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MtnTeaching

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  1. I am not sure if I should post this here or on the College Board, but here it goes. My Ds will be taking College Algebra his first semester of college in the fall. He is panicking a bit because the only math he has had this year was physics and a fall semester of statistics. He is definitely a Liberal Arts guy who will be majoring in International Business with a minor in French. He finished (albeit not very strongly) TT Pre-calc last year. He needs a good summer review of math that will take him confidently into College Algebra in the fall. Does anyone have any good suggestions? Thank you!
  2. We have been blessed that our local schools, both private and public, have been very welcoming to homeschoolers. My Dd played volleyball and basketball for three years for a secular private middle school near us. She was the very first homeschooler they had ever had and they included her in everything. She won awards on award day and they invited her to every school dance. We were very generous in our donations to the school (still much less that a club team cost), but that was definitely not a requirement for her admittance to the team. She was playing before we paid anything other than her uniform cost. Then, she went on to play for the summer for our local public high school. The coach loved her and had her playing on his junior year team as an incoming freshman. Unfortunately, Dd was just coming back from a broken ankle and between the school practices and games, physical therapy, and back-to-back volleyball camps at our flagship state university, she burned out. We took the public school fall season off and played club ball in winter. The coach was bummed. We also have dedicated homeschool teams in multiple sports in Denver who play against private schools. They are very, very good. As a taxpayer, I feel that it is our right to participate in the sports in our district schools. Just because we opt not to join them for the academics should not exclude us from the athletics. We have always paid for any costs the team might incur from including our athlete and I have always donated a tremendous amount of time as a parent. Including being team mom. That type of blatant discrimination toward a child by school officials shows an awful lot about their character, not to mention, their intelligence.
  3. My problem with my guy is that he LOVES to read outside of school. Sometimes it is hard to get him focused on the school reading! He's the kid that volunteers each week at the library, tutors for the library, and is a board member of the fund-raising non-profit organization for the library. He comes home every week with a full cloth bag of books to read. His dad always wanted to read Atlas Shrugged, so he made a deal with Ds that they would read it together and discuss it. Then our next door neighbor gave Ds a copy of Fountainhead. Her husband had died recently and it was his book. Ds felt he really wanted to read it so that he could discuss it with her. He told me it was a bit racy, but he liked the book. I was thinking the same thing about Ds regarding the college literature class. His adviser told him that with his ACT scores and AP classes, he would definitely not have to take any 100 level classes, and possibly not even any 200 level classes for an International Business Degree. He is very bummed. I told him he could take one as an elective :D
  4. Love this list of the 100 best novels from the Modern Library (Random House) . Ds loved Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead (although he said this one was a bit more "promiscuous" was the word he used). He said that if your ds likes scifi, that Dune was good - but he found to to be pretty hard core. He also liked Till We Have Faces. He characterized it as a "strong fantasy".
  5. Ds had Maya Inspektor for AP English Language two years ago and AP English Lit this past year. She did assign summer reading for both classes. For English Language, he had to read Strunk and White's Elements of Style and take copious notes which were turned in the first week of class. He said this book was REALLY interesting. (He loves English). Mrs. Inspektor was an incredible teacher. For AP English Lit, he had to read How to Read Literature Like a Professor and once again take notes to be turned in. He said this book was interesting, as well. He had a summer reading list of books he could choose from in AP Human Geography, and I just cannot remember if he had anything he had to read in AP Comparative Government.
  6. 123-45-6789 sounds like a good number to me. When I was in college, my SS# was my school id number. I would be hesitant to use that today. I always skip anything that asks for my SS# on forms (except for when absolutely needed like financial papers.) I even refused to give it the Census person who tried to force the issue. One thing we did when requesting information and filling out the Common App and other applications for college, my Dh put together an email address for my Ds that was solely used for that purpose (namecollegeapp@___.---). That way, if he is getting totally scammed years after he is in school, he can get rid of the address and have no problem doing so.
  7. My Ds was a very traditional student. He did not veer much from the traditional classes. My Dd is a bit more of the creative type. Not sure if they are considered "out of the box", but Dd has taken a semester each of Photoshop and Illustrator. This year, she will be taking Advanced Photoshop and Graphic Design. She will be done with her three "required" sciences in two years for her senior year and has requested to take "Crime Scene Investigation" as her science elective. For her history elective, she wants to take a semester of British History (if I can figure out how to put this class together). She is absolutely enthralled with Britain. She takes American Sign Language as her foreign Language. She takes Musical Theater each year (she was just Golde in the classes' production of Fiddler on the Roof). Next year, along with the Theater classes, her public school enrichment school is offering a separate Technical Theater class where She will learn how to handle all of the background things that go into theater like sound, mics, lighting, staging, directing, music, etc. She will be taking a year to write a novel, as well as, continuing her regular English class. We will be doing a year long Homesteading class together.
