Yeah ... wasted ... By whose standard? ... sigh ... On this subject, I console myself with our faith's teaching that a person's life path is between that person and God. I try to teach my children to be open-minded about their life paths, and to pray about it, and to do their best at whatever they're doing now in preparation for whatever opportunity might be coming down the road next. As for "making the world a better place," well, we look on that as everyone's responsibility -- not just the gifted people. We are all supposed to be serving the poor, the sick, the widows and orphans, the stranger, etc. Why do the gifted get singled out for this? That's something I don't understand. Karen

Sorry, unintentional double post.

:grouphug: We went through a similar thing, even in a well-regarded Catholic school. Now, after 4 years of home schooling, I can say home schooling was the best choice we could have made. Best wishes for your family this coming year :) Karen

:iagree: Good advice above. :) Both your daughters are old enough to deal with the fact that you can't always be on their preferred schedules.Remember the t-shirt slogan: If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. True on so many levels. So you need to find a system that works for your needs (and the baby's), into which the girls can weave their needs. I keep telling my kids "I am not your vending machine." THey keep coming to me and punching a button ("Mom, my math is ready for grading!!!!") and expecting a treat to fall out (instant individual attention), and it just doesn't seem to work out that way (woe and confusion). Maybe someday they will get it LOL. Karen

:iagree: I agree with everything every poster here has said. My gifted kids are 14 and 12. You are only beginning with these issues. You can search and find numerous threads about how difficult it is to talk to other people -- including other home schoolers -- about our gifted children. Most people don't want us to discuss our kids, and many of those who do allow discussion want to tell us everything we're doing wrong. Sounds like your "friend" might be one of those. Socialization can be different for gifted kids. To extrapolate from joanna, there may come a day when your dd wants to discuss quantum mechanics and can't find anyone her own age who can hold up the other end of the conversation. That's frustrating and, to an outsider, looks weird -- but only because of their narrow viewpoint, not because of any fault on your or your dd's part. Apply the bumper sticker: God doesn't make junk ... including the gifted kids. Jealousy is powerful. I have only one sibling/sibling-in-law who can bear to discuss my kids' academics. The others just find it too painful that their kids can't compare. You will no doubt find similar reactions from relatives and non-relatives alike. It can be hurtful and isolating. That's why groups like this forum are so very important. This is a safe place to talk about these things -- thanks to all you ladies out there who make it so. :grouphug: I have found it essential to set firm boundaries with other people. Whether you use the bean dip method or the more direct method, you'll need to be aware in your heart that the only people whose opinions really matters are ... whoever that is for you -- you, your husband, maybe your mother or somebody else? For us, it's only me and my husband. After all, that's who God gave these amazing kids to for their upbringing, and we believe he delegated authority along with responsibility. You need to decide on those boundaries and keep them firmly in mind -- for your own protection and for your kids' sake. I sound like such a wet blanket here, and I'm sorry for that. The gift of gifted kids can be a difficult gift. I think the hardest part is dealing with other people, most of whom just aren't going to understand what you're dealing with. But raising and educating your amazing children is exhiliarating. Worth it; definitely worth it :001_smile: Karen

My experience way back when was yes, everyone who showed up and participated actively got an A. Even the tone-deaf got A's so long as they participated with a good attitude. Now, private instruction is different in that most private instructors aim for mastery on an individual track, rather than just participation and attitude. Suggestion off the top of my head: you could develop grade standards something like this: For an A, student must (1) practice every day (2) complete all theory exercises (3) maintain good attitude with teacher (4) participate in x number of recitals, contests, etc. for a B, student must (1) practice 5 days per week (2) complete majority of theory exercises (3) maintain good attitude with teacher (4) participate in y number of recitals, etc. ... and so forth and so on. Anyway, that's just a thought that floated into my head ... fwiw. You might ask the instructor(s) how they would grade a student. I'd put more stock in their suggestions than in mine LOL. Hope thsi helps, Karen

