TarynB
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Posts posted by TarynB
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9 hours ago, Earthmerlin said:
will moon gaze that night (weather permitting).
Unless your kids are used to staying up really late, you might want to do your moon gazing tonight or Thursday night. The moon rises quite a bit later each night, of course, and where I live, by Saturday the 20th the moon won't rise until around 11:11 pm local time, and takes a while to rise high enough for good viewing. (It will rise tonight where I live around 9:30 pm, tomorrow night around 10:07 pm, etc.) Here is a link you can use to look up the moon rise times where you live: https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/
Yesterday, July 16th, was the anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11, so just tell your kids we're celebrating the "anniversary week" of the overall mission. 😊
Our local astronomy club held a moon watching/star gazing party last weekend in honor of Apollo 11, scheduled to coincide with a more optimal moon rise time, so we went to that. We also watched the 3-part PBS series Chasing the Moon on Amazon. And also First Man, but that one might not be suitable for young kids.
Thought of another great film to watch - a documentary called In the Shadow of the Moon. EXCELLENT.
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5 hours ago, madteaparty said:
I also think Derek Owens videos are linked on his website but hosted on YouTube, so that’s another wrinkle.
FWIW, Derek Owens videos are hosted on his own site, not YouTube. I think there might be some sample videos on YouTube but that's it.
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2 hours ago, maptime said:
I know I remember reading somewhere that two of the levels are almost identical to each other, but now I can't remember which ones (I think it was either 4/5 or 5/ 6). Do you happen to know? That would be helpful info to have in case we need to slow things down and/or decide to skip a level.
I can't remember specifically - it has been 5 or 6 years ago now for us. You should be able to see the Table of Contents in a preview at Christian Book Distributors' website. (CBD usually does a great job in general of putting up good book previews.) Here's a link to level 5: https://www.christianbook.com/grammar-writing-grade-5-1st-edition/stephen-hake/9781419098369/pd/998369?event=ESRCG
Also, this scope and sequence on the publisher's website might be helpful, although it is at a pretty high level: http://www.hakepublishing.com/support-files/grammar_and_writing_scope_and_sequence.pdf
ETA - I also just noticed this blurb at the bottom of the S&S (bolding by me):
QuotePlease Note: No prior grammar instruction is required to begin at any grade level. Older students beginning the curriculum in later grades will not miss any grammar content, since prior-year topics are fully reviewed in the upper grades. The grade levels are differentiated by reading level, vocabulary difficulty, curriculum standards, and the overall pace and depth of instruction. For best results, we recommend that students start at their comfortable reading level, but not higher than their current grade level, and complete a minimum of two years of the program.
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We used Hake grammar. I agree, Hake is enough on its own. (We tried Fix-It somewhere along the way but dropped it quickly, after the first or two unit, I think.) I had DS do just the odds or just the evens in Hake and I also let him write in the book. It usually took about 20 minutes per lesson, as I recall. Grammar sections only, none of the other stuff. Three days per week. We spread one level over two years, and did two levels that way, spread over 5th thru 8th grade. FWIW, DS took the ACT for the first time in 10th grade, got a perfect (36) score on the English section, and he mostly credits Hake for that.
ETA - The reason we spread each level of Hake that we used over two years is because once I compared the Table of Contents from each level, it became clear that the levels are repetitive/similar and build slowly due to the spiral review. So we used level 5 for 2 years, and level 7 or 8 (can't remember which now) for 2 years. You could do the same with level 6 and level 8, we just used level 5 because I had already purchased it before I thought to compare the levels to each other.
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My son used Essentials of Human Anatomy and Physiology by Elaine N. Marieb (10th ed.) in his Human Anatomy & Physiology course. (I believe this text is now in its 12th edition currently.) It was taught by Kerrie Childress at Excelsior Classes. The text is published by Pearson. I didn't do it for this A&P text, but in the past I was able to register as an instructor with Pearson and then had access to their online supplemental resources.
