rockala
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Posts posted by rockala
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we just went to local convention and my dd 8th grade has gone through 3 algebra programs now. we started with MUS and then LOF and then went to Key to series to try to shore up and then back to MUS.
She has got to lesson 10 of ALgebra 1 MUS. SHe spent a lot of tiem this weekend with me and dh trying to make best decision on what to do. She is bothered now as she feels behind a year.
Agfter much consdieration our last choices were TT, staying with MUS thru summer and Videotext. She talked with Tom Clark (videotext) and she chose that. There are 176 lessons and is all the algebra in the universe so it covers pre-alg/alg 1 and 2. They can take their time or go faster. I figure she will start now and perhaps we will break and do geometry at some point we willl see.
There are 6 modules so I figure 2 per course, she will start at beginning but she can go quicker-lessons are short, but extras included if you want more.
Kathy
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at the same time with no problem for ds in 6th. That was our focus this year though as he knew we needed to catch up.
We typically pick 2-3 areas a year we know are behind (IOWA tests/persoanl expeereince) and those have to be done first each day so they are fresh.
I think though that Megawords and AAS are more similar.
Kathy
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If you think you will later choose Apologia then 7th is the perfect place to start so you can stay on track. My dd wanted biology and so we do some local science musem/co-ops where she does disection a few times a year. she likes human body/biology and the last I think 4 moudules of general are all human body so this worked well for her this year.
7th General
8th Physical
9th Biology
10th Chemistry
11th Physics
12th different options.
I didn't do this order with daughter and she wants biology for 9th so we are skipping physical. My ds entering 7th did general this year and loved it so we will stay on this path
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Co-op for years here too, just one day per week. However this is our last year. I think it gets really hard when hormones kick in and people tend to go in different directions.
This past year was rocky with kids ranging from 6-10th grade. mainly we had 11-15 year olds and some were getting boy/girl crazy while other families were not into/against that. It made it difficult and a little clickier than other years.
To make the problem worse, some were there for social reasons and others for serious high school ccourse. Not everyone agreed on academics as some are in the college prep and some are not looking at that.
So I agree with a previous poster we are finding in too difficult and emotionally draining and the kids are developing like-minded friends they would rather get together with one on one.
Also as we are college headed our courses and my kids really need 5 days to get the job done. This is true beacuse we do leave for piano and art and that takes time out too. If you add the other things that happen doctor/dentist/otrhodontist appts and then co-op it just gets wayyy too busy for my kids at this level.
We have three weeks left and the rest of the co-op agrees this is out last year. I want to be clear these are still some of my closeest dearest friends and that will remian, even though our kids may not be clicking right now our friendship will remain. We had many good co-op years it is just a change of season right now.
HTH,
kathy
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have you heard this? We are at the local HS convention and a friend said yesterday that in a Jay Wile workshop on High school he said that latin is not a speaking lanquage and thus does not count as a foreign lang. I didn't hear it myself but was under the impression that latin does indeed count as a foreign lanquage.
Anybody know for sure?
Thanks,
Kathy
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and am off to the hs convention today. I do know and have briefly seen that MUS is revised now with the honors worked into it. My dd 13 is only on lesson 10 of Alg I.
Here is the question I plan to ask-If we get to say lesson 18/19 before summer (end of June) at one per week. MUS geometry has review algebra worked in- can we run the programs simultaneously? I know it is more work but it could be a good thing and would only be for the first semester.
However seeing the new updated MUS, makes me want to perhaps buy the new student text and have her work thorugh that. The honors portion covers more of the LOF style of word problems I believe. I will see what they say.
kathy
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Winnie the Horse Gentler series. My dd age 13 LOVES horses and has fallen in love with these books. There are 8 books in the series and no romance at all.
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though I cannot recall where about using The Art of Argument. I thought this was considered Logic. A option for another program besides TL. I was considering that for my kids for next year having just finished the three Dandy Lion publications.
Kathy
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I have a son in sixth too and we have advanced a lot this year with SS and Megawords. It helped a lot to realize that most kids who still do not spell well at this age are dsygraphic not dsylexic. that is why reading and comprehension are not a problem.
