outtamyshell
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Posts posted by outtamyshell
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Our public schools include high school level courses taken in middle school on the transcript. Grades are listed. However, they do not impact the GPA.
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I love the Tempe Prep school model! In fact, we named our school Cary Preparatory Academy. I'm so glad they've expanded to multiple locations. It was my inspiration to homeschool. I wish we had school choice like this available across the country.
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I loved this book. I agree with most of his ideas, and I found the way he frames the debate very helpful.
Except, I tend to disagree with most people who say college is oversold. Yes, it's oversold. But most organizations require a bachelor's degree for the best jobs. So I consider a BA a necessary hurdle to most employment.
I do look forward to the time when these arguements make some headway into the mindset of the corporate world.
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I haven't compared the CC guides to other guides, so I don't know if I can help with that, but I can tell you how wonderful our CC group has been.
The Classical Conversation materials are all very Christian focused. We homeschool for secular reasons, and our interpretation of scripture is a little different from the CC group. However, this group has been very welcoming of us and others who don't have their same beliefs. And when a reading or writing assignment hasn't been a good fit for our family, I change it. Afterall, I am still the teacher and CC is considered tutoring.
The closest Challenge program to us is over 30 miles away. But we have still found this program to be worth the investment for us. The curriculum builds over time. We've picked courses offered in Challenge I, Challenge II, and Challenge III. But I wish we would have started earlier in their program and signed up for one year at a time.
The group of people who participate at CC in our area are top notch. There is a wide variety of kids. DD has a wonderful group of people to socialize with. They even had a Protocol dinner this month that was a wonderful dress-up night with dinner and the symphony. And the curriculum pushes us harder and farther than the public school. I'm sure we would have lowered our standards if we didn't have the CC measuring stick to live up to.
The Classical Conversations Challenge program has been a perfect fit for us. I would encourage anyone considering this option to call their local group and see if they can sit in classes for a day.
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You make the investment in time or money. Otherwise you sacrifice qualify. I started out believing that you could get a quality education for very little money. I was thinking $500/year max. But we've had the best experiences with classes that I've spent more money on. Now I don't even blink an eye at spending $500 on a course and $100+ for the books. I'm a single mom working full time. So, obviously, time is a premium for me. And the courses I pay this much for are college courses, hard to find stuff like Latin III, and private tutors for the subjects where DD requires additional help.
I whole heartedly agree with the endorsement for the Classical Conversations Challenge program. It is well worth the money. Cheaper than private school and you still have the flexibility of being the homeschool mom. I modify assignments and schedules to meet our needs. And yet I don't have to relearn Biology, Chemistry, Algebra II, etc. They even had a formal 'Protocol' night this month. The people there are wonderful. I would say CC is the biggest blessing we've had in our life in the last 10 years. Really. I wish we would have started homeschooling in 7th grade so DD could have progressed through the curriculum as designed. But I had no idea when dd was in 7th grade that our family of two could manage to homeschool when dd was that young. With CC I think we could have.
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Maybe it's my ADD tendencies, but I have a habit of picking up a project and not seeing it through. I can follow through on DD's education, but for my own... I tend to set things aside as life gets busy. That's why I like the options the library provides.
For math I like the 'Easy Way' books. Geometry the easy way. Precalculus the Easy Way, etc. I also like the Dummies books. Calculus for Dummies, etc. But I really just needed a review. If you've made a curriculum choice for your kiddos you can just buy it early and do it yourself now. But if you just want some refreshers and solidify some info, you might be surprised at what you find at the library.
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We started with a summer mini-mester just after 10th grade. DD audited Cultural Anthropology and was out of town for one week of the 5 week course. We picked a subject she would enjoy. She would have earned a B in the course. I gave her a B on her highschool transcript
We then jumped into 2 CC courses plus a pretty full load of courses at our favorite co-op. She got one A and one C. I was disappointed in the C. DD wanted a more academic environment, so she is doing one course this semester at the University. I am expecting an A in this 200 level history class. But, sigh, at least she's got the credit she needs for her college degree.
