:thumbup: Two thumbs up for our experiences with WVA with 2 DSs. I am speaking from our experiences with WVA, from 2008-2012, so it's always possible things have changed since then -- although, since most of the same instructors are still part of the program, I don't suspect it is much different. ;) The camps are non-denominational, but from a strongly Christian Evangelical perspective, as far as "course content". While the camps are geared for ages 13-19, I wouldn't send a young teen unless they are: - fine with being away from home for a week - fine with a lot of classroom lecture (even though the lectures are fun, there are 20+ hours of classroom lecture time throughout the week) - ready for abstract/philosophical ideas During the week, the material and activities cover: - basic apologetics (what Christians believe and why) - encouraging personal devotional time - what is worldview - Christian servant-leadership (this is an outstanding bonus aspect to the worldview aspect the camp!) - evangelism** ** = this is one morning of lecture, and then "practicing" in small groups talking to people around the campus about worldview and Christianity; we are a family of introverts and feel very uncomfortable with "pushy Evangelists", but this lecture and "practice" are not pushy in that way -- it is very low-key, and no one has to speak if they don't want to; the goal is about asking questions and listening to what others say re: What did we think? Very glad we participated with WVA. Both DSs went multiple summers -- one for 3 summers, one for 4 summers. After high school graduation, one DS also traveled on volunteer staff for 2 summers. He also credits his first high school WVA camp experience as being what really helped him "take ownership" of his faith and his Christian walk, and it sparked a real interest in theological and philosophical thoughts and discussions. For both DSs, it was a great experience to be away from home, in a safe and encouraging environment, that was an "outside source" supporting the faith that DSs were seeing in the home and at church. For all of the camps they attended, DSs had absolutely outstanding "camp counselors" (the college-age leaders of their small groups of 6-10 students), who really cared about, encouraged, and prayed over our DSs the entire time of camp. The adult instructors are also all wonderful people who spend a lot of time outside of the lectures with the students just on a social level, or to allow the students to pursue discussion with them. This video is pretty close to what our DS's experience was of being on staff with WVA, and it gives you a pretty good idea of how the "camp counselors" really care about, and take care of, the students during their week at camp. We also happen to be very good friends with one of the WVA instructors and his family, so our DSs had a good idea of what it was about going into it. ;) PS Not that I think this would be your situation, but I also would NOT send any student who is very angry (with parents and/or God), or a student who strongly does not want to go. I have heard of more than one story of families who force a teen who is in the midst of turmoil to go, thinking it will "save" or "fix" the student. That is not what WVA can do, and that is not WVA's purpose -- not to mention that's got to be damaging to family relationships. :(

re: day/time -- just my suggestion, due to young age and even younger siblings: Time: 9:00-11:00 or 9:30-11:30 would be my suggestion. Day: Mondays or Fridays work esp. well -- a gentle start IN to the week, or a fun way to finish out the week For my gr. 7-12 classes, I run a quick survey, and go with the day/time that works best for families. Older students have so many afternoon extracurriculars, that it seems like mornings fit more families. I've done every day of the week except Fridays as a result. :laugh: (Fridays doesn't work here, as it is the big day for the homeschool group: PE/Park day in the a.m., and gr. 6-12 social activities in the p.m.) re: parents in class: Well, in our co-op, we typically have parents who want to drop-off students at co-op, which works great for my high school classes, but NOT for gr. K-5 ages, so you may need a policy that requires parents to stay on campus. (Way too many potential issues can erupt, even in a professionally-led class, so that's why I strongly recommend the "required to stay on campus" policy.) If allowing parents to stay in class, you just need to make your policy very clear: - parents are observers, not participants (so, no food for parents) (and no coaching their kids from the sideline) - parents who stay cannot have other siblings with them (too distracting to the TEACHER!) - limited to ____ # of parents per class (say, 2-3 at most -- depending on the room size) One way to allow parents to stay in the class -- but in a limited and controlled way -- is to have a sign up for being that week's volunteer parent assistant -- stays in class to help the teacher as needed, runs any errands for the teacher, and is available as adult back-up in case of any emergency. Good luck! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