  8. So far, I have not seen this one. But, I will definitely let you know if I do. Strange.
  9. 5 in 7 years! I just had no idea how crazy the graduation season was. I will definitely do a better job of planning well in advance for my next one. The RV trip sounds like fun. Travel is the BEST education!
  10. That is huge!! Ds never did find a good French Tutor here. He took 5 years of French, but he really could have benefited from one-to-one discussions. He is heading to college in the fall, majoring in International Business and minoring in French. He is not registered for a French class his first semester. He definitely needs to stay up on the language. Hopefully, they will have a French club or some sort of discussions he can attend.
  11. We were just talking about this over on the college board. It has taken me a full week to feel as if I have finally caught up on my sleep after graduation. The week of the 18th was absolutely crazy with both teens in a Fiddler on the Roof production (I was head of props), 10 family members visiting for the week, cast party, school performances, formal graduation with speeches, presentation board, luncheon, threw a party/BBQ for 65 people, took kids to Comic Con, attended other graduation parties, etc. Only two years until my next graduate. Now, I have to start planning next year for her. Due to an illness that was similar to mono, Dd is behind in a few courses as she heads into junior year. I need to plan carefully since she is still easily exhausted and plagued by headaches. Unfortunately, I have absolutely NO initiative to start the planning right now. My desk is just a room full of piles of graduation info, college info, and unopened bills. I guess I do need to get to work after all. :huh:
  12. I bought my textbook used, as well. I got the syllabus and the teacher's guide with the answers from Oak Meadow. Both of my kids used this book and really liked it. I supplemented with a lot of videos from Discovery Education and they watched the high school history course from The Great Courses. We also did an art history study along with it and a study of the major religions of the world. (Too much supplementation really... but I like World History :001_smile: ).
  13. It is bittersweet. My Ds also just graduated and is heading off in the fall. I do still have Dd, who I will have for two more years. But, I am full of pride, and full of sorrow that our high school years are over with Ds.
  14. My Ds just graduated high school last week. Senior year was tough... and we have been homeschooling for 9 years. Running the gauntlet of college admissions alone takes a HUGE amount of time. I spent hours and hours researching to make sure I was not missing anything as his sole adviser. Not to mention the time it took to get together the information required by the Common Application as a homeschooler. You will also be homeschooling two of your younger ones with a preschooler and a toddler? And having a baby? And starting a homestead off the grid from scratch? I hate to say it, but I feel a bit panicky for you. I also feel for you all and how much you will miss her if she is not there with you. There is something appealing about having another person who might also be a helping hand. But, knowing what I know now about how hard senior year can be, personally, I would be hesitant to pull her out. I wish you the best of luck with all of this.
  15. Your week sounded crazy like mine. Your Pinterest board is a blast. That dessert table (especially those little cheesecakes) looks Yummy!
  16. Right there with you! Is your graduate heading to college? Right now, I am sitting in front of piles of files and the school website to try and figure out all of the things I have to do to get Ds ready for the fall.
  17. I agree with this. My Ds learns best by using the book. He despised the time it took to watch the cds. My dyslexic Dd absolutely loves the CDs. This is the best way for her to learn. She takes the class through a public school homeschool enrichment class with a wonderful teacher who is from India. Dd meets in class one day a week, then works on about 4 to 5 other lessons during the week. The video lectures are her lifeline, but she is required by the teacher to show all of her work on paper and turn it into her each week. If you do the CDs exclusively, I would definitely require that all work be handwritten in an organized, thorough fashion.
  18. Ds took three years of French with TPS. He liked the teacher and the classes. They were good classes and he has decided to minor in French in college. Unfortunately, he has not taken any science with TPS. Personally, I found the administration with TPS to be a bit hard to work with, but overall, it was a good experience. Ds took Physics with Landry Academy this past year. The course was tough for him and he got the only "C" he made in his high school career. Even so, he said he felt he learned a lot and that the teacher was very nice. He did say that he felt the teacher did not do a good job explaining the concepts as well as Ds needed. He had to go to several other sources and we even hired a tutor. His biggest problem were the labs and there were a lot of them. Ds was assigned two lab partners. One was a hard worker and good partner. The other was a flake and arrogant. He would not do his part, handed in their entire lab in incorrect formats, and decided on the last day of the last lab, that he did not have to do it. He "had a solid "B" in the class" and did not feel it was necessary to report any findings or do his portion of the write-up of the lab. It definitely affected the other two student's grades. Things like that happen in real life and it was a learning experience before heading off to college. Ds knows now that if he is in this situation in college, it will be his job to post the slacker student up.
