I agree about that being "off" for introducing essays. Way too young for the vast majority of students. Just from my experiences with teaching writing to homeschool students, being able to develop a thesis and then build an argument of support requires solid abstract thinking skills that don't usually start maturing for most students until about 9th grade. Yes, I do have some 7th graders already clicking with it, but they are unusual and advanced. I have a lot more high schoolers who are 10th/11th grades and JUST starting to click with how to think through what they are trying to say, and how to support and structure their thinking. 😉

Agreeing with above suggestions of: Windows to the World 1 semester for gr. 9-12; covers 6 short stories; teaches annotation, then how to use annotation as support in writing a literary analysis essay; the rest of the program covers 8-10 of the most common literary elements and how they develop depth in a story/novel; has some helpful exercises and additional essay assignments Writing Research Papers: Essential Tools 1 semester for gr. 9-12. And @ScoutTN has a great idea to also get familiar with the major style formats likely to be encountered in college -- MLA, APA, esp. and then possibly Chicago. Other ideas: - Creative Writing (but only if she enjoys that -- it would be great to give her an opportunity to explore writing fiction or poetry) • Adventures in Fantasy (gr. 5-9) -- since it's geared lower age range, could easily do in 1 semester • How to Write a Story (gr. 9-12) -- 1 semester program under IEW • The Creative Writer -- 1 semester programs, WTM press • One Year Adventure Novel (gr. 9-12) -- a year program - Journalism - High School Journalism -- can probably schedule to be 1-semester or 1-year - Byline (gr. 9-12) -- looks like it is 1-semester - Journalism Basics (Cathy Duffy review) and, link to the Book (gr. 9-12) -- 1-semester Or, real life writing Every year, with my co-op classes, I include a few of these assignments, and always have one or more students tell me how much they appreciated us doing it because it was at the exact time they needed that type of writing. 😄 Ideas of types of real-life writing (and you can do internet searches for "how to" on these -- I don't know of a writing program that covers all of these; Jensen's Format Writing covers some of the business letters -- but it is OLD/dated, and is dry as dust 😉😞 - college admission essay - scholarship application essay - oral presentation with accompanying powerpoint/slides (MANY college classes now include assignments that are oral presentations, so this is good to learn in advance) - create a resume - business/formal letters: • cover letter (for the resume, or for applying for a special program) • letter of thanks; request for info; complaint; commendation of someone, etc. - formal email -- to a college professor, boss, or potential employer - news article, or an objective report - letter to the editor, or an opinion piece

McGraw-Hill History and Geography Student Suite??? Two separate texts, but from the same publisher?? Power Basics World History (gr. 5-adult) + Power Basics Geography (gr. 6-adult)

What grade is your DD? I was guessing 10th grade, because I assumed the W&R numbers correspond with grade levels, and she's finishing W&R 10. BUT, apparently that is not the case if each W&R level is one semester long... So what grade levels are W&R 10, 11, 12 designed for? And what grade is your DD? I would recommend different options depending on if, next year, she is going to be late middle school (gr. 8), vs. early high school (gr. 9-10), vs. late high school (gr. 11-12).

A single woman I know has lived in a tiny house for a number of years, and it seems to work for her. It is the type of tiny house that can be relocated, which she has done twice, in order to first be on her married daughter's property, and now on her married son's property. I don't know the size, but I would guess no larger than 250-sq.ft. if it was easily moved. Another single woman I know, with 2 medium-to-large sized dogs,lives in a 660-sq.ft. home that has a tiny tiny yard. It is not the moveable kind of home, but instead looks like a house that has been sub-divided into a sort of duplex. It has 2 bedrooms, so she has a room that can be her office / craft room / guest room. She just purchased it a few months ago and seems very happy. It certainly greatly reduces the amount of time required for house cleaning and yard work. 😄

