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TheCoffeeChick

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Everything posted by TheCoffeeChick

  1. That is awesome! Did you use only MUS for all of high school? Or did you use a variety of curricula?
  2. I definitely want to avoid needless frustration. I'll probably end up doing Jacob's Geometry, but not with an online component. I'm very comfortable teaching math and it seems my kids learn better with me teaching rather than just watching a video. Thank you, everyone. This has given me a lot to think about. I appreciate everyone's input.
  3. If we had been homeschooling this year, we would have used Saxon Algebra I this year and just relied on the Algebra I & II courses to cover enough geometry. I personally love Saxon, but think it would be difficult for her to jump into book II without using book I. Perhaps I should make sure we incorporate formal logic to help her in the long run, even though she’ll be in high school and logic is more junior high level?
  4. DD can definitely do more. And you have a great point about proofs being be beneficial for a lawyer. I will look at Derek Owens. Thank you for the program suggestions. I will search for them now. It sounds like you are a great teacher. 😄 I wish I could get my hands on a MUS book IRL just so I could see it in person. I have found in my searches on this board and online in general that people either love it or hate it.
  5. My DD will be in 9th grade in the fall and has done Algebra 1 in public school this school year. She has always been an A student and works hard at school. She does well in math, but doesn't really like it. For this reason, I was leaning toward MUS for math moving forward. But, I also want her to be prepared for the PSAT & SAT/ACT later in high school. I keep reading that MUS geometry is light because it doesn't have much in terms of proofs. Do the PSAT, SAT, & ACT tests have geometric proofs? Does it matter if she isn't quite solid with proofs in the long term? She wants to be a lawyer when she grows up, so she plans on taking the minimum amount of math in college. I love geometry, so I don't mind teaching a more difficult text, I just thought my DD would enjoy math more if I could find a curriculum that helps her really understand the concepts, rather than just memorizing the processes. So what says the hive? Is MUS geometry sufficient to do well on standardized tests later in high school?
  6. Yes, I did, and I appreciate it all so much! Thank you!! 1. A gap year might be in his future. And I would be okay with that. I just don't want him to do the minimum required for high school and have it bite him in the behind if he later decides to go to college. 🙂 It's something I've thought about, but not voiced, because I don't want to encourage it. It is definitely on the plan B list. 2. While I think a 5th year of high school would help a lot, he would never agree to it. He turns 18 before he'll finish school next year, and he fully intends to be on his own afterward. 3. After all the MUS recommendations and looking at it a bit, I'm lean more and more toward it. He did complete the first semester of Alg. 2 this school year, so maybe he can get through at least the first half of it quickly, letting him explore the pre-calc a bit. 4. I think you're right that it would probably benefit him the most to design history and science around his interests. I'd love to be able to have courses that my dd (9th grader) will be able to use for those subjects also. That way I don't have to teach science & history twice. Your suggestions are great, and I'll be looking more deeply into them while I am planning. I'll also let him decide most of his studies himself -- a 17/18 year old really should have a large say over his own education (IMO). Thank you for the hugs. The whole past year has been really difficult. But I think this is going to work out for the best. I only wish we had been homeschooling his entire high school rather than just his senior year.
  7. He's not taken the SAT yet, but did atrocious on the math portion of the PSAT, so perhaps doing both Alg. 2 & some PreCal would be his best bet? I am okay with being the main teacher/resource for the course, in fact, he would learn best that way, I think. Thank you.