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If you want high school level chemistry, PAC IPC probably isn't what you want. It's really physical science - some conceptual chem and physics. What other sciences has she had already? You mentioned two lab sciences completed.
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45 minutes ago, mirabillis said:
let's hope you're right. i looked at it briefly too and never saw any particularly lengthy instruction at the time. i remember him floundering. but.... we're still trying it again next year. so obviously something about it clicked for us. i think it's a good 1-year option (for us) between at-home writing instruction and 11th grade AP English. i'll pay more attention and make sure we don't miss any instruction for my dd - that would be most helpful. i remember at the time thinking, oh why did we quit Windows to the World Lit analysis, thinking that would help... so maybe there's more to WAH than meets the eye, but in his opinion, it was for-sure light on the instruction. i'll see if he can still log in to his old account and look into it.
Yes, I agree, WAH was good for what we needed it for when we used it. And I'm not saying the weekly lessons were all that lengthy. I think most of them were a couple of pages per lesson. But the lit analysis handout is definitely a big chunk of instruction, although not a checklist or formulaic. If a kid needs more hands-on guidance maybe it just won't be enough for them, and that's where the weekly feedback loop is really helpful, as you said.
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5 hours ago, summerreading said:
Thank you for the recommendation. I agree it does look like a wonderful class that might be a perfect fit. I'm sure it's worth every penny, but I'm in a bit of sticker shock at the moment. The class will, however, have a high spot on my wishlist.
Yes, I know it costs more than other online writing courses. But I'd be embarrassed to tell you how many other writing curricula and online writing courses we've paid for with little to show for it. I mean, there'd be forward momentum, some years more than others, but I never thought, "Oh, that one was completely worth the price." So, I hope you don't mind me sharing this on your thread, but my son is attending a residential summer program at our state's flagship university right now, taking college courses with instructors who (thankfully) have high expectations. He sent me this comment that he received from one of his professors this week: "D., this is a very well-written essay! I could not ask for more. Your writing is remarkably strong. You'll want to do this exact same thing for the upcoming research paper. Excellent work!" That is the type of result I've been hoping for after all these years of writing classes! This is the whole point for me! 😄 And considering where my son started last year and where he ended up, I believe the Logical Communication class is 100% responsible for this result. I believe strong writing and thinking skills are so, so important. We spend more on this and then save more in other areas. Completely worth it, for us.
Good luck to you and your son!
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1 hour ago, mirabillis said:
i asked my ds - and he concurred, there is no extensive instruction. there was no 30+ page pdf on how to write a literary analysis essay. it was a 1-page synopsis, if that, each time. he struggled with it, as he said it just didn't teach him anything. but i do feel the value is in the feedback, if your dc already knows the hows of writing and just needs to perfect it. it's why we chose SICC-C (IEW) for my dd for 9th grade to help shore up everything...
I don't even know what to say to this, but it sounds like your son must have missed out on critical components of the Write At Home course. That does not match up with my son's experience at all. I'm not even sure how that could happen, but reading this, it's no wonder that you feel there wasn't explicit instruction.
