Well, I don't keep track of time spent, but I do keep track of which days we did math (in PA you need to keep a daily log). Since math is done every school day, it was pretty straightforward. And I did not track time spent on math enrichment activities (AMC tests, Math Olympiads and such). For us, that was sufficient record-keeping. I also kept all copies of all tests, and used those grades to average a score for the year. There were no "extra credit" points, but I'm sure you could figure in some numbers if you felt so inclined. Just one way to keep track!

Well done! It is certainly looking up for him!

I think these situations vary so much that it's hard to draw any firm conclusions-- but here's another anecdotal story for you as you make your decision. We let our 8th grade ds take a one-semester Environmental Science class at a local private university last semester, because he loves science and we felt he could be stretched a bit. And, the course was just fine-- the professor was very informative, the college kids were no better or worse than any other 20 year-olds. My ds learned a lot, did well, and gained confidence. Of course, we did not get financial aid, so even one course was expensive. And I drove him, MWF, to class and waited for an hour, so our over-all homeschooling day was quite interrupted. Also, there were a lot of very unprepared students in the class, so it was not a group of peers who could lead by example. So I can't whole-heartedly recommend rushing into the college program, but for some students it can be a worthwhile experience.

Thanks, everyone! It's funny how it takes some time, and some thought (!) to think through all these issues clearly! And since we are committed to starting in an International school in Turkey in September, many of these points are moot; but still, I like to know what we can/should be doing. I see they have a place in Ankara that offers all of these tests (AP, SAT II) so I want to take advantage of such opportunities *if* that sounds like a good plan. So maybe we'll aim for a few SAT II subject tests, a few AP's and then the full IB diploma program, knowing that our plans could change depending on what this school offers. Oh well-- I'm sure we'll all be learning quite a bit as we venture into these high school years!

I am still trying to figure out all this high school testing stuff, so that I can suitably guide my kids in the types of tests that they should take through their high school years. But there is still one question that I haven't been able to answer clearly-- should a student aim to take an equal mix of SAT II subject tests and AP exams, or should one type of test be emphasized over the other? I ask this because I had thought that the AP was a superior, more difficult test that tested at the college level, and the SAT II subject tests were shorter, easier, and aimed at high school level mastery of material. Case closed, I thought. But then, I just learned from a dear friend of the family who is heading to Harvard next month as a freshmen, that she hardly took any AP's, and only SAT II subject tests. That was surprising to me. Is it that the SAT II subject tests are graded more precisely (versus the AP with its general 1-5 scale)? So does it differentiated the top students more clearly? And some schools require two SAT II tests, but I don't believe they require AP tests... Hmmm, so what does that mean for us "guidance counselors? Do we place more emphasis on the SAT II tests? Just wondering what our seasoned veterans think... Thanks!

Finally we got our scores! My ds was at camp, so I had to wait for him to return before he could open the envelope-- but, good for him, he got a 5 on the Environmental Science test! Not bad, for an 8th grader! Whew-- I think I was more nervous about the whole process than he was...

Here's a perfect, free one, available online through Learning Express. Looks great! http://www.learnatest.com/LearningExpressEbooks/download.cfm?b=1576854833&CFID=11757032&CFTOKEN=29a9710ea7ad08d4-32DE09E2-BCDF-04A2-B7F1561FC0556DC7

Once again I will repost someone else's list from this board but I can't remember whose list this was! Sorry! But it has some good titles to check out... GENERAL HIGH SCHOOL/COLLEGE TOPICS *Homeschooling High School, Jeanne Gowen Dennis, ISBN: 1-932096-11-6 *Senior High: A Home-Designed FORM+U+LA, Shelton, ISBN: 1-887639-09-8. (This was challenging to navigate around so I had the binding ripped off and placed it in a binder with dividers.) *Books by Cafi Cohen: Homeschooling the Teen Years, ISBN:0-7615-2093-7. And What About College?, ISBN: 0-913677-11-6. Homeschoolers College Admissions Handbook, ISBN: 0-7615-2754-0. *Get a Jump! What s Next After High School? A Comprehensive Guide to College Planning and Career Exploration, Thomson/Peterson s, ISBN: 0-7689-1301-2. SPECIFIC HIGH SCHOOL/COLLEGE TOPICS *The Homeschooler s Guide to Portfolios and Transcripts, Loretta Heuer, ISBN: 0028637380. *Choosing the Right College, The Whole Truth About America s Top Schools, Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI), ISBN: 1-932236-60-0. *How to Get Into the Top Colleges, Richard Montauk, ISBN: 0-7352-0100-5. *College Degrees by Mail & Modem, John & Mariah Bear (1999 ed), ISBN: 28195-08007. *Accelerated Distance Learning: The New Way to Earn Your College Degree in the Twenty-first Century, Brad Voeller, ISBN: 0-9701563-1-6. *One Year to a College Degree: What Every College Hopes You Never Learn, ISBN: 1-56384-001-4. CAREER PLANNING *Discover What You re Best At, Linda Gale, ISBN: 0-684-83956-3. *Tuning In To My Child s Future: A Road Map for Career Exploration & Success, ISBN: 0-9660694-0-4. *But What if I Don t Want to go to College?, Harlow G. Unger, ISBN: 0-8160-3861-9. *Walch Job Power series: Choose Your Career, Master the Job Search, Ace the Interview STUDY SKILLS (MIDDLE SCHOOL-- COLLEGE) *High School Level- How to Become a SuperStar Student (DVD), Teaching Co. *How to Study Better and Faster, Walch, ISBN: 0-8251-4247-4. *Learning to Learn: Strengthening Study Skills and Brain Power, ISBN: 0-86530-141-7. *Master it Faster: How to learn faster, make good decisions and think creatively, ISBN: 0-905553-62-4. *What Smart Students Know: Maximum grades, optimum learning, minimum time, ISBN: 0-517-88085-7. *How to Study and Other Skills for Success in College, ISBN: 0-07-140607-7.