First, History falls under Social Studies (or Social Sciences) -- as does Economics and Government. Will your student be taking either/both of those courses? If so a 0.5 credit of each of Econ and Gov't + 3 credits History = 4 credits of Social Studies and you're fine. :) If that was not the plan, then I'd look at the specific colleges she will be applying to and see what their admission requirements are. Unless you are required by state regulations, or required by some special high school/college articulation agreement, you would only need to complete the Social Studies requirements for the college in order to be admitted. Many colleges only require 2-3 Social Studies credits for admission. The other thing to look in to is if the college is flexible about the admissions credits. Many are, when it's not English, Math, or Science that the student is short in. Since you have a STEM-based student, they may not care if she is 1 credit short of the Social Studies admission requirement -- esp. since she will be coming in with BONUS amounts of Science and Foreign Language.

Cool! :)

Lucky you! Would that be Luci Shaw, by any chance? She is wonderful! :)

Go for it! We did a year with no history in middle school to focus on World Cultures & Comparative Religions, and I wish we had taken TWO years to do it! :) We ended up with: - one 6-year chronological history - one 1-year World Cultures/Comparative Religions - and then a pot pourri in high school because of DSs changing interests: 1 credit 20th Century World History 1 credit American History 0.25 credit Medieval World History 0.5 credit Church History 0.5 credit each: Gov't and Econ Really, it's all good! No one can learn ALL of history. ;) And I personally think (in retrospect, in seeing how what we ended up with was great), that History is a bit of a "Black Hole" -- you can throw endless hours and still feel like you're "missing" things. So doing THREE sweeps over the same material (albeit in deeper levels) does NOT allow for bunny trails of interest or exploring other Social Studies topics -- or even curtails exploring other interests, esp. in the elementary and middle school years when you don't have to get "required credits" completed, as you do with high school. Enjoy your year with the Catholic Textbook Project -- and don't feel you MUST somehow try and "catch up" when you return to History. You may find some other things are of interest that you want to explore before hitting high school -- and that will be great! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

lol. Just to encourage you, Garga: We had a one-on-one college tour with DS#1 and his college in-take rep/advisor. Not my normal mode to ever appear "pushy", but I figured since, as a parent, I would be the one paying the college bills, and since I was the only one in the family who had half a clue about what were things to ask about, I made darn sure to ask questions. DH and DS -- naturally introverted AND laconic, both of them -- just came along for the walk, apparently. ;) The college rep/advisor did not seem to take it amiss that I was the only asking questions. Thankfully. :)

Don't have answers to these specific questions, but, like previous posters, the college DS#1 visited/attended did not get an application waiver for having visited. In case it helps you plan a college visit, here are -- wait for it! lol -- some past threads to browse: "What do you look for in a college visit - especially early in high school?" "Is fall of sophomore year too early to make a college visit?" "What exactly does a college visit entail?" "What to ask at a college visit?" "Advice for making college visits?" "Individual college visit or admissions event?" "Would you even bother with college tours?" One other thought is to check out a college fair, which is a big convention-hall affair with tables with reps from dozens, sometimes several hundred, colleges, so you can walk around, pick up brochures, ask questions, etc. That's esp. useful if you know there are a few specific schools you're interested in, as a way of checking it out early. :) There are threads for that, too ;) : "College fairs?" "Should we visit a college fair?"

Yes, Regentrude's transcript that is laid out by both grade/level and subject looks something like this: subject . . . . . . course . . . . . . . . . . 9th . . . . . . . . 10th . . . . . . . . 11th . . . . . . . 12th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . grade credit . . grade credit . . grade credit . . grade credit _____________________________________________________________________ English . . . . . . . . . . . . . English I . . . . . . . . A 1.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . English II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A 1.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . English III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A 1.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . English IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A 1.0 Math . . . . . . . . . . . . . Algebra I . . . . . . . . A 1.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A 1.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Algebra II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A 1.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-Calculus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A 1.0 Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . Biology . . . . . . . A 1.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anatomy . . . . . . A 0.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A 1.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adv. Chem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A 1.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Physics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A 1.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Astronomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A 0.5 -- etc -- _____________________________________________________________________ GPA/credits per grade: . . . . . .4.0 6.50. . . . . . . 4.0 6.50. . . . .. 4.0 6.50. . . . 4.0 6.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .GPA credits . . . . .GPA credits . . . GPA credits . . GPA credits cumulative: . . . . 4.000 GPA / 26.00 credits .

