I don't know if this has been passed around here, but content does not matter at all on the SAT, just length and structure. Each grader gets about 90 seconds per essay. In the 17th century a young man by the name of Martin Luther King Jr., a young pastor from Cincinnati, took his cues from the venerable Abraham James Lincoln, a seasoned lawyer from Ontario. http://www.applerouth.com/blog/2009/06/01/in-praise-of-folly-writing-the-sat-essay/

That sounds like a lot to me, too, especially for high school. Did you pick a college text? Are you having him memorize every possible word, or just the essential vocabulary for the chapter? Is there a teacher's guide to help you pace it a little easier?

Right now, DD's plan looks like this: One credit for each of these: English - General intro to literature and composition Math - Algebra (LoF) French - French in Action PE - Dance (3-4 days per week, don't have schedule for fall yet) Science - Spectrum Chemistry (and SAT subject test prep book) Music - Flute lessons Half credit for: Fine Arts - Three classes she's signed up for at a co-op (30 hours per class in Drama, Fused Glass, and Multicultural Crafts) Social Studies: 1.5 credits Archaeology - Books + a Teaching Company video course Independent Study - Project for National History Day competition Also, will I regret it later if I don't do a traditional social studies credit in American or World History, Gov't, Econ? DD is very excited about the Archaeology class, and just took two years going through History of US in 7th and 8th.

I just ask "What's playing for free in Shakespeare in the Park?" This summer, it's Taming of the Shrew, Winter's Tale, 12th Night, Henry VIII. Quite the variety! If you have any Shakespearean companies available to you, go with whatever play you can see live. It makes so much more sense that way. --Janet

I am buying The Spectrum Chemistry for my kids for next year, and I want my older DD to take the Chemistry subject test afterwards. Besides getting test prep books, are there any other supplements I should use? (BTW: I did email the author, he had a list for supplementing for the CLEP but not for the SAT2.) Thanks!

I have a couple of courses like that-- My 8th grade DD is starting 9th grade French and Algebra. Since she will finish more than half of French, I am giving her a half-credit for "French IA" in 8th grade, and will transcript her 9th grade work as "French IB/French IIA." She will not be halfway done with Algebra, so I will just transcript it all on 9th grade. I'll be interested to hear what others say, though. This is my first high school transcript.

Given the number of times health care comes up on this forum, I thought some folks here might be interested in this free four week class on understanding the Affordable Care Act. I haven't taken classes from them, but my husband has taken some computer and business classes and generally liked them. https://www.coursera.org/course/healthpolicy EDIT: The other class I signed up for starts in the fall, this one says JUNE --Janet

OK -- I can maybe see 17 "inputs" for a literature class.... but I'm having problems imagining that many "outputs" -- tests, papers, and/or projects for each book... I suppose you can combine. Read 2 or 3 pieces, then have an assignment to compare/contrast them rather than analyzing each one separately? How many "outputs" do you plan to require with that long reading list?

I've posted this blog before, but it's worth repeating. You have to really dig into a college's numbers and determine your chances for aid at the same time that you're looking at the majors offered, location, etc. Some colleges are more generous than others. http://www.thecollegesolution.com Also, I'm really surprised at how many parents think that they can just tell their kids "I provided the first 12 years of education, you're on your own for college...." and expect things to work out themselves. The reality is: College tuition today is priced as follows. Question: "How much is tuition at your college?" Answer: "How much have you got? (And by the way, you have to tell us exactly how much you've got on the FAFSA and/or CSS Profile.)" As far as the colleges are concerned, the parent saying, "(S)he gets zero from us, we've paid our share for the first 12 years of schooling and our child can work their own way through" doesn't mean squat. And, really, it's only fair. Sure, I'd like to tell my kids they're on their own and have that automatically make them eligible for extra scholarships and aid, but that leaves the colleges giving away their education, or the taxpayers picking up the tuition costs for Federal aid, or the students socked with loans. It seems right that the parents should pay a share. That does not necessarily mean that I agree with the share that the system says I can afford. It just means in principle that college tuition should be the responsibility of both the student and the family. The financial aid office is there to assist families that need help even though they work hard and do what they can, not to provide giveaways. --Janet

I have a CD full of hand-outs from a high school teacher about how to do a science fair project. I'll PM you and if you send me your email address, I'll send you the PDFs. I have some other manuals, with more details, etc, but these are pretty easy to start with. --Janet EDIT: I tried to PM you, but it didn't work. If you want the handouts, please PM me.

Lightning Literature may fill the bill--there are answers to the discussion questions in the teacher's manual. However, while I find the topic worksheets and writing assignments to be worthwhile, the discussion questions are a bit shallow and don't necessarily require lots of thoughtful analysis. There are other option that comes to mind is to buy book-specific teacher's guides (such as litplan at www.tpet.com, there are lots of others). All you have to do is find a vendor you like, and write a reading list. --Janet

If she's taking the SAT in June, don't wait for her to start Geometry. I'd start watching Khan Academy videos or something, and have her do both algebra and geometry classes simultaneously. (To make time in her day for two math classes, you could maybe drop a subject like history or science that's not on the SAT, and catch up with that later?)

Honestly, if "Fred" is working, I'd stick with it. If you don't think there are enough problems, are you doing the "Home Companion" problems as well? It may not seem as "serious" as other math curric, but it seems to cover enough. My DD sounds quite a bit like yours (fairly mathy but not brilliant, likes to work independently), and we're just going to stick with "Fred." She doesn't like video learning and happily reads these books. If you really want to supplement, I would try something like math contest practice problems that require out of the box thinking rather than working through two different math books on the same topic.

Just a bump to see if anybody who was gone for the holiday weekend had ideas for me. Thanks!

If you decide to take Teachin'Mine's suggestion, a good supplement for review/reinforcement problems is A Plus Notes for Beginning Algebra by Rong Yang. It is a practice book with at least a hundred problems per topic (seriously). Wouldn't use it to teach from, but I used it as a problem/test bank.

Has anybody actually implemented CK-12 Chemistry in their home? How did you use the materials physcially? Reading on the computer, printing out, getting a Kindle or iPad? How is the pacing? Can you do the whole thing in a year pretty easily, or should you plan to pick and choose? Overall, how was the challenge level and "meatiness" of the content? I know there's a lab book that you can download, but I'm also looking at the book Experiences in Chemistry (Castle Heights press) for labs. I thought maybe it would be more homeschool-friendly? Student is liberal-arts oriented, but good at reading, math, and scientific thinking. She HATES labs, and gets very frustrated when things don't work out or require delicate timing or coordination. Thanks! --Janet

Here are some good blogs to subscribe to for the high school years. I have bought a couple of products from the first, but for the other two I've just read the blogs for the past year or so and am learning a lot. It really does help to educate yourself! www.thehomescholar.com She is a homeschool mom who teaches people how to do transcripts, college, and scholarship applications. She does talk a lot about "teaching to the college admission requirements"--i.e. take English, Math, and well-rounded electives in multiple areas, but that there are lots of ways to do these things. (Christian resource) www.wiselikeus.com This is a private college counselor. The angle here is: "Find the college that's right for a kid like you, don't change yourself into someone you're not to try to impress a college." Very warm and reassuring that there is a college out there for everybody if you look around. (Secular, out of my price range to actually try!) www.thecollegesolution.com This one is mostly about the realities of financial aid. (Secular) I will buy her book when we hit the end of sophomore year, but because financial aid rules are always changing, I want to wait to make sure I have the latest edition for my children's application cycles. Eye-opening. --Janet