Welcome to the WTM boards, and welcome to homeschooling! My first suggestion would be: Use this summer to not just research what specific curricula/programs you want to use, but to really think through your answers to the questions of "WHY are we going to educate at home?" And, "what are our overall/long-term GOALS we want to accomplish by educating at home?" Goals would include not just academics (example: "we want to include Latin and Logic as subjects"), but would involve overall character development for your children (and family dynamics), as well as specific needs and strengths of each child, and how you, as the parent, want to nurture and grow your children, as well as help them develop into adults who can fit into and function in society. "Classical education" is just one of a number of methods of how to present academics, and "method" is not really an answer to the "why" and the "goals" for YOUR family. Not every method is going to be a good fit for your student -- or for you or your family as a whole. So method really needs to be considered after you figure out your "why are we homeschooling," and your overall long-term goals -- a kind of mission statement, if you will. 😉 Then you can think about each child individually and what "method" or programs/curriculum will be a good fit for them as students, and of course, a fit for meeting your "why" and your "goals." After that... my second suggestion would be: Give yourself time to make the adjustment to homeschooling. Transitioning into what homeschool looks like for YOUR family will take time, and will take the longest with the 12yo since he was in a traditional school setting up to this point. I'd also be looking for opportunities for the 12yo to be engaged in extracurriculars, which will also likely help with the transition from a school setting to the setting of home/family for education. The middle school years (and esp. the high school years) are prime time for not only developing friendships and social interacting with all ages, but to also explore interests. Some ideas: - homeschool support group that does field trips, a weekly PE, social activities for teens, etc. - local public/private school, if allowed -- sports team or music/orchestra, or after school club like robotics, etc. - after school youth bowling league - community youth theater, choir, or orchestra - local parks & rec class / public library program for pre-teens -- pottery, video/film making, jewelry making, etc. - lessons from a provider -- art, horseback riding, fencing, martial arts - club sports or community sports team -- NYS or YMCA sports, swim team, Little League baseball, soccer league, etc. - Scouting - Sea Cadets (age 10-18), or Junior Civil Air Patrol (age 12-18) - 4-H -- animal husbandry, but also: dog training, ham radio, archery, public speaking, + many other non-animal programs - all-ages community group -- orienteering, Community Gardens, rocketry club, history recreation, etc. As far as homeschooling 8th grade -- middle school years are usually geared towards: - making sure foundational academics are solid -- math and writing especially - as the student is ready, working on study skills (reading to study/learn, reading deeper for thinking/discussion, note taking, test-taking skills, memorization techniques, time management and "stuff" management, etc.) - move towards some independent work (if appropriate) - if the student is advanced in an area, start moving into high school level work Your 6yo / 1st grader will not need a tons of time of formal academics -- likely about 60 minutes a day to cover core subjects (reading, handwriting, math) and then another 60 minutes for read alouds, plus reading and supplements for your "content" subjects (History, Geography, Science, etc.). And you can include other short time periods for solo reading and/or solo discovery activities / kits / educational videos, etc. Your 3yo / pre-schooler will not need formal academics -- instead, lots of opportunities for imaginative play, discovery/exploration, and lots of outside time are what are developmentally appropriate and what will best "feed" your pre-schooler's brain development. Lots of read-alouds, nature walks, and informal exploration activities. If your 3yo has expressed interest, consider a Letter of the Week approach. You will likely want to develop a routine so you will be able to work uninterrupted with your 12yo and 6yo while your 3yo either naps or enjoys a tub with sand or water or bubbles with toys to go along, or has his/her own special "blanket time" educational activities -- and you'll want to rotate through a variety of activities each day, but also have enough activities that you can have a box for each of 4-6 weeks, and rotate through the boxes, so activities stay "fresh." And as you have more specific concerns, post each as a separate thread so you can get great specific experience and thoughts and recommendations. Again, welcome! Enjoy your homeschooling journey as a family. Warmest regards, Lori D.

Hmmmm.... Maybe the aliens are testing out how a monolith in your front yard might go down by first checking out the reaction to a summer sausage in your basement... 👽🗿

This is really what I was going to respond, but then tried to flesh out different paths and it just got so long and complicated I deleted, and stuck with answering about my own DC -- even though I don't think that ultimately hearing about "what everyone else did" is going to help the original poster. 😉

