This article appears to have some figures for 2023 ACA prices.

Years ago on our big east coast trip, we drove down through NJ on the Garden State Highway, stopped at Barnagut Lighthouse (cool!), which you can go up to the top (we did!), and then drove down to Cape May and took the ferry (also cool!) across to Lewes. On the ferry ride, we were looking down in the water and saw loads of big pale slightly yellowish jellyfish (super cool!). We did not stay or sightsee in either Cape May or Lewes. But lighthouses and ferries are very cool to those of us who live in the desert Southwest! 😄

Homeschool curricula to do at home? Or online class? Christian? Secular? And how much past exposure has the student had to Logic, or will this be first exposure? So, how beginning/advanced is the student? And since it's an elective, are you looking for general exposure, or a rigorous program?

Are you looking for regular down time/time away for you? Or a way of keeping pre-K child occupied while homeschooling the others? Or are you looking for social time and friends/activities for the pre-K child? Ideas, depending on the need and time of day: - as part of the homeschool schedule, schedule each older child for 20 minutes during the homeschool time to do an activity with the youngest -- read a book to youngest or look at one of those "search & find" books together, play a game, build with blocks or use other toys, use crayons and a coloring book, explore with Geoboards or other math-y activity or manipulative, explore/play outside, build a blanket fort together, make a snack together and serve it to everyone, dress-up/imaginative play etc. etc. - hire a teen as a to come in for 2 hours 2x/week in the afternoons - join a homeschool support group with all ages of kids that meets for social time 1x/week - make a rotating 1x/week "pre school" with several other moms -- each mom hosts all of the other (3-4) preschoolers for 3 hours once a month

If she still needs Grammar instruction and practice, then you might go with At the high school level, Grammar, Writing, and Literature all tend to be split out and covered by difference programs. There are a few publishers who have Grammar & Writing together at the high school level, but I can't think of a single program that includes Literature as well. There are a number of reasons for that, but the big benefit is that it allows you to pick a resource that best fits your student's individual needs for each of those areas. GRAMMAR Below are 3 options that would be final instruction in Grammar, and include diagramming. So these options would be more intensive and more learning-based (rather than review). The options below are often used in grade 8 OR grade 9, if a student is not quite done with Grammar instruction, or really needs to revisit Grammar overall: - Growing with Grammar level 8 Written to the student, but you can easily go over the teaching portion of the lesson together; this looks like it would cover all of the topics more at a thorough review level (whereas AG and R&S are full-on intensive programs). - ORIGINAL / "CLASSIC" version of Analytical Grammar Set up so that you can schedule this over 1 year, 2 years, or 3 years -- whatever your need is. [The new edition is sold as 5 separate packages for the different topics: Basics (level 1); Mechanics (level 2); Parts of Speech (level 3); Phrases & Clauses (level 4); Punctuation & Usage (level 5).] - Rod & Staff Grammar grade 8 I have often read that it is the grade 8 year really puts all of the Grammar concepts together, and it is quite rigorous, so there would be no problem in using it in 9th grade. One thing to consider -- does your student really NEED additional instruction in Grammar? Usually by 8th grade, a student has received all of the Grammar instruction needed, and in high school, Grammar is a tool used in support of Writing. Grammar is used in context of Writing in the revision stage of Writing, through with sentence structure and "GUM" (Grammar Usage and Mechanics), as well as in proof-editing Writing that has been revised. Grammar is also a useful tool in studying a foreign language. If that is more along the lines of what your student would benefit from -- review of concepts, but NOT diagramming, then possibly: - Fix It Grammar, level 5 (gr. 9-12) (from IEW) Grammar topics in context of fixing errors in a paragraph of writing. - The Chortling Bard Review of a variety of Grammar concepts through fixing errors in a paragraph a day, with each paragraph building up a retelling of 1 of 4 Shakespeare plays; also includes vocabulary building with 2 focus words per paragraph. No diagramming, but fun and fast -- 10 minutes a day, and it really keeps students thinking about Grammar in context of their OWN writing (revision and proof-editing). - Analytical Grammar: High School Reinforcement If Grammar instruction is completed and diagramming is understood, these are for review, using passages from different authors: American; British; World; Shakespeare Plays _________________ WRITING I'd suggest: Jump In (gr. 6-9), OR, The Power in Your Hands (gr. 9-12) If your student is remedial / not comfortable composing multi-paragraph pieces of writing, then you could go through Jump In; if she can handle multi-paragraph assignments, then go with The Power In Your Hands -- it is gentle, and works well for a high school student who hasn't hit their stride with writing yet. Both levels by Sharon Watson; both written to the student, but you could do the teaching text portion together. Covers all 4 of types of writing (Descriptive, Narrative, Expository, Persuasive), and a variety of types of assignments. If you went with Jump In, I'd recommend dropping the 4 weeks of "free writing from a prompt" that is scheduled at the end of each unit -- that is what turns the program into a 2 year program. Without that, it is a solid intro into writing for an older student who doesn't need all of that additional writing practice of just putting pencil to paper. Writing With Skill Either level 1 or level 2 -- look at the table of contents for topics, and sample of level 1 and sample of level 2 to see what would be a good fit. Very guided/scripted. Formal instruction. Parts to whole style of instruction. This program would totally have KILLED my DSs (one was an average writer, but disliked writing, the other had mild LDs and struggled heavily with Writing). However, many people find this style of instruction works well for their student. No formal grammar instruction, but there is a bit of beginning literary analysis as part of the learning to come up with ideas of what to write about (formulating a thesis). Lively Art of Writing For learning to write the essay. Also, 2 WTMers created this FREE set of work pages to go with it (it is linked in the 1st post I linked you to here). Lantern English - Essay Basic series of classes While this is an outsourced online option, and does not have tons of instruction, you might find this useful to plug one of the 8-week courses every so often as part of what you do for writing in high school. _________________ LITERATURE If you go with matching Literature with History (which has pros -- AND cons -- to doing ALL of the literature that way), I strongly recommend doing Windows to the World when you are ready to start writing about your literature. The best, clear, step-by-step instructions I've seen in how to write a literary analysis essay. Even better, if you are not familiar with or comfortable with digging into lit., you might do WttW along with Teaching the Classics. While it has been discontinued, you could look for a used copy of Jill Pike's syllabus, which schedules how to do BOTH of these together, plus adds material.

