The analysis for LLftLotR is gentle -- just the right amount of depth without "killing the book" (lol). The author of the program has a clear, deep love of the trilogy and the world of Middle Earth, and that really comes through all of the program. : ) re: Sci-Fi geek -- the year after DSs and I did LLftLotR, we made our own Lit program with a classic works of Sci-Fi focus -- one of DSs' all time favorites, along with the LLftLotR study. : ) PS -- I am an INFJ and love digging deeply into Literature; DS#1 is an ISTJ, and while literary analysis came slower to him (he is a very black and white STEM sort of thinker), the more we dug deeper into Lit., the more he enjoyed it, esp. discussing the worldviews, philosophy, and technology/ethics aspects of sci-fi. : )

Since Writing is the weaker area, and since "Lit is not her thing", there's nothing wrong with spending a year focusing on Writing, with just a few classics you want her to be familiar with as the English credit. 10th grade is often the year in which Composition is the heavy focus, so that would not be odd or unbalanced at all. For example: what about outsourcing writing to two Bravewriter classes per semester (or one 8-week Write At Home high school workshop per semester) next year, and just use the Lit. portion of Oak Meadow since it's working well for you all. However, I totally agree with you about the book selections in Oak Meadow Lit. & Comp. II (A Separate Peace, Huck Finn, and Anthem), and Oak Meadow American History (he Great Gatsby, The Red Badge of Courage, and To Be A Slave) If I had a student who was not "into" Lit., those would NOT be my choices for them, LOL. What about doing the year-long Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings study for the Literature, and outsourcing the Writing to online classes? The Lord of the Rings trilogy is by a British author (JRR Tolkien), and if DD also enjoys fantasy books, that could be a good match. The program would also give you excerpt overviews of Beowulf, and, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Medieval British works), which you could also do in full if DD was enjoying them. The program is a very gentle step into literary analysis with detailed chapter notes and a few discussion questions after the notes (you can skip the busy work of fill-in-the-blank comprehension questions and vocabulary quizzes for each chapter). The meat of the program, in addition to the chapter notes, are the 12 units on related Literature topics. It is written in an informal tone and can be done largely solo by the student, although it might be enjoyable to do it together, or if you have another student (gr. 7 or up), then the 3 of you could enjoy reading and discussing together. - program overview - sample chapter study If you did LLftLotR + outsourced writing in 10th grade, you could then follow up in 11th grade with Oak Meadow British Lit (Beowulf, The Once and Future King, A Midsummer Night's Dream, David Copperfield, and some short stories) and use both the Lit and Writing portions of Oak Meadow, as DD would have had a year of writing under a teacher to help her polish her skills, so she'd be ready to move back to a more solo program and be able to enjoy doing the entirety of Oak Meadow's program. More options: Outsource the Writing, and for Literature, pick 4 novels of high interest to DD, and do one per quarter using an individual lit. guide or two to work your way through each book together. For example, cover 4 British works together and also watch 4 well-done film versions of 4 additional British works, for exposure to additional classics. Or, out the Writing, and for the Lit., if you want a program rather than individual lit. guides, while it is a very scanty guide for helping with info on literary analysis or discussion questions for digging deeper, if you need inexpensive, the Learning Language Arts Through Literature: Gold: British Literature covers about 10 poets, 3 novels (Frankenstein, Emma, and Tale of Two Cities, and 2 novellas (The Time Machine, and Animal Farm). If DD is a strong reader or enjoys reading, but isn't so interested in spending a lot of time digging into the works with analysis, this might be the way to go. LLATL is also designed to be largely done solo, with the student researching the books/author/times for most of the depth. See samples, and the Cathy Duffy review. Or, outsource the Writing, and enjoy using Movies as Literature for the Lit. portion of the English credit, as it is often easier for students to develop analysis skills with visual films first, and then more easily see how to dig deeper into written Literature. See , and the Cathy Duffy review. ETA: If just needing a composition program that can largely be done solo by the student, then I recommend focusing on the Writing program and just pick a few works of high interest to DD for the Literature (or do the Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings), and save Oak Meadow: British Lit for the following year (11th grade). These are are solid high school Writing programs that have a high degree of independence to them: - The Power in your Hands (Watson) -- 1 year program; covers a wide variety of types of writing - The Elegant Essay (Myers) -- 1 semester program - Writing the Research Paper: The Essential Tools (Myers) -- 1 semester program - The Lively Art of Writing (Payne) + FREE work pages created by WTMers (student workbook, and, teacher guide) BEST of luck in deciding what is the best fit! Warmest regards, Lori D.

