If I knew then what I know now, I certainly would not have curriculum-hopped in math so much either. But, a lot of that was trying to see what worked best for my completely different learning-style children. I also just graduated my Ds this past Friday. For the most part, I think it went well for him. I do wish I had not been so panicky in the last couple of years of high school and pushed so hard. Yes, he has done extremely well and is heading to the college of his choice on a full tuition scholarship. But, I just wish we had all taken the time to ENJOY it more. My dd will be a junior next year. She will have a harder time with the courses and standardized tests due to dyslexia. Still, I am going to try and focus more on the things she is interested in and try not to be such a taskmaster.

Ds graduated on Friday with five other students at a beautiful ceremony put on by his public school homeschool enrichment program and then we had a big BBQ on Saturday for about 65 people. Unfortunately, he still has two more weeks in an online US History class before he is "officially" done. I am waiting on that to finalize the transcript. His college is holding his registration until we get that transcript in.

This response is for the Joy Hakim books. They are definitely more of a "history of science" set of books. Very readable. We did use them during the middle school years, but the information is relevant for any age.

Yes, I am still stunned, as well. It sorta sneaked up on me, to tell you the truth. We have been working so hard with this goal in mind. Now that it is finally here, I cannot believe it.

I rented apartments for several years when I graduated, usually with roommates. Finally, I purchased my own house with some money my parents had left me. My dh did that for awhile, but then he ran into an interesting situation. He had a friend at work that was a recent widow. She needed to invest some of her money, so she went in with him and purchased the lions share of a home. Dh found three roommates and they shared the house, paying her "rent" and he added more each month toward buying the home. When we married, I sold my house and we paid his off. It was a very unique situation, but one that worked out for everyone.

We just had a party on Saturday for 65 people. I had it catered with BBQ, potato salad, beans and made green salad. Then we had a cake and ice cream bar. The rain held off for the kids long enough for them to play a huge volleyball game and some basketball. I moved all the furniture out of my living room and put in rows of tables. The adults hung out around the tables. When it started raining, the kids headed to the basement for ping pong and board games. We did not have to speak at the party. Ds had a beautiful graduation ceremony on Friday at his public school homeschool enrichment program. The six graduates each had a slide show, the graduate spoke, the parents spoke and handed over the diploma. There was a guest speaker, then there was the transferring of the tassels. Each family had time with a photographer and then there was a very nice luncheon for the families. The graduates had made presentation boards and laid out awards, etc. The school had signing frames for a 5 x 7 picture of the graduate and all of their friends signed the frame. It was a wonderful weekend and one that will always be remembered.

Wow!!! Awesome!

My ds used it as a supplement in his middle school years. He read it through chronologically (a book a year), more as a "science history" supplement. He loved reading, though. I thought they were excellent books.

I am having her tested again, hopefully this summer if we can get her in. From what I understand, she needs to be tested within three years of graduation. Added time would be huge for her.

My ds just graduated high school this past Friday. It has been a wild ride, but I am so very glad we did it. He seems very glad he did it, as well. He has been thanking me all week :001_smile: He is heading off to college in the fall and I feel he is as prepared as he could be. We did a mix of classes with me, online classes including AP, and a one-day-a-week public school homeschool enrichment program that included musical theater and phenomenal kids and teachers. It has been the best of all worlds. Now, I get to focus on my dd, who will be a junior next year. As I mentioned in my speech at his graduation ceremony, "as a homeschooler, it is our JOB to prepare these kids to go out into the world, not just academically". It is a great responsibility to have your child heading toward young adulthood and to be holding their education in your hands. It has also been one of the most fulfilling things I have ever done. We have absolutely no regrets.

I am right there with you regarding the standardized testing. Ds went into his first test and did not even make proficient in math and the science was low. His following two tests were MUCH better. For him, he needed the actual practice in the environment. Due to his test scores, he received a full tuition scholarship at the college he is attending and other excellent offers. He also skipped right over all of his lower level courses when registering for fall. His AP test scores meant absolutely nothing. I was stunned. I am so glad he took the courses, but I could have saved him the agony of prepping and taking the AP tests since it really did not mean anything. Unfortunately, doing well on the ACT/SAT is needed. Now, I am extremely concerned about my dd. She is dyslexic and VERY slow when reading. The ACT/SAT is going to be very, very hard for her. She really wants to go to college, though. She will be a junior this year, so she will need to take the tests. Standardized tests are evil for kids like her.

My state's flagship university is a 10 minute drive away. My ds has decided to go to a college in our state, but at least a 6.5 hour difficult winter drive away. Uggg.