The CC courses were more challenging than our local public high school and worked out as a great transition to the University. But she doens't want to go back. She loves the environment and wants to take all of her dual enrollment courses at the University now.
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I would love to homeschool for a fifth year of highschool, but DD couldn't be talked into it. I've considered using the 5th year of HS as a kind of gap year and give her HS credit for internships/travel, etc. That way, she's still officially enrolled in my homeschool and still qualifies for my health insurance.
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I have found the curriculum at amblesideonline.org to be very helpful. They use a lot of living books and books in the public domain, so they have a lot of recommendations that are available at the library, through inter-library loan, etc.
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I can't believe I am already planning for our third and final year of homeschooling already! We are planning to use University courses for math, science, foreign language and two electives. I just need to put together a plan for a WTM style history/english course.
This is our first course designed, planned, and executed on our own. I would love your thoughts on what should work and areas of concern. I also want to integrate additional people beyond just the two of us. Has anyone successfully created a book discussion group around your reading? We have a couple of adults in our lives whose thoughts I would love to hear.
I am thinking of having a monthly group discussion and inviting 10-15 people. We aren't starting until next school year, so that should leave me time to recruit the right people. I'm a little nervous mostly because I don't know how to plan for a book club. I think I need to get organized on how we are going to discuss the readings ourselves as well. I think we should schedule regular discussion times within the family.
I've picked up a ten volume series on the Great Ideas Program from the library book sale. Each book is considered a one-year reading program with two weeks per work. I believe we will mostly pull from the first volume... Introduction to the Great Books and to a Liberal Education. This 187 page book includes a very short bio on the author and an introduction to the reading. I was going to have dd add some additional historical study as well. She could present her historical context paper as a quick intro at the beginning of our book club. I know that the two of us could do the readings WTM style and have a formal discussion every two weeks. But how could we integrate others into our readings? Should we do a monthly book club? Should we hold discussions every other week and invite people to read & join us for the ones that interest us? Would you just invite people & leave it for open discussion? Have questions ready? I really want a discussion about the impact on our life today... where you see these thoughts reflected in currect society, etc. I was going to target my most intelligent and informed friends.
Here's the readings from Volume I...
Plato: Apology & Crito
Plato: The Republic
Sophocles: Oedipus the King and Antigone
Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics
Aristotle: Politics
Plutarch: The Lives of the Noble Grecians & Romans
Old Testament: Book of Job (we may skip or substitute)
Augustine: The Confessions
Montaigne: The Essays
Shakespeare: Hamlet
Locke: Concerning Civil Government
Swift: Gulliver's Travels (we may skip or substitute)
Gibbon: the Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire
The Declaration of independence, Consitution, & Federalist (selections)
Marx-Engels: Manifesto of the Communist Party
I've read some of the other threads about integrating Great Books study into your homeschool, and I've taken copious notes. But I haven't seen any discussion about involving additional people in the form of a book club of sorts. I would love to hear what you think.
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We are in NC as well, and we're doing a mix of schedules. Some classes take a year to complete. Others we are finishing on the block schedule. I am giving one full year highschool credit for dual enrollment courses. But we are also participating in Classical Conversations, and those classes take a full year. Next year we are hoping to include an AP course through PA Homeschoolers (full year), and WTM style history/English (full year), as well as dual enroll courses that will take half a year.
We are using the same transcript format that they are using in Wake County. It does not specify how long it took to complete a course. I expect that I will include these details on my course descriptions though.
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Scholars Online has a Latin III course that looks very good. There have been good reviews of their courses on these boards. However, my dd is very verbal and their setup with text-based only classes has me a little concerned that it won't be a good fit for her.