One thing to keep an eye on is how many credits and what specific credits colleges require for admissions. For Social Studies, the majority of colleges are looking for 3 credits of Soc. Studies (a few want 4 credits, some only require 2 credits), usually with 1 credit being Amer. History. Some colleges also want 1 credit of World Hist. and/or Geog., or 0.5 credit each of Econ. and Gov't. Most colleges also accept courses in the following areas as fulfilling the additional Social Studies credits: Psychology, Philosophy, Anthropology, Sociology, Archeology, Geography, Political Science, Women's Studies or Ethnic Studies. So if your student has an interest in one of those, or is doing dual enrollment to work on knocking out gen. ed. credits in advance towards a college degree, those can be great options as well, beyond the usual 4-year History cycle. : ) As a side note: I recommend labeling all of the courses listed on the transcript with titles that college admission offices expect to see, or titles that make it easy for admission offices to see that the student has the credits they are looking for -- American History; or U.S. History, Colonial to Civil War, etc. You can go into creative detail in the separate Course Description document. So just a thought, but to make your time frame esp. clear ("Early Modern" is understood in classical ed. circles, but may be less clear to colleges) and to make it esp. clear that you are doing an Integrated History that will result in a full credit of U.S. history after 2 years, perhaps label the courses something like: "History: U.S. & World, 1600-1850" and "History: U.S. & World, 1850-present" or, "U.S. & World History, part 1" and "U.S. & World History, part 2" As far as what we did for Soc. Studies in high school -- we did a terrific year of "World Cultures/Geography & Comparative Religions" in 8th grade, and then the original intention was to do a 4-year History cycle. But the plans evolved and changed as we went further into high school in order to accommodate DSs' specific History interests, and then we ended up drop away from 4 years of History to be sure to include the Econ & Gov't credits often required, and to allow DSs the time and ability to pursue other credits of interest, and some valuable extracurricular activities. So we ended up with: 1 credit = History: Ancient World (History = "DIY" = WTM suggested textbook + other resources, and English credit = "DIY" Ancient Lit., a la WTM/WEM) 1 credit = History: 20th Century World (same as above, and English = "DIY" Worldviews in Classic Sci-Fi Lit.) 1 credit = History: American (History = Notgrass Exploring America, and English = "DIY" American Lit.) 0.5 credit = History: Church History (textbook) 0.5 credit = Economics (Teaching Co. lecture series + several books + a short personal finance course) 0.5 credit = Government (textbook + hands-on involvement for 3 years with YMCA's Youth & Gov't model legislation program) 4.5 credits = total Social Studies DSs also each had a credit of Worldview & Apologetics, but I listed it as an Elective, rather than a Social Studies credit

The writing for LL7 is minimal -- there is a "mini writing lesson" on a specific topic of writing at the end of each unit, and then choice of 3-5 assignment ideas. There are 8 units in LL7, so a total of 8 writing "mini lessons" with assignments. The writing is optional, so you can pick and choose which units you want to also do a writing assignment, as it fits in with WaH.

Two titles that we read this year in my 7th/8th grade Lit. & Comp class that the students esp. enjoyed were: - The Cay (Taylor) - A Long Walk to Water (Park). My students were divided on A Wrinkle in Time (L'Engle) and Enchantress From the Stars (Engdahl) -- some really liking these and others not liking them -- but since your DD enjoys fantasy, she might enjoy these, and we had some good discussions in class about all 4 of these titles. For some diversity -- note: many of these might be too young for an 8th grader: - The Birchbark House (Erdrich) -- 1800s; Native American; first of a 5-book series - Walk Two Moons (Creech) -- 1990s; Native American girl coming of age - Maniac Magee (Spinnelli) -- 1990; themes of racism and homelessness - Wonder (Palacio) -- contemporary setting, boy with facial deformity - The War That Saved My Life (Bradley) -- WW2 British homefront; girl with a twisted foot - Esperanza Rising (Ryan) -- 1930s, Mexican immigrants to the US - Brown Girl Dreaming (Woodson) -- 1960s-1970s, black female protagonist, written as a series of poems - Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry (Taylor) -- 1930s, black family in the US Deep South - The Hate U Give (Thomas) or All American Boys (Reynolds & Kiely) -- contemporary setting; black lives matter - I Am Masala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Talaban (Yousafzai) -- autobiography - American Born Chinese (Yang) -- graphic novel Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Speculative fiction for discussion: - The Book Thief (Zusak) -- WW2 German home front and events of the war, but with Death as the narrator - The Giver (and/or sequels) (Lowry) -- sci-fi/dystopia - A Wind in the Door (sequel to A Wrinkle in Time) (L'Engle) -- speculative / sci-fi - Tuck Everlasting (Babbitt) -- speculative fiction - House of the Scorpion (Farmer) -- futuristic dystopia, Mexico/US borderland drug empire - The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm (Farmer) -- sci-fi, African setting

No, I wouldn't try and use ALL SEVEN of those resources at once -- way too much, and a lot of overlap, which will cause you headaches for trying to align it all yourself and figure out how to avoid repeating. (:P I do think you can use up to 3 of them, though, and they would fit together pretty well. By going with a pre-laid out program that is designed for middle school ages, that will give you a good idea of how much work an average middle schooler does. Sounds like what might be useful is an overall schedule to guide you through what to use and when. Perhaps the Biblioplan Family Guide -- it includes scheduling of pages for 4 of the 6 History resources you have on your shelf already, including: Story of the World (which might best fit for your 4th grader), Famous Men of the Middle Ages, Kingfisher Encyclopedia, and Streams of Civilization. read about the Family Guide see sample of year 2 Family Guide schedule OR, if you go with Truthquest, it has you choose a spine text from: SOTW vol. 2 or Greenleaf's Famous Men (or one of about 6 other texts, different from what you currently own -- the Dorothy Mills text suggested by the above poster is one of these 6 other texts). Truthquest schedules 2 of the resources you already have, and all 3 of these resources fit your 2 student's ages (SOTW = gr. 2-7; Greenleaf Famous Men = gr. 4-8; Truthquest = gr. 5-8). If you go with this option, you'd be using Truthquest, which schedules SOTW and Greenleaf for you, and you can add in IEW Middle Ages Writing as excerpts of it fit in with your LA time. OR, since you have so many resources already, you could pick a spine to use as your weekly schedule and guide for adding in historical fiction, hands-on or activities, videos, and other extras, and then pick one supplement to "flesh out" the "spine": 1. pick one History "spine" program: - SOTW + activity book - Truthquest 2. pick one "supplement" text: - Kingfisher Encyclopedia (facts, timeline, and short articles of key history events, people, etc.) - CLP: Story of the Middle Ages (history of Medieval Europe, with story-like chapters focused on famous people) - Greenleaf: Famous Men of the Middle Ages (collection of biographies of famous Medieval European people) 3. use IEW Middle Ages (excerpts, or all) as it fits in with your Language Arts 4. add in historical fiction, activities, videos, etc, suggested by the spine program, that fit with each student and as they are scheduled in the spine program BEST of luck in deciding! Your students are at a great age for exploring, and the Middle Ages is a time period rich with wonderful materials to learn from! Warmest regards, Lori D.