We did do a remedial writing that had the kids do figure eights and then make sure they are forming their letters correctly- from the top down and clockwise. Watch how they make an O- is it counter clockwise- it should be. I was shocked when I told my son to quick just draw an O and it was clockwise. Also the small letter r, do they start at the top?
So after much discussion he agreed to go thorugh that even though it was sort of embarassing for him. We kept it our secret. We have gone sort of quickly thru SS2 and are in megawords 2 now. Please do not let the numbers of starting SS1 or Megawrods I scare you.
Today in SS2 we had fascinate and accomadating- and those were the easier ones. Megawords pulled in all together.
We choose 3 subjects each year that each child needs improvement on. For ds this year it was writing/forming letter, spelling and spelling. They had to be done first thing in the morning when he was fresh.:)
HTH
Kathy
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and please correct me if I am wrong- I have gleaned this from other threads.
The kids move from Algebra I to Geometry before they go to Alg II. From what I understand the mind matures more to grasp these concepts so that it is not as difficult when they get to Alg II.
Additionally I know with MUS and I believe others, algebra I problems are intersperesed into geometry so they can review and not forget. This will boost confeidence as well as the fact that geometry may be easier for them.
Usually kids who struggle with Algebra find Geometry a LOT easier, so that year is well spent. I wouldn't fret too much - hopefully it will come when they get to Alg II and are older.
Of course this is all from what I have gleaned from other posts,
Kathy
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Okay.....so umbrella is out. Now that I see it that way, it is not what I want as as I do very much agree with you on all these points. It more time is not something I have, nor money I can spend better on curriculum rather than umbrella.
Now that we are settled on transcripts I will check out the HS2Coll yahoo group. I want to find these online sites where I can view others though. That will help me to develop and find things out about credits too.
Do you know what I sites I can visit to view others transcripts? it seems there are a lot of companies selling them out there.
Did anybody buy software to do this-or homeade all the way?
Thank you again, now I can focus more on what I need.
Kathy
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and filling me in on these high school credits? Our home school convention is next week and I am still at a lost with it all. We have always been a bit eclectic and so we do not use all one company- shall I get an umbrella yet?
My dd is entering 9th in the fall. I think I am to decide on credits for her courses (rough examples being 1 for Eng and math and 1/2 for music and art) and she should get about 5 per year so she has 20 to graduate- is this) right?:confused:
I hear maybe Kolbe which is Catholic will let you pick your own stuff and they will write the transcipts for a nominal fee. I have not looked into how much that fee is yet-anyone know pricing of any.
I am wondering how many of you are using an umbrella school vs keeping transcripts yourself. What is the best way to keep transcripts-are there certian companies or software?
I want to know so I can check things out next week at the convetnion.:tongue_smilie:
Thanks for all your help,
Kathy
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with my 8th grade dd and it has gone slow but steady. I admit we have laxed on it now and then so we are only in chapter 3 but her and ds 6th grade are both doing it. He is still in chapter 2 is all.
It was tough in chapter 2 for awhile but dd says it is her favorite subject. I am glad we pressed on as I was beginning to think we were dropping out.
Kathy
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is have your child sit for the SSAT. These scores are usually taken 6-8th grade and are mainly used for kids who are trying to get into high end private high schools.
My dd took it at the end of 7th grade, it does have the 5 paragraph essay and she had just taken a co-op class on how to do the essay. She scored well and felt good about it.
We are not going to do it this year as it is expensive. We do IOWA ever year just to have them used to being tested. I like it as over the years it has provided a measuring tool of where we are weak. You can patterns over the years and help break them vs a just once in a while test which may or may be not be a fluke.:)
We just used it for hs purposes - usually it is offered at a private school- just google the last one is in June. You just show up at the school after you ahve signed up and paid.
Kathy
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get a feel for the hoemwork load? TPS looks like it will be 10+ hours a week of homework- which is quite substantial. TPS has a lot online about the classes, but I cannot find the same for Veritas?
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I was looking at Comp 1- and I think I may go with Potter, but just wondered about any feedback about Veritas online. I seem to hear about others and more about the Potter school, but not Veritas?
