge of the Civil War and slavery
- A Little Princess; The Secret Garden (Burnett) -- gr. 5-8
- The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (Kelly) -- gr. 5-8 -- along the lines of the Penderwicks
- The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Avi) -- gr. 6-9
- The Tombs of Atuan (Le Guin) -- gr. 7+ -- or, all 3 of the Earthsea trilogy: Wizard of Earthsea, Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore
- Tuck Everlasting (Babbitt) -- gr. 6-9 -- fast read, but a good "thinking" story
- Below the Root (Snyder) -- gr. 6-8 -- similar: fast read, but a good "thinking" story
other classics:
- All Creatures Great and Small (Herriot) -- memoir, with humorous and poignant retellings of life as a veterinarian in the 1930s in the English countryside
- The Prince and the Pauper, or, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Twain)
ETA
- The Perilous Gard (Pope) -- and The Sherwood Ring, which is not quite as good, but still enjoyable (it's not a sequel, but a sort of similar "device", and revolves around totally different characters and
- The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Tolkien) -- so rich! every time I re-read I find more life-lessons and depthAlso, if Christian works are okay:
- The Man Who Was Thursday (Chesteron)
- Till We Have Faces (Lewis)
- CS Lewis' space trilogy, esp. #1 & 2, as stand-alones -- Out of the Silent Planet; Perelandra
- The Hiding Place (ten Boom)Oh, awesome, Lori! There are a lot here that she hasn't yet read (& Christian works are fine)!
Thank you!-
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Taking notes, thank you 🙂
A lot of the ones mentioned she's already read.
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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??
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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...
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Thank you so much for all the replies! I'm sorry to have disappeared - had a bit of a health crisis...
On 3/16/2019 at 1:41 AM, lewelma said:I'm feeling like the only unschooler among everyone here. 🙂 I never gave grades and never considered grading anything, ever.
Ruth, I'm definitely a "classical unschooler"!
It seems documentation and accompanying explanation are everything. Thank you all so very much for the input!
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16 hours ago, 3gemmama said:
Have you considered enrolling your DD in AoPS' online courses? When my DS1 first did AoPS it was self-study (pre-Alg) and sometimes high stress for him ("how would a teacher grade this if I were in school?") and me ("uhhh...some would grade it this way, others might grade it that way...").
Switching to AoPS courses was one of the best homeschool decisions we ever made. Worth every penny. Outside instructor, etc. works like a charm for him. Same with DS2 now. There are moments when DS2 worries that if he doesn't get a problem right this next time his overall weekly score won't be as good, but that just makes him focus more on checking his answer before submitting it. Win-win.
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.
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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.
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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! 😛
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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.
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Thank you everyone! And I had no idea one could close the chat bar... which obviously makes sense. ?
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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
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Thank you all!
18 hours ago, Jann in TX said:I think the chat bar is an important part of an online class.
I teach math online and I can't imagine a class without student feedback and interaction. I do a pretty good job of keeping the chat in line with what is going on in the class lesson and I do not allow private chatting between students.
My classes do not use webcam videos (totally unnecessary for Math and a HUGE distraction!!)--sure students can raise a 'virtual' had to ask questions- and my students can unmute to speak their questions/comments-- but the majority of students prefer to type their questions and responses in the chat.
From what you describe your daughter may be better served by pre-recorded classes that have email/tutorial help outside of the actual video lessons.
Jann, I agree about the need for student feedback and interaction. Maybe it was the sample videos we looked at - it seemed many were recorded at the beginning of a class, and it was difficult for her to focus on what the instructor was saying while the students were typing short comments (both in regard to what the instructor was saying, and to each other) non-stop into the chat box.
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Our DD is pretty distractible, and has gotten frustrated just looking at sample online classes that have an ever-running chat box. We were looking at WHA, WTMA, etc but she just had so much trouble focusing... She's signed up for CAP/Scholé Academy Latin, and I'm hoping that will work well for her. Planning forward, I can't find any other (at least well-known or well-liked) online courses that don't have the chat box. Obviously, she's having to learn to work with all types of learning situations, but this is her first exposure to online learning, and I'd like to consider other courses for her to get acquainted to the platform. Any thoughts? Thanks! ?
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8 minutes ago, Penelope said:
The Latin 1 teachers are all new this year, I think.
Thank you, that's helpful to know.
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Please eyeball my plan for 9th? Ack!
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
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