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Since you mentioned other writing programs, and if you don't mind hearing about another option, I can wholeheartedly recommend Logical Communication with Mr. Roy Speed. It was a huge hit for us this past year. It has been the best money we've spent out of 9 years of homeschooling and many online classes. DS will be taking the next course in his writing series (Essay Writing and Appreciation) in the upcoming year. DS decided to do this instead of taking English Comp through dual enrollment because he thoroughly enjoys the live class sessions and knows he will benefit significantly more from the class with Mr. Speed as opposed to taking English Comp 1 and 2 at our local university. Mr. Speed is known here on the forum for his Shakespeare courses, but he's offering writing instruction online now too (his website is hscollegebound.com). He has also taught at a co-op for years and teaches writing to professionals, so he's experienced with writers at a variety of levels. Mr. Speed has spoken with us personally by phone about our son's strengths and areas he can improve on next, and I was impressed by his reaching out to us to do that. I'll paste below my comments from another thread:
Logical Communication with Mr. Roy Speed has been a big hit. It focuses on clear thinking, organizing ideas and arguments, backing up your ideas with evidence, logical flow, and rhetorical devices, all in conjunction with analyzing high-quality essays. The instructor has appropriately high standards and is enthusiastic, the live classroom is well-managed and has interactive discussions, the workload is just right (emphasis on quality, not quantity), and the feedback is individualized (appropriate for a range of abilities), prompt and constructive. DS has taken several composition courses before this, and this one is the best he's had by far. Mr. Speed is known here on the forum for his Shakespeare courses, and he's offering full-year writing courses online now too. He also teaches writing to corporate professionals. DS will be taking his Essay Writing and Appreciation course next year. -
12 minutes ago, katilac said:
I'm not the OP, but the way I read that was that "needs 30 hours" was in response to how many hours every student needs to complete at the university (by their requirement), and 48 hours is what this student will actually need.
Ah, yes, that part makes sense.
I still think that confirming with the U would be wise at this point, when options are being explored and decisions are being made, instead of relying on what the CC is saying.
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6 hours ago, Miguelsmom said:
They only need 30 hours at that university to receive their degree. His CC says they have to accept his GE classes if he gets an AA and the degree says they have to have their AS to be admitted to the particular program because their AS is their first 2 years. It'll extend his graduation date by a semester if they don't accept the GE credits. It says they accept all AS degree classes from CC's.
I'm a little fuzzy at this point on the exact situation your son is in . . . in terms of what degree (AA/AS?) he'll have and how many credits he's transferring with and how many credits he specifically will need to complete at the U. (Needs 30 hours or 48? Will have an AA/AS, or 96 transfer hours?)
There's a difference between credits that transfer as gen ed vs credits that are deemed equivalent for a specific major by the receiving U. It sounds like you haven't actually confirmed with the U and are relying on the CC and perhaps some info you found online to advise you. In your shoes, I'd still confirm everything with a live person at the U to avoid potentially losing money and/or time, even more so in this situation where finances and the timeframe are portrayed as especially tight.
Best of luck to you and your son.
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16 hours ago, mirabillis said:
i have a different take on WAH. we are fans of WAH and we are signing up my 2nd dd for WAH workshops for her sophomore year... but with that said, i don't feel WAH provides any explicit writing instruction. you need to come into it knowing the basics of essay writing or persuasive writing or even literary analysis to get the most out of it, imo. we are big fans of IEW, b/c i feel it really teaches them the basics of 'how' to write, then leads them to where they can apply these basics now in their own way. so that's what my oldest did - IEW through SICC-B / Elegant Essay - then we jumped into WAH - took 1/2 semester High School (but that had too much creative writing for my taste). then in his sophomore year, he jumped to workshops - Essay 1, Essay 2 & Literary Analysis. (lit analysis was more of a struggle, as he'd never 'learned' lit analysis before)
the constant feedback loop is great, and if that's the best way for kids to learn how to write, then perhaps there is instruction. just make sure you come into it with something under your belt is my opinion... my ds just finished AP Eng Lang after his WAH experience and while writing is not his forte naturally, he did pull an A and we'll see how he fared on the AP exam this week... and we are enrolling my dd who has just finished IEW through SICC-C in the WAH workshops this coming year too. so it's a great program, just know what it is and what it is not.
I absolutely agree some kids may not click with the teaching style and certainly no class is a good fit for everyone. But I'm surprised that you don't think WAH provides explicit instruction. Could you elaborate on that? I didn't save the WAH lessons on my computer, and DS has his laptop with him out of town at the moment, so I can't look on his right now, but I remember seeing downloaded PDFs with instruction for every step of every lesson (A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, etc.) And I know for sure that the literary analysis lesson guide was a PDF that was 34 pages long, because I did save that one and DS still refers to it. It's pretty detailed, with lots of examples and suggested do's and don'ts.
