dkholland
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Posts posted by dkholland
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I did this for three boys (2 mine) when they were little. I like to plan menus, so it wasn't work. I planned different themes for each day - soup, desserts, breads. I included some safety worksheets and cooking math. Then we hosted a lunch for the other parents on Fri, as a culmination of what they learned for the week. I only did half-days and at the end they each got a certificate and a wooden spoon! Oh yeah, I made each boy an apron with their name. They still remember that as one of the most fun camps they ever did. We don't pay to go away to camp either.
This might not be what you were thinking, but it might help the creative juices flow:001_smile:
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The list can be very general:
History - Story of the World
English -shurley grammar, IEW, MCT Vocabulary
Math - Saxon 6/5
etc.
I just list the name of whatever book we are using for the main spine.
As far as testing goes, the public school here in our county(maybe all of VA) is required to offer testing to homeschoolers - standardized as well as AP, PSAT and SAT. I have always taken advantage of this with my kids and let them to be tested by public school teachers. The results go right to the home instruction office and they send me a copy. I think its great that I don't have to do it at home. As long as your student tests above the 23%, there is no problem. Read at the HEAV site that Kathleen mentioned above, for how to test kids with LD's or if you would rather do a portfolio. VA has been a pretty easy state to homeschool in and our county is very homeschool friendly.
HTH
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I have a ds, 10th gr., who is going through this also. He is doing very well. He reads well, but always understands more if he has a teacher lecture the material too. Mr. Rosenoff included his own tests, which I feel are more well-rounded with different types of questions than the Apologia tests. The lectures include fill-in-the blank notes so the student is listening. You could forget those if your student wanted to take his own notes. My son averages a lecture per week. The CD came with a schedule from when he did the class online. The schedule was kind of loosy-goosy, so I made my own with daily reading assignments and when to watch the lecture.
It is a well-done course, we thinkg:001_smile:
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Hi! We got the snow days too because we were trapped on Lookout Mountain!:)
We had spent the weekend in Atlanta, having some fun and visiting my ds's alma mater (GA Tech). When we got to Cov. on Sunday night, we planned on heading home monday morning. We woke up to about a foot of snow! It was so beautiful, but very icy. it was fun for the first day, but we really needed to get home. We left Tues afternoon and the road down the mtn. was fine. It really was just around the college that was so bad.
The food service was not the greatest since they couldn't get any deliveries. They also had very few workers. But, they also insisted we not pay for anything! That was a nice blessing.
I know my ds was a little disappointed that the whole week got cancelled, but he did have some fun. I know he is glad to be back to classes. He woke up on Monday with a bad head cold unfortuanetly.
This first year sure is going fast.
Karen
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So it sounds to me like the writing instruction comes from the Guide to Critical Writing, but the assignments are specific to the works studied. Are there instructions for grading or assisting students with writing assignments that are book specific?
Yes there is a page for mom on how to assess their writing. I always give two-fold grades on papers - one grade for grammar/technics and the other for content. I can't remember if that was his suggestion or not.
When you set up your notebook, there are pages with comprehension questions and vocab that your student will do. Then Smarr has you insert the writing instruction pages in between each work of literature. So for one week the student will be writing a paper and also doing five days of grammar and writing "lessons" that they can apply to the paper they are writing. Does that make sense? So after the first work of lit, you have lessons 1-5 of writing, then move on to the next book, then lessons 6-10 of writing, etc.
There is not much instruction for the book specific assignments. Like after reading the Iliad, it give about 8 different topics that the student could write on. I have my ds pick which one he wants to do (or he has come up with other ideas that are acceptable) and we talk about a basic outline of the paper and the ideas he wants to cover, then he takes off to write an outline.
So the papers he writes are going to account for 50% of his English grade.
Does that help at all?? It is a very easy program to inplement with very little teacher involvment. That fits for this child this year :001_smile:
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My ds, 16, is working through the SMARR Ancients English course right now. He is really enjoying it. The work is just right for him. This is the first time we have used this material, but according to what we are using, the writing is tied to the literature...at least in the chronological time period English courses. I do not know about the conventional courses listed on their site.
FOr the Ancients English course, the student reads and answers comprehension questions, takes vocab quizzes, and then when the book has been read and discussed there is a writing assignment to complete. Most of the assignments are argumentative papers. Your pick an opinion on the book you read or a comparasion of two characters, and then state your reasons from the book. Also, after reading a book, there are five days of grammar and writing instruction that are going on while you are writing the paper. The paper requirement is usually at least 300 words.