CK-12 also has free workbook pages to go with the text Targhee linked. Mark Twain Media has a Life Science workbook for gr. 6-9, while Carson-Dellosa's 100+ Series: Life Science workbook is for gr. 5-8, and On The Mark's Life Science workbook is for gr. 6. You could use 1 or 2 of those as "spines" and add additional videos, books, and hands-on as desired.

For a straight-up textbook: Prentice Hall Science Explorer: Life Science is for gr. 6-8 and is secular. (Also for gr. 6-8 are Earth Science and Physical Science.) Looks like there is a lab manual to go with the Life Science -- can't see inside, so I'm guessing you would need to pull together all the supplies and equipment. For even lighter reading, what about either the 2 Reader's Digest "How.... Works" (Body and Nature), OR, the 3 Usborne Internet-Linked books (Animal World, World of Plants, Human Body), and just add in some additional books, videos, and hands-on as you find them? For a few experiments/hands-on you could add in from time to time things like: Kym Wright's Botany Adventure; Ellen McHenry's Botany in 8 Lessons; Tops Science: Radishes, Corn & Beans, Animal Survival. What about Nancy Larson: Science 4 (ages 9-12)? It is more hands-on, but it is integrated science rather than a single topic -- Science 4 has 3 units of Life Science: Cells, Plants, Animals, Ecosystems; + 2 units of Physics: Energy, Electricity.

Yes, we were focusing on "Worldviews in Classic Sci-Fi", so: - Frankenstein -- 19th century gothic and romanticism genres - Doctor Jekyll & Mr. Hyde -- Christian worldview - The Time Machine -- Socialism and Evolution worldviews - Animal Farm -- Communism and Capitalism worldviews - The Giver -- Utopia/Dystopia genre - Brave New World -- Utopia/Dystopia genre - Fahrenheit 451 -- loss of literacy/collapsing society and Apocalyptic genre - A Canticle for Leibowitz -- Post-Apocalyptic genre - Cosmi-Comics (selected short stories) -- Existentialism worldview - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- Absurdism worldview Note that DSs were older (in high school) when we did this study, as some of these books might be more than a 12yo is ready for... ; )

While it's something completely different, Lightning Literature 8 is really quite nice: 3 short stories, 3 poetry units, and 6 novels. The one complaint I have is that to reduce book-buying, all 3 short stories come out of the same anthology, and we really did not care for the first TWO of them -- and one of them was by G.K. Chesterton who we DO like -- it's just a weak story. However, overall the program is nice and the second half of it starts moving you into guided literary analysis in the work pages by walking you through an excerpt from a work of literature with guided questions. - overview of LL8 - see student book: table of contents and a sample lesson - see teacher book: table of contents and a sample lesson We did do Windows to the World in high school. Several of the short stories ("The Necklace" and esp. "A Jury of Her Peers") took a lot of guidance on my part to get my 9th/10th grade DSs through them, so you want to have a strong reader who has read enough variety to not be a strictly "black & white" thinker to have an easier time with those 2 stories. Also, I'd save it and do WttW in high school if you have a weak writer, as a big unit of the program is in learning how to write a literary analysis essay. Just from my experience with my own DSs, and with the Lit. & Comp. homeschool co-op classes I've been teaching, literary analysis essays are tough even for a lot of older high school students. Just a thought!

We followed LLftLotR by making our own "Classic Works of Sci-Fi Lit." year. An idea that just popped into my head right now would be to make a DIY "epic adventure" study -- things like: - Gilgamesh (unknown author) -- you'll want to read up about which translation, as some dwell on the "racy" scene, and others skip over it - The Odyssey (Homer) - Beowulf (unknown author) - a work about King Arthur and his knights - The Great and Terrible Quest (Lovett) - Watership Down (Adams) - The Never Ending Story (Ende) - The Thief (Turner) - A Wizard of Earthsea (Le Guin) -- and possibly sequels Tomb of Atuan and The Farthest Shore If your DS is interested in "other works by Tolkien" (for ideas see "x-post: Any serious Tolkien fans...") or straight up genre of Fantasy or Dystopia or Steam Punk or other, have fun going "DIY"! We'd be happy to help you come up with a list of works and resources to support it. (:D Here are a few past threads to get you started in that direction, if interested: Past threads with general info on how to DIY: "If you make up your own literature course" "If you create your own homeschool lit." "Just reading vs. using literature guides" Past threads on genres for DIY Literature: "Anyone know of a Fantasy and Science Fiction literature course?" "Roots of Steampunk literature" "Dystopian society or Sci-Fi literature study for middle school..." and "Utopian and Dystopian literature" "Science Fiction unit" and "Science Fiction" "Fairy Tale unit for high school" and "Need ideas: classics: Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, etc." "Literary spoof, satire, sarcasm, anyone?" "Can I feel dumb here and ask about Victorian era, Pride & Prejudice and British Lit?" Threads on Middle School Sci-Fi book ideas: "Sci-Fi theme for 8th grade literature?" "Book suggestions for Science Fiction [for] 12yo" "Science Fiction recommendations" [for a 13yo girl] Also, WTMer Chrysalis Academy worked through one of these Teaching Company: Great Courses -- either How Science Fiction Works, or, Great Utopian and Dystopian Works -- to prepare a Literature study for her 9th grade (14yo??) student. Here's a thread with discussion about her plans, the books covered by The Great Course, and more book ideas: Great Utopian and Dystopian Works of Literature by the Great Courses. In that thread she links to her Good Books list of Sci-Fi titles and list of Dystopian Lit., so that might be another good list to look at. And here's a thread with a review: "Great Courses How Science Fiction Works". Or, if you don't want to "DIY", here are some possible programs, although all are high school level: - Movies as Literature - Illuminating Literature - Hewitt Homeschooling: Lightning Lit. (gr. 11-12, one-semester programs: British Christian authors, or American Christian authors - BYU online: LIT 061: "Science Fiction Literature" - Oak Meadow: 9th grade Lit. & Comp: "The Hero's Journey" - The Potter's School online -- used to have Fantasy and Sci-Fi Lit. courses, but apparently no more; at least I didn't see either of them listed : ( LLftLotR really is unique, so wishing you and DS all the BEST in finding what makes an enjoyable study to follow with. Warmest regards, Lori D.