You will have way above the average # of credits, and way above avg. working level if doing DE. Congrats! 😄 It has been years now since both of our DSs graduated, so I don't know that our experience will help you. Also, at that time, for comparison, our state Board of Ed. only required public school students to graduate with a total of 20 credits -- they now require 22 credits for public school graduation (4 each = English, Math, 3 each = Science, Social Studies, 1 = Fine Arts or CTE, 7+ = additional courses). Not that what we did so long ago will be of any help to you, BUT, since you asked: - DS#1 = 25 credits - DS#2 = 24 credits - both DSs had 2 courses of DE each (1 in each semester of 12th grade) which was their 2 credits of Foreign Language Neither DS did any AP courses. Both DSs enjoyed participating in a number of extracurriculars, which were SO worthwhile and caused both DSs to grow and learn so many very valuable skills (leadership, responsibility, networking, teamwork, organizing, etc.). Our experience was that those extracurriculars, plus having the ability to have DOWN time were absolutely some of the most valuable things we did in homeschooling high school for DSs' mental and physical health, and especially to give them exposure to a lot of interests and activities. It also helped us in making those choices between competing possibilities for the limited time of high school that neither DSs was gifted, advanced, excelerated -- and esp. NOT driven. Neither was interested in selective/competitive or top tier college. They were vey ordinary teens, who enjoyed doing a lot of different things during their high school years. 😉 You can see in my signature what each went on to do after graduating from homeschool high school. 😄

polyethylene, that is restaurant thickness --> meats/poultry large-size bamboo --> processing a larger amount of fruits, veggies, or chopping nuts small-size wood --> slicing cheese, cutting up a small amount of fruit or veggies Wood is better for the knife blades. The polyethylene can go in the dishwasher.

The main concern I see would be if he has already officially played a season (or part of a season) of high school sports. My understanding is that a student only gets 4 years of high school sports eligibility, so if a student does 5 years of high school (a "super senior year), they would likely have to be "red shirted" (sidelined) from competitive play for 1 year of those 5 years of high school, in order to maintain eligibility for college sports. That could potentially interfere with 11th and 12th grades when most of the videos are sent out to colleges for college recruitment interest of the students, if the student is having to sit out 11th, 12th, or 13th (super senior) grade year. From what I can see from a quick online search, it looks like: In most states, there is a 4-year athletic eligibility rule that student-athletes must abide by, which means that students can only participate in high school sports for a maximum of four years. This rule applies to all student-athletes, regardless of the sport they play. The four-year athletic eligibility rule typically starts counting from the first day of a student’s freshman year of high school. This means that any participation in high school sports during their freshman year will count towards their four-year limit. Even if a student-athlete chooses not to participate in sports until their sophomore or junior year, those years will still be counted towards their eligibility. Key exceptions that allow for 5th year participation in high school sports: - Injury/illness rule - Transfers and residency requirements - Held back academically - Extenuating circumstances (student has had to take time off from school due to personal or family reasons, or if there are extenuating circumstances that have affected their ability to participate in their sport) From what you describe, "held back academically" might be the only exception the student would be eligible for in doing a super senior year -- and that could potentially be really rough on a student's self-esteem. Good luck as you research to determine what your options are (or aren't).

Rather than letting the program "drive the bus" of your time and schedule, 😉 you can drive the bus of the curricula and just pick and choose what to cover each week so that it fits YOUR time slot of 1 hour a day. It looks like a lot of the time in the program is spent on English-based activities (reading literature and a weekly writing assignment), and since you don't want to use the Notgrass material for your English, if you drop most of the literature and writing, and just do the Geography articles and if there are any mapping activities or supplemental projects, that should easily give you a mostly-solo-working Geography that fits your schedule. And if you want more physical Geography topics, or more History topics, to go with the countries studied in Notgrass, that allows you the time to add in some supplements of interest, and just use the Notgrass as a basic "spine". And by picking and choosing your way through the program, you can just skip awarding any high school credit for Geography, and not worry about it (see note #1 below about "bringing up" credits from middle school). And, 2 quick FYIs for planning for high school credits 😉 : 1. Typically only the following credits are "brought up" from 8th grade onto the high school transcript: - Math -- Algebra 1 and up - Science -- Biology and up - For. Lang. -- that is high school level AND the student continues into the next step level of the language while in high school The subjects of English, Social Studies, Fine Arts, and Electives are not "brought up" from middle school except in rare exceptional cases. This is likely due to the fact that unlike Math, Science, and Foreign Language which have a standard progression of difficulty of material and build on previous levels, English, Social Studies, and Electives are less regimented or structured in what is covered or when. So that frees you up to adapt the Notgrass Geography to fit your schedule, rather than feeling you *must* complete everything in order to have a high school Geography credit -- which typically wouldn't be "brought up" on the transcript anyway. 😉 2. Some colleges only accept credits for core subjects of Math and especially English (and sometimes Science and/or Foreign Language) that were completed in the 4 years before starting college as meeting their admission requirements. So that frees you up to devote the time to getting the high school level Math and Science courses done well in prep for the high school years.