Yeah, it's getting time-consuming LOL! I googled for high school reading lists -- you'll get mainly classics on those, but I found those lists useful because they reminded me of a lot of good titles I had forgotten about. But you really want to know about newer titles, and for that I am getting out the popcorn ... :lurk5: Karen

Congratulations to her and to you! We are facing that test next year :tongue_smilie: Karen

John McWhorter -- he does two linguistics courses for TC Our family listened to his first TC course while driving around in the car, and it inspired ds to request that I put together a linguistics course as part of his English curriculum :) Karen

We used the elementary series and this tone bothered me, too. I used it to teach my dd that many people disagree on these issues and she'll learn more about it at a later date. That later date is coming up real soon LOL. I just finished reading those 2 chapters in Gen. Sci. and was surprised to find them so reasonable. Dr. Wile really lays out reasons for YE views, which I had not seen before. I anticipate good discussions with dd, and I think I'll draw ds into this topic also. I am ever so grateful that our faith does not require us to believe one way or another on this issue. We believe that God created the heavens and the earth, but we don't try to tell him how he did it LOL. So I can encourage my kids to examine the evidence, draw their own conclusions, and always keep their minds open to the fact that nobody can know for sure in the classic scientific sense (replication), and to respect any new data that may come along. Karen

I fully appreciate the maturity issue. Dd is not what you'd call over-mature in the direction of ... what to call it? ... cultural maturity, perhaps? She is a good solid sensible kid. I don't think she's going to become boy-crazy or makeup-obsessed :) And she knows that if she wants to text all day, she'll have to buy the service herself LOL. I did tell her that graduating early would not automatically mean she could leave home at age 17 -- she could start college locally, if that's the path she desires. She said that wasn't her motive anyway. Whew! Yeah, this is kind of what I had floating around in my head. The idea of doing a 3-year-cramdown is very unappealing to me -- after thinking it over, I don't think I would consent to that except in an emergency situation -- for my own sanity, not to mention the kid's. The scenario I envisioned is just what Grace mentioned -- simply starting a year early. Which would leave open the option of backing out at any time -- in case dd does find a passion she wants to spend lots of time on :) The reason I want to decide now is that if we go for it, dd will need her science and English/history accelerated this coming year to fill in some gaps in preparation for high school work. So I want to decide soon. I guess the logical choice is to prepare to do it, then see how it goes. :) Karen

Dd12 surprised me by asking to be allowed to finish high school a year earlier than the usual age. She is bright as all get-out, but not driven. She has not yet found her passion. She does her schoolwork well, but without enthusiasm. She can't express a detailed reason for why she wants to finish early, but is open to the idea of college early, gap year work-study or internship, or whatnot. Like I said -- no passion, pretty flexible outlook. This child has always lived in the shadow of her 14yo brother, who is a passionate and driven math genius. He casts a long shadow. If dd had a passion, I don't think it would be quite the issue. It occurred to me that finishing h.s. early could be something concrete to bolster dd's self-esteem in a healthy way. I don't doubt her ability to handle the coursework, but am wondering what other factors I need to consider in this situation. The upcoming school year would need to ratchet up a bit for dd to fill in the gaps I thought would be done over 2 years, but we can do that. Having the two kids only one year apart would be an advantage in some areas -- e.g. combining them for history courses, etc. But what else should I be considering? Anyone BTDT? :) Karen

Dolciani is an excellent course, too. Having the Dolciani text in hand would be pretty persuasive to me! :) Karen

You are looking at NEM, not NAM. There is NEM I-IV, which covers basically Algebra I and Geometry. NEM = New Elementary Math Then there is an entirely separate book, NAM, only one book, which covers more advanced algebra concepts and some trig and a tidbit of calculus. NAM = New Additional Math Confusing as all get-out, isn't it? :) Edited to add: Ooops, I just got out the book and looked at it again. It's actually New Syllabus Additional Mathematics, so I guess I should be using the acronym NSAM instead of just NAM ... :/ Hope this helps, Karen

