We customized our transcript according to the college. Some actually wanted weighted grades for scholarship consideration, while most specified unweighted. I labeled the transcript accordingly. For my weighted transcript, I snooped on the local school district website. They had a chart for how they weight grades for honors classes, AP classes, and DE classes. I used their system (extra 1/2 point for honors, extra full point for AP and DE).

I have a small section on our transcript listing "Key Extracurriculars" to list the highlights of activities that go on applications or on student resumes. My goal was to give a brief teaser for breadth and depth beyond credit-worthy academics. I would not have done this had we not had a bit of space available. FWIW I listed a more exclusive drama camp, leadership in children's ministry, a volunteer docent position at a museum, and a job as a tour guide at a living history museum. On the transcript itself, I just listed the activity and the grade level she was when she did that. There is plenty of opportunity to go into detail on college or scholarship applications or on a student resume.

We found the 3rd edition (the one needed when dd did Spanish with Sr. Gamche) used on Amazon. As OhElizabeth said, the seller should specify that the code is unused. Dd did Spanish 2 and 3 with Sr. Gamache. After she finished Spanish 3, she took the CLEP test, scored very high, and her college awarded 12 credits. So, yes, he does an excellent job. (He establishes students in each class to translate his Gamache-ness to the other students in the class. This helps everyone benefit from his teaching style without tearing their hair out over his quirky communications.)

We used the original format for geometry and precalc but did use the second versions (auto graded) for both algebra courses. When the second version of geometry came out, I spoke with one of the authors to ask about how they handled proofs in the newer version. He said that the multiple choice format within the proofs was intended to teach students how to do proofs, but that as they improved, they should do them independently on paper all the way through before checking them. I can understand that logic, but I would be concerned with my kids depending on the limited choices too much that they'd never get to the independent level...at least for geometry.

My oldest did TT algebra 1 in 8th along with physical science. She continued with TT thru precalc in 11th grade (did physics that year too). She is not a math kid at all but had no problem with the math required for chem or physics. Her sequence was: 8th algebra 1, physical science 9th alternate algebra 2 and geometry, biology 10th finish alternating algebra 2 and geometry, chemistry 11th precalc, physics 12th statistics, DE earth science

Good question. I live in a state that requires annual evaluation of the student's portfolio and reading list by an individual meeting certain criteria to ascertain "adequate educational progress." Our evaluator is the one who suggested I label certain courses as honors classes based on the type of input and both the quality and quantity of output. I also compared what we were doing to high school honors class syllabi I found on the Internet. In every case, what we labeled as honors exceeded in depth, scope, critical,reasoning, and output any syllabus I examined.

When we did a first round of college visits, we had a copy of dd's in-progress transcript including honors designation for multiple courses. The first thing the admissions counselor said was "You are taking a lot of honors courses and are taking rigorous courses overall. That's just what our scholarship committee looks for." Dd ended up being invited to multiple competitive scholarship weekends and ultimately received a full tuition scholarship into a college honors program without a single AP class or test and only one DE course. Her SAT scores were respectable but no where near what I see reported on this forum. Each of the colleges that offered her additional scholarship funds above their standard merit aid (calculated by GPA and SAT scores) said it was the strength of her overall course of study plus her student resume that caught their attention. So, yes, I include honors tags on the transcript and back it up in my course descriptions.

SYRWTLS is a good curriculum. I taught oldest dd Spanish 1 using it plus supplementing with a bit more practice from a used college text. I didn't feel proficient enough to go beyond that at home, so she took Spanish 2 and 3 from Dale Gamache at La Clase Divertida. She was well-prepared and even a tiny bit ahead of the Spanish 2 class when she started. FWIW, after she finished Spanish 3 with Sr. Gamache, she got a 70 on the Spanish CLEP (worth 12 credits at her college).

I agree. I would add that, if possible, they should get through the first third of precalc before taking the PSAT. My dd did well on the PSAT but was flummoxed by some of the math only to encounter it in TT precalc within a month or two of taking the PSAT. That made SAT prep much easier. She went on to score well on the SAT as well.

Yes, this. We've done online classes with full audio and virtual classroom slides via hotspot driving across the country accessing both Elluminate/Blackboard and e-lecta based classes. I have to wonder what kind of archaic technology their virtual classroom uses that wouldn't be accessible with a hotspot.

Dd (17) works at a living history museum as a tour guide for the early colonial (1719) house and farmstead as well as the Native American longhouse. She had been a volunteer, costumed craft demonstrator for a couple of summers when she was younger, but they created and funded this job for her last year. She comes home with lots of stories about visitors from all over the world...and she knows lots of obscure facts about how some of William Penn's first settlers lived. You can't learn this stuff from a textbook or in a classroom! I've been pestering her to ask the director if I can get a group of homeschoolers together to do a small archaeological dig on a corner of the property. Alas, my total lack of any experience or knowledge in that area has lead to several eye rolls from dd. Guess I'd better come up with another way to play in the dirt this summer.

There are quite a few homeschool support groups, co-ops, arts groups, etc. in and around Lancaster to go along with the many, many homeschoolers in the county. Some school districts are more homeschool-friendly than others...ours is wonderful. They even notarize our annual affidavit for us for free (and make copies for me for my files)! I think the entire county is an excellent place to homeschool.

I have one of these and love it! I use it all the time. My kids think it is weird. Guess they just don't appreciate the beauty of novel office supplies.

Dd is taking an earth science course dual enrollment for which all of their written work (essays, lab reports, written discussion material) must be in APA format.

My oldest is taking a 4-credit science class dual enrollment this fall. It is a college semester compressed into 8 wks. Therefore, I will not have her start statistics and personal finance until after the 8-wk class is done. She will work on statistics at a pace to complete a full high school credit in about 3/4 of the year...so, yes, at a faster than "normal" pace. The personal finance class is a half credit, so it will be fine. In other words, if you lighten her regular load at home to allow for the increased demand of a DE class, yes I would pick up whatever you lightened during the DE semester. BTW, the college dd is taking the DE class thru suggests that a 4 credit college class be awarded 1 high school credit, while a 3 credit college class be awarded 3/4 credit if you consider 150 Carnegie units your normal high school credit for honors, advanced, or college prep courses. A regular high school class at 120 Carnegie units would be 1 high school credit for a 3 credit college class...but then I would label it accordingly.

Agree! We used this series and were able to apply much of what she covers when we visited multiple art museums. She is a gifted lecturer and passionate about what she teaches. We also watched the other series -- that lecturer drove us nuts with his self-satisfied smirks and know-it-all attitude.

Any recommendations for books about the essays and for resources on how to write the student resume?

Listening.

I did Spanish 1 with my dd myself and then had her do Spanish 2 with Sr Gamache. Once she acclimated to his style, she did very well and is enrolled to do Spanish 3 this year. With 2 live classes each week plus occasional outside practice with a native speaker, it is more interaction than any local options we have. I've been very pleased.

They said the same exact thing last year when I'd hoped to use the updated version this year. Must be taking a loooong time to adapt for the auto grading.

A word of caution...it isn't only about rigor. For middle and high school courses, I am much more concerned that students understand and engage with the material. For some, Dr. Wile's conversational style is perfect. Had those students used another type of text that may not have explained things directly to them (or without a competent teacher to help), they would have understood significantly less and not cared one iota if they did or not. This is significant to me. Not knowing at this stage whether any student will or will not pursue science later, high school may be the last science they take (except one general basic survey course required for gen ed in many majors). I want to see them understand the material and interact with it in a way that they can "get" the fundamentals. A student may get more out of a perceived to be less rigorous text than they would from another text presented in an entirely different manner just because of the way in which is was presented and reinforced. The op may now know what the best choice is for her student. That's great. But anyone else reading this post shouldn't jump to the conclusion that they must choose perceived rigor over true understanding if their students learn differently.

Sorry, I don't have any experience with their teacher training. The moms in our virtual co-op are amazing, godly women with hearts for the Lord and for one another's children. Everything else falls into place when we have our unity based on faith first. All of our moms are talented teachers as well...all in their own ways. We are likeminded at the "executive" level, but we all approach things a little differently. It's nice to be equally yoked without feeling like we need to be identical. When my oldest was still at the D level, we did several years of discussions with just one other family. Our younger kids played while our older two discussed. Those years were also wonderful. We'd sit around our kitchen table and dig in. When my oldest was ready for R work, the other family was no longer able to join us. 😟 Enjoy your lit discussions. There is so much opportunity to draw out your students' world views and evaluate literary themes biblically.

I have very much enjoyed teaching R lit to my oldest. Two of the three years she's been at the R level, we've been in a virtual co-op where I've been one of the R lit teachers. For those two years, I did read all the lit because our co-op guidelines require lit teachers to do so. (I've thoroughly enjoyed it, I must say.) however, one year we weren't part of a co-op and I only used the summaries in the teacher notes to discuss with my dd. it was also a great year. If we stumbled in part of our discussion, we'd go back to the work and look together. If we really couldn't reconcile the teacher notes with what dd saw or what I could figure out, I'd either let it go or I'd ask someone else (sometimes on a Tapestry forum). We had wonderful discussions and didn't try to stick to the Tapestry suggestions in the teacher notes. We used them some weeks as written, some weeks we explored rabbit trails, some weeks I just let her tell me about her thoughts as she read. (BTW, this year of one on one discussions came before the co-op years and was my very first year attempting R lit. I learned a lot along with dd.) I guess to sum this up, do what works best for you and your family. Your kids will read some great lit and don't have to pound it into the ground for it to be worthwhile. 😀

I didn't use that text for high school, but have used Apologia bio, chem, and physics for high school. I weight grades for module tests, quarterly exams, and lab reports. Weighting percentages depend on goals for the year. Quarterly exams were weighted heavily in 11th grade but were weighted less in 9th grade. My thinking was to gradually increase the weight of exams covering more material working up to midterms and finals in the upper high school years. I also graded labs in 9th grade, but had shifted by 11th grade to only grading lab reports instead of the labs or the lab notebook. Dd will do a DE science in 12th grade, but I feel she now has the skills to handle whatever the prof sets as grading standards.

Which market? We have quite a few. 😀