Recommendations for specific standardized test, to help assess student progress? End of 8th, going into 9th in fall. I looked at Triangle Assessments, and some of their options include: --Terranova 2 --CAT/6 Complete plus --Stanford 10 --Woodcock Johnson Which would be most acceptable for possible public school review of records? Our state does not require documentation of homeschooling, but am looking at this as a way to help document our progress.

Wondering if anyone in NJ has experience with a homeschooler returning to public high school (9th grade). What documentation did your school ask for, and did they do benchmark tests? Or just place them at grade level based on age. We are exploring options at this point.

Wondering if anyone in NJ has experience with a homeschooler returning to public high school (9th grade). What documentation did your school ask for, and did they do benchmark tests? Or just place them at grade level based on age. We are exploring options at this point.

Just found this thread. Does the Windows to the World book include short stories, or do you find them online? How many short stories? I looked at the Amazon description and while I could see contents couldn't get a full read on their approach. It looked like a how to reach lit from a Christian perspective. Is this more for the teacher or student? And would it exclude discussing other worldviews?

I'm working on structuring a 9th grade lit class for our co-op. The co-op meets for one hour 20 min once a week for 30 weeks. I'm thinking of a mix of short stories, at least two novels, one Shakespeare play, and some drama, poetry, and mythology. I'd like to emphasize literary terms and include learning basics of research paper writing (probably a 5-6 page research paper). Suggestions for how to structure, and specific literature recommendations? I'm asking as I've gotten excellent suggestions in the past for other lit classes. My student is a good reader and likes to discuss literature. I'd like to challenge her a bit. I'm planning on following up with American Lit for 10th, British Lit for 11th, and World Lit for 12th. But I'm also open to doing semester classes which are more focused.

I remember your suggestions for teaching an earlier co-op class, they were so helpful! (World Lit, English Lit) DD loves literature and is very confident in discussions. She's on grade level for writing. She hasn't written a research paper yet, but she's done articles with quotes and attributions for a student newspaper. We'd prefer a secular approach to literature, but are open to both secular and Christian -- would have to evaluate each based on their approach. Although I could teach her at home, I think she really needs the group interaction and discussion -- whether it's from a co-op class or online class.

I've taught literature in co-op classes, but our co-op may not be able to rent space next year. And they don't seem to want to continue the online classes we've done this year. So... Any recommendations for a good 9th grade *online* literature/English class? Would like one that is synchronous and has a lot of discussion.

Thank you for your suggestions! I'll look through all of them, there are some good ideas here! Yes, it's a very wide age range. They group all the 7th-12th graders in one set of classes. I think it's left up to the families to decide what works for their students. This fall there was a class on Frankenstein for 10 weeks. My DD is 13 and while I thought it might be a stretch she really liked it. She actually wrote down and looked up every word she didn't know until she got used to the language. Without my asking her. She's asking for another class now, so I'm inclined to do it! @Lori -- my DD also did a short story class at a different co-op this fall and liked it. I always like your suggestions, and have used many in my British and World Lit classes! I always go off and look through all the suggestions before adding them. 🙂 @SilverMoon -- I didn't think of Shakespeare, but that's an idea. I actually have at least one of the Shakespeare Set Free guides here but haven't used it yet. Maybe Midsummer Night's Dream or Romeo & Juliet, I'll have to look. I had my British Lit class act out MacBeth when we did it last year, and that was quite fun. Do you think the acting out part would go over well via Zoom? Please add any other thoughts you have. Now I wish I had time to do 2!

Help, need suggestions! We're planning online co-op classes for Spring 2021. Suggestions for a good book that would go over for a mixed jr/sr high group, that not everyone's read already? This is a Christian co-op.

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but wasn't able to find the thread(s). We're looking for helpful online career/interest inventories. Our DS is a rising senior and it would be helpful to know what careers are best suited to his interests. Just in terms of choosing colleges and courses. We already know he's clearly investigative, with realistic. He's more attuned to working alone than directly with people. He likes research and data, but not math. He'd ideally like to work outdoors or in an environment where he's not in one office all day. Is there such a career? We need help in finding it, so he can have some clear paths to explore as he heads into college. Any advice or specific links welcome!