Anybody have feedback- good or bad?
Thanks,
Kathy
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Have you considered Greg Landry online course? He offers one for 6-9th grade and I haven't done one, but have listened in on his free courses
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This is very interesting indeed. I see some of you have done Latin prep I. At what point did they do they exam- after finishing the whole book? My kids have been taking it very slowly, but I think it is starting to pick up.
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I have looked at this a few times and hate the price, but it looks really good. has anyone done this and has reviews?
My dd loves to write and I just don't want her to crammed into a formula.
Kathy:)
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We were having this problem and used clickandclimb.com to tutor. the first month was free and that gave us 8 hours of tutoring- that alone was a wonderful help. The tutors are from India so you have to be okay with that. My dd 8th grade was struggling with part of MUS pre-algerbra.
We had switched programs 3 times last year and were still stuck in pre-algebra. It has helped her to get over the hump and she finished up pre-algebra and is now into Algebra I.
I guess that is to say that I agree your child may need a tutor- switching programs may not help.
Kathy
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I am considering a comp 1A class at Veriatas for my 9th grade dd or a Narnia class or some other writing for her from Potter school. The prices are comparable- but has anyone used them and can comment on which one might be better?
thanks
Kathy
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I struggled with this last year and eventually after much debate made a decision to do general. I figured much of it would be review and we would skip half the book and move on to physical mid-way through the year.
My kids had done 3rd edtion BJU, some chemistry courses etc. My daughter was not sciency kids and had heard of Apologia nightmares from friends and was reluctant.
Apologia general has her LOVING science. My son who is a science boy (6th grade) was also converted. It was the first text that went deep enough to explain the age of the earth, evolution arguments etc.
I really am so happy I didn't rush them into Physical or higher. The absolutely rock solid foundation they will learn will serve them well no matter what they decide to do. My dd is now much more open to medical/science fields.
I have some friends who through thier non- science kids into apologia biology because they were going into 9th. Sadly the kids were not ready and have had a horrible experience.
Apologia is challenging as most kids have not had to learn the material they previously studied at such a depth. the tests are good preparation for these kids to move into more advanced areas.
HTH
Kathy
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We are currently offering IEW/writng, medieval history 1100-1600 and European/African geography, which all run about an hour in length. The teachers preparing sometimes have a little more and sometimes a little less than an hour so we just all adjust accordingly. These are middle/high school students and we do typically have a 5 minute restroom break in between classes- as opposed to use the restroom when you wish. Our facililty layout dictates this way better.
Our class size this semester is 14 which is nice. Last semester we had 20 and needed seating arrangements for this age group as they can get out of hand. We forbid electronics in the classroom at all. No Ipod or cells or handheld games. Also new this semester is that a student needs to take all the classes in the morning -no a la cart is allowed it is all or nothing. Our classes are prepared to feed off each other and we sometimes start at different times based on need so being tyed down to geo starts at 11:20 did not work. Public speaking in the afternnon anyone can come. this made for a smaller class and we like it better.
As an example, we did geography tests first thing one morning so as they could be graded and kids put into different groups when the geo class started. You simply do not have that flexibility with kids coming and going. :)
The morning classes start (well we meet) at 9:00am. We set-up what tables and chairs we need and begin around 9:15 and end around 12:15-12:30 and break for lunch. Public speaking starts at 1:00 and goes until 3:00 and includes right down to age 7. So that class grows to about 25 kids. Then we clean up and leave by 3:30 the latest.
Hope this helps,
Kathy
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We drive a lot and have listened to many books on CD in the car. My children love all the Anne of Green Gables, Little Women/Men etc and also some good G.A. Henty, among many others.
I am trying to find something good to listen to wholesome like Anne and Little Women- what have you enjoyed:bigear:.
Kathy
online/ apologia biology did anyone like this
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
We went to the convention and looked at BJU biology vs apologia and then found out about the online Apologia. We were ready to sign up but have seen some poor reviews of Apologia biology.
is there anyone that has had good luck with it?? I was hoping maybe the online would be better as I cannot teach it.
Kathy