Homemama2
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Posts posted by Homemama2
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A friend is letting me borrow Notgrass Econ for next semester but I realized it is the 2009 version and it looks like they have a newer version (2016) out . Will this be ok to use or will it be too out of date? Econ is not my thing, so I don't know how much this stuff changes in that amount of time. I would prefer to not have to buy it if this will be fine since this is for my youngest kid, but I want up to date info. Thanks
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This is the latest I have ever been trying to plan for fall (we start in 3 weeks and I ordered my stuff yesterday) but it's been a crazy spring/summer. And that's not even factoring in anything to do with covid. Plus after telling me he REALLY REALLY wanted to study Ancient History and Literature this year, tells me yesterday about 5 minutes before I place my curriculum order, that he didn't actually mean Ancient LITERATURE, just history. (I really need the emoji smashing it's head into the wall right now) SO. This is my "kinda" plan.
Math: Algebra 2 (BJU)
Science: Anatomy and Physiology (Apologia)
English: Writing/Grammar (BJU) and for Literature I'm pulling choices from a couple of different sources to make a "World Literature" type course.
History: World History: Ancients (this might end up just being a regular world history course. We will see. This is what I will be spending time planning over the next couple of weeks, but he's already studied the middle ages up through modern history in depth so he wants to focus on ancients)
Foreign Language: ULAT (First time using this. I'm a little nervous about using this instead of having a live teacher/online class)
PE
Elective: Shakespeare Tragedies : Lightning Literature
Another possible elective: Creative Writing or a Computer class if I can find one online
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I see that there are self-paced videos for Apologia Physics on the Apologia site and also on the Berean Builders site. Does anyone have experience with these? Pros or Cons?
Or other recommendations for physics that includes videos and doesn't require higher level math than Algebra 2 (will be taking Alg. 2 concurrently). I already own Apologia, but would consider other options if they are better. I haven't taken physics myself, and due to ds's health issues we aren't wanting to use a live class for the fall. Thanks!
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Due to health issues, we need video-based/ self-paced rather than an online course. However, I really could use the help of a program that shows either with the video or the answer key the answers step by step. My oldest used Teaching Textbooks, so I am familiar with that, but looking for something more challenging for this kid (but not AOPS). I've looked at the master list here on the forum, but they all look similar to me. We used Foerster's for Algebra 1, but I was comfortable enough teaching that that I didn't really the videos except on some of the word problems, but I'm not very comfortable teaching Algebra 2 so I'll be mostly relying on the videos. (He's doing geometry online this year)
Could I get some opinions on favorite video based Algebra 2 programs, and why you liked it? Some I'm considering (but not limited to): Derek Owens, Thinkwell, Chalkdust, Alexs, or Math without Borders w/ Foersters. Thanks.
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My son took a writing class with Jess Woods through Excelsior. She gave excellent feedback and I felt she knew how to push the kids to do better and improve. I plan to have him take more classes with her.
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11 hours ago, Lori D. said:
SOOOO variable by area. What do music lessons cost in your area for homeschool families (or lessons given by a homeschooling mom)? Perhaps try that for comparison.
Do be careful to not UNDERvalue your time. Because if you do, so will the families who use your services.Piano lessons here are about $25/hr (other instruments vary), This is what I paid a homeschool mom (she does this for a living-she charges the same for non-homeschoolers).
I guess I just didn't want to overcharge and wanted to be helpful, but I DO know what you mean about people undervaluing your time.
Thanks ladies! You've given me a lot to think about.
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There is a chance I might be tutoring some high school subjects (chemistry, math etc.). What would be a fair rate for a fellow homeschool mom? I tried looking online and some rates seem ridiculously high, especially since this is for a homeschool (one income!) family.
Things to keep in mind: I'm not a teacher (unless you include homeschooling- and I have taught the subjects to my own kids.) The only 'tutoring' I have done was in high school and college. I was asked to be a peer tutor by a couple of high school teachers, so I did that when asked. I also helped tutor and lead study groups in college (including for chemistry.) However, I'm certainly not a professional teacher. These were just subjects I enjoyed.
While this person is a friend (and I probably will just do it for free), if I ended up doing this for others, I would like to know a fair rate for, say, a half hour or hour session.
Thanks!
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One thing to keep in mind is that public school kids' SAT scores don't always match their GPA's either. In fact one of my son's friends is going through that right now. She's an amazing student getting all's A's in classes like Calculus, Chinese 4, AP Literature etc and a string of extracurriculars a mile long. And her SAT's were under 1200 (she's also very chatty, in case you wondered how I know that, lol!). I understand what you mean, that we feel we need to "prove" our kid's grades since we homeschool. But just wanted to reassure you that the scores and GPA's don't always match what you would expect.
