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Michelle in GA

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Posts posted by Michelle in GA

    Latin question...

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    My dd is using Oxford Latin I this year and will be finished in May. Could she jump into Henle Latin Year 2 (which begins with unit 3 according to Memoria Press)?

     

    Or-- would it be better for her to begin Henle at the beginning?

     

    I plan on using the guide books that come with the program.

     

    Thanks!

    Need guitar suggestions....

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    My budget is $250. I am looking for a good electric guitar for my ds who has been playing for a while and needs to upgrade from his cheap $100 "starter" guitar. He already owns a very high quality amp. Looking at guitars at the store, I realize that even $250 is cheap for a guitar, but that is all we have at the moment. Any suggestions on models?

     

    Thanks!

    Anyone use Keystone for Lit?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Since I don't know how to multi quote...

     

    Kareni, thanks for that tip. I'm off to check them out. I know Write@Home has a per paper review, but I'm betting it's more for large research papers.

     

    Kai, I'll look in more depth at K12. I went to the site yesterday, but I think I have information overload, as I had a hard time retaining what I was reading. Heh.

     

    Michelle, thanks for the detailed description of the class. I was hoping someone would post something like that. The journaling we could do without, but the other stuff sounds more like what we're after. I'm just nervous in general about Keystone, as I know someone IRL who used them for Bio and I wasn't impressed. It was more of the parent doing the grading and it involved *lots of trips to the post office to mail labs and stuff. I avoid the P.O. at all costs, so that is really not my cup of tea!

     

    I'll keep looking and hopefully will find something that will fit. I'm nervous about spending more money for an online class after my experience this year. Sigh.

     

    If I decide to try this on my own for a while, does anyone have any thoughts on Excellence in Literature? We used IEW two years ago and thought it wasn't bad. My dd is using Lightning Lit right now, and it's going OK, but I'm not sure about the high school levels.... Kareni, any experience with those?

     

    Thanks again. I appreciate the help!

     

     

     

    Yes, the journaling was my son's least favorite part of the class, but the rest was fine. We have a lot of experience with Keystone. As with most programs, it depends on the class. My son did Chemistry which was awful.Spanish ,we dropped. The Pre-Calculus was also bad. The book was great, but their was no instruction, just a book and a schedule. That is why Keystone is not a good choice for maths, sciences, and foreign languages unless you have someone at home to "teach" the material. Humanities are MUCH easier to implement at home. We also did the Honors World History was also very good.Again, we added extra books and DVDs for enrichment. Their English and history classes are solid high school level classes.They provided the spine, schedule, and grades, that I really needed that year. We added 10 novels for the American Literature class and that bumped it up from adequate to excellent.

     

    I have also heard great things about k12!

    Anyone use Keystone for Lit?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    My son did the Honors English 3 four years ago. It was American Literature.There were lots of poems, essays, and short stories, but only one novel(Huckleberry Finn). We added more novels at home. There was a lot of writing(an essay every week, plus journaling). Also, the tests had lots of essays as well. There was no added grammar or composition instruction-- the ability to write five-paragraph essays was assumed. All in all, I liked it. It got the job done, and I didn't have to plan out the curriculum.

    looking for enjoyable American literature

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Some of our favorites in Am Lit:

     

    To Kill a Mockingbird

     

    The Good Earth, by Pearl Buck

     

    Catcher in the Rye (teens seem to like this better than adults)

     

    Fahrenheit 451 and short stories by Bradbury

     

    Of Mice and Men and Grapes of Wrath

     

    A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (for girls)

     

    The Joy Luck Club (for girls)

     

    Call of the Wild (boys)

     

    Short Stories: Poe, The Lottery, Flannery O Connor, The Most Dangerous Game, stories by O'Henry

    Let's do a college list

    in The College Board

    Posted

    CherylG's ds-UCLA, graduated, UCSB, UCSD, Westmont, all accepted. UMD-attending for master's in engineering.

    CherylG's dd-SBCC school of nursing-graduated.

     

    Creekland's ds - Covenant College, Union University, Calvin College - all acceptances at this point.