Our DS has taken Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II. Opinions on Statistics as 4th year math? At this point we'd like to keep his options open -- but not sure that calculus/trig is the way to go here. We've had a number of people suggest statistics as being very useful. He's definitely college bound, but isn't planning on hardcore technical field. He's interested in research and writing, and recently has expressed an interest in environmental science as a possible major. Also, any suggestions for statistics curricula to look into?

Farrar. thank you for sharing. That was the one thought when I first got mine, that there were many more American authors than I'd expected. I really didn't expect that. My book is copyright 2002. I like the one you posted, with selections arranged by time period and culture. I'd be more comfortable working within this kind of structure. I can't see just hopping around. With both American and British Lit, I went chronologically. Do you happen to know the copyright of your book? (I'll look back and check on the link you sent as well). I'll have to look at both of the ones you mentioned. The Penguin one may have less but I do like some of the "tidbits on the text" you mentioned. Is the Penguin one also with the same name? How confusing, I wish they'd renamed if they changed that much. Thank you, I'll hunt these down and take a look. Thank you also to the other poster above who mentioned Learning Language Arts Through Literature. I'll look at this too, although probably as a supplement. I have a copy of the British Lit one and like some of the study questions they have.

Farrar, thank you for clearing up the confusion about the two Prentice Hall textbooks with similar titles. I have an inexpensive used copy of the newer "World Masterpieces" (from Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes series). I'm attaching a few pics of the cover, ISBN, and Contents by Genre and Country. Would you be willing to take a look at this TOC and give me your thoughts comparing this to your earlier text? Upon looking at the selections organized this way, I'm a bit happier with the selections for an anthology. I just didn't care for the main TOC which lists them by theme and doesn't organize by country. I'm thinking I may organize by main time period (ancient, medieval, Renaissance, modern). I'd also welcome any other thoughts on the TOC I'm attaching from this particular anthology.

Garga, just...wow. Thank you for the very detailed discussion. I will definitely take the time to think through all of it. You recommended the Glencoe World Literature. Do you happen to have the text and can give me the ISBN? It makes it easier to find the text, particularly when some of these are 10-15 years old. I'll also look at the short story anthology you mentioned.

I really appreciate all the thoughts and recommendations. Farrar, I agree -- would like to avoid American or British authors set in other places when possible. Although not totally excluding it right now. You mentioned the Prentice Hall text World Masterpieces. I'm looking at one in their Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes series with this title. I thought their American and British Lit texts in this series were very thorough, but when I purchased a copy of this one I wasn't sure. It also seems that they were marketing this at 10th grade. Maybe it's just that there's SO much excellent world lit that I'm just being overly hard on what they can fit in the text. Anyway, please let me know if it's the same one. Here's a link to the teacher's text: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0130547980/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I'd also be curious about how much you ended up supplementing this text. I supplemented quite a bit from the British Lit textbook, but mainly for novels and a number of great recommendations from others. I actually enjoyed going outside the anthology a bit.

Thank you for the recommendations, keep them coming! I especially like the comments and will look into every one recommended. And thank you also for the recommendation for Japanese short stories. It's nice to have a variety in length.

Lori D, thank you! I remember your help with my British Lit course last year. A sampling from major periods, but probably emphasis on 18th century on. I'm not excluding British or American authors, but want to put the emphasis on other cultures. For instance, I'd like to include another Shakespeare play and a few British/American authors since 1960. Our co-op is Christian but would like to use secular curriculum and be sensitive to different worldviews. Have tried to be very sensitive to parents' concerns and haven't run into many problems, although this year parents withdrew a student when we started Picture of Dorian Gray. And while I'd like to include Tale of Two Cities and Anna Karenina next year -- am concerned about length and difficulty of some selections. The class size is likely to be 6-8 at the very most. About 50-50, some are eager readers with a lot of insight, others don't seem to enjoy reading or have difficulty making connections in the literature. Everyone seemed to struggle this year with the research paper. On the subject of curriculum, I'm mixed. There are a lot of resources out there for specific works so I don't absolutely need a textbook. I used many outside sources this year and have to say they made the year for us. But at same time it is a LOT of extra work to put those together. I might be willing to put together a DIY course if someone can push me in the direction of some good resources or ways to manage workload. Thank you again for your help!

I'm planning to teach a World Lit course next fall, and would greatly appreciate recommendations for specific novels and authors to include. It's such a big topic to cover! The course will meet virtually once a week, for 15 weeks/semester, 2 semesters. I previously taught American Lit and British Lit courses, using Prentice-Hall's Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes series -- along with specific outside novels selected with the wonderful suggestions from this group. It worked well, and the series came with teacher's manual and supporting materials. However, their World Lit course just doesn't seem quite as thorough for non-English language writers. So I'm also interested in recommendations for other curricula. Thank you all for such wonderful suggestions on previous courses!

I'm teaching a HS course at a Christian co-op, and have had The Picture of Dorian Gray on the booklist since last summer. I see it as a Faustian story, a classic, and very much a moral tale (underneath its trappings). And one which can provoke many conversations as a Christian. But as with a few other stories, I've had a family express concerns about their child reading it. I do leave final decisions up to the families, but always try to give them a bit more perspective. Any opinions out there before I discuss with parents? Has anyone else taught this in a Christian co-op?

Thank you for the suggestions. I set up Google classroom last night and it was pretty easy. Still want to incorporate a more live component, so will look into Zoom. Thank you for mentioning the free trial! Can anyone compare Canvas to Google classroom? Are they pretty similar? I went with Google classroom since it meshes with other Google products (like Google Drive) and there do seem to be apps you can use to add quizzes, puzzles, etc. But we're very flexible so interested in Canvas as well. And any comparisons between Big Blue Button (Canvas) and Zoom would be helpful too. I imagine quite a few of us are looking for information like this now.

Our co-op has asked high school teachers to look into the possibility of teaching classes remotely. Wondering what options are out there. Any suggestions? Looking into Google classroom now. I think other options would include video or Skyping, but not exactly sure what is required with those. I don't see myself doing a lecture, it's more wanting options for group discussion, etc.

OkBud, can you explain what you mean about it (Google meet) syncing with your Google calendar? Does that mean notifications? I'm a complete newbie at these applications. I would like something very straightforward and easy to use. And you can upload files, right? Farrar, I also have a question about Google Classroom vs. G Suite. When I looked last night, Google classroom asks you to verify that you are a gov't accredited school (and they gives examples of who qualifies and who doesn't). So how would it be possible to use for co-op classroom? Or do you just skip over that part? And do you know how something like Google Classroom (or G Suite) would compare to Google Meet? Would love any comparisons of Google Meet/ Google Classroom/ G Suite.

I teaching a junior high writing class, and the students suggested we I look into Google classroom or Google hangouts for the class. I looked at Google classroom, but it appears a homeschool co-op wouldn't quality (not gov't accredited). Possibly G-suite for nonprofits might. Or certainly we could do Google hangouts. Has anyone else tried this for a homeschool class, and what do you use? Interested in their sharing articles and fiction with me, and also being able to share with each other.

This is for middle school, grades 6-8. I did do a hands-on history with SOTW for younger grades, so hoping for some activities geared for older kids here.

I teach a co-op ancient history class. The students are lively and really need engaging hands-on activities, the best classes so far have had them building or creating. In the fall we carved rubber stamps in Persian tile patterns, did a homemade archaeological dig, etc. Can anyone suggest some really cool hands-on projects for Minoans, Greeks, and Romans (with a side of ancient America and China/India)? Would really like building, art, or science activities.