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We kind of went through the same thing in the last year or so (wanting interaction with friends but co-ops and cc wasn't what we wanted). We decided to do our own small classes with friends for certain subjects (health, biology and chemistry labs, speech, literature "book clubs"). We had to keep the group very small (around 6-8) since it was meeting in our homes. It has really worked well. The kids got a chance to meet up with friends rather than just a larger co-op, and they were classes that they specifically needed and demanded more of them than the co-op classes would have.
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Thank you all for helping me sort through my thoughts. Right now I'm really hoping that the other teacher decides not to offer it, and then I can convince the whole group to do it with Jetta! Lol! I think that class sounds so amazing, especially since I now realize it is more challenging than I was even thinking. He doesn't seem to mind Apologia but he's never had anything different since he started middle school. I, on the other hand, had some really amazing science classes in school and just find it very dry and boring. I will talk some more with my son and let him know everyones experiences with it and see what he thinks. (In the past he hasn't been a huge fan of online classes because he says not many kids participate, but he's having a great experience with his foreign language class this year so that might change his opinion!)
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I'm wondering how Clover Creek compares to Apologia. I've heard such great things about C.Creek both on here and from irl friends that I always planned to use this. I especially like what I've heard about the way it teaches writing up lab reports. For the past few years we've used Apologia simply because that's what everyone around here uses, and so we've been able to have a lab group that meets together. The kids are all good friends, and also good students so they keep each other motivated to study hard and score well. This is why I've stuck with it even though Apologia isn't my personal favorite. This year we have a lady who has a science background teaching Apologia Chemistry and I'm thinking she will offer Physics either next year or the following (so this group of kids can have it before graduating.)
Here's my question: Would CC be about the same level as Apologia? Or would it be more of an intro (since it uses a conceptual textbook) and then we could take Apologia the following year with the lab group? I had always planned to do CC and then Apologia but I saw on the website that there is more math added in than a typical conceptual level course so I'm guessing these are about the same level. I don't want to do both if there's a lot of overlap. Which means, of course, that I have to pick. 😕 ( My son has always done well in math and science, so I'm not concerned about Apologia being too hard.)
I know my son will want to be with friends and I do already own the Apologia books, but I just can't help but thinking the Clover Creek would be better. Help me think through whether the benefit of the lab reports outweighs the benefit of a live group with friends. And yes, I realize I'm already stressing about next year and it's only September.
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Nevermind. I figured it out
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Great suggestions ladies! I also appreciate the "uplifting" ones (because even as I was posting this I was having the same thoughts.)
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If someone liked the following books, what else would you recommend? Thanks!
The Giver
Brave New World
1984
A Separate Peace
Fahrenheit 451
Animal Farm
Lord of the Flies
(I'm not sure what genre these are... some are dystopian, but not all)
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Excelsior offers a Beginning Research Writing with Jess Woods. You can email the teacher to see if it would be as in depth as you're looking for. I have not used this particular class, but have used her for other classes and I highly recommend the teacher. Mrs. Woods has given the most specific, in-depth feedback on papers out of all of the online teachers I've used (from a variety of online places) . Plus she's nice and funny.
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11 hours ago, provenance61 said:
Okay, this is the original poster here. 🙂
Thank you all for your comments and suggestions. You shared so many great ideas! Right now I want to respond to some of the comments, and also ask for a last look at my reading list. I've shortened it and introduced two lighter reads. My comments:
- I have nothing against close reading, far from it! However, my preference here is to teach a survey course. We'll move chronologically through the literature examining historical context and worldviews and including authors from each time period. I think there is immense value in introducing students first to the scope of the literature and historical periods. This worked really well for our American Lit class last year. We hit a number of gaps where students really didn't understand historical periods so we were able to address these as we went through the literature. I absolutely think students should follow with more close reading of selected works.
- Many of the comments above contained great suggestions for short stories to substitute for longer works in this class, thank you!
So we have 30 weeks in our co-op year, each class is 90 minutes and meets once a week. Class size will probably be 5-8 students. The bulk of the readings are short works in our anthology (Prentice-Hall The British Tradition). It includes excerpts from Beowulf, Canterbury Tales, and even Utopia--I think even more hesitant students can handle reading shorter selections more closely. I'll be selective but want to include authors from each time period. So here is my slightly amended and shortened list of longer readings (which is the "additional book list" the students will borrow/purchase):
- MacBeth (but this is in anthology)
- Pride & Prejudice
- Jane Eyre
- Tale of Two Cities
- Lord of the Flies
- Picture of Dorian Gray (note; this is a shorter length work)
- 1984
- Murder on the Orient Express (Agatha Christie)
- Anita & Me, by Myra Syal (currently reviewing for content -- this was a suggestion from mumto2, who directed me to the gcse board lists. It looks like a great modern novel detailing the immigrant experience in Britain)
So, doable? Last comments? I promise some of the shorter selections will be lighter!