It sounds like you have some good ideas. My ds had low math and science on the first test he took, but I had told him to go into it as if he was taking a practice test. I wanted him to get used to the large public high school testing arena. He got the feel of the timing and the questions. He took it two more times and raised both of those scores quite a bit. His English was already pretty high and they stayed pretty static. He used the Chalk Dust prep class for math and said it really helped. Just going into the test a second time and knowing what the science was like helped him. I got him a couple of different prep books and he worked on them a little each day, then he also took the Brave Writer SAT/ACT essay class online. All of these helped him. He took his AP English Lit course as a senior, but had taken the ACT as a junior. I wish he could take it again now after a year of the AP course. It was so good!

We used it during middle school for my dd. We both liked it. I do not have experience with the high school levels though. I am not sure how "meaty" they are. I would love to "see" one.

Yes, it is a bummer. I thought it was just me. I was battling a bug for awhile and was off of the forum for a couple of months. Too bad, because that was a very nice feature.

Just wondering if anyone else is having trouble with being notified when your comments are quoted by someone else. I used to have no trouble with this, but now I get no notification. I have marked everything in my preferences and even sent a message to the moderator, but did not get a reply.

We just watched it and discussed it during our lunch time each day. I am curious if anyone has used it in a co-op setting before. Personally, I think it needed more "meat" to it. I had my kids work extra on taking notes and also used the book What Smart Students Know: Maximum Grades, Optimum Learning, Minimum Time to give it a bit more depth.

I know it is still early for him, but does he have some colleges in mind that he might like to play for or apply to? You might want to look at the admission requirements of a few of them online to get a feel for what they ask for. Several of ds' choices required that at least two of the sciences were lab sciences. That might help with some of the decision making.

Oooh. I have not looked at them lately. They have a Lightning Lit Shakespeare? Cool!

I am not really sure, unless they did not use the Common App to apply to their schools. Of the eight schools ds applied to, three did not take the common app. Ds just applied directly to those schools. One of those required course descriptions, the other two did not. One of the eight schools ONLY took the Common App. There was no way to apply directly to it.. The Common App definitely asked for course descriptions this year, if you were a homeschooler. It was interesting for Ds to look at what the schools required (especially essay-wise) if he were to apply directly to them, versus using the Common App route. He asked me why he should even do the Common App since it required an essay, and then the individual schools would require their own essay or essays. He felt it was more work. (I certainly felt it was a lot of work. The Common App asks for a LOT from the homeschooling parent.) If any of you have a junior heading to senior this next year, I HIGHLY suggest having that student start on the essays over the summer and you start working on your Common App, as well. Did I say "it is a lot of work?"

TT has been a life-saver for my dd. She is dyslexic and the way TT is presented fits her learning style perfectly. We have a very unique situation. Dd attends a full-day of public school enrichment classes one day a week. She takes her TT (Geometry this year) from a teacher who is awesome. The teacher lectures that day, then assigns the homework for the rest of the week that I supervise at home. She has worked on proofs every week with the kids. It has been such a good fit for dd.

Wow, I never thought about giving credit for piano lessons, practice, and recitals/festivals. I know that the public school kids do not get credit unless they take the courses through the school. Dd already has a lot of Fine Arts due to Musical Theater, art, and photography. It just never occurred to me to give her credit for what we have always considered extracurricular. I also did not give her credit for club volleyball. That was a TON of hours. I will have to think about this.

We have a LOT of family in town for the graduation and the fact that both teens are also in Fiddler on the Roof that week, so we just decided to have a blow-out party and invite everyone we know (almost). Inviting 75, but guessing about 50-55 will attend. We are having a catered (YEAH!) BBQ party. Cake and an ice cream sundae bar. Volleyball net on the lawn, basketball in the driveway, and if it rains like it has been doing constantly here, the ping pong table in the basement and pulling out board games. I have to finish putting together a presentation board for his graduation ceremony, so I will also have that displayed at the party. We will have his graduation slide show looping on the TV for awhile with all of his pictures from a baby on up. It should be tons of fun if I can make it through the next 13 days :svengo: :svengo:

So I rechecked the information on Ds' choice in major. The website states in the list of majors that it is an "International Business Major". But, when I go to the actual Business School portion of the website, it states that the major is a "Business Administration Major- International Business Option". Looking at the required list of courses, there are only 4 courses that are required to make it an actual "International Business Option". He still takes courses in all of the areas required for a basic Business Administration degree. They also require international experience (studying internationally) and Modern Language Competency (he is getting a minor in French). If he truly wants to have the ability to get a job with an international company. I can only see this degree being a good thing. For the most part, business today is in a global arena.

One Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith (The original, un-Disney tainted version) All time favorite and read many, many times aloud. The Ghost in the Swing by Janet Patton Smith The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Pretty much anything by Roald Dahl (especially The BFG - what a blast to read outloud!) Oh, and The Egypt Game Oh, and All Creatures Great and Small (The entire series) OK, picking 3 is impossible. I will stop now and continue planning my son's high school graduation ceremony in less than two weeks with a big box of tissues.