(((((Nadia))))) My ds is 14 and has trouble with friendships, too. I'm right there with you. We had good results from putting ds into a sport where he sweats buckets twice a week -- in his particular case, that's fencing, but could be any sport. The key is to make him sweat buckets and come home physically worn out. Works wonders, and the weeks he doesn't go, it really shows the difference. Just a thought and YMMV of course. Hang in there, they do grow up, eventually Karen

My ds is using it this year, and is also using Singapore's NAM in parallel. We have done this parallel thing for Algebra I, Geometry, and now Alg. II. I just finished writing tests last week. LOF is complete, but IMO it needs more practice/problem sets. That's one reason I add NAM. But as far as concepts, yes, it is complete. Hope this helps, Karen

Scouting is not free, but it can be very low-cost. Some troops are more cost-conscious than others, so don't be shy about looking around and asking troop leaders how the troop handles expenses. Karen

Replying late because we were travelling for a couple of weeks ...

:iagree: Each of these is a full credit value. My son used LOF for Algebra I, Geometry, and Statistics. Starting Algebra II tomorrow :) I did combine it with NEM for additional problem sets. IMO LOF's biggest weakness is lack of practice. But the concepts are all there and are all taught well. Karen

:hurray:

It's up to you :) The public high school I attended counted the summer before as part of the subsequent school year. On the other hand, NARHS (umbrella school) counts the summer as part of the previous school year. FWIW, I plan to count summer work into the subsequent school year, starting tomorrow :) Karen

FWIW, we recently made this decision for our 9th-grader-tomorrow. For non-academic reasons, he will be a high schooler until the same time he would graduate from a public high school. At age 16, we will allow him to commute to the local teacher's college for up to 2 classes at a time, but he will still be in high school, just taking advanced coursework. Once he's 18, he can start college full-time. At least, that's the plan for now. :) Karen

Agree and agree. :) The Catholic school my kids used to attend recorded percentages, not letter grades. Also, I recently put in way too much time doing a survey of college and high school websites -- looking at grading scales. Very very very few of them were something other than 90+ for A, etc. It's a very solid accepted standard. :) Karen

I think so. I just used the table of contents :) Once I had the chapter sequence, then I went in at the lesson plan level, which was painful only because it is so tedious. I like to be pretty specific about that, otherwise I lose track, even if ds says he doesn't LOL. The different authors organize the material differently, so you might be pairing up Ch. 4 in one curr. and Ch. 9+10 in the other curr. (totally made-up illustration). So whichever you choose for the spine, just plow right through that in order, and in the other curr., you will be doing some jumping around. But all the same major concept topics will be in there. Hope this helps, Karen

My son doesn't care so much for NEM because "it's boring," but he loves LOF so much, he reads it in bed ... so he goes along with the program LOL. As for me, I think the combo is as close to ideal as I've found. LOF is fun and engaging and covers the material rigorously (the geometry book is uber-proof-intensive). Where it's weak is in practice -- which is where NEM compensates. Lots of problems to choose from in NEM -- we also use the workbooks, which are not strictly required. NEM also takes a slightly different slant on problem-solving, which I really like -- having a topic explained in two different ways sometimes helps ds "get it" a little better. Also, NEM is strong in word problem-solving, as all Singapore materials are -- and that is important to me. Basically what I do is splice the two curricula by topic & chapter. I use LOF for the spine and splice in the appropriate chapters of NEM (or now, NAM), either right before or right after the LOF chapters. For Algebra, we started with NEM -- the first few chapters of that are really pre-algebra. Once through that part, begin the splicing sequence. At some point, you leave NEM 1 and go into NEM 2, and eventually NEM 3 for a couple of chapters (I think). I'm sorry I don't have a schedule for what we did. I deleted it from my Homeschool Tracker about a week before someone first asked me for it. But I only went down to the chapter level in the splicing, so it wasn't so hard to plan the sequence. NEM and NAM have geometry studies in the same books. We chose to follow the American sequence, as LOF does, so we just ignored the geometry chapters during the algebra year. This worked great for us. We repeated the approach for Geometry, also using LOF Geometry and the same NEM books. The boy sure knows his algebra and geometry after all this! Hope this helps, Karen