  8. Thank you for your input on this. I'm glad someone sees the need for Alg 2 also. It will help me gently talk him into it, even though he doesn't want to do it. I'll check out Math U See. I'm such a math person, so it's really hard for me to understand why he doesn't get it. He is doing really well, next month will mark 1 year in remission. Although he says learning is different. He also just has a very different outlook on life in general and doesn't see the point in school. I somewhat understand the shift in perspective - being near death does that to people. I really wish he saw school as the road to help him get to success though. After graduating, he sees himself just being a business owner -- but doesn't really know how to start a business that can support him as an adult. His ice cream business is definitely just a high school, teenager, part-time job. He's also in the process of building a website to showcase and sell his art. He's a great artist and has real talent. But again, it really won't pay the bills at the end of the day. I'm kind of hoping that getting a taste of DE courses would show him that college isn't as hard as he thinks it is and maybe he would find them more interesting. Maybe I can get him to do English and history as DE and do math and science at home? Getting credits just might help nudge him forward. But I also don't want him to end up with a dud of a teacher and have a bad experience, which would drive him even further from wanting to do college. I actually am okay if he ends up not going to college, but I don't want him to make the decision to not go just yet.
  9. Hi everyone!! It's been a while since I've been here or posted. In an effort to shorten a long back story, here's the important points: We homeschooled DS from pre-K through 4th, private school for 5th, public 6th, private 7th, homeschool 1/2 of 8th, public school 2nd half of 8th - 11th (currently there). DD is similar, but 3 years younger. We've moved A LOT in the past 15 years and the original plan was to homeschool the entire time. Well, life happened, and it didn't work out as we wanted. Fast forward to today, dh and I are disgusted with the local schools here and plan on pulling to homeschool next school year. DS will be a senior and DD will be a freshman. DS has never enjoyed academics, but he is really bright and can do most school work with little effort (except math, which he says is the bane of his existence). DD is very smart, excels at school, and settles for nothing less than As in everything. She does not like math and science, but can do them with a little extra effort. She has always tested way above her grade level for reading and enjoys older literature (Jane Austen, etc..). I don't worry too much about DD because she is motivated to do school work and will take it seriously. She has HUGE goals for her life after high school. One major reason we are planning on homeschooling her for high school is because of these goals -- there's no way our local high school will help her achieve anything but mediocrity. DS on the other hand has had a rough high school experience. Not because of the people, he gets along well with most everyone. Last year he battled cancer for the second half of the year (so technically he did school at home, but through the high school) and chemo really left his brain in a fog for his junior year this year. He hates the idea of going to college, but it is the direction DH and I are trying to push him toward. I want him to not be overwhelmed with school next year, but I also want him to be able to get into college if he ends up wanting to go. Here's what he has so far for high school credits: Freshman Year: Algebra 1 English 1 Biology w/lab Art Spanish I PE Student Success & Technology He also received a .5 credit for being part of ASB (Student Council as class president), and he lettered in Varsity Soccer & Varsity Tennis, he was also part of Leo Club (a volunteer club for high schoolers) Sophomore Year: Geometry English 2 Chemistry w/lab Film Spanish II World Civilizations Drivers Ed (.5 credit) Health (.5 credit) He also received a .5 credit for being part of ASB (Student Council as class president & activities commissioner), and he lettered in Varsity Soccer, Varsity Tennis, &Varsity Cheer (as mascot), and held an office in the Leo Club Junior Year: Algebra II (only .5 credit, dropped at semester, barely got a C- for a final grade) Digital Media (.5 credit) AP English Language & Composition AP US History Art Farm to Table (Foods) Drama He also received a .5 credit for being part of ASB (Student Council as class vice-president, and school vice-president), and he lettered in Varsity Cheer (as mascot) So total he has: · 2.5 credits math · 3 credits English · 2 credits science · 2 credits history · 2 credits Spanish · 10 credits of electives To graduate from the public school he needs another .5 credit of math, 1 credit of English, 1 credit of history (which