We are going to try to do Latin 201 at the local university next year. I think it would be a great way to continue with Latin and get college credit. Many college majors require 3 semesters of a foreign language. If she can get that requirement done while in highschool then it will free up more of her college time to pursue her real passions. So I think it's worth doing now even if she isn't going to pursue a Latin related degree or profession.
Of course, I've got to work with the local university to make sure dd is ready to test into Latin 201 for the fall. If you have a University nearby, or find a University course online, you might consider this option as well.
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One of the best websites I have found for planning highschool graduation requirements is the one posted online for the Round Rock School District in Texas. It looks like Texas has several HS Diploma options and their honors diploma requirements look excellent. I was surprised to see 5 years of math, etc. I don't think we are getting 5 years of any one subject.
I know colleges are going to compare my daughters transcripts to the ones she sees from public school. Looking at these requirements was a great reminder to me that there are lots of kids out there getting a great education.
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BYU offers highschool classes that are independent study and independently paced. I don't know anything about the quality though.
We originally thought of homeschooling as an option for additional flexibility on our calendar. However, we use so many outside sources for classes we have actually found the calendar more difficult to juggle. It's still the best option for us, but DD has 4 different course calendars that we follow. This year the bulk of her courses have the same Spring Break. Hooray! One week off!
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I would recommend learning about ALL of the options available before making a decision. In the past, we have chosen schools because of the great classes available only to find that my daughter wouldn't be able to participate in them. Our PS even told us 8th grade was too late for her to begin participating in band (she had vocal and piano experience).
Some of the options I would consider is PA Homeschoolers. I believe they offer AP Music Theory now. I was also surprised to find our community college offers a wide range of bands and choirs to participate in.
You might also find some non-academic affiliated bands to participate in. There are many town bands, choirs, etc that are designed for adults but who might welcome a HS student with the flexible schedule and maturity that they require.
Good Luck.
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I take it one year at a time. What are the highschool requirements and what are the best options available for us? What courses can DD do on her own with some guidance from me and which ones will benefit her to have a more formal co-op or CC?
I'm now wondering how many classes to dual enroll at the University for senior year. I've got to decide which classes are the best fit and the best balance for dd. There's much to considre:
Should we do history and english at the university and receive college credit? Or should we do a year of WTM style history/literature?
Should she take Latin 201 and get the third semester Latin credit at the college level - which would meet a future college degree requirement? Or should she take an online course?
Should she take Calculus based physics at the university (calculus & physics concurrently)? Or should we find another lab?
I would love to hear how others evaluate it. But so far for me it's like registering for public school highschool courses. Find the best opportunities, make your best judgement call and give it a shot.
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Take a turn about the room? It's so refreshing!
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I was reading the Autobiography of John Stuart Mill in the Gateway to the Great Books series that I picked up at the library book sale recently, and he's giving me all kinds of things to think about. I'm beginning to rethink my educational goals. Or perhaps I am just rationalizing why it's okay that my daughter got a C in her Pre-Calculus Trig class at the community college last semester.
John Stuart Mill had an incredibly robust academic education. It doesn't sound like his childhood included much else. But it did open my eyes to what it is possible for a child to learn. Obviously I could never come close to providing this education to my child if for no other reason than because my own was far too lacking. And because there was no balance at all... just academics in his life. Taught by his father and exposed to almost no one and nothing else.
One thing was clear from this essay though... his father did not follow the trivium. He expected rhetoric level work at a much earlier age than would be expected in classical education. At one point Mill describes being exposed to all of this information and not being able to make sense of it. And that his Dad was angry that he wasn't able to do what was expected of him. But the information stayed with him and made more sense to him later in life. He also talked about how he started his adult life 20 years ahead of his peers because of the quality of his education. I got the impression that he benefited from the exposure to advanced thinking, but disappointing his father caused stress.