     

    Deb in NZ's dd - Bay of Plenty Polytechnic (begin Feb 2010)

     

    dkholland- ds - Covenant College (accepted), Patrick Henry College (accepted) Grove City College

     

    Katia - ds- Ellsworth Community College (AA Computer Science) , Anderson University-attended , University of Northern Iowa (BA Computer Science), Kansai Gaidai University, Kyoto, Japan-attended

     

    Katia - dd#1- Hilldale College-attending , accepted at: Luther College, Ball State University, University of Northern Iowa, Oberlin College Conservatory of Music

     

    Katia- dd#2 - applying to: Hillsdale College , Warner University (accepted)

     

    Laughing Lioness - DS -Boyce College (KY) attending. Accepted to Augustana College (SD) and St. Mary's School of Nursing (SD).

     

    Liza Q's dd - Saint Francis College - attending. Kings College, St. John's University, Brooklyn College - accepted

     

    Michelle in GA ds- University of Georgia(accepted); Berry College (accepted); GA Tech(currently attending)

     

    MSPolly's dd- Acceptances at Covenant(TN), Union U(TN), U of MS, Belhaven U(MS)

     

    Osmosis Mom Dd 1, Wellesley College (attending), accepted to Merrimack College, BU, Simmons, Emmanuel College

     

    Sharon in MD's ds-Drexel University -attending; UMBC-Meyerhoff program, UMD-College Park-College of Engineering, Messiah College- acceptances

     

    Susann-dd-Rose-Hulman, Purdue, University of Evansville, Trine, Taylor, Cedarville-acceptances

     

    Susie-Knits ds1 - Rose-Hulman, Valparaiso, U of Evansville, TN Tech - acceptances

     

    Valerie(TX) - ds UT Arlington attended

    Valerie(TX) - dd accepted Biola (CA), Messiah (PA), Belhaven (MS), Mary Baldwin College (VA), UTA (TX), Hardin-Simmons (TX), Univ. of Mary Hardin-Baylor (TX), and Ouachita (AR). I'm missing one. ??

     

    TransientChris's DS- George Mason U,attending; Hillsdale College- attended, Abilene Christian, Hampden-Sydney, St. Olaf- accepted

    TruthQuest history: Age of Revolution for high school

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    We used Truth Quest Rome a few year back. I LOVE the program.

     

    Pros: I love the idea of reading books to learn history!

    There are many options for reading selections and they are arranged by

    grade level.

    There are reading options for history AND literature

    The inclusion of Christian world view

     

    Cons: No tests..this is a con for me, because as much as I love history taught as a "story", there is also a place for memorizing some basic facts. I fixed this problem by creating a flashcard "game" on Roman kings, emperors,wars,etc. Then we reviewed them as we went along. And then, I pulled questions every so often from the pile and gave pop quizzes to keep my dc accountable.

     

    No schedules...they say you can get through two books a year, and I know I could sit down and hammer out a schedule, but I really don't want to! I wish they would do that for us.

     

    All in all, I love Truthquest!

    Let's do a college list

    in The College Board

    Posted

    Creekland's ds - Covenant College, Union University, Calvin College - all acceptances at this point.

     

    Deb in NZ's dd - Bay of Plenty Polytechnic (begin Feb 2010)

     

    dkholland- ds - Covenant College (accepted), Patrick Henry College (accepted) Grove City College

     

    Katia - ds- Ellsworth Community College (AA Computer Science) , Anderson University-attended , University of Northern Iowa (BA Computer Science), Kansai Gaidai University, Kyoto, Japan-attended

     

    Katia - dd#1- Hilldale College-attending , accepted at: Luther College, Ball State University, University of Northern Iowa, Oberlin College Conservatory of Music

     

    Katia- dd#2 - applying to: Hillsdale College , Warner University (accepted)

     

    Liza Q's dd - Saint Francis College - attending. Kings College, St. John's University, Brooklyn College - accepted

     

    Michelle in GA ds- University of Georgia (accepted); Berry College (accepted); Georgia Tech (currently attending)

     

    Sharon in MD's ds-Drexel University -attending; UMBC-Meyerhoff program, UMD-College Park-College of Engineering, Messiah College- acceptances

     

    Susie-Knits ds1 - Rose-Hulman, Valparaiso, U of Evansville, TN Tech - acceptances

     

    Valerie(TX) - ds UT Arlington attended

    Valerie(TX) - dd accepted Biola (CA), Messiah (PA), Belhaven (MS), Mary Baldwin College (VA), UTA (TX), Hardin-Simmons (TX), Univ. of Mary Hardin-Baylor (TX), and Ouachita (AR). I'm missing one. ??

     

    TransientChris's DS- George Mason U,attending; Hillsdale College- attended, Abilene Christian, Hampden-Sydney, St. Olaf- accepted

    S/O What was the WORST book you read this year?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    1. The Shack-could NOT get into this

    2. My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult--depressing, and I hated most of the characters

    3. The Alchemist--I liked it at the beginning, but then, it felt like a very long winded, "mystic" lecture.

     

    Whoever said the Time Traveler's Wife was just so-so. I agree! In fact, I had a terrible time slugging through that one.

     

    As for The Good Earth...I LOVED that book:)

     

    Great post! It's neat to see how differently(or the same), we interpret books!

    If you have used Total Language Plus-Am. Short Stories...

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Learning Language Arts Through Literature Gold books for high school. My dd16 is using this now and is on the short story section. She is enjoying it and really likes the structure. It doesn't take very to long to do a day's worth of work which leaves time for her to either work on one of the novels from the same guide or read historical works that align with her U.S. History.

     

    hth,

    Robin

     

    Thanks Robin,

    I had completely forgotten about LLATL. Does it include vocabulary, writing, quizzes,etc? About how long does each day take? Also, what are some of the short stories they cover?

     

    Thanks!

    CLEP Tests

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    My two oldest have taken and passed two CLEPs each, and plan to take more.

     

    Ds took the College Algebra CLEP at the end of 10th grade, after he finished Chalkdust Algebra II. He read through the REA study guide for it and took its practice tests to prep. The college he attends did not award credit for this test. We had him take it so our family could learn how the process worked, and to make sure he was ready to move on to precalc.

     

    Ds took the English Composition with Essay CLEP in mid-12th grade after he decided on his college, and we checked with the college's CLEP credit policy. We had used the WTM/WEM for all of his high school English, and he used an REA study guide and instantcert.com for prep. He passed, and was awarded 6 credits for both freshman-level English classes. His dorm-mates were jealous - they had either taken the much more difficult AP exams or were taking the classes.

     

    After considering her chosen college's CLEP policy, Dd (a high school senior) took the Sociology CLEP in October of her senior year. She studied for the test for 2 weeks using only the REA study guide and instantcert.com. She thought this test was very easy, even though she had never studied the material before.

     

    Dd also took the US History I CLEP in October after studying for two weeks with the REA study guide and instantcert.com. We figured that since we had paid for a month of instantcert already, why not use it for two tests? Since she had used the WTM for history for the past 8 years, she already knew most of the material.

     

    Ds plans to take 3-4 more CLEPS (Humanities, US & World History, etc.) to fulfill the gened requirements of his new double major. Dd plans to take the American Lit (after the REA study guide for it comes out in January), and Spanish. She's read a lot of American Lit already because of our WTM literature study, and she'll probably read some more. She's prepping for the Spanish CLEP using Rosetta Stone, a grammar workbook, her Spanish Bible, and tutoring. Rosetta Stone is nice because it's so easy to do, but if I had to do it all over again I would use a more comprehensive program that includes a lot of grammar.

     

    You will probably need a college-level text for some exams. I recommend looking at your chosen college's bookstore for texts used in the equivalent courses and buying somewhat older versions of the texts. We've done this for APs and it's worked well.

     

    If you know your student will be attending a college that awards CLEP credit, I would say go for it! We really like the REA study guides and instantcert.com. Just remember to save your instantcert login information and sign-up date and cancel before it automatically renews.

     

    Be very careful in choosing which CLEPs apply to your student's major. YMMV on study times and materials needed.

     

    HTH,

    GardenMom

     

     

    You mentioned instacert.com. I looked it up and it looks interesting. Were you pleased with it? How much do you think it helped? Was it more helpful than the Rea books?

     

    Thanks!

    Opinions on BJU algebra 2?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Thanks Susan!!

     

    I have read bad reviews on the BJU Pre Calculus and mixed reviews on the Geometry...but I haven't seen much posted about their Algebra programs.I am currently using a mix of Chalkdust and BJU for Pre Calculus right now. I am happy to hear that the Algebra 2 teacher is better than Mr. Conn:)

     

    Thanks so much for your help!

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