Copy-pasting from a previous post of mine -- all of the links for the career tests are to FREE online tests; don't know how many of the links are still active, but this should give you a starting point for deciding what might be the best way to go at it. (ETA: Just checked all the links and as of today (5-16-18), all links are good to go.) Curriculum Resources - Everything Career Tests Book (secular) and student packet resources from Rod & Staff (Christian); the book has 10 different tests; the packet walks the student through the book - Glencoe: Exploring Careers -- student workbook and student textbook - Career Exploration for Homeschool Students (Topp) - What Color is Your Parachute for Teens (Christen) - Do What You Are (Tieger) - DK: Careers ______________________ CAREER TESTS There are 4 types of career assessment tests you will run across: Personality Inventory = helps see how your personality fits in with others in a work place (examples: Meyers-Briggs Indicator; Keirsey Temperament Sorter) - Personality Testing: Open Extended Jungian Type Scales: -- free printable test, similar to the Meyers-Briggs personality types - Color Personality Test -- free printable test; less specific and less individualized than other tests, as it is designed for working in teams and understanding strengths/needs of each of the 4 colors, so useful in places of employment - Fun Education: free online test - Team Technology: free online test Interest Inventory = ways you like to work -- most of these tests are based on, or are variations on, the 6 work interest areas of the Holland Codes (examples: Campbell Interest & Skill Survey; Strong Interest Inventory) - O-Net: My Next Move Interest Profiler: free online test - California Career Zone: free online test (and lots of resources for exploring careers) Work Values Survey = what brings meaning or value to you in life and is important to you in your place of work - Monster (job search website): Work Values Checklist -- values divided into 3 categories: intrinsic, extrinsic and lifestyle - Univ. of Notre Dame: Work Values Inventory: free printable test - DePaul University: Career Values Self-Assessment: free printable test - Goodwin College: Work Values Assessment: free printable test Aptitude Assessment (Work Skills) = determines specific abilities/skills (used specifically by employers to know if you have specific skills needed for the job -- such as, how many words a minute do you type; do you have specific training/certifications; etc.) - Univ. of Notre Dame: Career Center: Skills Inventory: free printable inventory - California Career Zone: free online skills profiler - Career One Stop: free online skills profiler ______________________ CAREER EXPLORATION RESOURCES Starting with an interest inventory test helps you understand the ways you like to work, which then helps you narrow down what kinds of jobs match up with the ways you like to work. Most of these types of tests are a variation of the Holland Code, which is organized with six interest areas and then the career fields and specific jobs that use those interests. This Wikipedia article explains the Holland Codes and lists lots of job ideas under each of the six interest areas. The CA Career Zone website has a free online interest inventory, and lets you explore various careers. Once you know your specific interests and have an idea about some possible job areas, you can explore the US Bureau of Labor's free online Occupational Outlook Handbook for info on specific careers, plus different ways to do a search to come up with a list of careers to look at (by salary; by amount of education required; by how much growth that field expects in the next 10 years; etc.). If you also end up using Career Clusters model (see below), this Career Cluster / Holland Codes "Map" to be helpful -- it is a graphic organizer map of the 16 Career Clusters matched up with the 6 work interest areas of the Holland Codes. ______________________ CAREER CLUSTERS Another way to approach career exploration is with Career Clusters. It is a national educational organizing tool that divides career areas into 16 "clusters", and then into 70 more specific "pathways" of the essential knowledge/skill required for the "cluster". The pathways then branch into over 1800 "crosswalks", which are the specific jobs, which can be researched by "crosswalk" at the Dept. of Labor's O-Net website. O-Net ("O" for Occupations) allows you to read info on the various "crosswalks", search by career cluster, industry, STEM jobs, and more. One good starting point at this website is the O-Net: Career Clusters link which takes you directly to the Career Clusters info on O-Net. (Another way to explore O-Net is to go to the "My Next Move" section, which has two different search engines (by industry or by key words), and an interest profiler.) The US Bureau of Labor's Career One Stop website also has occupations organized by the Career Clusters, and you can view short videos about the occupations in the 16 Career Clusters. You can also research occupations at in the US Bureau of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH). The OOH is similar (but not identical) in organization to Career Clusters, in that it loosely organizes the hundreds of jobs under 25 "occupational groups" (see the list going down on the lefthand side of the OOH home page). Career Clusters Resources - Career Clusters Interest Survey -- free printable occupational interest test - I-Seek Careers -- links, resources, and info about occupations in the 16 Career Clusters - O-Net: Career Clusters -- links to info about specific occupations in the 16 Career Clusters - Career One Stop -- US Dept. of Labor website; short videos of occupations in the 16 Career Clusters Career One Stop also has 2 free interest assessments (although I think they are more effective for slightly older young adults) -- the 30 question mini version, and the longer version.