Agreeing with @Corraleno -- yes, often the credit transfers, but the grade/GPA does NOT transfer When DS#1 did his MechE degree, he did the first 2 years at the local CC (as a college student, not DE), and then transferred to the local university. All of the credits transferred -- but with no GPA. Which is a shame, because he had a 4.0 GPA from the CC. He ended up doing very well at the university and had over 3.9 GPA for his university degree, so all was well. 😉

Here's an article full of interesting ideas: "A Flannery O'Connor Reading List" -- based on authors/works she mentioned in her letters. If wanting to read other authors in the Southern Gothic genre (which is O'Connor's genre), here are a few, with their more famous works: - Tennessee Williams -- The Glass Menagerie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Streetcar Named Desire (plays) - Truman Capote -- In Cold Blood (novel) - William Faulkner -- "A Rose For Emily", "Barn Burning", "Go Down Moses" (short stories) - Carson McCullers -- The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (novel) * - Walker Percy -- although his works are rather adult in topic If wanting (mostly) contemporaneous female authors, maybe: - Zora Neale Hurston -- Their Eyes Were Watching God (novel) -- published 25 years before O'Connor, but it would be a great comparison - Harper Lee -- To Kill a Mockingbird (novel) - Lorraine Hansberry -- A Raisin in the Sun (play) - Margaret Craven -- I Heard the Owl Call My Name (short novel) If interested in similar themes of flawed characters interacting with religion and/or their world falling apart, maybe: - Gilead (Marilynn Robinson) - My Name is Asher Lev (Chaim Potok) - The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver) * - something by Graham Greene * * = no personal experience, so not sure how adult or graphic in content

I was also going to suggest the top levels of stepped reader series such as: Step into Reading step 4 and step 5. A few more ideas: series - A True Book series - On My Own History - Creative Minds Biographies - National Geographic Kids Chapter series - Time for Kids series individual titles - Spectacular Stories for Curious Kids - Mistakes That Worked - Brendan the Navigator - Viking Adventure

Yes, we did diplomas through Homeschool Diploma. They came out very nice. One DS had "honors" level GPA, so his diploma also had the honors gold sticker on it. We used "Homeschool High School," as we did not have a school name. Caps and gowns... we did participate in our homeschool support group's ceremony, but getting the caps and gowns was another mom's job (mine was designing and printing the programs), so I don't know where she ordered them from. I only needed to buy one set for first DS, and second DS re-used. I donated those to the homeschool group after the second graduation. One thought -- can you look at what color of cap and gown their future universities require for the graduation ceremony, and get those now for high school graduation -- and at least get double duty out of them?? Or even better -- could you just borrow 2 caps and gowns from other homeschoolers for the photos, and purchase the color of tassel each DS would like to put on the caps?

Done. 😄 Bottom of PAGE 5 of the "High School Motherlode #2" pinned thread, under the Dual Enrollment sub-topic, next to a thread asking how to rate community colleges.

How to Write a College Application Essay by Tania Runyan. She also tutored students through this process for years.

