For his college bound aspirations, I don't think it matters what science he does in middle school. The college is only going to look at his high school science. The opportunity you have right now, before the high school "time clock" starts ticking is to do courses that he is interested in, that maybe wouldn't fit totally in with his high school science and to do some preparatory courses (such as short courses on the periodic table, large overviews of science in general - I really like the book "Science Matters" for that, etc). If you think that there's a likelihood that he would have a science career of a particular type, this is a good time to do an exploratory course on that, so that you can see if you'll want to schedule a 4th high school science around that (ex, if he's likely to be a medical researcher maybe a course in microbiology, or anatomy, etc).

:iagree: This exactly. Some of the most disorganized people in the world are the biggest lovers of organizational tools. But no tool does anything on it's own. Like all things, kids need a training period where they are being checked up on to see that they are using the system set in place. Firstly, to see that they actually understand the system and secondly to assure that they develop the habit. Over time, the direct monitoring can wean back to occasional check-ins, to giving full responsibility over to them. But just handing them a system and hoping for the best doesn't work (unless you are blessed with one of those organized-by-nature kids, in which case :tongue_smilie:). Also, personally, when I was prepping to teach an organizational class to some teens, the things that I was going to stress to the teens were: 1. You NEED a watch. Not a cell phone, ds, or other device that tells time, but a watch, attached to your wrist. You need to get in the habit of knowing WHEN you are in the space-time continuum, all of the time. You can't be a good manager of your time if you don't know when it is. 2. EVERY piece of paper, with ZERO exceptions, must be attached to something or in something. And you have to know where it goes and where to get it. So many problems with not putting things away come from the perception of away meaning "out of sight" rather than "in a place where it will be safe until I retrieve it later". 3.You need, at least for a while, an hourly planner. You need to schedule blocks of time for getting things done, so that you know that they CAN be done (if you really want to play two sports, an instrument, and study three languages, you had better figure out when you are going to eat and sleep as well). You also need to write when you actually stopped and started those activities so that you can know if you are staying on time and so that you have a record of how long things REALLY take. Most teens are terrible at estimating how long things take (they tend to think that chores take longer than they do and fun stuff takes less time, imagine that). Hope that helps some!

I've been wanting to try AoPS, but been afraid of getting derailed if it didn't work out. Do you think this would be a good book (the number theory book) to try out over the summer? My 13 yo is finished Saxon Alg 1, so this summer would be a good time to try something, between Alg 1 and 2. Thanks!

Half of the Wheelock would count as 1 high school credit. The first Henle book would also count as a high school credit. I don't know how much Latin there is in the other programs mentioned, on a per book basis, but you could probably look them over and compare them to Henle/Wheelock to figure out how much to do for credit.

My understanding is that he should be able to read Koine if he takes Attic Greek with fairly little difficulty. It's not a different language so much as more of it, if that makes sense. We did Hey Andrew several years ago and then Elementary Greek for two years and then I became burned out trying to keep up. So now Greek is on hold. I do know that The Lukeion Project offers Greek. My son takes Latin there and likes it a lot. I'm hoping to talk my husband into it adding Greek after this coming school year, but we'll see. It's money, ya know.

I've been all set to start with biology (Campbell's) this fall, but I have the apologia chem in my closet (because I got it cheap at a sale). Now I'm curious as to how you do this, because my son has been wanting to do chemistry, and I'm thinking maybe I should combine the two after all.

So, here's a related question (I hope this isn't a threadjack, just tell me if it is)...if you have a kid who gets perfect (or nearly) papers about half the time and the other half gets tons wrong...but then fixes the mistakes quickly, often without referencing the book, and never says he doesn't understand, and can show you that he does, he just doesn't always take the time that he should...what would you do once you've reached the end of Alg 1? This is exactly where we are. Part of me wants to go ahead and move him into Alg 2, because I know he understands. Part of me wants to get an algebra workbook and make him practice over the summer (partly so that he gets the practice, partly to punish him for his carelessness). Thanks!