Just playing devil's advocate here ;) , but... do you really NEED to be doing beginning literary analysis with 4th/5th grade?? For the average student, grades K-2 are spent in learning to read and becoming fluent with actual reading, while grades 3-6 are spent in developing reading stamina, exposure to vocabulary, and increasing ability to read complex works -- as well as enjoyment of reading through exposure to loads of good and great books. Typically, that sort of more formal literature study is not started until somewhere along in the grade 6-8 range, as analysis requires logic stage development skills, and abstract reasoning that doesn't even begin to start developing in the brain until along about age 12-14. Of course, if the student is an advanced reader/thinker, or wanting to dig deeper, then that's a different matter and YMMV! :) But just to extend my "devil's advocate" comment, I'm going to quote myself from a previous post here: "I always add the caveat of caution about literary analysis in the elementary grades, as sometimes for some students the black-and-white/fact-based thinking of younger ages runs the risk of turning reading Literature into a sort of checklist mentality and students stop there -- permanently: "Found the setting, plot elements, symbolism, and a simile, check, check, check, check! My work here is done!" -- instead of being able to continue to mature and go deeper in the reading and understanding of a work in the high school and adult years, and ultimately finding personal meaning and application, and being able to engage in "The Great Conversation" of the classics that authors and readers have engaged in for centuries." These two resources might be of help for thinking about keeping a balance: - Circe Institute, Brian Phillips & David Kern, free podcast: "On Teaching Literature Without Killing It" - SWB: "What is Literary Analysis (and When to Teach It)" -- free article overview, for a fee downloadable audio lecture I would also add that those elementary grades are the "window of opportunity" for encouraging a child to explore books and reading, to nurture a developing enjoyment of reading through discovering great books and books that 'speak' to the child, and to make some wonderful reading memories together. There will be lots of time in just a few years (middle school) to do more formal literature studies. :) ​That said, I'm sure you are already doing those things, and you know you child best, and if he is ready and wanting to start learning some literary devices and doing some beginning analysis, then go for it, and wishing you all the BEST! Enjoy your Literature journey, whatever path that takes. :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

Again, just me, but I don't believe in overloading students with classes or manufacturing classes, with the idea it will make a transcript look one way or another. Three APs in 10th grade -- one of which is Calculus, and another is English Composition (two of the most rigorous APs), plus Latin SIX... I don't quite see how that doesn't look rigorous, or that it looks like the student "chickened out". lol. Again, while the amount of credits are different from 9th to 10th, the RIGOR of the load is definitely increasing. Remember, colleges count AP tests with high scores as college credits, so to have THREE AP courses in 10th grade is a lot of rigor. And both the Math (Calculus) and Foreign Language (Latin VI) are at a very advanced level, which is high rigor. I guess what I'm trying to say is that rigor balances # of credits, or at least it would to me. (I went back and added stress to my original post to make that stand out. :) ) However, if you are really anxious about having the similar amounts of credits each grade/year, could you make 10th grade the year you officially list Piano as a Fine Arts credit, and consider the other three years as extracurricular? Or, would this be the year to include a credit of PE as an Elective? Again, just me, but instead of overloading your student with more classes, how about giving her breathing room to excel in that rigorous line-up, and give her time to relax and enjoy personal interests in her free time. Learning how to have balance in life is such an important skill to practice for all of adulthood. ;) BEST of luck! Warmly, Lori D.