I think I am drawn to classical education because I know average kids are capable of doing so much more - of understanding so much more than what our society expects. But I find myself influenced by today's standards. Inflated GPAs mean my daughter needs As to get into college and have a chance at any scholarships. I sometimes just make her work at something until she earns an A. But I guess John Stuart Mill made me rethink my position. Perhaps she's better off being pushed to do more and learn more and be exposed to more - even if she doesn't master it.
To put it mathematically... If I expose her to 100 units of iinformation and she masters 95% of it, she earns an A. But if I expose her to 500 units of information and she master only 50% of it, she's still learned 250 units. Which option provides a better education and which one provides a better grade? Perhaps this is the rationalization for those that don't provide grades.
I suppose my thoughts are nothing new. It's the same old struggle between providing the most robust education I can give my child and jumping through enough hoops to get her credentials. But reading this essay gave me a different perspective on how this plays out in real life. My junior in high school took her first college classes and got a C in her math class. She enjoyed it, did well on the final, and wants to continue on to calculus (and calculus based physics) next year even though she already has four math credits and currently plans to be a lawyer. That should be considered a homeschool success story. And yet I find myself worried that her low GPA is going to make it difficult to get into the college of her choice.
I've decided that the best education to me is measured by what she learns. And I am going to try not to worry about grades. So if I push her into too many classes again next year, or she signs up for a class that is a stretch for her, I will try to take a deep breath and pay more attention to the girl I'm raising rather than the resume we are building.
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I'm not as diligent as others. I couldn't bring myself to finish even one of Churchill's books. I need something that's a little more light reading. Maybe I'm ADD, but I need to jump around a bit. Or maybe working all day and being a mother is mentally draining and I get my energy from flipping through the 25-50 library books I always seem to have at home. I do recommend anything Susan Wise Bauer has written (TWEM, SOTW).
For History...
My vote is for the Teaching Company. Our library has tons of great audio CDs from them. I take them on road trips and listen to them while I clean house. I sometimes need a change of pace from books. If a book is too meaty I can't get through the entire thing. But I can finish the 8 CDs of lectures because they're so entertaining. And many books are mentioned in passing on these that I now know what they are and that I want to read them someday.
I'm always checking out random books from the library too. I check these boards at least weekly to pick up any additional resources that might come up. I also read several blogs that include random book recommendations. I just log into the library website and request the book immediately. That way I don't need to keep a list of books I want to find someday. You might also want to check the curriculum recommendations for highschool at amblesideonline.org. They have great ideas and book suggestions.
For Science...
We are currently reading Bill Bryson's book A Short History of Nearly Everything.
Literature...
I know you didn't ask for this one, but I loved How to Read Literature Like a Professor. One of the gems I found included on these boards. It was entertaining and I learned something.
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What about the Economics course that Classical Conversations includes as part of Challenge I? We use Classical Conversations and our tutors have done their best to accomodate class schedules so we have been able to take courses from multiple years. We've been lucky. Blessed really.
I don't know if all of the projects we did were standard for the course, but there was one that I especially loved. She had to find an economic current event and write a summary of it each week. It made for some great conversations around the house. They use the Uncle Eric books. We also went through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University.
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It sounds like you want to include a short description of your education philosophy. Why don't you just try writing something like a post here about your education philosophy, goals, focus, etc? Pretend your giving a description to someone who's never been to these boards about what you do at home. Once you have your main ideas together you can put it into a third person, formal description for your homeschool.
I think it's going to be important for each of us to go through this exercise. Every homeschool is so different. We are going to need to explain to those colleges what homeschool means to us.
I would love to see what you end up with. Or one of the steps along the way.
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I am translating all semester courses at the community college and university as one highschool credit (regardless of credit hours). I think it's easiest to just do a straight translation. It also makes sense to me especially because our public schools use block scheduling and only offer courses for half the year.
I am treating college courses as honors courses on our highschool transcript. I don't think any colleges will count the honors, but I am using the same transcript format our public schools use. And it includes both a weighted and unweighted gpa.
