Hi, Melissa! I think it's great that your daughter wants to be a piano teacher. She won't get rich, but she could certainly have a very satisfying career; I know lots of musicians who are making a living, so it is possible to follow your dreams and still pay the bills, if you're both good and lucky! You've had some good advice above (though if she truly has no interest in teaching in the schools, I don't see any reason to prefer the education degree over the pedagogy one)--I just have a couple of other ideas that might be worth throwing into the mix. -Is she interested in church music? That could be a good add-on to a private studio income. -Would she be interested in accompanying? That's another fruitful area for a pianist to explore. One particular focus could be vocal coaching; pianists who work well with singers are worth their weight in gold. -Would she want to do any regular gigs? I have friends who supplement their income with regular playing jobs at restaurants and seniors' homes, and others who are rehearsal accompanists for opera and ballet companies. -It would be useful to be very good at theory as well as piano. I remember back in the day my own teacher had oodles of extra students when theory exams were approaching, because none of the other piano teachers in our city liked teaching theory and they all sent their students to my teacher for those lessons. -An interesting secondary area could be training to be a registered piano technician; I knew someone who paid his way through music school tuning pianos (he'd done the one-year technician certification first). -It's also useful ultimately to locate in an area where housing is not over-the-top expensive! Good luck to her!

nm

One more thing, just from a philosophical point of view...what seems to me to have worked best here so far is just sheer volume of reading, whether the books are great ones or not. We certainly read lots of more-or-less fluff in French, just to build up the amount of exposure--lots of BD, lots of Petit Nicolas and Tintin, lots of forgettable series books, lots of magazines--just to strengthen the French muscles. That may not be what you're after--and of course different things work for different children--but I just thought I'd toss that out there as an idea. Like you, we are interested in them being able to read French for pleasure, and we try to encourage that.

We both have kids in Jardin des lettres 4e--and we both have Molière fans! I agree that Dumas, etc., is a big mouthful to chew--as much in terms of length as of difficulty. Bibiche knows far more than I do, but I did have a couple of small ideas that maybe could be useful. My son read several Molière plays--maybe she might be interested in more of those? He also has read some Jules Verne--not true classics, but not junk, either. Also very good, and much enjoyed here, are the Saint-Exupéry aviation books: Vol de nuit, Terre des hommes, Lettre à un otage, and Courrier sud. For a short and easy one, you might try André Maurois's Patapoufs et Filifers (that went over well here); my boy is currently working on Raymond Queneau's Zazie dans le Métro, but is finding the slang a huge challenge (but so far, he's enjoying the challenge!). He also read some of Perrault's tales and the Jean de La Fontaine fables. My husband wants him to read Racine next--the vocabulary is fairly limited, apparently (about 3000 words?)--and because he thinks every civilised person should read Racine! I will ask him if he has other ideas.

Would school books from Italy be interesting to you? Here are some: https://www.eurobooks.co.uk/languagebooks/subject/ITA

I'm not sure if this helps--but I wonder if it would be possible to download the CK12 materials onto a disc or a stick? They're free, at least, and perhaps they would be useful to you.

A couple more good sources of Canadian stories: Historica Canada does the heritage minutes: https://www.historicacanada.ca/content/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/HistoricaCanada The CBC series Canada: A People's History is likely available on DVD at your library. http://www.cbc.ca/history/ The National Library and Archives has some interesting podcasts about Canadian history here: http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/news/podcasts/Pages/podcasts.aspx Hope that helps!