I also totally agree that IEW is not like WAH. DS used IEW in middle school, so I'm familiar with both. WAH is not nearly as rigid and doesn't have the IEW-style rubric details like "use two -ly words in this paragraph" or "start this sentence with X type of word . . . ". I believe a program like IEW has value for some kids, but WAH is definitely not like IEW.
Also worth noting for others who may be interested, there is no live interaction or video component in WAH. The lessons are conveyed by reading PDFs, and then the student and writing coach interact in writing and pass assignments back and forth through a secure online platform (not email but similar).
There used to be samples of the writing lessons on the website - not sure if they are still there but I would guess so. Maybe OP could poke around in those and see if she thinks the style/type of instruction would work for her son.
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3 hours ago, Miguelsmom said:
He'll have 96 transferable credits when going so he'll only need 48 credits at the University.
Have you confirmed this with an academic adviser at the university who works in the department from which your son hopes to graduate (not just someone who works in admissions)? Some universities require a minimum number of credits (sometimes at least half of the total) to be completed on their campus in order to graduate. And sometimes credits completed at other institutions will be applied as general education credits but will not count toward a specific major.
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We used Write At Home for a couple of years and it was a good experience. You might consider signing up your son for one of the 8-week workshops instead of committing to a semester or year, to try it out. The semester and year-long courses are the same content as the workshops; think of them as several continuous workshops strung together. (The details are outlined on the website. Check the syllabus for each class.) Also, that way you can avoid the creative writing sections if you want to, as your DS indicated he does not want to do that. If your son likes one of the shorter classes, you can enroll in more at any time and start the next one when the current one is finished. You can pick and choose to find the level that matches your son's ability. The WAH workload is not heavy and DS thought the instruction was clear and logical. It was entirely hands-off for me. He consistently got good feedback from his "writing coaches", but I have read here of others who didn't have that experience, although you can ask to be switched to a different writing coach if you want, and switching is apparently no big deal. Having an outside instructor to perform for might make a big difference for your son - it did for mine. Let me know if you have any other questions that I could answer.
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On 6/28/2019 at 11:12 AM, HeighHo said:
Something to consider: student take first job in an area where he can maximize the after tax/after housing income so that he can pay down the loan as soon as possible, living frugally as while in college.
Yes! This is the key. DH and I both had student loan debt. First-generation college students, no help from family, poor advice from all directions. We made it our #1 priority to get that debt out of our lives. We continued to live frugally like we did in college until it was gone! We both worked at two jobs for a time - our full-time jobs plus side gigs. We delayed starting our family, had fewer children than we originally wanted, still live in our starter house, both drive older cars, I didn't become a SAHM (which I see as a luxury when the family has debt) until the debt was gone, only cheap stay-cations, rarely eat out, few "extras". It isn't popular to do these things and we're not "allowed" to talk about them. Everyone these days seems to have a sad story and justifications for why they are different.
We simply decided we had to make certain life choices to pay off our debt. We're changing our family tree to benefit our son and the future generations of our family. We're frugal, but also happy, content, fulfilled, etc., and still have a better lifestyle than our high school peers who didn't go to college. So I think the sacrifices have been worth it.
14 hours ago, HeighHo said:Why would you have debt from any spouses student loans? Did you co-sign the original loan or a refi during the marriage, taking on liability? Were you married and living in a community property state when the spouse took out the loan? I understand the deceased's creditors would take you to court if you had received assets from the estate before the debts were paid or it was a Medicaid Divorce.
Fraud calls are high, its very easy to see who knows someone, call and try to get money out of them. I have had five in the last three years...all authentic sounding. Because I keep good records, know the terms of the law on my medical bills and bail, and am in touch with relatives, I knew they were fraudulent. I invited each one to do what they wanted to do, take me to court. In one case, His Honor had already ruled...I told the caller I'd love to meet them in court, bring on that lawsuit they threatened as His Honor would love to talk to them.
