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Everything posted by arborite
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Study-plan for child close to Natl Merit cut-off
arborite replied to mjbucks1's topic in High School and Self-Education Board
Yes, the books have that info. A lot of what is in the books would be unnecessary review for him. The nice thing about the online tests and prep is that they adapt to the kid's level. He can get quickly to what's hard for him and work on it. Homeschool Buyers Coop often has the online courses at a steep discount. That said, do what works for you and your kid! -
Study-plan for child close to Natl Merit cut-off
arborite replied to mjbucks1's topic in High School and Self-Education Board
Honestly, given his ACT score I would focus not on content but on test-taking strategy. His friend with a 22 needs to learn new material; your kid needs a few targeted tactics to get over the NMS cut. Strategy is what the prep courses are best at: how to rule out wrong answers, when to guess, speed. -
Light video based Latin course or MOOC
arborite replied to EmilyK's topic in High School and Self-Education Board
Getting Started with Latin. If he is still hungry after that there are many more options! -
We have done a lot of history-led travel over the past two years. None in the cards for the next few weeks. We do go to China in June, though - we could start in on a China-themed history unit! Ideas welcome. We have decided to use this time, in part, to gather digital photos from all our trips to create a travelogue/blog. This will be a nice coda to our two homeschool years - he goes to high school in the fall (sniff...). We are also going to do a geography unit, including Mapping the World by Art. This will link up to our travelogue. And: go to the library and pull off the shelves piles of books to just read, read, read.
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We combine Cambridge and Lively Latin. LL is definitely below grade level but it compensates for Cambridge's inadequate grammar support. Cambridge is optimized for classroom use, with the teacher providing the grammar lessons. It did not work for us at all as a standalone. New tenses are sprung on the kid with zero warning.
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DS 14 has finished up his year-long science class, as well as his writing class. With this found time we want a break from routine and some fun, intense learning. Please share your favorite short courses that could be enjoyably completed (or intensely initiated) within a few weeks. What would YOU dive into if you had a couple of weeks to spare? -He is a voracious, college-level reader who loves travel, fantasy, sci-fi and history. -He reads and speaks Latin and German at an intro level. But we are open to absolutely anything!
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Life of Fred; which one?
arborite replied to Kelly1730's topic in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges
Agreed. I started my 7th grader on Fractions. He got through the pre-algebra books that year, too. I would skip physics. The pre-algebra lessons are great, I think, though we skimmed through the very cranky Econ chapters. -
Favorite online writing class? Brave Writer?
arborite replied to profmom's topic in High School and Self-Education Board
We have done KW basic and intermediate. Loved them both. Planning next on expository. These courses have given my son back his confidence. He's an creative, thoughtful, natural writer who needs some structure to his writing. An inflexible, negative teacher at his traditional school destroyed his love of writing. Bravewriter brought it back. -
Help for son struggling with Algebra!
arborite replied to Ann@thebeach's topic in High School and Self-Education Board
We love Thinkwell Algebra. Great videos and tons of practice problems. That said, a kid needs someone to talk him through difficult spots, and that someone needs to have watched the explanation the kid watched. I know algebra cold, but I mix up my son when I solve a problem in a way different from what the program just taught him. So, when he is confused I watch the relevant sections with him and THEN I explain. If your husband does not have the time for this then you should indeed sign up for a class or tutor. -
Life of Fred users, ? for you
arborite replied to momto2Cs's topic in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges
We are currently on Beginning Algebra. We did Elementary Physics when Schmidt suggested and it did not work well at all (got to Ch 22 and gave up). We went instead into the Pre-Algebra books and did not look back. Now that we are doing physics in 8th grade we may pick up Elementary Physics again. It's tough, though - EP is not aligned well with any physics curriculum I have run across. -
Life after homeschooling
arborite replied to ncmom2dawters's topic in High School and Self-Education Board
I never left the workforce. I don't know what I will do! My son heads to high school next year, after two years of homeschooling. I have so loved learning, traveling and exploring with him! All the hours spent reading history books that registered as "parenting" in the spousal accounting ledgers will now be categorized as "personal time." :-( -
ACS Middle School Chemistry questions
arborite replied to Kendall's topic in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges
There's not much to ACS if you skip the labs. It's a discovery-based program. We dropped it because I did not have time to do the labs with DS. We switched to McHenry's Elements, which has more content than ACS sans labs. DS is using Prentice-Hall in an online course with AIM Academy. It works well in conjunction with the course, but the organization of the book is so scattered that I would find it difficult to use as a standalone. -
Secular Life Science Class
arborite replied to rdj2027's topic in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges
Center for Talented Youth. They use the PLATO course. http://cty.jhu.edu/ctyonline/courses/science_engineering/life_science.html -
Help, please, with pre-algebra suggestions!
arborite replied to HootOwl's topic in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges
In 7th, we supplemented Fred Pre-Algebra with Real World Algebra and targeted Kahn practice. In 8th, we are alternating Thinkwell Algebra with Fred Beginning Algebra. We do both at a double pace and switch whenever fatigue sets in. I think we will end up finishing both, and I aspire to start Fred Advanced Algebra before high school. -
Aim academy Literature/Writing class
arborite replied to a topic in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges
My son is doing the year-long chemistry and physics. It has been a great experience. It is challenging and well organized. Just what he needed. -
We have been alternating between the two. ThinkWell has terrific, thorough, straightforward explanations and lots of drill. It works well for DS. Fred also works well for him, though it is very different. After a a month of either Fred or TW he is antsy and we switch to the other for a change of scenery. Variety is the spice of life!
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We used the LOF PreAlgebra books last year, along with Fractions and Decimals. With Econ, DS paid close attention to the math and rolled his eyes when the econ rants got ridiculous. I let him skip most of the econ questions, which contributed little to the algebra. By contrast, in the Pre-Bio book there was a real link between the math and the bio topic (e.g., balancing equations, which has arisen in chemistry this year). The method the Econ book develops for solving rate problems (six easy boxes) is extremely useful, and that alone made it worth dodging the siller stuff. Algebra has been much easier this year because of the foundation laid by the two Fred pre-algebra books plus Everyday Algebra.