First, there are still a few small liberal arts colleges that only require math credits of Algebra 1 and Geometry for admission. And second, a number of states offer two different public school diplomas -- a college prep one, and a non-college prep one (which has lighter math credit requirements and more alternative math options). Neither is considered a "non-standard diploma" -- both are standard diplomas, with each showing completion of a different educational "track" choice. So unless you live in a state or area that requires specific credits for you to graduate your homeschool student with a parent-awarded diploma, you, the parent administrator of your homeschool, determine the graduation requirements for your student -- the set of credits your student needs to accomplish in order to graduate. So you line up the set of credits that are in this individual student's best interests as what you will require for graduation and a diploma, follow the math path that works best for the student if front of you, and at the end of 12th grade, if the credits have been accomplished, make the transcript and award the diploma. There is no "standard" or "non-standard" to worry about. As far as getting through Algebra 2 -- it may be a reasonable goal. Just to encourage you, our DS#2 has mild LDs in abstract math topics, so Alg. 1 and 2 were a real effort to accomplish here. Each took 1.5 years, and that was with using MUS, the lightest program, and most visual program to help make the abstract topics more concrete for DS#2. He also had 2 other math credits: Geometry and Consumer Math, plus we went through a personal finance program as part of the Economic credit. re: Science: Just because a student isn't interested in science or in going into a future science field doesn't mean you still can't do 3 credits of science -- just go for a topic that is of more interest to the student, such as: Equine (Horse) Science, Zoology (Animals), Botany (Plants), Horticulture/Agriculture, Earth Science or Geology, Astronomy, Ecology, Environmental Science, Meteorology (Weather), etc. Even Integrated Science is an option. And even though it would be a very atypical Science (normally it's considered Engineering), you could even really stretch and count something like Robotics or building things as one of the Science credits. As far as doing Science credits with no labs -- there are loads of ways of making labs happen: - watch virtual labs - do labs once every few weeks with a fellow homeschooler - hire (or barter/trade) a tutor once a month to oversee a lab or two - buy and do a ready-to-go homeschool lab kit - take science at the local high school (if your district allows homeschoolers to take 1 or 2 classes) Each family has to determine what that means for them. For me, it meant keeping as many future doors open for my academic-hating student with mild LDs in all 3 of the "3Rs" (Math, Writing, Spelling, and a bit with Reading). For me, that meant blending the local high school credits (in case we ended up unexpectedly having to put DSs into B&M school) plus the admission requirements for the universities in our state to come up with our homeschool graduation credits: a minimum of: 4 credits English 4 credits Math (up through Alg. 2) 3 credits Science, with labs 3 credits Soc. Studies (Amer Hist. and 0.5 credit each of Econ & Gov.t) 2 credits For. Lang. 1 credit Fine Arts 4+ Electives 21 credits = total minimum Both DSs ended up with the above college prep credits, and a total of over 24 credits each, and they had a lot of flexibility about credits. That's the nice thing about homeschooling -- you can do those credits with the light, average, or rigorous programs that are the best fit for the student, and you can do the credits with a focus that supports your student's interests or possible future career bent, and you can do them in a flexible way that fits your family needs. For example, we did 3 Science credits, but spread them out over the 4 years of high school. For DS#2, because of his LDs in Writing and Spelling, we went with ASL for his Foreign Language, and did the minimal college prep amount of credits -- 2 credits (2 semesters of dual enrolled ASL at the local CC, as 1 semester of college ASL = 1 full credit of high school foreign language)... BEST of luck as you plan for your DS's high school and beyond. : ) Warmest regards, Lori D.

Or your library -- check your library's online catalog for children's books on "ancient china" or "ancient india" or "Sumer" or "Babylon" (early Mesopotamian cultures)... Also, consider including some picture books of myths; even for older elementary students, those can be great short stories and give you the feel of the culture and often a taste of the art style, when the book is illustrated by an artist echoing the art style of the ancient culture. :) Also, I ETA (edited to add) a few more titles for you.

Ug. So sorry to hear that. This is absolutely what I keep seeing over and over the moment Algebra becomes the new standard for 7th grade. There is such a disconnect here between what colleges are saying (students are remedial and not at college level in Math OR Writing), and how public schools are addressing the issue (teach to the test and shove into younger grades the higher Maths and larger amounts of Writing, both of which need levels of critical thinking that doesn't develop until ages 12-14, into younger grades).