We enjoyed the "American Government Today" series (Mark Sanders) when DSs were in elementary grades. It's geared for gr. 4-6: Your Right to Vote Congress The Presidency The Supreme Court The White House Washington DC Alas, I'm just discovering that this is going out of print. Rainbow Resource used to have the whole set + a teacher guide to go with it. Now they only have Congress and Supreme Court. ? You would also really want to do The Presidency and Your Right to Vote, at a minimum. Other options: - Congress for Kids website -- gr. 3-7? covers: Independence; Constitution; Legislative Branch; Executive Branch; Judicial Branch; Elections; Citizenship - One Vote, Two Votes, I Vote, You Vote (Cat in the Hat / Bonnie Worth) -- gr. K-3 - The Election Activity Book (Baucker) -- gr. 1-3 Scholastic activities - We the Kids: Preamble to the Constitution (Catrow) -- gr. K-3 - A More Perfect Union: Story of Our Constitution (Maestro) -- gr. K-3 - Social Studies Readers Series: Our Government: The Three Branches -- gr. 3-4 - True Books series (Taylor-Butler) -- gr. 2-4 The Congress The Supreme Court The Presidency The Bill of Rights Voting (De Capua) - My American Government series (Stevens) -- gr. 4-6 What is a Constitution What Are the Parts of Government How Do We Elect Our Leaders What Are Citizens' Basic Rights - Chester Crab Comix: Constitution Construction; and, American Symbols (gr. 4-8) Supplements: Ducksters: U.S. Gov't for Kids -- short website articles written for gr. 4+ PBS Zoom website: Elections 101 -- info and links Schoolhouse Rock: I'm Just a Bill Three Branches of Gov't The Constitution The Preamble

Fantastic idea, Garga! And, that was me when DS#1 was in 9th grade: :willy_nilly: I, too, do best with researching and absorbing info, so I did something very similar as you -- only I was printing off all cut-and-pasted snippets of threads, and put them in a 4-inch binder. It was stuffed full and overflowing by the time we finished. I still have that binder, now 6 years out from graduating our last one. :laugh: I treasured all of the wisdom and generous help from those kind homeschoolers who had gone before us! :cheers2:

No expert, and the following is JMO ;) : You can give credit for any course that a student has completed material for, whether the end goal was for a test or just to "check a box". For course titles on the transcript: ONLY if an official AP course was taken, or an officially AP-approved syllabus was used for self-study can you use the course of "AP Computer Science" or "AP Psychology". Otherwise, you can still list as it as a course, with credit and a grade, under the title of "Computer Science, with AP test" or "Psychology, with AP test". For deciding how much credit to award credit, consider either or both of these factors: - how much material was learned/studies (compare with other programs to get an idea of what is typical for a 1-credit course; if completing most of what is covered in a typical 1-credit course, then award 1 credit) - how many hours were spent on the course material? (if going with an average hours per credit of 150 hours = 1 credit, then roughly 135-165 hours = 1 credit; 65-80 hours = 0.5 credit) Or, consider having the student take the matching CLEP test, and if passing the CLEP, award full credit (regardless of hours/material), just as colleges do. I doubt it. They see a lot of different things, and not all AP courses ARE 1 full year long -- some are just 1/2 year, so just 0.5 credit course with AP test. Not familiar with the program to know how to advise here. Certainly not a problem when listed by subject, and also not a problem when listed by grade/year. Students often vary in the amounts of credits they complete from year to year. And often, any credits done as summer school get credited to the school grade/year following that course, so that can increase the amount of credits in a grade/year. I would not fudge anything thinking it would look "better" to have the same amount of credits in each grade/year. The point of the transcript is to be an accurate record of what the student did and when during high school. It is what it is. :) JMO -- when anyone looks closely at the coursework from 9th to 10th, they'll see the big jump up, to 3 AP courses/tests in 10th grade. AP = college level, so that would be very understandable that there are fewer credits in 10th, but of much higher rigor than in 9th. When I looked at your attached transcript excerpt, my immediate thought was: "advanced high schooler in 9th is stepping up into more advanced work for 10th". edited to add emphasis: BUT, because I know that AP requires more time/effort, the lower credit count did not worry me. ;) Again, just my opinion. Your call. Some families count this as Fine Arts: Piano I, II, III, IV, with 1 credit for each year. My personal take on it would be to only count it as credit each year if additional learning and advancement of craft were happening. If that is just counting practice hours, and not really moving forward in the study of Piano, and no plans to study Music in college, then I personally would probably count it as the first year equals 1 credit of Fine Arts: Piano, and count the remaining years of piano practice and recitals as an extracurricular activity. Just what I would do. :) While a few people argue otherwise, I personally say "no", don't list the extracurriculars on the transcript. My reasons: 1. public/private schools do not do this 2. the transcript is NOT about the entire high school experience -- it is specifically about the academic record: courses taken, credits earned, grades earned, notation of any outsourced coursework, and listing of test scores 3. there is no physical space on the to do extracurricular activities justice and let them really shine. Instead, create a separate Extracurricular Activities document, where you can detail all of the highlights and achievements and skills used in the activities. That is where admission offices expect to see extracurriculars, and to learn more about the student beyond the academics. :) BEST of luck in wearing your homeschool high school administrator hat! ---> :hat: Warmest regards, Lori D.