I am requiring dd to take two credits of American History to cover the entire time frame. She'll end of up with 5 history credits when she graduates. I spoke with a college counselor who said someone in admissions might not like that she only took half a year of Am History when her counterparts took a full year. With two credits she'll cover the same period of time. I was also told that colleges will consider an AP course as the same level as a 200 level college course. So I won't worry about drawing equivalents between our highschool and college courses and AP courses.
My advice would be not to stress over your decisions. But be prepared to document how you determined credit for the courses when you submit those college applications.
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We also have what is considered a great highschool. I've always tried to choose the very best school option I could for dd. But the schools just never ended up as advertised. She wasn't included in the right classes or programs that sold me on the school, or the teachers weren't properly trained yet, etc. I spent dd's 9th grade year ranting about the 3rd grade art projects the school required and all of the extra time she had to spend on meaningless group projects, and stupid hollywood movies that they watched in class. I now take all of the great press a school gets with a grain of salt.
On the other hand, I'm a single mom who works full-time and isn't home nearly enough. We've been leveraging community college, university, co-op, and self-motivation to get through the last year and a half. Our homeschool sure isn't perfect, but I will never go back. My top priority is academic excellence. But there's also something liberating about being your own boss. I decide which assignments are worthwhile. We sometimes modify the schedule to get through a more challenging weeks. And I no longer feel like a slave to someone else's schedule. DD is learning how to be self-motivated and set her own goals. In public school she was just going through the motions. We've got a long way to go, and I wish we could have started earlier. But for us there is no better way to grow up than through the process of homeschooling.
I love hearing about the great things our public schooled friends are doing. I guess I'm a little competitive because it just pushes me to get more creative and do more to make our homeschool better.
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I'm considering a couple of options for next school year, which is going to be Senior year. I'd love your thoughts on obstacles to transitioning to TWTM style history/literature for the last year. DD works independently and is taking math and science at the University for her Senior year.
We've been using Classical Conversations for 10th & 11th and public school for 9th. DD wants to spend more time reading the classics and less time preparing for someone else's classes. I'm considering a couple of different approaches.
TWTM obviously lays out a great four year cylce. But we have had more 'traditional public school approach' so far with world history, american history, american literature, and british lit. I'm not sure if we should focus on a specific year or take a broad sweep approach.
I would love to hear from someone using the Ambleside Online highschool curriculum. Could we use their choices for a combined/abbreviated 11th & 12th grade year?
I'm also considering joining a Great Books of the Western World reading group. This would give us a built in conversation on a regular basis to read/study the classics. I imagine we could fill in all kinds of additional reading in our school schedule beyond what the group is reading.
Here are some of my concerns.
How much can be done independently with this learning approach? I work full-time and DD works independently. We talk on a regular basis, but she won't have me standing over her shoulder guiding her daily work. She's a good kid and interested in learning. But we won't be reading aloud or talking for hours on end about her reading. Though I can keep up with her reading so we can include it in our daily conversation.
How do you choose what to cover? She's got a pretty good handle on history in general, so there is no period of time I feel like we NEED to focus on... I'm tempted to do a 20th century history tying in current events. On the other hand, she hasn't read the ancient classics (virgil, etc).
Any thoughts or ideas on how to get a slightly ADD kid into the rythm of this kind of studying? She's very academically focused, so once she gets into it, she will enjoy it. I guess I'm just floundering because there are so many great choices and not enough time to do it all.
What are your thoughts? How did you decide what to do?
High School Classes Taken in Middle School on Transcript?
in High School and Self-Education Board
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I also hate the argument that you should hold back your child for 'academic' reasons. I don't think you need to. If you've got a teen who has finished high school level foreign language in middle school, but you need additional foreign language to count for college admissions, then why not move on to college level foreign language for the highschool credit? Many college degrees require 3 semesters of a foreign language, you can get those out of the way while still in high school. There's no reason to slow down or stop. This is one area where moving forward doesn't prevent you from digging deeper into a subject.