Most ancient historical fiction for nations/peoples of the Americas, Oceania, and Africa (other than Egypt), tends to be set in the Middle Ages. But here are a few "not Egypt or Rome" historical fiction ideas: ETA: Prehistory Maroo of the Winter Caves (Turnbull) -- ice age, North America -- elementary The First Dog (Brett) -- early elementary Ancient Mesopotamia/Assyria ETA: Ishtar and Tammuz: A Babylonian Myth of the Seasons (Moore) -- picture book ETA: The City of Rainbows: A Tale from Ancient Sumer (Foster) -- picture book Gilgamesh the King, Revenge of Ishtar, Last Quest of Gilgamesh (Zeman) -- Mesopotamia; 3 picture book retelling Gilgamesh the Hero (McCaughrean) -- late elementary/middle school level Boy of the Painted Cave (Denzel) -- elementary/early middle school level To Ride the God's Own Stallion (Wilson) -- Assyria; middle school level The Golden Bull (Cowley) -- Mesopotamia; late elementary/middle school Till We Have Faces (Lewis) -- Mesopotamia/Greece; re-telling of the myth of Cupid & Psyche in Mesopotamian-like culture; high school level Ancient Crete/Minoa The Lily and the Bull (Caldecott) -- middle school level ETA: The Prince and the Golden Axe: A Minoan Tale (Lattimore) -- picture book Ancient Greece A Wonder Book: Heroes and Monsters of Greek Mythology (Hawthorne) -- middle school level Ides of April; Beyond the Desert Gate (Ray) -- late middle school/high school level Children of the Fox (Walsh) -- late elementary level Theras and His Town (Snedeker) -- late elementary level Young Heroes series (Yolen) -- elementary level -- adventures of Greek heroes as children/young adults Lysius Goes to the Play (Snedeker) -- elementary level ETA: Snake Hair: The Story of Medusa (Spinner) -- early elementary stepped reader ETA: Monster in the Maze: Story of the Minotaur (Spinner) -- early elementary stepped reader Magic Treehouse: Hour of the Olympics (Osborne) -- early elementary level Magic Treehouse: Merlin Mission: Stallion by Starlight (Osborne) -- Alexander the Great; early elementary level Tales from the Odyssey (Osborne) -- series of reader books of the story by Mary Pope Osborne King Midas and the Golden Touch (Craft) -- picture book of the myth Cupid and Psyche (Craft) -- picture book of the myth Pegasus (Craft) -- picture book of the myth Tales of Pan (Gerstein) -- picture book ETA: Medusa (Lattimore) -- picture book list of children's books of Greek myths, from the College of Arts and Sciences website Ancient Israel God King (Williamson) -- Israel/Egypt/Hittite -- late elementary/middle school level Hittite Warrior (Williamson) -- Israel/Hittite -- middle school level Behold Your Queen (Malvern) -- Israelite Esther and Assyrian King Xerxes -- late elementary/middle school level Foreigner: The Story of Ruth (Malvern) -- late elementary/middle school level Ancient Europe Warrior Scarlet (Sutcliff) -- bronze age Britons; middle school level Black Horses for the King (McCaffrey) -- Celts/early King Arthur -- middle school level Sun Horse, Moon Horse (Sutcliff) -- ancient Celts; late middle school/high school level Ancient Asia A Grain of Rice (Demi) -- ancient China -- early elementary Magic Treehouse: Day of the Dragon (Osborne) -- ancient China -- early elementary Magic Treehouse: Merlin Mission: Season of the Sandstorms -- Bedouins/Middle East -- early elementary The Chi'Lin Purse (Fang) -- ancient Chinese folktales -- late elementary The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen (Alexander) -- ancient China; elementary/early middle school level Royal Diaries: Lady of Ch'iao Kuo (Yep) -- China, A.D. 531 -- late elementary/early middle school level Royal Diaries: Sondok, Princess of the Moon and Stars (Holman) -- Korea, A.D. 595 -- late elementary/early middle school level ETA: Ancient India The King's Warrior (Gunderson) -- early elementary The Horse on the Hill (Gunderson) -- early elementary "Five Books That Make History Fun for Children" -- web article of Middle Ages India historical fiction and nonfiction for children Past Threads: "Ancient Far Eastern History" -- resources for early elementary ages; most suggestions are myths and cultural info books "Ancient Africa Resources?" -- most of the ancient kingdoms rose to power in the Middle Ages

Totally agree, it is nuts. You don't improve falling U.S. educational standards by shoving Algebra 1 into increasingly lower grades -- first 8th, then 7th, and now in some places, in 6th grade. Just because you offer (or require) Algebra in a lower grade doesn't mean you've also magically re-wired children's brains to be able to do/succeed at Algebra at it in those lower grades. sigh.

Can't help you with specific VA Math credit questions, but some general info: School districts set up their own course of study requirements for awarding diplomas, and these will vary widely from district to district. For example, I honestly don't know how closely my state's public schools follow Common Core, but our state's Dept. of Ed. graduation requirements (for public school students, not homeschoolers) include completing a total of 4 Math credits, with 3 being at least Alg. 1, Geom, Alg. 2, and the 4th Math can be either more advanced, or other, as long as it has at a minimum "high school content". My state does not force public school students into one of two diploma tracks (college prep/ or not college) right off the bat in 9th grade the way some states do. In general, in my state, students are doing Alg. 1 in either 8th or 9th grade -- about 1/2 and 1/2. Some advanced students are starting to do Alg. 1 in 7th, but it is not required or expected, and students doing Alg. 1 in 9th are still easily on track for completing enough credits of enough rigor to be "college prep" for the majority of colleges. However, what the situation is like in my "not-VA" state, really doesn't help you, when you ARE moving to VA and will have to deal with VA public school rules if you will be sending your student to a B&M high school there. ? As far as a general rule of thumb for Math credits needed to meet college admission requirements: many colleges are similar to the above (4 credits, and at least up through Alg. 2). If going into a STEM field, then the student will need to have gone up through Pre-Calc. If applying to a selective, competitive, or top tier college, then the student will absolutely need Math up through Pre-Calc and beyond. If you will be homeschooling through high school, your student will be fine for college admissions if you complete a standard college prep set of credits. And even if starting with Alg. 1 in 9th, if needed, a homeschool high school student can accelerate during the high school years in various ways to complete more than 4 credits of higher Maths. ? Sadly, some states are very rigid about high school -- not just about locking students into a specific "diploma track", but also about whether they will/won't accept credits from students coming from other school districts, or from homeschool. Many homeschoolers find that in their area, the decision to homeschool or do public high school really is "all or nothing" -- there is no starting with homeschooling and being able to enter the local public school partway through. My guess is that what you were told by the high school math teachers is because University of Virginia is so competitive, the high schools feel they must respond by requiring increased rigor (i.e., higher and higher maths at younger and younger grade levels) to keep the high school's acceptance rates to UofV high. So sorry you're having to deal with this; it sounds extremely stressful.

