We are in the process of buying a bass. We are purchasing a 3/4. I thought we would wait longer, but Luke's teacher is pretty adamant that he needs a major jump in quality from what is available as a rental. We are told that the one we are looking at should work well for him through high school, but if he pursues bass studies after high school, he will probably need another jump in quality. $$$$$ The string shop that we rent from takes instruments as trades on new instruments. They are assessed by a luthier, and I would have no issue purchasing a used instrument that they and Luke's teacher recommend, because I have developed a great deal of trust for this business over the last few years. I know we are in Dallas, but you might contact them to see what they have available in cellos. The business is Dallas Strings located in Allen, TX. Ron Gilbert is the owner and I trust him completely. He is overly generous with the orchestra community around here. Good luck! It's a stressful purchase to make!

Like it or not, apparently it works.

This, plus I would add that I pay several thousand dollars per year to help them out with that task. :001_smile:

I was just looking at that. I'm wondering if, since it is a formal course as opposed to me teaching, the school would give him credit for algebra based on the instructor's evaluation. Then he could spend the entire summer on it instead of having to test in July. They want him to test in July so they can get the scores back in time. I think that would be an excellent option if they will work with us on it.

:001_smile:

His dad and I sat down with him tonight and went over all the options, and he is very excited to try to accelerate. We went through Dolciani together and he got even more excited, because he feels confident that he will be able to master it. So, we are going to go forward as if he is going to take the test and go into Geometry back at his school this fall. If we have to slow down, we will and then he will have to decide if he wants to stay home to achieve this. Tomorrow I am going to talk to his counselor and math teacher about letting him use his math time at school to work on the algebra I give him rather than prealgebra. And then we will start busting out the algebra this weekend!

I'll try to make a long story short. Luke is in 7th grade in PS. He is a stellar math student but fell thru the cracks and didn't get pulled for 7th grade algebra for this year. He has been bored in what was his favorite subject. About a month ago he asked to homeschool, with the main goal of completing algebra and geometry prior to his 9th grade year,and I agreed. Today I got a call from the counselor at his school and in reviewing their records they believe he fell through the cracks and should have been in algebra this year (duh, I told her that in September). They want to accelerate him by having him test out of algebra in late July, then go into Geometry in the fall. She said the district's math specialist looked over his records and feels confident that he can do it. She did say it would be wise to continue to review algebra throughout the year, since he would be goimng through it so quickly to prep for the exam. I concur. She recommended Aleks to prep. I said I would probably prefer to tutor him myself with Dolciani as I had planned, and she didn't really seem to think it mattered to the school district as long as he makes a 90% on the exam. He would like to stay in school rather than homeschool if he could be challenged. He has done well, has lots of friends , is in NJHS and orchestra. But in the end he loves math and wants to pursue amath-oriented career, and if he can't ge the math challenge he needs in school he wants to come home. Would you consider acceleration for CBE in July? Is that too fast?

Here are some good ones from Texas: When two trains meet each other at a railroad crossing, each shall come to a full stop, and neither shall proceed until the other has gone. It is illegal to take more than three sips of beer at a time while standing. The entire Encyclopedia Britannica is banned in Texas because it contains a formula for making beer at home. In Clarendon It is illegal to dust any public building with a feather duster. In Dallas It’s illegal to possess realistic d**dos. :001_huh: In Galveston One needs permission from the director of parks and recreation before getting drunk in any city park. In Houston It is illegal to sell Limburger cheese on Sunday!!! In Port Arthur Obnoxious odors may not be emitted while in an elevator. And in Temple, my hometown, Cattle thieves may be hanged on the spot. I am imagining going on a really whacked out crime spree. :)

Please update us on the events of the day. I hope your daughter and friends have a great time. :D

This is very troubling for those of us who use one click. :glare:

I think the ten hours is for both history and great books. I'm guessing for Luke the history reading/summary writing will take 3-4 hours , and the great books portion will occupy the remainder of the time.

I'm not going to say whether Hosseini's books are appropriate or not - I think you should read to decide for your own kids. They are definitely emotionally difficult. That said, if you do decide to go with one, his foundation offers lesson plans. http://www.sos4tkhf.com/ The foundation focuses on building shelter in Afghanistan. You can use the lesson plans without participating in the charity, but who knows, it could inspire a service project.