:grouphug: Totally agreeing with MerryAtHope! :) (And just want to add that our experience of homeschooling high school was the "frosting on top" and the very best part of all our 12-year homeschooling journey. SO thankful and blessed that we got to do it together at home, rather than having circumstances that would have meant sending DSs to a high school! :) ) Take encouragement: it's really not as scary to homeschool high school as you might be thinking. Read the very encouraging classic post by Nan in Mass: "For those of you with 8th graders considering homeschooling high school". And you will get lots of hugs and encouragement on the WTM high school board from BTDT moms. :) Some of these past threads that might help you relax about doing 8th grade :) To all you people with 8th graders or thereabouts -- (things to do in middle school to prepare for high school) -- another classic Nan in Mass post! :) Looking back, what do you think is most important for elementary? 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 Looking back (what you would do differently to prepare for high school work) And if you DO think your students might be headed for a brick-and-mortar high school, here is past thread wisdom in that direction: Hypothetical question: What to do for the 4 years before public high school? Preparing a homeschooled kid for a bm high school Advice for me, DD applying to Aviation High School Tell me about putting an always homeschooled child in public school (in 8th grade) Homeschooling to public high school Going from homeschool to public school... Experiences, anyone? How to prepare a homeschool kid for [going to a] high school? Preparing to transfer to a public high school Preparing 8th grader for public school 9th grade

We didn't have assigned *independent* reading time. We had: - assigned, together buddy reading - family read-alouds (me reading aloud) - free time -- they could read or not; if choosing to read, it was free choice of reading material Because I had one DS with mild LDs in reading (stealth dyslexia), it was critical to constantly practice reading and me to see where he was/skipping by doing out loud reading, so it was just easier to make it assigned for each DS. And, we all enjoyed a lot of terrific books together that way! ;) For our assigned, together buddy-reading ("you read a page, I read a page), I picked works of high quality/high interest that were just at or a bit above their comfortable reading level, and were that were books I wanted to make sure we covered. The length of reading for that together buddy-reading looked something like this: 1st = 10 minutes 2nd = 10-15 minutes 3rd = 15-20 minutes 4th = 20 minutes 5th = 20-25 minutes 6th = 30 minutes 7th-12th grades, we did a lot of our formal Literature aloud together and discussed/analyzed as we read If I were forced to include assigned independent reading into our homeschooling, I would: - keep it short - allow selection from a basket of high interest/high quality works that are at or a little *below* comfortable reading level - work it like a summer library reading program, with stars or stickers to chart progress, and a prize at each pre-determined milestones Suggested length of assigned solo reading: 1st = 5 minutes 2nd = 10 minutes 3rd = 15 minutes 4th = 20 minutes 5th = 25 minutes 6th = 30 minutes Good luck, whatever you decide. :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

:grouphug: (((Holly and DC))) So sorry. While such a loss can never be filled or forgotten, I hope your family is healing and beginning to be able to find joy here and there again.

Not a program, but Lit Wits kits and guides are geared for 5th/6th grade and to be done as groups. Each is based on an individual book, which would make it fairly easy to use in a co-op. I would guess that there is enough material in each to last you a good 4 weeks per book.