It is well done and just the right amount of work for my ds. He loves that it is pretty independent. Sometimes we discuss, sometimes he just works on his own.
HTH
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I can speak to the CD Prealg. My ds, 12, as hating math and we had tears everyday. We were using Saxon and have been all along, but when we got to Saxon 8/7 he kept falling apart and hating that he had to thirty problems. It was a stuggle and I had to change something. So, I decided to get the DVD program and it has been pretty smooth sailing since. Not perfect, but so much better than it was. He loves that he is pretty independent and that he doesn't have tons of problems everyday. One day, we watch the portion of the DVD for whatever section we are on and he works through problems in the reading chapter. The next day I assign every 4th problem for him to do. We correct the next day and then move on. The funny thing is, he is still doing 30+ problems, but since there can be 148 in one problem set, he feels really good about only having 40 to do:001_smile: Ds seems to like the instsructor and has had no complaints. Also, he is missing less problems than he ever did before. With saxon, his attitude was so bad and he made our math lessons so unbearable that he was missing half of the thirty problems. I knew it wasn't because he couldn't understand the material, but just because he hated what he was doing and didn't try at all.
I found our CD dvd's used, so look on the FS board. I would only get the whole program used, not just parts. That way you are sure the DVD's match your text. I am sold that it is working, I will probably go ahead and do Alg. I with CD.
HTH
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Karen,
An alternative path you might want to consider is EPGY. The courses use more standard textbooks than AoPS yet are going to be much better than he will get at the CC.
http://epgy.stanford.edu/courses/math/
Thanks, Karen, I was no aware of these courses and I will definately look into them.
Our thinking about getting cc classes on his transcript is to back up our ''at home'' grades. Ds is not a good test taker and we're not sure he would do well on some of the stanardized math tests. But he does excel in a classroom setting with a live teacher and other students. Online classes have not been the best for him though. There is so much to think about with testing and transcripts and helping your child be competitive with other students applying to college....it's just hard to take it one step at a time. There is a element of planning ahead that needs to be done. That's where I am at!
I may email you privately if i have more questions....Thanks:001_smile:
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Ds actually had Alg. I in 7th and geometry in 8th. I am not including them on the transcript. I assume that any admission person looking at his courses would assume that he had them before high school.
I'm hoping there are more math courses for my ds to take after 11th grade. I'll have to look around at the universities and other cc in my area...if it ends up that way.
Thanks
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Kathy and Jann....Thank you for your responses!
That is a good idea concerning Trig. But, being a non-math mom, I am not sure where in the Lial's precalc book trig topics begin or end?? Is trig more of the second half of the text?
It makes sense to list Alg. 3 and Trig in the same school year on the transcript, and leave off the precalc title. And, I did plan on denoting that the Alg. 3 course was outsourced.
What is a rub for me is....I don't want to rush him through high school math. He struggled much in the AoPS class, but came through with a "B". Since he didn't sail through it, I thought it might be beneficial to have him go through a precalc text at a regular pace and see how much we could get done by the end of the school yr. If he takes the math placement test at the cc in May, then we can see where he places. I guess it's conceivable that he might place right into Calculus. So, he would be a junior taking calc at cc...is that rushing at all?
I think I am getting hung-up on having the right titles for math in the right yrs. on his transcript!! I do struggle with thinking outside the educational box:001_huh:!
Thanks for your responses and helping me work through my muddled thinking.
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Yes, I was thinking that he would take calc again at whatever universtiy he goes to. I just want him to be well-situated for acceptances into the colleges he is intrested in and also, to be well educated in high school math, KWIM? I just don't want to raise any red flags with admissions people to see so much pre-calc on a transcript. I guess I don't have to list the work we are doing now with the Precalculus with Limits. That could just be beneficial without it going on the transcript....
I just can't tell him that because then he would probably feel like "why even do this if I'm not getting credit!"
Thanks!
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I need some advice concerning my ds math sequence and how to report it on the transcript.
Here is what he has had and what we are planning for his last two yrs:
9th - Alg. II
10th - Alg. III with AoPS (went from June 2010-Nov.) We are having him begin Precalc with Limits by Lial for the rest of the school year...maybe give him half credit if we get through half the book?