during senior year at this school is .5 credit of civics and .5 credit economics), 1 credit of financial management (3.5 credits total). If he had not lettered in 4 sports, he would have had to take another PE credit, but it is waived. Keeping in mind that DS is barely scraping a C in his APUSH course, will probably have a B- in AP English when he finishes, and more than likely will NOT be passing the AP tests, I do not want him to do any more AP courses, but I’m not against him doing some sort of dual enrollment. He is a horrible tester, and if we had been thinking clearly when he signed up for his Junior year, we would not have had him take AP courses. (But we were distracted with fighting cancer and all that.) Even with the Cs he is ranked 4th in his class! UGH! I really wish we would have homeschooled him for his entire high school experience. So, if you’ve gotten this far, I’d love to hear your advice for what he needs at a minimum to be accepted into a college for his senior year. MATH: I’m thinking he should re-do Algebra II, but he’d prefer a different math class if possible. I just don’t think that is possible to be college bound. HISTORY: I’m really not sure here, I guess we can do a civics/economics course. Is this common? Or should I figure out something that both my DS and DD can do together? SCIENCE: I know he doesn’t technically need a science to graduate, but is there a non-lab, not-too-intense, science option that will work for a credit for high school? ENGLISH: I’m probably either going to do either: (1) some sort of literature & composition course, (2) take a English 101 course through our local community college, or (3) take English 101 through study.com and if he qualifies, he can use it for transfer credit to some colleges. Do I have to have him take a financial management course? He actually runs his own ice cream shop that he opened up in January and has plenty of hands on experience with managing finances for a business. He has told me that if he goes to college, he’d probably major in something that is business or art related. Thanks ahead of time for any and all advice. 🙂
  10. I'm putting my 8th grader in WWS1 after bringing him back home this year from 3 years of brick & mortar schools. He is not a strong writer and I'm going to just start at the beginning. He did WWE 1-4 when he was at home through 4th grade. I'm not worried -- by the time he is finished with WWS3, he'll have a very strong base for going to college. BTW -- I believe I read a post by SWB somewhere that she had her son doing WWS1 in 9th grade. :)
  11. My 7 year old dd, who really is a girlie girl, has a very interesting wish list this year: A detective coat An old fashioned type writer (like Kit Kitridge) A sewing machine A slingshot A bow and arrow And....a horse! LOL She'll probably get the coat and slingshot. :)
  12. We always pair ours with this cornbread. You can leave out the honey if you don't have any.
  13. Happy reformation day!! One f my favorite hymns is the last one you linked.
  14. I make beer bread to go along with mine. 3 C flour (really good with half wheat/half white) 4 t. Baking powder 1/3 C brown or white sugar 1 bottle of beer (best with a pale beer) 1/4 C. Melted butter Mix first 4 ingredients, pour into greased loaf pan. Pour melted butter on top. Bake at 375 for 50 to 55 minutes, until loaf is golden colored.
  15. Ds is going to be Hulk .... Pretty simple, some green paint, black hair spray, and some 3 in foam cut into the shape of muscles under a tight green shirt.
  16. I would personally jump into FLL2 in the scenario you describe, but I would do a lesson or two everyday and get through it quickly. FLL3 would be much easier if your children had a bit of a foundation first, like knowing the definitions of the parts of speech, the basics of capitalization and punctuation, etc... I would skip The memory work in 2 and start it in 3 if it is a part of the program you want to incorporate. We've used FLL 1-3 and are using 4. FLL3 is a bit of a jump in skill compared to 1&2, diagraming sentences is introduced and if you don't quite know the inference between a noun and a verb, it might be a really steep learning curve.
  17. Go to church Go home Watch football I spent all day yesterday cleaning so I could watch football all day today. :D
  18. I play to win. It will make winning that much more special when they earn it.
  19. Well, I don't know why the OP wants a substitute, but I make my own because canned cream of whatever is disgusting! :tongue_smilie:
  20. Maybe you can go to a friend's house to watch the games. ;) The cheapest place to get a Live subscription is to purchase a 12 month card from amazon. This works out to just over $4 a month. Or sometimes Xbox will run a promotion for a 12 month subscription for even cheaper. Netflix instant is $8 a month, so it should run you just a few cents over $12 a month.
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