:001_wub: AWESOME score! I love love LOVE that series! We used loads of the stories throughout homeschooling -- some as read-alouds in the elementary grades, and some as solo reads to match up with "classical Great Books" and the history period during the middle school years. Enjoy! And if you like THAT series... You might also enjoy: 16-volume The Children's Hour series (Marjorie Barrows), 12-volume My Bookhouse series (Olivia Beaupre Miller) 10-volume Journeys Through Bookland series (Bellows-Reeves pub.) See more about them in these past threads 😉 "Which edition of My Bookhouse do you recommend?" "Anthologies: The Children's Hour vs. Young Folks Library vs. ?" "Journeys Through Bookland" -- 1st thread "Just wanted to share again how much I really like Journeys Through Bookland" -- follow-up thread "My Bookhouse vs. Journeys Through Bookland... compare" and references to several of these anthologies in: "Which 20 books help prepare for reading The Great Books?"

NOT a traditional gap program, and DS#2 did not do it as a gap year, BUT... He did have a 9-month commitment with an AmeriCorps partner program (American Conservation Experience - ACE), which CAN be done pre-college (gap year), or during or post-college. AmeriCorps provides no wages, but does offer a living stipend (food & housing), and an educational credit that can be used towards education tuition (not just at a university or community college), or it can be used to pay down federal student loans. Due to federal funding cuts with the current administration, there are far fewer AmeriCorps partner program opportunities now than just 2 years ago when DS#2 was part of AmeriCorps/ACE -- they are mostly limited to a small handful of non-profit partner programs that work in public helps areas like education or environment (the Vista section of AmeriCorps, or the national disaster response areas and FEMA (the NCCC and Network sections of Americorps). Most formal gap year programs that I've seen are based on: - volunteering (project areas such as: literacy, health, environmental, public works, teaching English, etc.) - international travel - adventure/wilderness experience - Christian missions Some more experiences and ideas of programs in these two threads: "Talk to me about a gap year after high school graduation" "Let's chat about gap years"

Quite frankly, testing before 5th grade (with delayed learners) is a bit pointless, as it is not until 5th grade that students who have shot ahead in some areas or lagged in other areas all tend to level out and to finally have reached their real and typical working level. So unless you are required by your state to do testing, or to declare grade level, I would wait until 5th grade to do any standardized testing with her. I waited until 4th gr. with DS#1 who was a bit advanced for his grade, and waited until 5th with DS#2 who had LDs. It was not a problem for either one to have waited 1-2 years to test. :) If you are required to test, then go with the test that matches the majority of her academic work level -- so if mostly doing grade 3 work, do the grade 3 test. If you had to officially/legally declare a grade level to meet state regs, and she is declared as 4th grade, then do the grade 4 test. If having to test (regardless of what grade level test you go with), I strongly recommend getting the matching test prep book and for the next 8-12 weeks before the test, spend 15 minutes a day with DD doing a little "bite" of the test book to prepare her for how to fill in the bubbles, and to get familiar with test-taking strategies and tips, as well as the types of material (math topics, how to read graphs and charts, etc.) that she will encounter on the test. And *repeatedly*, very calmly and off-handedly, let her know that the testing is NOT about her, but is for YOU to know if YOU have forgotten any areas or if there are any things YOU need to cover in the homeschooling. Make sure to keep it light and that the testing is "no big deal" -- make if more of a fun break, with NO other school on those days, and going out for a treat after each morning of testing. :) As far as promoting/holding back... again, unless you were required to declare a grade level when you started homeschooling, it's NOT something you have to decide right now. Just work with the student before you at the level she is at in each individual subject. There is NO way to guess how your DD will mature emotionally and academically between now, at age 9-turning-10 and in 4th grade but doing some 3rd grade work, and in 4.5 YEARS at age 14 and about to start 9th grade. For example, at age 9, our DS#2 with mild LDs was working 1-2 grades DOWN from his stated age/grade level in multiple subject areas. He slowly started to close the gap in different subject areas at different ages -- grade 5 for math (eventually catching up and doing Algebra 1 in 9th-10th grades), and grades 8-9 for starting to "click" a bit with writing... Also check out this concurrent thread "When to hold a student back" that includes several posts later down in the thread that share experiences of how students widely vary with spurts and lags all the way through middle school. Just my 2 cents worth. Warmest regards, Lori D.