A couple more ideas... Robert O'Brien, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. Russell Stannard, the Uncle Albert series (physics) https://www.faber.co.uk/author/russell-stannard/ Would the Hitchhiker's Guide (etc.) be of any interest? It's thirty years and more since I read them, and I can't remember how appropriate they'd be. George Gamow's Mr. Tompkins books are interesting (but a bit difficult, as I recall). https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Tompkins-Paperback-George-Gamow/dp/0521447712/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_1/157-0479987-9866705?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=C5RZEQKFH30VXMMC61B0 Thomas Keneally, Ned Kelly and the City of Bees. If math books would be fun, too, these are goodies: The Cat in Numberland (Ivar Ekeland; short but v. good). https://www.amazon.ca/Cat-Numberland-Ivar-Ekeland/dp/081262744X The Number Devil. https://www.amazon.ca/Number-Devil-Mathematical-Hans-Enzenberger/dp/0613285913/ref=pd_sim_14_2/159-8028977-0877810?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=M6GX6D9CB5QWEXGGF31W And of course Flatland is a classic: https://www.amazon.ca/Flatland-Romance-Dimensions-Distinguished-Chiron/dp/918775116X/ref=pd_sim_14_27?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=7QAHQTCKKFKWH6BHDB68 ETA Kid # 2 just reminded me of Michael Reisman's Simon Bloom, the Gravity Keeper. https://www.amazon.com/Simon-Bloom-Gravity-Keeper-Hardcover/dp/0142413682/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1484018530&sr=1-1&keywords=simon+bloom And again ETA one I remember seeing at the library but haven't read: Jacqueline Houtman's The Reinvention of Edison Thomas. http://www.jhoutman.com/pages/edisonThomas.html Oh, and one last idea--what about Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael books? Lots of interesting things about herbal medicine, and the mysteries are solved most often through the logical interpretation of physical clues. Also the medieval setting might be of interest. And though they're written for adults, they're very innocent (even my gran loved them!). I'll stop now!

A third kid (I've got the whole crew working on this!) just reminded me of Benedict Carey's middle-grade mysteries for math and science buffs: Island of the Unknowns and Poison Most Vial. https://www.amazon.com/Poison-Most-Vial-Benedict-Carey/dp/1419700316/ref=la_B001JS6ABA_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1483986673&sr=1-2 https://www.amazon.com/Island-Unknowns-Mystery-Benedict-Carey/dp/0810996634/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=980FCHYBY26ETDRZ8XYV ETA links.

Yes, Oppel wrote the bat series (he also wrote an airship series, and one about a train called The Boundless--all popular here--not really science-y, though). I was thinking about your history, too--has your daughter read any Sally Gardner? I, Coriander is a wonderful book, set in 1650s London. She also wrote The Red Necklace and The Silver Blade, set during the French Revolution. She's such a magnificent writer. http://www.sallygardner.net/about-sally/about-sallys-books/ One of the kids just reminded me about the incomparable Frances Hardinge. http://www.franceshardinge.com/library/library.html Said kid says that The Lie Tree's protagonist's father was a scientist, and the story has a lot of scientists arguing about Darwin's theories (it's set at the time). A Face Like Glass would be very interesting to a child interested in language and communication. Fly By Night and Fly Trap are set in an alternative eighteenth century. ETA: Another kid just reminded me of Jay Hosler's graphic novels--very scientific! http://www.jayhosler.com/books.html Those were much loved here.

Kenneth Oppel's Half Brother may appeal to her, perhaps. http://www.kennethoppel.ca/pages/halfbrother.shtml (language, anthropology, primatology) Eva Ibbotson's Journey to the River Sea was very good. http://www.booktrust.org.uk/a/books/view/24769 (environmental science, conservation) I haven't read Laurie Halse Anderson's Fever, but it sounds interesting. http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-689-83858-3 (epidemiology) One of my kids loved Gerelchimeg Blackcrane's Black Flame. http://houseofanansi.com/collections/imprint-groundwood/products/black-flame (nature, animals) If you think she'd like Kon Tiki, she might also like Tim Severin's The Brendan Voyage (my kids liked it a lot more than Kon Tiki, which they also enjoyed). https://www.amazon.com/Brendan-Voyage-Sailing-America-Exploration/dp/0375755241 A fictional extreme adventure that was beloved here is The Ascent of Rum Doodle by WE Bowman. http://www.rumdoodle.org.uk/ These might be too silly for her, but my kids years ago adored the Mad Scientists' Club books. http://www.purplehousepress.com/msc.htm That's all I've got for right now! Will come back and edit if I think of anything else. ETA: Google reveals a couple of books that look like lots of fun to me: Greg Leitich Smith's Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo and Tofu and T. Rex. http://gregleitichsmith.com/books/tofu-and-t-rex/ http://gregleitichsmith.com/books/ninjas-piranhas-and-galileo/ I think I'm headed to the library!!

We haven't done that exact thing--though we have used some of the MEP upper-level material, and it's good. There are a few fun topics in MEP 7, 8, and 9 that aren't in 1-6, but there is also a lot of review there--going right to the high school stuff from 6 should be doable for a keen student. I think your plan for both kids sounds like a really good one. One thing to keep in mind is that if you switched over to the American sequence instead of doing what you plan, it's tricky to get lined back up with Canadian curriculum, if you should ever need to do that for some reason (ask me how I know...sigh...). MEP is a lot more like our system of integrated maths, so it should ease that transition, should you ever need to make it.

