Math a Human Endeavor is too easy for a kid who has passed pre-calculus. --Janet

I have one kid who is rather LoF, and one who is very (as in "Mom where has this been all my life??) AOPS: The LoF kid likes stories and explanations. She'll read and think, then do. The AOPS kid skips the words and goes right to the example problems. She does, then thinks. (Or tries to do, throws a fit, then calms down and reluctantly listens to mom explain it. But, not read and think first.) The LoF kid appreciates small, daily problem sets. She is smart enough to retain what she's learned after 6-8 problems, but she's not hungry for more. Math is a "get it done" subject for her, not a passion. The AOPS kid accidentally does the even problems in a 40 problem exercise set when she only had to do the odd problems because "they just looked too cool." We are currently doing LoF algebra with the Home Companion (but not the Zillions of problems book), and right in between AOPS pre-algebra and algebra. --Janet LoF = Life of Fred AOPS = Art Of Problem Solving

Donna Young sells a pre-cofigured excel spreadsheet for planning and grades on her website, called V-planner. I gave up on finding a computerized version for next year and cobbled together a few spreadsheets and handwritten planning worksheets, but V-Planner was definitely in the running for a while. --Janet

off the top of my head.... police officer related: criminal justice, psychology, philosophy (ethics and justice concentration) animal related (tough since he's already taking bio): 4H project, occupational education (vet's office, dog walking business, nature center docent)

It even includes a blank spiral bound notebook for doing your homework assignments in. To supplement for doing with 2 children at once, I need to buy extra safety goggles, a second lab workbook, and the blank paper. I will need to make copies of the test bank as we go. If you plan to do labs together, I would get extra goggles for yourself, better safe than sorry! There are spare gloves, though. --Janet

This looks like more than one credit to me. (For contrast, my 9th grade DD will read 4 novels, assorted short stories and poems, 8 writing assignments, and some vocabulary work. I guess that seems like too few novels, but she'll read plenty of other books for fun, and I'll put them on her reading list. She will do research for her History and Archaeology classes, but not for English.) Is there some reason you are piling so much on? Before giving 2 credits for this class, I'd consider taking some things off the plate. It looks like a very full year! If you decide to do it all, you can count up the hours throughout the year and call every 120 to 180 hours of work as one credit. --Janet

We are not generally a "unit study" sort of family, so we have done project-based learning via contests. My kids have entered creative writing and performance contests, science fairs, and history fair. Some of these have been local or in the homeschool group, and some have been affiliated with state or national competitions. What I like about the contest approach is that there is a clear framework for what makes a "good" project, there is a specific deadline, and there is feedback from showing your work in the community. It's also (in my case) good practice for losing gracefully (we've never made it to a national or second-round competition). As in life, not everybody who works hard gets a prize. So, you should pick a topic you like and will enjoy learning about even if there is no award at the end. Within that framework, the kids have the freedom to choose their own topic or area of interest, learn research and writing skills, create a product such as a display or speech, and (depending on the contest) do an interview with judge(s). --Janet

My rising 9th grader will have the following electives next year: Flute - 1 cr (she's been taking lessons since 5th grade) Fine Arts - .5 cr (a mishmash of little classes she wanted to take) Archaeology - 1 cr (it's her social studies credit, but it's not on the usual required history and government classes, so does that count as an elective?) --Janet

The Hakim books are nice, but kind of a lot for one year. We use them with the Hewitt test banks for written work and a series called "Key Decisions in US History" by Walch publications for discussions. Even with just those two things (and I would consider that a minimum amount to have some work to retain the reading), it takes us two years to get through. My 8th grader is finishing, my 6th grader will start next year. If you're going to want to go through the whole thing, you might consider just skipping book 1. --Janet

I went with Spectrum Chemistry--just received it and am starting to read through and plan. The labs seem to be very well explained and planned, but they are integrated with that particular curriculum, so not sure if you could (or would want to) use it with CK12 and TC. --Janet

:iagree:That sounds so very, very familiar... Glad I'm not the only one! :lol:

I have a rising 7th grader who is mostly self-teaching AOPS Pre-algebra. I suggest checking out AOPS pre-algebra for an 11 y.o. before doing their algebra. Download the pre-algebra post-test from AOPS website and make sure your 11 y.o. can ace it before you brush this suggestion aside. AOPS marches to it's own drummer. Because the pre-algebra book is for gifted kids, it includes topics from "traditional" algebra, and the algebra book includes topics from traditional "algebra II." Be sure to set expectations that the algebra I book in particular may take more than one school year if attempted at a young age. I tried AOPS algebra "too early" with my now-14 y.o. DD--you need serious skills at manipulating polynomials by chapter 2. Before they published their own pre-algebra text, AOPS used to recommend young students complete an easier algebra I course before attempting theirs. The best self-teaching aids are the videos on the AOPS website-- Khan academy has greater quantity, but the AOPS ones are much higher quality! Second-best teaching aid is signing up for an alcumus account, and setting "follow book" to the book you are using. My DD loves, loves, loves alcumus. I don't know how to evaluate your older son's abilities as a tutor. Make sure he has a copy of the solutions manual. If it doesn't work out, you could try an online class at AOPS. --Janet