In my opinion, you can only do so much. Many children are "late-bloomers" when it comes to figuring out what they want to do for a career. It often just takes time and experiencing what's out there for awhile to find what is a fit for *you*. There's a reason why MORE than half of college students switch majors at least once to something *completely* different than what they started with. ? Two DSs here, neither of whom had a "passion" for something or "knew" what they wanted to do, even by high school graduation. It honestly hasn't been until about 1 year ago, when they were 23yo and 25yo that they finally figured out what they want to do. And we *did* do some career tests and career exploration off and on throughout the high school years. We talked a lot about "what are you good at" and "what are you interested in". Every year from grade 6-12 they attended the annual big careers day event that *I* helped organize for our homeschool group to bring in a wide variety of speakers to expose the students to all kinds of career possibilities. We went on lots of field trips esp. for the gr. 6-12 students (again, organized by me) to all kinds of workplaces to see occupations up close and personal. DSs were involved in a number of extracurricular activities throughout high school and did volunteering, both of which gave them opportunities to experience new areas that might spark a job interest. All that to say, while it's great to do more formal things for career exploration -- and I'm super-glad we did ALL of those things that we did -- there's only so much the parent can do. Eventually, it comes down to when the particular student "blooms" and gets it figured out. ? In the meantime, while you're waiting for students to bloom ;), no harm in taking a class (like homefree3's suggestion above), or doing some FREE career exploration on your own -- say 1-2 Friday afternoons a month. ? Lots of resources linked and suggested in these past threads: "College and career planning" "Seeking career exploration books and websites" "Career guidance books/websites for middle schoolers" "Ideas for course on career research/planning"

::embarrassed:: :blushing: I *just* realized that "High School Science in the Home" is the name of a curricula, and that you wanted reviews on it -- I read the thread title as looking for info about the good and bad of "doing high school science at home". :laugh: So sorry! No experience with this program (well, duh! -- lol!) But after looking at Cathy Duffy review, it doesn't sound it would be a good fit for a student who dislikes science, as the program as discovery-based and requires the student spending their time researching the topics. That sounds like it could be frustrating to a student who wants to spend their time with creative writing, to have to spend their time doing independent research on a disliked topic. ;) Hope you get some actual reviews of the program here, and BEST of luck in finding the program that both gets the job done and turns out to be interesting to DD at the same time. :) Warmly, Lori D.

No side-by-side chart that I'm aware of, but the list of topics in Miquon (and which color workbook and pages) is in the back of every Miquon workbook (and also here) -- it should be fairly easy to match that up with the BA3 scope and sequence... Perhaps YOU will end up being the kind person to make that side-by-side chart... ;) Warmest regards, Lori D.

Trial and Triumph (Hannula) -- short (2-3 page) biographies of almost 4 dozen Christian martyrs, from 2nd century to 20th century More missionary story recommendations in these past threads: "Suggestions for missionary biographies" "Need missionary biography that is well-written!" For other non-religious, exciting real-life adventures: - Great Escapes of World War II (Sullivan) -- non-fiction; short stories of 7 real life WW2 soldiers - True Adventure Collection (Dowswell) -- 3-book compilation of short stories of real people (Spies, Heroes, and Survivors) - Winged Watchman (Van Stockum) -- historical fiction based on a real Dutch family under Nazi occupation - Escape From Warsaw (Serraillier) -- historical fiction based on a real Polish children surviving WW2 separated from their parents - Soul Surfer (Hamilton) -- Bethany Hamilton, champion surfer who is a Christian, who lost an arm to a shark at age 13 - Kon Tiki (Heyersdahl) -- real-life adventure of 6 men who recreated crossing the Pacific on a log raft - Men of Colditz; Escape from Colditz (Reid) -- real-life escapes of British POW soldiers from a top Germany prison camp