We liked his lectures too-- we watched both series by him, and they were a bit cheesy but fun to watch. Not too dry, certainly! This was the series that really started us watching other Teaching Company videos.

We have used the Hippocampus tutorials (free online) for help in various courses-- maybe they could help in biology! Sometimes just listening and looking at a visual makes all the difference in learning a topic. http://www.hippocampus.org/Biology;jsessionid=B22A3428692314F385F27A9E31C5C7E2

Colleges *are* expensive but it seems like there are many routes to explore in finding a financial arrangement that works. For instance, if you do keep up the classical education and have a very well prepared student, there is a strong chance that you might land a scholarship to any number of schools (for example, I have a nephew at Univ. Notre Dame who attends on full scholarship). So that is not out of the question! Another route is the ROTC scholarship, which also can pay for all expenses, if a student wants to serve his/her country after graduation. I have another nephew who is doing that, and it has been a great experience for him. This could be an option. Also, many state universities are still in the $15,000/year total tuition, room and board range, I believe, and many of them have very nice honors programs for achieving students. Doesn't University of Connecticut run about $18,000 total for in-state residents? So that would be within striking range, particularly if the student did some work/study programs to lessen expenses. http://admissions.uconn.edu/tuition/index.php Anyway, hang in there! It can be done, and the benefit of getting a university degree is so important, it seems worth the sacrifice to send these kids to college!

Wow, Kate, what an adventure! To help pass the time, you might encourage your older kids to write up a travel essay describing their experiences. I'm sure the children's magazine, Skipping Stones, would love to have you email them a copy for possible publication. Wonderful! http://www.skippingstones.org/

Just a word of congratulations on getting a 4! Remind her that she is a tenth grade student, taking an exam that supposedly tests college level ability for a course taken at the college level. That alone is a terrific accomplishment. Here are the grade distributions for World History for last year: 2007 World History Grade Distribution Examination Grade % of Students Earning Grade 5 - Extremely Well Qualified 11.2 4 - Well Qualified 16.9 3 - Qualified 26.1 2 - Possibly Qualified 24.3 1 - No Recommendation 21.5 Additional Statistics Mean Grade 2.72 Standard Deviation 1.28 Total Number of Students 101,975 Number of Schools Administering this AP Exam 3,329 Number of Colleges Receiving AP Grades in this Subject 1,705 So only 11 percent of 100,000 students who took this exam did better than she did. That is a terrific score! Well done.

Janie, we used several spines last year for 8th grade world history, including: Bauer: Story of the World, vol. 4 Hillyer: Young People's Story of the Modern World (this is a dated volume, but nicely done, 1966). Guerber: Story of the Great Republic (again, dated, and stops at 1900) McGraw-Hill: Complete Book of World History, Grades 4-8, which is a colorful spine book of maps and timelines Usborne's World History, The Last 500 Years (again, a colorful spine for organizing topics that can lead to in-depth studies) Jennings: The Century (a heavy tome with lots of pictures, great book) Hope these help!

Here's another site to try: http://www.factsonfiction.org/content/aboutus.shtml but it may be just younger kids' books...

I agree with Danielle that you may be well advised to build a significant achievement report from middle school through high school, so that when the student is in 12th grade, the application to top-ranked universities can really shine. There are incredible opportunities for in-depth work for young people that can really add to their education before sending them off to college. We've kept careful records of all AP tests, college courses, online courses, community service projects, and published work even during the 10-14 year old stage, because that can validate your description of the student's abilities. If you spend time at College Confidential, http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ you can see some impressive work high school kids are doing nowadays, and take ideas from there. In my opinion, that's a better route to follow than sending a young child to university too early. Just my thoughts!