11th - Precalc at the cc the first semester and then Calculus the 2nd semester.
12th - ?? mayabe economics, statistics??
He loves math and has no problem moving forward at this pace. The questions is how would you list it on the transcript? I was going to list in the 10th yr:
Advanced Alg. 1 credit
Precalculus - .5 credit (I want to give him credit for doing some math this spring)
Then for 11th yr:
Precalc (at cc) - 1 credit
Calculus (at cc)- 1 credit
Then what for 12th??
Should I spread out the maths in reporting them? The problem is that the cc is going to give dates for when he took classes there and it will show both pre-calc and calc in the same year.
The reason we are having him begin Precalc now is because we don't want him to stop all math until the fall. He loves math and we want the material to be fresh when he goes to take the math placement test at the local cc this spring (for him to get into the fall precalc class.) I guess we really want him to have cc classes on his transcript, so that is why we are having him do that. He plans to go into engineering of some sort.
How would you report these classes? Thanks!
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Before Christmas' date=' the CDC listed Georgia as highing the highest flu rate in the country. I don't know if that's still true, but might that sway him?[/quote']
yikes! I will pass this onto him. He does not have asthma or any other conditions that would warrent a shot if he was at home. That is making me feel a little better about his decision.
thanks for letting me know.
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I guess as a mom, I want my ds to get the shot. But, ds is very against the idea! We are going to leave it up to him to do at campus if he feels he needs it, but I can tell you he will do nothing:sad: He has gotten the flu in the past, but since we moved to VA none of us has been sick. So, now he lives in GA and thinks he is immune to all types of virus.
Thanks for the advice. This ds is one that has to live through an experience to learn anything....he does not take advice well. Is there a curriculum for that?:confused: I have three other dss and maybe I can do better with them:001_smile:
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You know...we don't get one here either....hhmmmm. Good advice about being consistent!:)
Dh said not to bother with it, so I guess we'll forget it for now.
:D
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trying to decide before my ds goes back to campus:confused::confused:
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I have had one ds who self-studied for two AP's. He chose AP US Government and Politics and Ap English Language and Comp. He did stellar on the English and just the opposite on the Gov. It is definately doable and if it is a subject that your student enjoys, then the extra reading and studying won't be a chore. We did not use any text, but we did get the Barron's AP study guides with practice tests to take.
At the time when my ds took them, they were free if you went to your districted school to take them. We felt like it would be a good experience for him even if he didn't do well, and we weren't out any money.
Hope it goes well!:001_smile:
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Thanks Suzanne! We are only passing through for a day so that pass seems more than we need. Thanks anyway and Merry Christmas.
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Hi,
Our family will be traveling through ATL. we want to take our boys to the World of Coke and wondered if we can get any educator discount there??
Wondering if maybe we would have to be GA homeschoolers to get a discount of any kind. We are in VA.
thanks for any info you can send my way.
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I love Jayber Crow!
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test 1 2 3
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Hi Karen,
Can you tell me what you mean by "it is not for everyone"? Is it the workload, or the book selection, or the content?
Just curious. Thanks.
Grace
I have read on this forum that it is not "meaty" enough for some. My older son would have been bored with the program because he was born a deep thinker and hated comp. questions. My #2 ds needs to be lead into deep thinking, so the comp questions really help him get what he needs out of the readings. I think the book list is excellent for this son - for ds #1 it would've been light. I would rate the program as good as any high school course at the honors level, but it might not be enough for a highly academic student. My oldest son did Omnibus for his ancients study and I knew that would be difficult for #2 ds and take all the fun out of his studying...KWIM?
#2ds is keeping up with the writing and really needs the constant grammar review, so its a perfect fit for us this year.
HTH:)
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My ds is using Smarr publishers English program this year for the Ancient Time period. It schedules the books and writing assignments as well as grammar lessons throughout so that it nor forgotten. There are comprehension ques. as well as vocabulary. This program is not for everyone but it has been working very well for us. I liked the list of books for this time period and it was all laid out for me...all I had to do was print it. Just what I needed this year.
Ds, 10th gr., likes it also.:)
Anyone have a student taking an online AP class with PHC
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
this semester?? I am looking into the US History AP course for next fall and wanted a reveiw!
Thanks:001_smile: