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sierramv1

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Posts posted by sierramv1

    Dungeons and Dragons for credit?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    I am on my phone so hard to respond but I am a Dungeon Master myself and both of my kids play. Skills D&D can foster:

     

    Leadership

    Character development

    Creative writing

    Cartography

    Life skills math

    Improvisation

    Group Dynamics

    Organizational skills

    Project planning

    Problem solving

    Crisis management

    General social skills

    Understanding of history and how history is a tapestry

    Ability to work with different personality types

    Better understanding of political structures

    Tolerance for other belief systems and cultures

    Acting

     

     

     

    And so on. The list can be long, depending on how the game is played. I find it far more educational than standard board games/computer games and actually much more engaging than many standard academic materials.

     

    My gifted dyslexic son who also has vision issues began reading a lot more once he started DMing for D&D. The material deeply engaged his brain and made the extraordinary effort he had to put into reading the material well worth it which in turn improved his reading/writing/spelling/organizational skills, etc.

     

    I agree with tying your son's D&D stuff to needing to also accomplish his other academic goals. He needs to get his other stuff done. Absolutely. But keep in mind D&D can absolutely provide a fantastic avenue for improving traditional academic skills as well as life skills and job skills. Especially if he is the dungeon master his time spent is not wasted, IMHO. He just needs balance. Help him achieve balance.

     

    And yes I would brainstorm with him and dig in deeper to find a way to officially acknowledge what he is doing on his transcript.

     

    FWIW, my mother was a public school teacher for many years. She tolerated my brother and I playing but didn't pay that much attention. Now, with her grandson, she is paying closer attention and has been blown away by the wide range of skills he is acquiring. In fact she has frequently suggested that someone should write a curriculum based on this game because of the potential she sees across multiple disciplines.

     

    In fact, it has been so useful that one of the local homeschool parents blocked out time every single week for her High School age son to come over to my house and play. He has to finish his other academic requirements but she has seen improvement in his writing/reading/math/organizational/leadership/group interaction skills/etc since starting the game last year.

    â¤ï¸ Thank You ðŸ™

    • Like 1

    Dungeons and Dragons for credit?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted · Edited by sierramv1

    This could be an extracurricular.

    I would not give academic credit.

     

    And not everything our kids do has to end up on the transcript AT ALL. Some things kids just... DO.

    I agree it’s not academic, which is why I struggle. He spends 8-10 hours a week creating, researching, and facilitating the sessions. I have a hard time justifying that every week when there are other things he needs to be putting time into. However, he shows significant leadership and organizational skills to pull it all off. As well as mediating arguments and disappointed players. He has shown tremendous maturity.....after talking it through, I guess that kind of character development is valuable in and of itself.

     

    In public school I know they have classes for video game development, etc. Personally I think what he is doing is much more impressive!

    Dungeons and Dragons for credit?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    After much resistance on my part, my DS is obsessed with D&D. He has organized two different levels of games at our local Co-op. He does all the communicating with his peers and adults about using the space and providing supervision, as well as extensively writes the story, as he is the DM for both groups. I struggle with how much time he spends on this, but the skills he’s learning are valuable skills. However the time commitment is competing with other responsibilities, and ‘for credit’ school work.

     

    I don’t know whether to limit his time, try to give him a creative writing credit, or chalk it up to just a big time sucking interest. Oh this sounds horrible as I write it, mainly because I fail to see the value in D&D. 😕 Am I being unreasonable? TIA

    • Like 1

    Oak Meadow Health - ? For those who've used it

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    My DS 15 has been working through this for the past year (spring semester last year and just finishing up now). He does it on his own and he loves the activity and research parts, it allows him to engage with friends and family in an interesting way. Initially I was nervous about him not finishing in a year, but realistically for us, it doesn’t matter. He is only getting 1.5 credits for it, regardless how long it takes him. He has some rigorous classes, so allowing flexibility here has been helpful.

    Native American Studies?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted · Edited by sierramv1

    My HS student has been doing a year long "survival skills" class, which focuses on primitive skills. He attended Rabbitstick, a week long primitive skills gathering. Some of the other HS parents

    are calling this Native American Studies. He asked me about this, and I told him no, unless we added history and literature to it. He has spent approximately 100 hours in class this year, and another 35 hours working on skills at Rabbitstick. 

     

    What do you think? Any good Native American Studies syllabus? Recommended readings/books? 

    High School Co-Op

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    We are part of a great co-op in our area, they are relatively new, but have loads to offer. We are trying to put together a more cohesive Highschool program that will satisfy our more advanced students. What co-op classes have you seen offered or taken part of that were successful? We are going to try and concentrate on core classes to satisfy HS requirements?

    Are Center for lit. discussions religious?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Love to hear which classes your son has taken - and which he's loved the most! We are doing CforLit next year for only 1 year. So... we get to choose which suits us best. I think we'll not opt for American Lit, since we're doing that at home this year (and many of the books we'll have read already - Huck Finn, Scarlet Letter, Great Gatsby, Red Badge of Courage, To Kill a Mockingbird...)

     

    So if you had to choose one, which would you choose - World Lit or British Lit? Which is better (we are not secular so OP's original query does not relate to me)

     

    He has taken both of the elementary lit courses, he's just in 9th grade now. When they first started you could sign up month to month or maybe we did the half year. It was discussion only. I was unsure if a single two hour discussion a month would be fruitful, but it most definitely was. This year he is doing the discussion forum and writing portion. The only issue he has run into with strong Christian perspective is in the forum when interacting with other students. 

    How would you work this into a credit...add it to an Environmental Studies class?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    in high school I took a class called Field Biology and Ecology that covered a lot of that. It was considered "Advanced" Biology (2nd year of Biology).

     

    To add hours/topics you could look at adding:

     

    Bird silhouettes identification

    bird songs identification

    tree identification using leaves and seeds

    winter tree identification using bark and buds

    using dichotomous keys

    natural dyes

    Macroinvertebrates

    insect collection--either pinned or photos, with identification

    scat identification

    Identification of wildlife by tracks (and scat)

    Wild edibles (including cooking/baking with them)

    Owls/owl calls/owl pellets

    Amphibians and reptiles (did not see that mentioned at all above)--lots you can do with this

    the pond ecosystem in general, including fish

    invasive species (plants, insect, animal) and their impacts

     

    IF you live near a park that has ACOE rangers, you might have an event called the "Bioblitz" either in the spring or the fall. It is a citizen census of species. It is totally free. They have different naturalists/experts who lead hikes or talks almost every hour. There is a lot of great information shared and it is a great way to meet local experts in herpetology, entomology, etc.  They do fish shocking at ours (not to kill, just to census) which is a great way to see what fish are in the lake and what sort of invasive species exist, etc. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/biodiversity/national-parks-bioblitz.htm

     

    This is great! He actually takes a year round survival class, which covers a bunch of these topics (tracking, bird id, tree id, edible plants, etc)

    Now to decide if I should let it stand as an extra curricular or combine it for a science credit....

     

    Thank you!

    • Like 1

    Are Center for lit. discussions religious?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    My DS has taken Center for Lit classes for 4 years, he has thoroughly enjoyed the classes (as a self-proclaimed Humanist) until this year. He is taking World Literature, and even though the discussion points are typically led by the students, it is mostly from a Christian perspective. Not all students that attend are Christian, but most typically believe in a higher being. The class and the Andrews Family (who we LOVE) usually engage in a respectful manner, but he has come to me upset a couple of times in regards to the discussion and discussion board. Some of this back and forth is good for him, as we teach our kids to always question and continue to search and evolve their own personal spiritual 'truth', but he has felt dismissed at times by students in the class. I think, partly, it is due to the content of the books they are reading this year and the perspective from which they were written, so I'm not sure that will be an issue with the class your student is looking to take. 

     

    That being said, we are pretty strictly secular, and my younger two kids will definitely be taking classes at Center for Lit. The foundation in literary analysis they have given my DS, has enabled him to more fully engage and interact with everything he is reading, which is a beautiful thing. The learning is tangible, gives me goosebumps! They all truly LOVE what they do, and it comes through in every class. 

     

    Hope that helps!

     

     

    • Like 2

    How would you work this into a credit...add it to an Environmental Studies class?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted · Edited by sierramv1

    Our local Natural History Center offers a Master Naturalist Program. It consists of approx. 36 hours of lecture/labs, 24 hours of field work, and 12-15 hours of homework. Totaling 75ish hours. They offer this as a University class for 3 credits (it's Environmental Studies 391). Here is a sample syllabus: 

     

    x Introduction + Nature Journals Class overview and the Nature Journal

    x Winter bird ID, topography Lecture + Field

    x Winter bird ID + Riparian Ecology In the field: Council Groves State Park

    x Saturday Field Day: Winter Raptors Brian Williams Birder, Naturalist In the field: Ninepipes NWR

    x Local Geology Lecture + Field

    x Nature Journaling + Herpetology Lecture + Lab

    x Gymnosperms + Fungi/Lichens Lecture + Field

    x Saturday Field Day: Biogeography Greg Peters Missoula College Professor Lecture + Field: cross section of the Bitterroot valley

    x Insect anatomy, physiology, order ID Charles Miller Missoula College Professor Lecture + Lab

    x Butterflies Families + Field Notes Lecture + Lab

    x Saturday Field Day: Tracking Adam Lieberg Northwest Connections In the field: Swan Valley

    x Mammal Skulls Lecture + Lab

    x Flower anatomy and family ID Lecture + Field

    x Flower families Peter Lesica Botanist In the field: Mount Jumbo

    x ID practice naturalist walk In the field; Final Journal + Final Project Due

    x Celebratory dinner Final Project Presentation and Dinner

     