Don't know how the B&M school calculates it. Just curious as to why you would need to know the grade points for just one class -- usually when applying to colleges or to summer programs or other special opportunities, it is the total GPA that is of interest, and that info should be available through the school's registrar or admin office. You can request a copy of the student's transcript, which would list the classes, grades, and credits, and should have a cumulative GPA for you -- it might even have the "per-class" GPA calculation for you, which would answer your specific course grade question without bothering anyone further. ?

Really, it's up to you. There is no set amount or required amount of hours for labs. If you fall between 12 labs (1 every 3 weeks) and 36 labs (1 per week), you should be fine. (One idea: 18 labs is a nice amount, as it is once every other week, and then you could do review and/or a quiz or test on the other alternate weeks.)

Can't answer your specific questions about WVU, or about whether or not transcripts might be rejected. But I can provide some ideas on transcript formats... For including summer courses into a transcript that lists by year, you can place summer courses under their own headings. Example: 9th grade (2016-17) course grade credit English: Intro to Lit. X 1.00 Math: Algebra 1 X 1.00 Nat. Science: Biology X 1.00 Soc. Science: World Hist. X 1.00 For. Lang.: Spanish 1 X 1.00 Fine Arts: Piano 1 X 1.00 Elective: Health X 0.50 Elective: PE X 0.50 summer (2017) course grade credit Math: Geometry* X 1.00 10th grade (2016-17) course grade credit English: Lit. & Comp X 1.00 Math: Algebra 2 X 1.00 Nat. Science: Chemistry X 1.00 Soc. Science: Amer. Hist. X 1.00 For. Lang.: Spanish 2 X 1.00 Fine Arts: Piano 2 X 1.00 Elective: Computer 1 X 0.50 Elective: PE X 0.50 summer (2018) course grade credit Math: Intro to Statistics* X 1.00 * = course taken as dual enrollment at XYZ university Or, you could include the credits with the either the previous year's courses or the following year's courses and include completion dates, which would show the course was done in the summer. Example: 9th grade (2016-17) course grade credit completion date English: Intro to Lit. X 1.00 May 2016 Math: Algebra 1 X 1.00 May 2016 Math: Geometry* X 1.00 Aug. 2016 Nat. Science: Biology X 1.00 May 2016 Soc. Science: World Hist. X 1.00 May 2016 For. Lang.: Spanish 1 X 1.00 May 2016 Fine Arts: Piano 1 X 1.00 May 2016 Elective: Health X 0.50 May 2016 Elective: PE X 0.50 May 2016 * = summer course taken as dual enrollment at XYZ university 10th grade (2017-18) course grade credit English: Lit. & Comp X 1.00 May 2017 Math: Algebra 2 X 1.00 May 2017 Math: Intro to Statistics* X 1.00 Aug. 2017 Nat. Science: Chemistry X 1.00 May 2017 Soc. Science: Amer. Hist. X 1.00 May 2017 For. Lang.: Spanish 2 X 1.00 May 2017 Fine Arts: Piano 2 X 1.00 May 2017 Elective: Computer 1 X 0.50 May 2017 Elective: PE X 0.50 May 2017 * = summer course taken as dual enrollment at XYZ university You can also do your transcript in a grid type of layout that lists both by subject and by year. You could even include summers that way. (Having vertical lines between the columns from a page layout program, or cells from a spreadsheet application would make it clearer than what I can do as a quick example below.) Example: course 9th grade summer 10th grade summer 11th grade summer 12th grade (2016-17) (2017) (2017-18) (2018) (2018-19) (2019) (2019-20) gr. / cr. gr. / cr. gr. / cr. gr. / cr. gr. / cr. gr. / cr. gr. / cr. ENGLISH English 9 . . . X / 1.00 English 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X / 1.00 English 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X / 1.00 WRT101* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X / 0.50 WRT102* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X / 0.50 MATH Algebra 1 . . X / 1.00 Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . X / 1.00 Algebra 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X / 1.00 Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X / 1.00 Pre-Calc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X / 1.00 Calculus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X / 1.00 * = course taken as dual enrollment at XYZ University

Actually, my intention was to encourage you to possibly consider *reducing* math fact drill -- stripping it out of the math program, and then just doing a 3 minute practice in a very different format that might click better -- or even drop it entirely, and let your DS just use a math fact chart for now, just as you're already saying you're doing. AND, I was trying to phrase it in a way that didn't knock OKBud's idea and experience. LOL! Trying to be kind to all led to a complete lack of clarity there! (:D Oh yes, I see what you mean by testing and why you have to do it. What a great way of handling it!