I think she said she didn't co-sign. I think saying the lender "came after" her is kind of too strong. They simply sent a letter; they're just fishing. It might even be a third-party debt collector just seeing if they can bully an unsuspecting or ill-informed relative (or former relative) into paying, all while knowing they have no legal basis for it. Unfortunately it happens.
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I saw this today and just wanted to share here in case anyone is interested . . . FundaFunda Academy is offering a High School Challenge that runs for the month of July. It's a unit study for getting prepared for college. The self-paced virtual classroom opens on July 1 but registration will remain open until July 20. The classroom closes at the end of July. We've always had a great experience with FundaFunda.
More info and registration: https://www.fundafundaacademy.com/challenge/
QuoteSoon you will be going to college! Will you be ready?
- Will you be ready to get into college?
- Will you be ready to win scholarships?
- Will you be ready to succeed in college?
Don’t let these questions instill fear into you – rather – take part in our very unique contest that will both guide you through many things that will help prepare you for college AND will give you a chance to win prizes.
There will be 30 challenges to choose from. Here are some examples:
- Narrow down your choice of colleges
- Take a career quiz
- Improve your vocabulary
- Find scholarships to apply for
- Discover how much financial aid you are likely to get from FAFSA
- Learn to take lecture notes
Each challenge will show you how to do it – so you will gain an AMAZING amount of knowledge while being eligible for great prizes at the same time!
The cost is $5 – but everyone who reaches a minimum of 30 points (won’t be hard to achieve) will win a $5 Target gift card! And the registration fee includes access to our Intro to Google Drive unit study worth $20.
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My son read the Samuel Butler translation. It is said to be a little easier to understand than some other versions and just as rich. It was part of his Great Books - Ancients class with Wasko Lit. Mr. Wasko has taught high school English for ~30 years so I trusted his judgment on this. 😀
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OP, obviously we don't know your son, and you do know him, his strengths and weaknesses, better than anyone. But if I were in your shoes, I'd lay out for my DS the concerns regarding the number of credit hours he's capable of per semester, being able to work or not (which means being able to afford the college or not?), maintain a 3.0 which means keeping his scholarship, graduate on time, etc, and then leave it with him. I would think my son deserves the chance to apply himself, rise to the occasion, and not have it decided for him in advance. Obviously, you know you can't do it for him. At some point he has to do this, or not.
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45 minutes ago, Miguelsmom said:
That's what we're trying to figure out. My husband feels he can just get scholarships to cover it and he will try but it's not like they hand them out easily. I'm not sure we can help him more then essential toiletries. He's basically on his own (financially) when he turns 18 and moves out. I'm hoping to at least pay his interest while in school and get him a secured credit card for college. He needs to keep a 3.0 gpa to keep his state scholarship because if he doesn't do that there's no possibility of the dorms. I may have him get seasonal jobs between now and college entrance.
Does your son know that he's not going to get any financial support from his parents once he turns 18? If this is true, he needs a job ASAP and I don't see how he could have the luxury of not working going forward.
If he lives at home and commutes, will you continue to feed him, let him use your utilities, etc? Or will he pay rent to you? If he moves to a dorm instead, some of your monthly expenses will decrease. Teen boys usually eat a lot (mine does and he's not even an athlete), so I'd bet your grocery bill alone will go down significantly, plus your water bill and gas or electricity bill (fewer showers, less laundry). Can you not apply your monthly "savings" toward helping him live on campus? Just trying to help you brainstorm.
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On 6/24/2019 at 8:55 AM, Miguelsmom said:
I want my son to commute 45 min-70 min one way in high traffic (varies due to accidents on the bridge). My husband wants my son to stay in the dorms. We can’t help him financially. His tuition and books are paid and he’ll have money left over either for dorms or commuting. It wouldn’t cover all the dorms so he would have to take out loans. He may or may not get a job. Currently he does DE and it takes him all day to complete everything. He completes work slowly. So concentrating on completing school work is important.