Decades back, when I worked at a radio/TV station, the engineers there talked about one physical side effect experienced by those who worked on the towers frequently enough was that they (all males at that time) became sterile.

So very very sorry, Kathy Jo and family. Lifting you all in prayer.

AP may start moving to digital format, like the SAT and the PSAT are doing. Which might make it easier (or not, depending on how they decide to do it) for homeschoolers to participate. With the number of homeschool high school students increasing a bit, I can't imagine College Board being willing to leave money on the table from homeschoolers because public schools can't or won't accept them. 😉

This chart from National Center for Educational Statistics, with data from 1985 through 2021, indicates that overall enrollment in K-12 grades in public schools has been trending upward: "Total enrollment for private elementary and secondary schools was 6.2 million students in fall 2000, then 5.3 million students in fall 2011, and projected to be 6.1 million students in fall 2021." Meanwhile, the total percent of school-aged children being homeschooled is hard to get an accurate read on, but 20 years ago, the estimate was that 3-3.5% of K-12 students in the US were homeschooled. Current estimates place that amount at about 5.22%. So yes, a bit of an increase in amount of homeschoolers. And when you compare total amount of school-aged children from 20 years ago to know, it's only an increase of about 1 million students. So homeschoolers are a slightly larger piece of the educational pie. I found these statistics interesting: . . . . . . children 6-17yo . . . total population . . . % of pop. = age 6-12 1950 = 28.2 million . . . . . 148.2 million . . . . . 19% 1960 = 40.2 million . . . . . 176.1 million . . . . . 23% 1970 = 48.9 million . . . . . 200.3 million . . . . 24% 1980 = 44.1 million . . . . . . 223.1 million . . . . 20% 1990 = 41.7 million . . . . . . 248.0 million . . . . 17% 2000 = 49.3 million . . . . . 282.4 million . . . . 17% 2010 = 49.1 million . . . . . . 311.2 million . . . . 16% 2020 = 50.3 million . . . . . . 335.9 million . . . . 15% ETA -- In answer to OP-er's questions... I live in a low regulation state with a lot of homeschoolers. I do think the # of homeschoolers has increased a bit since the pandemic due to dissatisfaction with the quality of academics/teaching. Homeschoolers here are allowed to participate on public high school sports teams, and take AP / PSAT tests (if there is room). I don't know of any schools (elementary or high school) that offer single classes to homeschoolers in my city. That may be an option in other school districts in the state.

Post a new thread with your questions or with the topic you want to chat about, and use the @__[insert poster name]__ feature in the thread to alert a specific board participant that you are hoping to hear from that person. But, you'll also get the benefit of others who have many years of experience in homeschooling as well, from many different perspectives. 😄 Also, welcome!

In answer to your bolded question -- Yes. I would think he could be done now. It looks like he already has 3 high school Soc. Studies courses (US Hist, World Hist, Econ/Gov't) -- and they are all the ones that might be possibly required for admission to a future university. I don't know as though I've seen any college require more than 3 Soc. Study credits for admission, so that looks to me like he has completed what he needs for that subject area. I would guess that doing History of Mathematics would be fun for him, and it would make a great "Academic Elective" (credit above/beyond the required in one of the core subjects of English, Math, Science, Soc. Studies, or For. Lang.). The only potential snag is that some colleges only accept for their admission requirements credits completed in the 4 years prior to starting as a college freshman. But, after Fine Arts, Social Studies is the subject that colleges tend to be the most flexible about their required credits for eligibility.

Oops! Above, I linked the WRONG thread by @Nan in Mass (also a good one, but not the one I meant 😉 ) I fixed that in my post above. The one I meant is: To all you with 8th graders (or thereabouts)

You also might find some of these threads to be helpful. They are all linked in the big "High School Motherlode #1" thread pinned at the top of the WTM High School Board. (Which, BTW, 8th grade is a great time for YOU to start reading, researching about high school, so you have an idea of what you need/want to accomplish in grades 9-12 -- and that in turn helps you think about what you might want to do in 8th grade to prepare... 😉 ) To those of you with 8th graders (or thereabouts) -- wonderful old thread from @Nan in Mass GENERAL TOPICS Preparing for high school (looking ahead from middle school) If you knew then what you know now (what would you do differently for Logic stage years) High school parents: looking back what would be your ideal for 7th/8th grades 8th grade goals: What skills do your kids need to practice before high school? Hypothetical question: What to do for the 4 years before public high school? How best to prepare for high school?