We've just confirmed that we're moving to Turkey! This is a very exciting opportunity for us, and we're all thrilled at the new adventure ahead. My dh will take a position at a prestigious English language research university in Ankara, Bilkent University, which has outstanding deparments in classical music, nanotechnology, archeology, art history, Turkish literature, engineering, international relations, just to name a few. It is a beautiful new campus located just outside the capital, http://www.bilkent.edu.tr/ Our kids will attend the international high school on campus, which offers an IB diploma program (three languages, heavy on math and science, just terrific curriculum). We spent some time there in May and we're very impressed with the students and the faculty-- it is really special! And I will help out there two days a week in their English classes. So, lots of changes for us! Now I'll have to change my name from Anne/PA to Anne/Bilkent or something! But I'm sure I'll continue to hang out here for all the ongoing information and advice that I receive here. And I can say that our WTM education, from K-8th grade, really prepared my kids to face this new challenging step in their educational program. They're very excited, and so am I!

Wow, Beth, that looks really great! I'm sure it was a fabulous experience. Very interesting-- thanks for sharing! And I noticed that it seems like Hillsdale College has some one-week residential science and math camps for high schoolers, which are virtually free (?) if you get accepted. Isn't that nice! My mother's family comes from that town in Michigan-- maybe we should check out a summer visit there! Thanks again for sharing.

I haven't used those books yet, but someone recently posted this link to Cambridge's Readable Theoretical Physics booklist, which looks pretty interesting. Maybe it will help your choice of texts.... http://www.maths.cam.ac.uk/undergrad/documentation/readinglist/text.pdf

Hmmm, that's weird... now the link doesn't work unless you register, but it worked fine a minute ago. Maybe you can only access it once? Oh well...:)

Glad you liked the recipe ideas! I see now that there is a link to all 101 of the recipes, at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/02/dining/02mlis-001.html?pagewanted=all

Last week in the New York Times there was a list of recipes for quick picnic ideas, and I typed up a few that looked good to me... perhaps these might inspire you! 101 Fast Recipes for Inspired Picnics 1. Cornflake chicken bits. Cut boneless chicken breasts into small pieces. Dip in milke, then dredged in seasoned crushed cornflakes. Pan fry in oil, drain and cool. Eat with cold celery sticks, ranch or blue cheese dressing for dipping. 2. Cold peanut noodles. Cook thin spaghetti, drain, toss with sesame oil, peanut butter, sugar, soy sauce, ginger, vinegar, pepper. Add shredded cucumber, cooked shrimp, chopped scallions. 3. Grape tomatoes and feta. Mix feta chunks and grape tomatoes, add mint, salt, pepper, olive oil, parsley. 4. Tomatoes and peaches. Toss together sliced tomatoes, peaches, red onion, cilantro. Dress with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. 5. Pesto chicken rolls. Season and grill chicken cutlets, brush wraps with pesto, layer with chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, and arugula. Roll up and cut. 6. Beet salad. Peel beets, grate them, add pistachios or hazelnuts, dress with orange zest and juice, and olive oil. Add bits of goat cheese and chopped parsley. 7. Cold gazpacho soup. Combine ripe tomatoes, cucumber, slice of bread, olive oil, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper in blender. Chill and serve. 8. Grated carrots. Mix grated carrots with chopped dates, cumin, lemon juice, mint or cilantro. 9. Guacasalsa. Mash an avocado into some salsa, serve with chips. 10. Savoy cabbage salad. Thinly slice cabbage, toss with red onion, olive oil, lemon juice, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper. 11. Cherry tomato salad. Halve cherry tomatoes, toss with cubed tofu, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar. 12. Couscous salad. Toss cooked couscous with oil, parsley, chopped black olives, capers, red onion. Stuff into medium ripe tomatoes. 13. Process cashews or hazelnuts, add garlic, soy sauces, cilantro, chives. Fill celery sticks and chill. 14. Green cold salad. Poach leafy greens, drain, cool, squeeze dry and chop. Toss with olive oil, salt, lemon juice. 15. Corn salad. Brown fresh corn in hot oil with garlic. Toss with cilantro and lime juice. 16. Eggplant spead. Cook whole unpeeled eggplant in hot dry skillet until collapsed and soft. Whisk together tahini, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic, parsley. Chop the eggplant flesh (no peel) and roughly mash in bowl. Serve with pita. 17. Lentil spread. Mix cooked red lentils with carmelized onions, add vinegar, salt, pepper, olive oil, lemon. Serve with pita. 18. Salmon salad. Mix can of salmon with cannelloni beans, chopped tomato, shallots, black olives, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Serve on toasted bread. 19. Tuna salad. Mix can of tuna with mashed anchovies, grated parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil. 20. Shrimp appetizer. Cook little shrimp, toss with pesto, put on small rolls. 21. Cold pasta salad. Cook and rinse pasta, combine with seeded tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, chopped basil, olive oil, salt, pepper, chopped olives. Serve cold.

Whooooo! Good for her! Well done!

I really liked a big table that we could all work at together, as well as a sofa nearby for monitored reading. In addition, bookshelves for reference materials are also essential. I didn't use our white board or chalk board much at all, for what that is worth...

We followed the WTM for elementary school, and I think it prepared my kids very well for high school work. We definitely supplemented quite a bit, particularly in science, but everything else was pretty much as described in WTM. They really have a great foundation for approaching high school level work, in all fields. Broad based and yet very detailed understanding of all major disciplines (English, Math, Science, Latin, History, etc).