What would he think of a bunch of Australian literature? I'm a great believer in knowing one's own stories. We do a lot of Canadian literature all along, but believe you me, grade 12's lit list is going to be dripping in maple syrup!!

I see that you are in "chilly northern BC".... https://www.nfb.ca/documentary/ Why not try the National Film Board? I always think it's good to hear things from our own perspective--it's useful to hear stories in our "voice," if you see what I mean.

Sent you a PM.

Not a short story, but helpful in understanding the book, are William Gilpin's essays on the picturesque (Gilpin is much referenced in NA). You might have your students read a chapter or two of Radcliffe (A Sicilian Romance and The Romance of the Forest are shorter than The Mysteries of Udolpho, I think). Or what about Walpole's Castle of Otranto? It's not quite as long. Or perhaps another almost-contemporary (but later) parody of the Gothic, Thomas Love Peacock's Nightmare Abbey? Peacock is a hoot; I love him. You could also look for a good critical edition of Northanger Abbey, and likely some of the accompanying essays would have some passages from other works (Burney, Smith, Lennox, Radcliffe, etc.) so that your children could at least get the flavour.

This article from "University Affairs" (the Canadian analogue of the "Chronicle of Higher Education"), though a few years old, might still be of interest: http://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/co-op-programs-are-popular-and-growing-at-canadian-universities/

Trampoline!

I don't know if this would help any, but we have enjoyed the Great Courses drawing class (How to Draw with David Brody), and I'm on the verge of signing up for online drawing classes at this website, too: http://www.lizsteel.com/ (Even without the classes, there are lots of good free mini-lessons and tips and inspiration on her site.) Maybe you could do some supplementing just with some nice art history books from the library? No curriculum, no agenda--just lots and lots of feeding her visual imagination. And maybe a cheapie camera if she doesn't already have one? Also, does she ever take her painting outside? Plein air painting? That might be a new thing to explore if she hasn't already. Here there are plein air meetup groups and people just show up at a park and paint wildflowers or whatever--she might meet some interesting kindred spirits that way. She sounds great! I love kids with all-consuming interests! ETA: This has been niggling at me for the last couple of hours-- I'm worried that my mention of "agenda" might possibly have come across in a way I hadn't intended when I quickly typed this this morning. All I meant was that with a curriculum for which I have spent hard-earned dollars, I sometimes have to fight the feeling that I need to use it even if it doesn't seem to be resonating all that well with the child for whom it was intended. You had mentioned that budget was a consideration, and I only wanted to suggest feeling free just to explore without having to feel obligated to do somebody else's assignments or constrained by somebody else's schedule that you'd had to pay for! I hope that's clear--I would in no way wish to say something hurtful.

Thank you, CadenceSophia, for the timely reminder to keep one's eyes on the goal at the end--you're quite right. You also make an interesting point about personality and career fit. KarenNC, thank you to you, too, for the information and the link, reinforcing the importance of the math and computers background; that's very helpful, too. Good old Hive!

Thanks, Arcadia! How kind of you to pass that along--that looks like fun. Story maps are a very cool tool, we think.

Thanks, citymom! It's great to have input from someone already in the field. I appreciate you taking the time to post. And welcome to the boards! I see you're new here.

Thanks, Mike--your mention of biosciences reminds me that I've also seen majors like Biostatistics and Environmetrics, which sound interesting, too. I certainly do appreciate everyone's help--thank you again for your generosity.

EndOfOrdinary, you've put your finger on our discomfort with some of what we've been looking at over the last couple of days (though I realize that I have only begun to scratch the surface and that there are undoubtedly other possibilities out there--I am not all meaning to discount the kind suggestions everyone has made here, which I very much appreciate); the Kid has no (none zero zip nada zilch) interest in figuring out how to get people to buy more stuff, and so many of the undergrad data science programs I have seen so far are oriented toward commerce. Your post (and Emily's above) look like one possible way forward--thank you.

Yes, this has been Plan A until recently (maybe our kids could set up shop together!)--but the maps and math are pulling my teen in a slightly different direction, perhaps. Thank you so much for all of the links--I'm sure we'll find lots of fun and interesting things there!