Also: @jenn&charles variety of subjects and age levels they have created; at their website Guest Hollow and @Farrar's Global Perspectives high school level humanities programs (see these at her website)

NOT a sales person for them AT ALL 🤣 , but, Callirobics was helpful for DS#2 who struggled with the act of handwriting and with mild dyslexia. His letters wandered all over and were irregular in size, much like a young child's who was just starting to learn to do handwriting. We ran across the program when DS#2 was around 14/15yo, and did it for 3-5 minutes each morning. All 3 of us (myself and DS#1, as well as DS#2) did it, and not only helped DS#2's handwriting, it really improved both DS#1 (sloppy handwriting) and MY (average) handwriting. The idea is to practice the line shapes and motions used in manuscript and cursive handwriting, being careful and intentional about how the shapes hit the lines or are shaped in the spaces between the lines on the paper. You do it for the length of the piece of music (3-5 minutes), and the music has a regular rhythmic beat that helps you to stay focused -- like a more musical version of metronome work.

Not directly an answer to your question, but "Honors" varies SO very widely from school to school, state to state, that may be a pretty meaningless designation for some colleges. If you do end up weighting, "Honors" is typically weighted less than AP and DE: regular . . "Honors" . . AP / DE A = 4.0 . . . 4.5 . . . . . . 5.0 B = 3.0 . . . 3.5 . . . . . . 4.0 C = 2.0 . . . 2.5 . . . . . . 3.0 D = 1.0 . . . 1.5 . . . . . . 2.0

