Mama Lynx, My daughter has entered as an individual both years. The first year she did a performance about a local Civil War woman and this year she did a website on Fanny Kemble, a pre-Civil War author, actress, and abolitionist. It takes quite a bit of work to go all the way to nationals, but it is such an amazing, rewarding experience to be in Washington DC with 2,000 students from all over the country all excited about history. The kids were all so friendly and supportive of each other. It was a very kind environment. And there were a lot of homeschoolers there! What I've loved so much about it is that she's learned so much in the process - major researching skills that she would have never acquired even doing a regular research paper, writing skills (editing and re-editing at each level, trying to get it perfect), and all the information she's gleaned as a result of all the research. Plus, the specific skills related to writing a 10 minute monologue or doing the website. You can check out all the websites from nationals at http://www.nationalhistoryday.org/website/webs.htm to get a better idea of what is involved. Let me know if you have any other questions. I can't say enough good stuff about National History Day. Sharon

Seconding National History Day. We've participated in it for the past two years and this year my daughter and a group of homeschoolers that I taught at a tutorial made it to nationals. It's a wonderful program with a lot of options. They can do exhibits, papers, documentaries, websites, or dramatic presentations. The rules are very clear and it forces the students to research and use primary sources. The theme for next year is Innovation in History. It's my daughter's favorite school activity and she spent the entire drive back from nationals planning her project for next year.

Here's what we're doing. My daughter sounds a lot like yours, excelling in languages and struggling in math. She'll finish Algebra II in 11th grade, then in senior year she'll do AP Statistics with PA Homeschoolers. It will provide the needed math credit, but I've been told that it's a good choice for nonmathy students. I'm sure it will still be hard, but not as hard as College Algebra. Sharon

We have used Homelife for the past 3 years and have been very pleased. They are organized and are completely online so it makes them easy to work with. Whenever we've had questions, they've been quick to respond, and when my daughter needed an attendance form to get her drivers license, they got it out right away. I have friends who have used other umbrella schools and have heard complaints about all the others, but I've never heard anyone complain about Homelife. I especially like how willing they are to work with families, especially with high schoolers, to tailor your studies to your individual students. Let me know if you have any specific questions. Sharon

My daughter did Latin 2 and French 1 this year and had no troubles with confusing them. Having a Latin background helps with learning other romance languages. Sharon

Rose, I have a daughter who is destined to be an entrepreneur. Our high school plans include economics, government (we're doing a semester of American government followed by a semester of comparative government), personal finance, history, grammar, and composition. These are pretty much subjects that everyone covers, but I feel are especially important for business owners. Sharon

OhM, How did your daughter do at state? Sharon

Kate, This is our second year competing. Last year my daughter competed in individual performance and enjoyed it all right, but her topic was a local woman that she didn't really get into. This year she found a more interesting topic and she has been so fascinated by it that she has done just tons of research. She's also excited that she was able to do a website since she's very techy and that's what she wants to do as a career. History Day is a lot of work, but it's an excellent experience for the students. It has overwhelmingly been the favorite assignment of the year for my drama students, which is pretty amazing considering how much harder it is than anything else they do. The key is just picking a topic that truly interests them and then guiding them along. There are benefits both of individual projects as well as group. Individual requires a lot more work, but they also have a lot more control. With groups, it divides the amount of work per student, but it can also involve conflicts between group members. If you're interested, I would suggest you observe one year, and let your student get motivated to see how much fun it is. Washington History Day is this Saturday if you're convenient to Green River Community College. It looks like Washington has a top notch state program. Did you notice last year a homeschool student from Washington won the big scholarship? Let me know if you have any specific questions about history day. Sharon

My daughter is competing in senior website. This has been her dream since last fall, and so our whole family is looking forward to the experience of going to Washington DC and competing there.:) I also teach drama at a tutorial and have all my students participate in National History Day. This year one of my middle school groups and a high school individual also made it in the performance category. So they're all excited as well. It's going to be such a great experience for them getting to meet students from all over the country. Sharon

Anne, You don't know me since I'm usually a lurker rather than a poster, but I just wanted to thank you for a message you posted last year. Someone was asking about writing opportunities and you gave a list of suggestions. One of those was the Written and Illustrated By contest. My daughter entered it, and we just found out today that she was selected as one of the top 10 finalists out of 3,000 entries in her age division. Needless to say, we're very excited and she's planning to try again this year. Thanks so much for telling us about this contest! Sharon

I teach drama at a homeschool tutorial and I've had several students do the monologue from You're a Good Man Charlie Brown where Charlie Brown is eating lunch and watching the little red-haired girl. I'm pretty sure it's available free online. Sharon

Set II answers are in the back of the student text. We just do sets I and III so that I can use the teacher's manual to grade. If she needs more practice, we do set II. Sharon

We used to live in Florida near where Crossroads was based, and I have no personal experience with them, but I do remember people having problems with them. I can't remember the problems, and I did have one friend who graduated a son with them and was pleased. So I would just say proceed with caution. We're with Homelife Academy and are very pleased with them. It's $70 a year for non Tennessee residents and an additional $50 for seniors. I love the way they're set up and know a lot of people using them. I have never heard a complaint. I like the way they offer a portfolio option to keep up with extra curriculars. They also offer a lot of helpful advice and even podcasts on their website. It's http://www.homelifeacademy.com. Hope this helps. Sharon

You can try putting dryer sheets in between some of the pages. Sharon

We just finished watching the first lecture in the course. It was the one about the Vikings and early inhabitants which isn't my favorite topic, but he did a great job. He was dressed as a Viking and presented just a ton of information presented in storytelling fashion. We're looking forward to the other lessons. Sharon

I ran across this syllabus site and have spent half the day browsing syllabi from high schools all over. I've found it interesting to see what they cover, what they consider honors, etc. http://chnm.gmu.edu/tools/syllabi/ Sharon

Writer's Digest puts out several songwriting books. They're written for aspiring writers, but would easily work for students. Sharon