Ellen McHenry's Mapping the World With Art can be done self-study. For high school level, I would maybe call it a half-credit or beef it up a bit. The reading assignments are only two pages per lesson (one page front and back) each. The readings are based on the history of world exploration (Marco Polo, Columbus, Magellan, etc.) and are interesting. The drawing exercises are step-by-step and well taught, but they emphasize physical geography (continents/mountains/rivers) and only touch on political geography (countries and capitals) for major countries. (I remember putting on Paris, but not the location/capital of every country in Africa, for example.) We did this in middle school and the kids loved it, but we will need to visit political geography and modern cultures some time in high school as well. --Janet

I'm rolling my own planning and record materials. I've got forms on my computer in MS word, and I'm backing up transcripts, course descriptions, and work samples into Evernote. --Janet

So far... my new spends are on: Complete science labs -- I bought Spectrum this year for chemistry. Kitchen table science doesn't seem high-school-level enough to me. Teaching Company videos -- hadn't used these at earlier grades, but using one this year. Calendars and Planners -- I see so many high schoolers working into the summer, I want to stay on top of things so that doesn't happen to us. Towards the end of 8th, I started organizing DD's work in a filing crate rather than simple folders and shelves. Seems to be a good plan going forward as things get more complicated. --Janet

I haven't used chemistry, but have used other Thinkwell courses. None of their science programs have labs, so that would be the other supplement to look for.

Francais Interactif, from University of Texas. Textbook (read online PDF or order printed copy), grammar book (online, but can print pages as needed), online or download-via-itunes audio for both books, and video. http://www.laits.utexas.edu/fi/ It's college level, so completing the whole course is 2 years of high school French. --Janet

Look here: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=375408

Faith, Thanks for the resources. I'll check them out. We are doing hieroglyphs as a sub-unit under an Archaeology class, so it will not be a full year of Ancient Egyptian. Your course sounds really neat, though! --Janet

We're doing that next year, too. I have "Egyptian Hieroglyphs for Complete Beginners" by Bill Manley. Any others I should consider? --Janet

English - Intro to Literature and Composition Mostly using materials left over from 7th/8th as I tend to overbuy Algebra - Use up LoF Basic Algebra (started in Feb this year), Start (finish?) advanced algebra as time permits. Chemistry - Spectrum Chemistry, plus supplements to prepare for SAT subject test French - French in Action (already started this and it's working well) Archeology - I've put together my own reading list Flute - continuing lessons Fine Arts Survey - 1/2 credit This class combines three 30 hour courses in: Drama, Fused Glass Art, and Creative Crafts of the World taken at Co-op Physical Education - Dance 1 credit Independent Study in History - 1/2 credit Preparing National History Day project Total Credits: 8 credits! Is that too much??

I remember struggling with this in school. What helped me was when teachers would read examples (without the students' names) after the assignments were graded and before they were turned back, and I could hear the difference between an A, a B, and a C response. It really helps more than looking at an example beforehand, because you have already struggled with exactly the same assignment that the teacher is reading from. If the kids still can't tell the difference, maybe read two essays and have the class discuss and figure out which was an A and which was a B and why. --Janet

I wish I had kept a diary of my 6th grade DD's science fair project. She started out by typing "Mons" in the search box on Google Mars and making lists of volcanoes. We eventually (with help from a NASA Educational Outreach person) ended up with a science fair project on "Dust Abundance on Martian Volcanoes" (using public domain Mars orbiter data from NASA to measure the dust). It was quite the journey! --Janet

What area of science are you looking for? After Rainbow, there is one high school level course (Spectrum Chemistry) available from that publisher. There is one person on this board who is convinced it's not "meaty" enough, so if you have a future chemical engineer or pre-medical student, you may still want to skip it. But, I'm using it for high school credit next year for my more liberal-arts focused DD. For most high school science, it's easier to recommend if you specify more specifically whether you are looking to do Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth Science, etc. etc. It seems that most publishers are stronger in some fields and weaker in others.

For what you want, Key to is a better match than Math Mammoth. Key to is remedial level math, so the problems never get super challenging. Depending on the math you want to do after this course, you may want stronger preparation. It is definitely geared towards self-teaching, which is nice. My DD is currently teaching herself algebra with Life of Fred and enjoying it. It's also kind of light, but I'm just sort of trusting if we stick with it for Algebra II and Trig that eventually all the bases will be covered. She's an 8th grader, so we have time. In addition to the main textbook, get the Home Companion for the self-teaching guide and extra problems. My DD likes me to put post-its over the answers so she's not tempted to cheat, but other than that I'm doing no prep work. As I check over her work, I move the post-its from the chapter I just graded to the next chapter. --Janet