My husband’s fear is him driving in that traffic, him not feeling connected to the campus, finding friends, the 2+ hours a day taken away from studies, that he’ll just STOP going and things like that.
My issues are financial. If he did commute he’d save about $11k a year, have his own room. However he would have to buy a reliable car, insurance, gas, AAA, maintenance and a meal plan. He wouldn’t have a car if he lived on campus. I’m not sure if my idea will cost more, essentially the same, or actually less. I really don’t want him starting out with debt.
What would you advise?
In this scenario, I'd want my son to live in a dorm. #1 for safety reasons. Young driver, high traffic, accidents on bridge? No way. #2 for all the time-efficiency reasons stated by many above. #3 for financial reasons. I think it will cost a lot more than you think to commute. Estimated costs of commuting today range from $0.59 to $0.75 cents per mile (https://exchange.aaa.com/automotive/driving-costs/#.XRKG7-hKg2w), depending on how many miles you drive per year. I don't know how many miles he'd be traveling, but at 30 miles one-way, 60 miles per day, for 180 days a year, it would cost AT LEAST $6300 per year in fuel, depreciation, maintenance, tires, insurance, and the cost of the car itself. That's more than half of the $11k you said he could save by commuting.
I live in an area where we have to drive long distances to get to anything. I still wouldn't want my son to commute in this situation.
Some things are worth the money. I think in this case a dorm room is one of those.
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But AP and Advanced Placement are trademarked terms, owned by the College Board. Regardless of the opinion anyone may have about the College Board, that fact remains. And I've read here numerous times over the years that if a student takes a course (or self-studies) with a syllabus which has NOT been College Board-approved, one simply is not justified in labeling that course AP or Advanced Placement on the transcript. One could perhaps label it "Chemistry with AP Exam", but not "AP Chemistry". If the student ends up not taking the AP exam after completing the (non-approved) course, then " . . . with AP exam" doesn't go after the course name. There are no transcript police, but giving an inaccurate name to a course in order to give a student a GPA bump or to fit any other narrative just isn't playing by the rules. And if we as homeschoolers know this, I'd bet that folks in the college admissions/scholarship arena know that too.
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My DS is in this situation; one of the DE classes he's taking is worth 2 college credits. I'm going to round down and give it .5 credits on his high school transcript, because I don't want his transcript to be perceived as being "padded", and because he will have more than enough credits for graduation from our homeschool, so the difference between .5 and 1.0 credit doesn't matter in the big picture anyway. The point is that he took the course and it is on the transcript -- the number of credits earned for it is not the point, to me.
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I don't know if this is the same issue you're encountering, but I used to list my son's used curricula on Amazon and other sites for resale after we finished with it. I've never sold more than a handful of books a year, so it definitely isn't a business for me and I don't make a profit. Anyway, several months ago, I got an email from Amazon that said they now require all sellers to provide US Tax Identity information: "provide Amazon the appropriate tax identity in the form of a W-9 or W-8BEN form". And this was also in the email:
QuoteI am not going to come close to hitting the reporting threshold. Why does Amazon require my tax identity?
It is Amazon's policy for sellers to provide taxpayer identification information to Amazon to comply with state and federal income tax reporting regulations.
Since I had grown tired of paying Amazon's high selling fees anyway, it was an overreach I wasn't willing to comply with, so I let them close my seller account.
But I was never charged a fee to list with Amazon. The fees applied only when one of the books was sold.
For me, eBay has lower fees and I sell more used books there than I did with Amazon.
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Fine Arts Credit - Photography???
in High School and Self-Education Board
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My son took the 1 semester photography class at FundaFunda Academy. What you described, OP, is exactly what I recall him doing for the course requirements, and the instructor at FundaFunda is professional photographer. So I think what you've planned covers everything and sounds perfect.