I haven't read #9 but the rest of the list looks great to me. Some of these were my favorites when I was in high school. And I agree about the survey course being so nice for filling in gaps and helping them understand historical periods and what the views and thoughts of the day were, and how that came through in the writing. We did the same last year (also American Lit., like you) and it really helped my kids understand and make connections. We like digging deeper as well, but really appreciated the foundation last year set for us. Best of luck with your class!
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Thanks for this post! I'm taking notes. There are some great ideas here.
One thing we've done in the past that worked well was using a version for kids for the first time through so they understood the storyline (Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb, Bruce Coville books or Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare by Edith Nesbit). This really helped in middle school. That usually only took a class period to read, then we used Folger's books to read together and would watch a play (live or movie) either before or after reading the actual play. We haven't always done this however, and actually once they had experienced a couple of the plays, they started getting use to the language enough that they could follow the storyline on their own.
Mine really liked Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, MacBeth and Hamlet. We also watched a version of Romeo and Juliet (2013) that was on Netflix at the time that they really liked. (Not sure if it was entirely accurate, but stuck fairly close to the storyline, the costumes were good and we really enjoyed it)
I was thinking I might try Taming of the Shrew and watch Ten Things I Hate About You w/ Heath Ledger because my kids are huge Heath Ledger fans (I have to preview this because I haven't seen it in ages. I do know there was teenage partying in it, but can't remember anything else including if there are many connections to the Shakespeare play) I have a feeling this particular play can lead to ALOT of discussion 😂.
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Came to see if this was legit since my kid got a letter today (price is now $ 75, by the way.) When I saw it was a scam, I figured I'd bump up this old thread for anyone who hadn't heard of it.
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Uh oh. What Algebra 2 concepts aren't covered in TT? I knew it didn't include Trig, but I thought that would be fine since we planned on doing the pre-Cal which includes it. Four to six chapters is a lot.
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Senior year !?!? I can't believe we're here already. He's met almost all of the "required classes", which is nice because it gives us room to switch things up if he wants. So far the plan is:
Pre-cal TT
British Literature/comp. Possibly do some more with writing research papers
Government and Econ
Spanish 2
Modern History (1900-present day)- He doesn't need anymore history, so we might not end up doing this
He doesn't need any more electives but we are planning on:
Weight Training (his request, lol)
Possibly another elective like Philosophy (because I think this would be a fun one to do together) or an online one that sounds interesting
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Ok, this helps a lot. I hear so much about these that I was assuming all high school kids were learning them. Thanks for the advice about the free programs. I'm going to talk this over with my sons and see what they want to do as far as adding these as electives.
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Java, coding, computer science..... I don't know anything about this stuff. I basically use Microsoft Word, Facebook and google. 😉 I want my kids prepared for college, but I don't really know which of these types of programs to have them use since I don't what they are. I'm looking for something that they can do without me (live class or self paced classes doesn't matter). I did have my oldest take a Microsoft essentials class at Excelsior that taught Word, Power Point, and Excel. I plan on my younger son taking a similar class. But besides that, what do you recommend? I know they would enjoy computer classes and all of their friends are doing things like building their own computers which makes them feel like they are clueless about them. Please help
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We used a Glencoe textbook I bought off of Amazon and we worked through it together. I thought it covered everything well, and since it wasn't the newest edition it was inexpensive. We met up with friends and did reports and presentations/projects throughout the semester which was fun and they learned a lot from. We also found videos to go along with the topics, and had them do some research on current events/issues since the text was older. I also had them pick from a list of "hot topic" issues in health right now and research/present both sides of the issue (one of them chose vaccinations since we have friends on both sides of the issue that feel very strongly).
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2 hours ago, Hilltopmom said:
I’d try to get her through a lite high school Environmental Science course. Relevant to everyone life & important as a citizen, more so than chemistry 🙂
Holt has a textbook for it that’s not too difficult (I’m eyeing it for my LD kiddo next year). AGS also makes one but it’s out of print but is an adapted textbook with a lower reading level than Holt. It’s meaty enough for high school though.
I’ve seen them both used on amazon.
Good luck!
I agree that Environmental might be a good fit, if you wanted a third science. We are using Holt's Environmental science as our 3rd year of science this year for my oldest (who sounds very similar to your dd, except we haven't done any testing). It's been a good course. We bought it new from Rainbow and it had an online code that included worksheets, quizzes, tests, labs if desired (none required), and some interactive things.
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Is this Economics program out of date?
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
Thanks-I did know about the online quiz/test pack but I do not have the student notebook, just the two textbooks. Thanks for pointing that out. I'll have to see if I can get that.