We are planning to use History of tbe Ancient World in the fall. DS will read 3 chapters per week and complete the recs in rhetoric stage TWTM, creating a page for each chapter with key dates, people and events. I'll have him write an essay on a topic in further depth once per week or so. I don't think it needs to be more complicated than that. I hope it doesn't. :001_smile: We will also be doing great books from the time period according to TWTM.

For math we keep moving forward, but I also require 15-30 minutes of math per day during the summer so we don't regress in that area. For the other subjects we are done when the book is done. :)

Congratulations! I will be watching your school over the next few years.

Thanks for the feedback. There is one private school that we would consider, but they probably wouldn't be to keen on a mid-high school entry based on what I know about their program. The other private schools in the area don't impress me much and they cost a lot, and we wouldn't be able to sign their statement of faith in good conscience. At this point, Luke just has to decide what it is he really wants. I'm okay with either option, so he has to be able to look down the road and see the big picture. That's a lot to ask of a 13 year old!

Thank you, Jann. I just got off the phone with the counselor and she basically said in math, for example, if he went to school as a sophomore, they would place him in Algebra 1 where he would have to sit until he could test for proficiency in Algebra 1 and Geometry. Then they would put him in Algebra 2 after testing. But that would be mid year, therefore he would be behind. Idiotic. I'm not too concerned. I just wanted to be able to let Luke know that this is the scenario and he really should be prepared to homeschool for the duration at this point. I will look into what Texas Tech offers and see how that would line up with what we are planning to do. I really appreciate the information.

My upcoming 8th grade son wants to come back home to homeschool high school. I have a call in to our high school's counselor, but I wondered if you all have any experience transferring to public high school midstream. How do they evaluate homeschool work for credit? I am emphasizing to my son that if he does come home at this point, it really needs to be with the intention to complete high school at home. Nevertheless, I want to approach our work in a way that would allow him to transfer into high school should that become a necessity. I want to keep all the doors open for as long as possible. The breeze is nice. :)

I think you should discuss this with your parents and other trusted adults who know you well. It is good to have a plan, but also very difficult to know exactly what you want from life at 17. Explain to the people in your life who love younmost what you are thinking, and listen to their feedback. Good luck to you!

I heard about MO. Those are not IB schools but, yes, it is another item in a list of issues. We are foregoing homeschooling for this, so IMO we are foregoing a great option. But we could easily go back to homeschooling in a year. This is a new school. So there are no teachers to evaluate or parents of current students to quiz. Being new, there were 100 spots in each grade for the lottery. If the school does a good job in the upcoming school year, I would guess that there will be very few lottery spots available in future years. There are pretty long waiting lists right now as it is.

My two girls were picked from a lottery to attend a new charter in our town for the 2012-13 school year. It is an International Baccalaureate School, seeking certification from IB in all three programs, PYP, MYP, and IB Diploma. I like the idea of charters and of IB schools. Imagine however has a less than stellar reputation. I'm wavering only because of the fact that Imagine holds the charter. The local board is excellent, and IB would add in another level of scrutiny. But the fact is that Imagine has had their business practices called into question and they have lost some charters, most recently in Missouri just this week. I know some other charter schools have severed ties with Imagine and are operating independently of them now. How much weight would you put on the charter operator vs. the program and board?

My DS is coming home for 8th, but I don't know what he will do for high school. He has requested studying myths, Greece and Rome. So we are going to study Greece and Rome along with Mythology(Greek, Roman, Norse, etc), The Iliad, The Odyssey, the Aeneid, and whatever else we can fit in from the Great literature of the time. I feel like this will give him a strong basis for future literature studies should he return to ps for high school, since so many references to this time and these works recur throughout literature and in pop culture. We aren't using a program, just following SWBs Great Books recs for 9 th grade. We probably won't get the minimum of 8 works in, but that's okay for 8th, I think. If he stays home for high school, we'll continue right in to medieval for 9th grade. For science we are going to use CK12 Biology. Have you looked at their stuff? They have a handful of middle school texts and are absolutely free.

I'm not supportive of her educational method. I'm not not supportive of it. I wasn't there. I just think it is not the end of the world, and arithmetic is just not that hard for a bright 7th grader to learn. You are right, a tutor would be fantastic. But if it's not an option, they can still manage.

Sounds like a bright kid who hasn't learned arithmetic. If he really is a bright as you say, he can probably catch up quickly if he goes systematically through something like Lial's BCM or Khan videos. It doesn't sound like a terrible disaster to me.

Perfect. Thank you!