That's why I was thinking a grade/year format might not be that easy to follow -- everyone does their own layout and design, and most registrars are not graphic designers. 😉 That is helpful info -- didn't know there was software that some high schools use that "autofills." Thanks!

Ahhh, in re-reading I see that what you really need is a TECH credit. So disregard the darkroom idea... For actual computer technical ed. coursework/credit... What about a video-based class on computer basics, like from Udemy? Or several free video-based courses on specific software use?

Is this for print photography (so, that would be a course in darkroom techniques for enhancing photographic prints)? Or is this for digital photography? (which would mean use of software on a computer, tablet (or possible a phone) to edit photographs) If she is very computer-adverse, then I'd suggest a dual enrollment course in print-photography that includes darkroom use and techniques. If needing something that can be done at home, using video-based classes, then you're looking at digital photography and a computer-based software or phone app that allows you to manipulate your photo images as "post production" process. Lightroom is a great program used for post-production work on photographic images, and there online video-based courses and workshops to walk you through this program. Creative Live offers a number of video-based (and sometimes live-streaming) workshops and series of classes that are meaty. However, if computer-adverse, then FYI: Lightroom is computer software, not a phone app. Photoshop is a digital manipulation software program, that can also be used for post-production work on photos, as well as for other digital image applications. There are a lot of online courses and in-person community college classes as dual enrollment available for that software. Here is an article listing 13 phone apps for photo editing. Scroll down after the list of apps for info on how to pick an app (what to look for to fit your need), and how phone apps compare to computer software. I don't know as though phone apps would be meaty enough to count as a full credit, but could certainly be included as part of a Fine Arts course on photography and photo-editing...

The second part of this I get (how much taken each year). But I'm curious -- why is it easier for admissions to quickly understand chronological transcript? I have always assumed -- and said so in my posts on the matter 😉 -- that listing by subject would be easier/quicker, because the college websites list the required admission credits in a list of subjects -- 4 credits English, 4 credits Math, 2 credits For. Lang, etc. Why is chronological easier? Is it just because that is the format they see most of the time from public/private high schools? Because I would still think there is a "learning curve" for each new layout/design of transcript from each different school to find all of the English credits, then go through and find all of the Math credits... etc. Not pot-stirring. Just wondering. 😉

Books go out of print and are not easily available, which means they need to be removed from a SL core. Also, new books come out that may be a better fit for the grade/age of a SL core. (And, from a sales perspective, revised new product makes older product obsolete, so customers will re-buy. 😉 )

Here's an even older list, of SL books from 2007 and older: Sonlight Books Arranged by the Well-Trained Mind 4-Year Cycles

"12 Magical Book Series for Kids Who Love the Rainbow Magic Fairy Book Series"

Yes. 😉 Your choice, any of those works fine. But it will probably shine as a bit more rigorous either under Social Science, OR, shine under the Fine Arts heading, by showing her high interest and level of work with all of her Art courses (esp. if listing all of her Graphic Design coursework under Art). Electives often are thought to be "lighter" courses. Cool! And again, yes! Either your special section, or Art. 😄 Personally leaning a bit more towards your suggested special category heading, esp. if she might end up with additional Digital Arts coursework. That will help those shine as a sort of "minor" (like the minor to a major for a college degree), and show her focus and interest in that area. If she has a few odd courses that don't fit under other headings (ex: PE, Health...), you'll need an Electives category. Or, leave off if they are lightweight things like PE and if she has plenty of other credits. One last thought: what will the college admission office be looking for? What does their list of required credits for admission look like -- does it say anything specifically about "Electives"? What do the specific colleges want (that she will apply to)? Go with their requirement. If they don't have a required policy (such as organized by grade/year), then JMO, but I think organized by subject is actually a lot easier to read. Admissions is looking to see if you have the required amount of credits for each subject, and if you group by subject, bam! -- it's right there. Also, if they are looking for progression of difficult/advanced work, it's also very easy to see that when courses of the same subject are grouped together. I suppose if they are looking to see how many classes were taken in senior year, and how hard they were, to make sure the student wasn't "coasting" in 12th grade, then grouping by subject would be why the college would want grade/year. But, IMP, it's a little more difficult to see advancing rigor that way. 🤷‍♀️ You can also include grade/year as part a subject-based layout (see below -- I used courses from my local CC's Digital Arts AAS). Or use a format that is grouped by both grade/year AND subject. Look around for that sample transcript format that has been attached in past threads; it looks a bit like a spread sheet. MATH year . . . course . . . . . . credit . . grade 8th . . . Algebra 1 . . . . 1.00 . . . A 9th . . . Geometr . . . . .1.00 . . . A 10th . . .Algebra 2 . . . .1.00 . . . A 11th . . . Pre-Calculus . 1.00 . . .B 12th . . . Statistics . . . . 1.00 . . .B total credits/GPA . . . . . . 5.00 . . 3.600 DIGITAL ARTS & DESIGN year . . . course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . grade 11th . . . DAR102 Intro to Computer Design* . . . . . . 1.00 . . . A 11th . . . DAR112 Graphic Design* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.00 . . . A 11th . . . DAR122 Adobe Illustrator* . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.00 . . . A 12th . . . DAR221 Adobe Photoshop* . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.00 . . . A 12th . . . DAR226 Adobe InDesign* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.00 . . . A 12th . . . DAR226 Digital Arts Portfolio Capstone* . . 1.00 . . . A total credits/GPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.00 . . 4.000 * = dual enrollment at XYZ Community College