Was it the short story "The Fun They Had" by Isaac Asimov? I had a load of fun doing this story with my grade 7-8 homeschool Lit. & Comp. co-op class this year... (:D ETA -- oops, never mind! Just read through the rest of the thread... ::embarrassed::

Welcome to "the big kid board" (lol). To help with transitioning into high school, you might check out the big pinned thread at the top of this board that has tons of linked past threads on a wide variety of high school topics. A few threads that you might find esp. helpful to start with: "High School Time Table" -- what to do in high school and when -- note: this is the comprehensive list; no one family does ALL of these! "Starting High School... links to past threads here!" "High school curriculum, where do I start?" "When formulating a high school plan" "Starting over again - homeschooling in 8th-12th grade questions" Here's a very general "college prep" list of credits that would meet requirements for admission to most colleges (selective, competitive, and top tier colleges would need more credits and of higher rigor, but it doesn't sound like that's going to be the need here): 4 credits = English (typically 1/2 Writing & 1/2 Literature, but lots of other options as well) 3-4 credits = Math (Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, and some schools want a 4th math, often above Alg. 2) 3-4 credits = Science, with labs (a few colleges want Biology & Chemistry, but most are flexible) 3 credits = Social Studies (most colleges want 1 credit = Amer. History; some also want 1 credit = World Hist/Geog. and/or 0.5 credit each Econ and Gov't) 2-3 credits = Foreign Language (same language) (Latin is accepted everywhere; ASL is accepted in a majority of 1 credit = Fine Arts 4-8+ credits = Electives (examples: Computer, Logic, Health, PE, Religious Studies, Vocational-Tech, personal interest areas, additional Fine Arts, "Academic Electives (additional credits in the above 5 subject areas beyond the required), etc.) 22-24+ credits = total (that's about 5-6 credits per year of high school to be "college prep") What does that look like time-wise in a day or week of high school? If using hours to help "track" credits, then it takes approximately 120 hours (minimum) to 180 hours (maximum) to make 1 high school credit. That divides out to about 4-5 hours per week per credit, or roughly 45-60 minutes per day, over the course of a 36-week school year. Previous posters have already shared what I was going to say about all online classes, plus the high rigor of WTMA, not being a good fit for an easily overstimulated, frustrated by pressure student, nor very helpful in having a laid-back high school. In addition to the great ideas above, here are several more recent threads: "Master list of online classes" "Online Live Courses" "Online High Schools - any insights/experiences" "Reviews for online math?" Other ideas: use materials with a video lesson component, so the DVD is the teacher, since "she does not take instruction from [you] well" -- and you are just there to facilitate questions -- examples: Math = Chalkdust, Videotext, Kinetic Books, ALEKS, etc.; English = Essentials in Writing + Essentials in English; various subjects = Thinkwell; etc. K-12 or whatever your local virtual public school charter is (school at home, with the school doing the admin. aspect) hire a local tutor/mentor to do the grading and check in with her 1x/week, and you be available during the week for cheerleading and any "in the moment" questions if permitted in your area, take just 1-2 classes at your local public, charter, or private high school, and do the rest at home take a class WITH DD, so you're on a team together, rather than in a teacher/overseer position -- consider doing a free Coursera class or other MOOC (Mass Open Online Course) available online from many universities do a Teaching Company Great Course together to cover History, and discuss together; for output, rather than tests and papers, work on a project together, or each do a project, or each go deeper on a particular project and create a powerpoint and give a presentation to one another about what you each discovered do your English credits at home, but for the Writing assignments, outsource grading to a service (The Write Foundation, Susanne Barrett, etc.) Accellus (secular), Time 4 Learning (secular), Switched On Schoolhouse (Christian) -- online and/or computer learning with built-in/automatic grading Yes, you can create your own course, and yes you can give a grade and credit for a "home-brewed" or "DIY" (do it yourself) course. I'm not familiar with this resource -- what you want is a text (or lecture series or whatever) that has a similar amount of material at a similar depth to a high school textbook or college intro course. It may be enough for 0.50 or 0.25 credit, rather than 1.0 credit, when you compare. My only concern is you already mentioned that DD does not work well under your teaching -- for a DIY course like this, you would still have to oversee and determine a grade and if she is accomplishing the work to the standards that you lay out in advance, as you are ultimately the high school administrator; will DD accept you in this role? Or would you also need to find a local person to outsource accountability for assignments, readings, project oversight, etc.? Mostly, just want to welcome you to homeschooling high school, and encourage you that there are more options than ever before out there, making it both easier to homeschool and fit education to your individual student's needs and goals -- but all those options can also make it very overwhelming. Just take it one step at a time, and post a question for each subject or each specific question to get more targeted and helpful responses. Wishing you and DD a wonderful high school homeschooling adventure! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Totally agree! Although I will add that it's also a good one to as part of "formal" Literature because it's meaty for discussion -- we'll be doing it this year again in my high school Lit. class. (:D Yes, I tried to preface that list with my OWN past reading, that at 14, I still was swinging between younger tween books and adult books. :) Guess I just wanted to give Tracy and her DD "permission" to include some younger books if her DD still enjoyed curling up with an old favorite, or wanted to "relive childhood" (LOL) the way I did, and sometimes some other kids do. (And, sometimes it's fun to blow through 2 books in a day during the summer. ; ) ) But Tracy: by all means, skip on by if that's not a fit for your DD. : ) ETA: -- thought of a few more that I read and enjoyed as a young teen: Earthsea trilogy: Wizard of Earthsea; Tombs of Atuan; The Farthest Shore (LeGuin) The Martian Chronicles (Bradbury) -- series of loosely connected short stories Alas Babylon (Frank) -- nuclear war survival story Foundation (Asimov) I, Robot (Asimov)