You have a great kid and have a lot of great things going (Scouts, drums, tennis, friends, possibly work a job) in addition to a solid academic course of study, that are giving your DS a balanced lifestyle; that are letting him explore a wide variety of interests; and that are helping him to develop those important, intangible skills (communication, responsibility, teamwork, leadership, etc.) that he will use for all of adulthood. It's important to keep those kinds of things going, esp. with LDs or special needs. If trying to squeeze in college during high school means having to cut out other things he loves and are providing life skills and balance, then I would drop the idea of the AS or DE in a heartbeat. Esp. with the ASD1 and dysgraphia, he needs things that give him success and are NOT adding to his struggles. Also, by dropping the AS or DE, that would naturally give you more time to focus on the writing, and getting involved with the STEM program (if that would be of high interest to him). My thought is that he's got a lot of fantastic things here -- Scouts, drums, tennis, friends, possibly work a job -- which are going to help him mature in. Trying to squeeze in a few college-level classes when a student is dealing with some issues (ASD1, dysgraphia) sound like it cuts out the things of interest and that are building a lot of maturity and skills in favor of trying to start college while still in high school, and before he's really ready for college (and possibly doesn't have the interest in it yet). re: credits From what you mentioned above, here's how DS matches up with what is typically listed as required credits for college admission, compared with what you will have completed by the end of this year: college admission req. . . . . what you will have completed by the end of this year 4 credits = English . . . . . . . 2 credits (you mentioned literature, and I assume writing, too) 3-4 credits = Math . . . . . . . 3 credits (Alg. 1, Geometry, Alg. 2) 2-4 credits = Soc. Stud. . . . 2 credits (Geography, Western Civ) 3-4 credits = Science . . . . . 3 credits (Conceptual Physics, Biology, Chemistry) 2-4 credits = For. Lang. . . . 3 credits (Spanish) 1 credit = Fine Arts . . . . . . . 1 credit? (Art History / Drums) 4-8+ credits = Electives . . . Based on the above, just from a credit perspective, at the end of this year (current 10th grade), DS is more than halfway to meeting the high end of typical college admissions requirements for admission. That alone would make me disinclined to add a year to high school. Instead, since he is "ahead" in credits for Math, Science, and For. Language, that naturally gives you more time for focusing on Writing, and for doing the STEM program. If he has the time and INTEREST, then sure, do a DE course or two of interest in 2 years, which gives him the ability to dip a toe in the water of college. re: Writing ideas - speech-to text-software can help him focus on the thinking aspect of writing (coming up with a complete thesis and then building a solid argument of support for this thesis) rather than having it short-circuit between his brain and actually getting it down on paper via writing or typing - separate out that thinking part of writing from the "physical therapy" techniques that help him work on the dysgraphia and on practicing the act of writing and/or typing - consider a Speech & Debate club; not only is it a great extracurricular, but it is a terrific way of building and practicing the thinking part needed for writing - Youth & Government also involves speech writing and bill debate, so it also encourages the thinking skills used in writing (plus, you can use it towards a Gov't credit -- which I did not see on your list of credits in planning for future years) re: Math You said he is "plodding through Alg. 2" -- that sounds like a subject that is not a natural talent, nor a big interest, so I would take that into consideration when planning -- for example: complete Alg. 2 this year (10th), and go on to Pre-Calc (which has a lot of overlap with Alg. 2) next year (11th). If you want him to do Statistics, then that could happen the following year (12th). It doesn't sound like he is heading to Engineering, but if he ends up wanting to go in that direction, then do Calculus (in 12th) instead of Statistics. Just be aware that if he goes into Engineering, he would probably re-take Calculus in the freshman year of college anyways. That also gives you flexibility to skip Calculus in high school and do Statistics instead, if desired. I agree that overall, Statistics is a more useful math than Calculus (for subjects other than Engineering). But there does not seem to be huge amounts of Statistics in the typical Intro to Psychology course -- so that would free you up from needing to match up Statistics & Psych in the same year. Or, if your really feel it IS important, then bump Psychology to 12th grade and do it simultaneously with Statistics. IMO, the overall idea is to facilitate the education for the "child before you": - What does THIS student NEED (esp. if you have LDs in the mix)? - Where does HE want to head career-wise? And what maths, done in high school, will best help him towards that future goal? - Or, if no strong career goal at the moment, what best helps him have a well-rounded high school experience to work as a good foundation for life? That helps you determine how much emphasis and time should be put on the math, but still have balance for other areas that are weaker (you mentioned writing), and will also allow time for exploration of interests and subjects, which may help him uncover what he wants to do in his future. re: extracurriculars IMO, it is absolutely crucial to keep these up -- and maybe even add high quality extracurriculars that will further expand those life skills, "soft" job skills, build friendships, develop interests and hobbies ( that may be lifelong!), and help him practice maintaining lifestyle balance. Scouting -- wow, do whatever it takes support him in getting through Eagle Scout completion. That is a huge accomplishment that will open doors for him later on, but will also help him now to develop all of those wonderful skills of service, leadership, initiative, planning, organizing, etc. -- which are skills that he can apply to academics and studying for the rest of high school and through college. Tennis -- absolutely keep this; teens, esp. boys, need regular physical exercise, and those with LDs often need it even more as a way of blowing off the stress of trying to do academics when they have extra struggles. Drumming -- if he enjoys it, keep it. High school is a time for him to start having input into what he studies and spends time on. Again, that is why I asked above -- does DS WANT to do the AS or DE?? Esp. if it means he has to drop activities he enjoys?? We would hate it if someone cut out the things we enjoyed and piled on more work that we tolerated, but wasn't of high interest to us -- why would we do that to our kids?? That's my long answer. 😉 My short answer: - No, I would not extend another year of high school. - Yes, I would try for the STEM program IF it was of high interest to DS. - No, I would not drop the extracurriculars. - No, I would not try for doing the AS during high school with this particular student with those LDs. (Instead, since he's fine/a little ahead on credits, I would budget a bit of extra time to work on the Writing, and any other weak area. And include the STEM program, or another extracurricular, such as Speech & Debate, or, Youth & Government.) - Maybe I would have him do a class or two of DE in 12th grade, depending on where he is at that point. - And I'd be soliciting his input about his interests and possible future career/college goals.

DK Smithsonian Handbook: Rocks and Minerals The Firefly Guide to Minerals, Rocks, and Gems Gemstones of the World (Schmann) For a rock collection: I'd look for a rock & mineral store, or gem & mineral show, nearby and slowly let her make her own collection of items of interest to her. Other ideas: Also see if there is a gem & mineral club in the area and make some connections and learn about how to go rock hounding, or possibly lapidary if her interests go in one of those directions. Also, any gem & mineral exhibits at museums within your area?