Yea! Congrats on being done with the 2022-2023 school year! 😄 It is absolutely fine to just call it done. NO reason to keep forcing everyone on a death march to finish a workbook or program, if it's just going to make everyone miserable and engender a hatred of learning. 😉 And, that's why public school textbooks are structured the way they are: the first 20% of the text is a LOT of review from the previous year; then the middle 60% is the new content meant for that grade level. The final 20% of the text is actually topics/material that is "working ahead" to be part of that 60% for the NEXT year. So if you don't finish, NO worries. You just circle around again at a later time and fill that gap. And possibly use different resources that might be of more interest or a better fit. 😉 You have LOTS of time ahead of you still. 😄

eek! 😵

Legit? Yes, of course it is. TT has been around for almost 20 years (founded in 2004), and not long ago released version 4.0 -- so their 3rd revision since the release of the original edition. No personal experience but comments I have seen over the years: - original version Alg. 2 covered only about half of the topics in a typical Alg. 2 program -- revised versions fixed that so yes, a full credit now - TT is often considered one of the "lighter" options -- MUS is probably considered the very lightest of high school math options; AoPS and Dolciani typically are listed at the most rigorous end of the spectrum of high school math programs - the presentation is traditional and spiral -- similar to Saxon; if your student does well with Saxon, then TT may be a good fit; if you have a non-traditional math learner, then TT may not be a good fit (like, if the student clicks well with MUS) - designed for students to use on their own -- so, self-teaching - every single problem is fully worked out, so you can see exactly where you might have gone wrong - a few times (maybe 3?) I have heard that students figured out how to cheat, and went for months before parent discovered it (note: this is something I have heard about not JUST with TT -- students cheating has happened with a number of different programs) re: amateurish website design lol. I think that about a LOT of small company websites, and about the layout/design of a LOT of homeschool produced programs for a number of subjects. 😄 Poor graphic design can often just mean the company spent their limited funds on publishing and promotion rather than paying a professional graphic designer. 😉

Ice cream DIY bar Buy a carton of vanilla and a carton of chocolate + a variety of toppings (chopped nuts, whipped cream, chopped berries, chocolate syrup, m&ms or other candy bits for sprinkling, etc.); spread elements out on the counter; everyone fixes their own to taste. Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries Carton of whole strawberries, rinsed and patted dry; melt some Ghirardelli dipping chocolate wafers in the microwave; hold the leafy top of each strawberry, dip, and let dry on a sheet of wax paper for about 5 minutes, until chocolate is hardened. No-bake cookies -- 25 cookie and bar recipes (some may require brief stovetop cooking) No-bake Keto Fat Bombs -- 24 recipes (some may require brief stovetop cooking) Don't let the "keto" or "fat bomb" put you off of looking at these recipes -- these are all EASY, as they have just a few ingredients (like chocolate, peanut butter, cream cheese, fruit, nuts), and are quick to stir together into "bomb" or round bon-bon shapes, and then are refrigerated. Most substitute Stevia or other for sugar, but easy to substitute back real sugar! 😄

SO sorry, @Ting Tang ! 😵 I so did NOT mean for my statement to make you feel bad or like you're not doing the right thing! I just meant that it is *okay* to do some literature together in the middle/high school grade -- I said that because I often seeit said (NOT by you) that kids "should" be fully or almost fully independent in their work for homeschool. And that is just not what works for the vast majority of children -- that makes things so very hard on both students AND parents. And that's really what I was reacting to -- that thought. Not to what you are doing. So sorry for not making that clear. Moms of many have so much to juggle, and I would never want anything I say to make your life harder! I try to always preface with "this is what worked for us because we only had 2 close in age", and "YMMV" -- but I don't always remember to make sure to include that in my posts.

Well, I disagree with this. We did much of our literature all together aloud all the way through the end of high school. Yes, DSs did have some lit. they were reading on their own that was assigned for school. But we had MUCH more in-depth discussions about lit. when we did it together. (And, we were still doing read-alouds for fun -- what I'm talking about is the lit. we were doing "for school.") But of course, every student is different, so YMMV.