Right, duh. Sometimes I'm so dense. http://www.montereyinstitute.org/courses/AP%20Biology%20I/nroc%20prototype%20files/coursestartc.html

I have the Campbell Biology and I like it. It is more in depth than other courses, but you can really just cut whatever you want. Also, there is an online Biology for AP course that uses it, and the online course is free. Of course, I'm always one of those, "reach for the highest level, because even if you fall short you'll have learned more" types of people. I also like the Campbell book because it's just interesting to flip through like an encyclopedia. The online course uses the 7th edition which you can get cheap on Amazon and there are also study guides available for cheap. That being said, I also have the Apologia book and while I don't intend to use it as my main biology, I think it's not a bad course, either (just a little thin, IMO). I'm going to have my son read through it (it is VERY easy to read through and has a conversational tone) as a bio preliminary.

Academically, I mostly just kept to the next obvious thing. He had started algebra, so we finished it and moved into algebra 2 (Saxon). He had started Latin, so we just kept going. He had already had a ton of grammar, so I quit that (especially as he was continuing with Latin) and just kept on with writing and lit. I formalized his history studies a little bit to make sure that I got a full year worth each year, but it doesn't really matter all that much which order they are done in. I formalized his science, too, as we had been very informal with that (I use the LCC method of mostly nature study until high school). Science is probably the easiest to choose, because most 9th graders aren't going to have the math for Chemistry or Physics. So you are left with biology or earth science. If you only want three science credits, it has to be biology. If you are going to take 4 science credits it could either be biology, followed by either anatomy or environmental science...or it could be earth science followed by biology. I also chose to focus some time on skill sets (study skills and such). I use summers to pick up electives and do short units of things that I want to cover, but not spend time on during the school year (geography, catechism, etc). He also plays trombone with the youth orchestra at the local university during the school year. This is our only outside activity (aside from an informal homeschool teen group that meets just for social purposes). I really believe in not running myself ragged by being in the car all the time. During the school year I try hard to focus on core subjects (for us, that includes Latin) and leave the good, but not greatest, subjects alone. Multum non multa (much, not many). There are a million "good" things to do. Ignore them all. Figure out what the great things are for you and then choose only the greatest from among them. You will be doing yourself, your family, and your child a favor. We can and should not dissipate our energies all over the place.

Well, I would look at it this way....if have or will do any medieval/renn/ancient history that is all world history. If you do modern history, you can't help but include world history or it doesn't make sense. So I think you're covered either way. Add to that US history at some point and it's all there.

For Alg 1 and 2, all the problems. For Adv Math, I use Art Reed's method, of taking two days per lesson (therefore a test every two weeks) and doing odds one day and evens the next day. So all the problems get done, but slower. I would also use this method for Alg 1 or 2 if I had a child academically ready for algebra, but developmentally not ready for the heavier work load.

If anyone is interested. They already have an Essentials/Foundations group and they are trying to get enough people for Challenge in the fall. There is an information meeting at Barnes and Noble at 9:30am on June 28th. I'm hoping that it all goes through because my son really wants to do it.

Shouting out from Wicomico county! I have a 13 year old son always up for making new friends! If you are close-by let's meetup!:seeya:

My son, 12 when he started, took Latin with The Lukeion Project this past year. It was live online, Wheelock based, and included interactive online quizzes and review games. He ended up getting a gold medal on the National Latin Exam back in March. I know their level 2 is already full for next year, but you could check their level 1 and see. They also offer some summer workshops, including The Barbarian Diagrammarian if you want to do diagramming.

This is exactly why Saxon math is set up the way that it is. You do Alg 1, then Alg 2 (which includes half a credit of geometry), then Advanced Mathematics (which includes the other half of Geometry as well as trig and pre-calc). Maybe that would be something to look into?

Hi everyone! I'm new to the WTM boards and am so relieved to have found them. I've been doing classical ed for years now, but have been totally alone (my area is very rural and most homeschoolers here aren't interested in classical ed) in it. I am so relieved to have found a whole community pursuing classical education! Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone could give me input as to "when" a kid should take an AP exam. Obviously, not until they've mastered the material...but does it need to be in their senior year? Or can a freshman take it if they have done an AP course, and still have the AP count toward possible college credit (per the college's AP policy, of course)? My son, 14 in October, has been doing US history (really great, free iTunes U course with a Yale professor!) this summer and I was thinking of bumping the coursework up to AP level and letting him sit for the exam. I'm just wondering if the college would take the AP score seriously if it's a few years old when he applies. Thanks for any input! Tammy