    I was thinking about rounding it out with some of the Highschool level 'trunks' that you can borrow - complete with curriculum guides (each is 3-4 weeks of material):

     

    AQUATIC INVERTEBRATE MONITORING

    FIREWORKS - FIRE ECOLOGY

    GLACIAL LAKE MISSOULA

    PRAIRIE ECOSYSTEM

    RAPTORS OF THE ROCKIES

    THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES

     

    Would this round out an Environmental Science credit? Or Ecology?

     

    TIA

     

     

     

     

    • Like 3

    Oak Meadow Integrated Health and Fitness Credits

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted · Edited by sierramv1

    My DS (9th grade) is working through this program this year. It takes him a solid 5-8 hours a week if you count the work-out time which is part of the program. I only plan on giving it one credit. He does it mostly independently, and is still enjoying it. He is a health and exercise conscious, so it is something he enjoys. He likes the information he is learning and that the questions aren't too extensive. On week 5 they create and implement an exercise plan, so this would be considered the 'lab' part, which is what I imagine they are accounting for the extra .5 credits. It is a little bit of health, anatomy, nutrition, fitness, etc. We have had some good discussions around some of the material. 

     

    I will say, it's not a hard credit for my DS, but that is partly due to his enjoyment of the material. He doesn't feel like there is a lot of 'busy' work. Hope that helps a little. 

    • Like 1

    Bravewriter as a full 10th grade credit?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    I plan on either 3 BW classes and an Online3g class on Shakespeare or 2 BW classes, Shakespeare and a semester writing class elsewhere. She will do plenty of reading outside of English.

     

    I have my eye on a couple of Research Report writing classes for spring semester if BW doesn't work well for her.

     

    I think 2 BW classes plus a semester's worth of literature (plus grammar/vocab if your kid needs it) should be adequate. I'd do at least four classes if you won't have anything else. (Big River Academy has a Research Writing class and Lukeion has a couple semester long writing classes as well.)

     

    I've never heard of Online3g before!! This is great! He is pretty solid in lit analysis as he has been doing it with Center for Lit for three years.... I was hoping to do Composition with Bravewriter and dystopian lit at home, but I see Online3g offers just that class! Win-win!!  Thanks

    Bravewriter as a full 10th grade credit?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    My DS is doing Center For Lit w/ writing for 9th grade (World History Lit). He also took Kidswrite Intermediate with Bravewriter and really liked it! When I asked him

    about 10th grade, he wanted to know if he could make a full English credit out of Bravewriter classes. For this to work, he would need to take 6 - 6 week classes (totaling 36 weeks)? 

    That seems like a lot of classes and money.

     

    What Bravewriter classes would you use to make a 10th grade credit? My other option is Blue Tent Honors English for 10th grade (which is what I would prefer). He has recently started writing a short story and would love to delve more into creative writing. He has a strong foundation (reading/writing/etc). 

     

    TIA

     

    Vanessa

    • Like 1

    How much monitoring do you do of online classes?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Is this his first academic year doing online class?

     

    My oldest has done online classes since 2nd grade. Now all I do is making sure all required materials are purchased as we buy online, and I would proofread his emails to his teacher before he emails. He has sank and had to double up and finish the work he had forgotten so he has gotten more careful over the years. He is generally responsible online and would tell me if he wants to play online games. He is allowed to play online games once work is done.

     

    My DS11 needs hand holding in checking for homework, proofreading emails to teacher, checking his class schedule because he doesn't remember when the class is on winter break or spring break. He is a lot better with brick and mortar classes because everything is printed and he has a binder and notebook for each brick and mortar class. This is also the first year he did a WTMA class so he took awhile to figure out the interface like where to go to get old class recordings and where to upload homework. When he did a CTY class a few years ago, it also took him sometime to figure things out. He also sneaks in game time when he is supposed to be in class so I do sit nearby and monitor that he doesn't have a few web browsers open and that he is focusing.

     

    He has participate in the Center For Lit online book club for a couple of years, but this is the first year he has been graded on anything online. We meet every Monday morning and lay out his schedule for the week, but he isn't great about scheduling time for his online assignments as they come in through the week, and sometimes he ends up scrambling on Sunday night and therefore not handing in his best work. My kiddo likes to play youtube music videos in the background, while he is doing computer work, which drives me crazy!

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