  19. This was my schedule last week: Saturday - Yard work and finishing landscaping work that had been pushed back because of constant rain Sunday- Finished picture hunting for 3-minute slide show my dh was putting together Monday- Frantic house cleaning for guests showing up on Tuesday, blowing up and making beds, and last minute pressing of costumes for Fiddler on the Roof play. Tuesday- 5 hour dress rehearsal at Theater (Dd was Golde and Ds was Lazar Wolf and I was head of props). Guests began arriving at my house (10 guests in all), FIL brings over his bus RV for some family members to stay in, as well. Wednesday - The two plays, dealing with props, and trying to juggle the tickets for the 35 family members and friends that came to the play Thursday - Wrote my graduation speech in the a.m. and put together the presentation board by noon with help from SIL and Dd. Cast party in afternoon. Pressing graduation gown and gathering awards for presentation table Friday- School performances in a.m. and graduation ceremony at 11:00am. 3 minute slide show, Ds spoke, I spoke, handed over diploma, 5 other graduates, a guest speaker, turning the tassels, time with a photographer, luncheon for family members. Big family dinner. Saturday- Threw a graduation party for 65 people Sunday- Guests took off for the airport and driving home. Took kids to Comic Con an hours drive away and dropped them off, returned home to attend another graduation party for a friend, drove back to pick up kids. Monday- Passed out :svengo: , then started cleaning up after party. I am still cleaning a week later. Only two years until my next graduate. I do not know if I will have recovered by them. :D
  20. I do a hodge podge with my kids and call it an English credit, as well. (My ds did take AP English classes for 11th & 12th, but I am not sure that dd will be doing that). This past year (for 10th), my dd did the following for English: Semester 1- Lukeion Witty Wordsmith online class (an intensive Greek and Latin root word class) - Vocabulary Semester 2- Lukeion Barbarian Diagrammarian online class (intensive diagramming grammar class)- Grammar 3 Brave Writer classes- Passion for Fiction, Kidswrite Intermediate, Expository Essay Classes - Writing (she was also doing a lot of essay writing for a year long SAT/ACT class through a public school enrichment class.) Spelling with me (the dyslexia requires lots of spelling practice) Center for Lit- Literature discussions online (they read 9 books and met after each one for a 2-hour Socratic discussion) I have been told that this could definitely be broken up into more credits, but trying to explain it on a transcript is difficult. My dyslexic dd did just fine with this amount of Language Arts and she needed it.
  21. I am doing something simple for my dd. I am using the Oak Meadow book with the LabPac Biology labs. I am also doing some virtual labs here and there, and will do some labs out of the text that are easier and interesting. I have the Thames and Kosmos kit for Genetics. I will also throw in videos from Discovery Education to break it up for her a bit. I went much more elaborate for Ds' biology, but feel this will be adequate for dd. We were supposed to do it this year, but got side tracked with anatomy and wound up making a whole semester course out of it.
  22. This was what I was wondering about. I am assuming that the school has to have some kind of recommendations for living arrangements for their students. Some kind of social board where they can find roommates. I would be surprised if they did not. A carpool would also be a very good idea. At least for a year or two, your student could save some money, get used to the routine of the school, and most importantly, learn the area and meet people that she could room with. A student can mature a LOT in a year or two.
  23. I agree with this 100%. Kidswrite Intermediate is definitely a prequel to EE. It does help to have KWI first, but if you do not have the time and really want the Essay class, you could do that. Brave Writer has a philosophy that we really like. It helped both of my children to go beyond the rote way of just blecking info onto a page (think IEW). The KWI class really delves into the thought process that happens before you start writing and as you are writing. The Exp. Essay class takes that thought process and shows how to use it when you write an essay. Both classes are valuable.
  24. My ds really loved the Hakim books. It was right up my boy's alley. He tends to devour books and found them fascinating. My dyslexic dd detested them. We wound up not using them for her, except as a supplement here and there.
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