I teach from the Illustrated Guide from my home to small groups for the past many years. Send me a private message with your email and I'll send you a bunch of notes.

My kids were not writing that much at that age. They can all write fine now except my severely dyslexic little one is not yet there.

I also have talked to friends that have never read what their kids have written or are otherwise very hands-off. Many times the parents are uninformed and are unaware that the kids are getting bad advice elsewhere.

You need books - real books - as part of your English and history credits. Reading literature, even if you don't do anything more than read it, is an important part of an English credit. The bulk of a history credit should be learning history, not learning to write. I'd pick ONE IEW writing course per year and count it as part of your English credit. Pick whatever level of writing instruction is needed - don't worry if it is level B.

Non-trig you need for calc 2 includes polar coordinates, sequences and series.

I started with my first in junior year (and thought it'd be a quick easy look at a few schools and go to state univ.). As he looked at a few, he started getting interested in looking at more. We did some during jr year and many over the summer between jr and sr year. I told him he could apply sight unseen and sort it out later, but fortunately he got into his first choice. My second has done some looking his sophomore year. I picked out a state univ, small tech school and one selective school to look at for engineering. After doing these, he has a better idea of what he might like - small vs big, scope of classes, location. Now we will sit down and discuss a lot more schools that might fit him and have the time in the next year or two to make some decisions. It'll be completely new as my daughter will look at schools very different than her brothers.

Chapters 1-13 are basically algebra 1. It would be difficult for most students to do a different algebra 1 program and then jump into the second half of the book. I'm in the camp that the second half of the book is enough to call algebra 2. What is doesn't cover that some other algebra 2 programs cover is parabolas, hyperbolas, ellipses, matrices. All of these topics are covered from the beginning in a good precalc program. As far as geometry, if she can get through chapter 15 then I'd consider her good. (Chapter 13 is hard by the way). The rest of the book is good, but you'll see it again if you ever need it. Chapter 16 is reflections/rotations - not too hard of a chapter. Chapter 17 is analytical geometry - I had a whole college class that essentially covered this one chapter (it was a waste of a class). Chapter 18 is intro to trig - a great intro that you can add if you want. Chapter 19 is putting everything together in more hard problems.

I'd argue that solid algebra skills are much more important in life than strong geometry skills for someone not going further in math. This said, you could just accept your weak geometry course and move on - I know many public school students locally who have very weak geometry courses. I wouldn't postpone the algebra 2. You can double up on the geometry and algebra 2 or postpone the geometry. If it were my kid, I'd go down the route of algebra 2. If I though she could handle doing the geometry concurrently, then I'd do that, but I'd give her permission to postpone it until her senior year if needed.

At first in the college search, my son couldn't see himself moving away from home. I said that was fine, but he had to look at a few schools. In the process, he visited and fell in love with Vanderbilt. He applied early decision and got in (fortunately). His BIG REGRET is that he didn't apply to more top schools in that he never did have a second choice school that he was happy with. He had schools he applied to that would easily accept him and give him money, but he didn't feel like he fit into them. I would look at acceptances and finances. In addition, I'd look at what the school has to offer in the department you are interested in - they vary widely. If your student is interested in double majoring, look at how easy it is to do so. Some schools make it easy to add a second major - just do the major courses. Others make if difficult. For instance math would be natural to add to many engineering degrees - at some schools you just have to fulfill the math hours. At others you have to fulfill all the general requirements of the School of Arts and Science in addition to the School of Engineering which makes it difficult to add anything to an engineering degree. Edited to say that I will be starting earlier with my second so that we have time to process and take unexpected turns without feeling too rushed.

I have no problem with students who are asking for help on any essay - application essays or other. For a test you have to be able to do it completely on your own, but otherwise it's generally a good idea to run your paper by someone to edit it. Colleges have writing tutors and encourage students to seek out help on papers, etc. As far as your question - my oldest did the Brave Writer College Admission Essay class, so yes, he did have help. The help was generally hand-holding through the process. First brainstorm about things you enjoy, next read over the essay prompt and see if any of these would apply to it. Next do some freewriting. Meanwhile read some blogs about what admission officers are looking for and read these essays with comments from admissions. Good job, now free write some more. Here's a list of brainstorming questions, do any of them give you new ideas. Now write a rough draft. Here's some questions, now go write some more. The essay was 100% his words and was a very good look into his personality. The BW teacher supported along the way, but in no way told him what to write and did very minimal editing. (It was an excellent class by the way). I have a big problem with someone else writing the essay for the student. I don't have any problem with students seeking help. If your honor code says to state whether you had help then do so, but there is nothing unethical about brainstorming with someone, bouncing ideas off of them or asking someone for editing or proofreading help. I think today the college admission essay questions are more important and top students are turning in more polished essays for college apps compared to when I went to school.

Are you talking about using IEW US history based writing lessons? If so, I"d count it toward an English credit and not history. These sound like they are primarily writing instruction which falls under English. It doesn't matter what you write about for English. I'd pick one writing curriculum per year for your writing instruction. English credit is usually part writing and part literature. History credit will primarily be historical reading/watching videos with output being discussion and/or writing. You can combine parts of your English and history by having them write about history, but I wouldn't suggest two different writing curriculums.

My high schoolers generally don't do an essay a week. (One probably will next year, but writing comes naturally to him). I emphasize quality over quantity. No suggestions to you other to offer that not everyone does an essay a week... especially in 8th grade.

For Singapore math, everyone needs the textbook and workbook for each level. (The workbook is consumable.) For mathy people (like me) you don't need the Home Instructor's guide, but for many people it is very useful. You could simply start with this. If you want to add on there are more SM math books (I like Challenging word problems at a lower level than the textbook). Alternatively you could add something like Zaccaro's books or nothing. To start, I'd get the HIG, textbook and workbook for each level you want to do.

To be able to do trig, you do not need to know most of geometry. The basic geometry required for trig is usually reviewed, but there is much more to geometry that is not needed in trig. A good geometry course teaches way more than simply the prerequisite geometry for trig. Can you do geometry light and move on in math? Sure. but you certainly haven't covered all of geometry.

Yes the essay class is a great place to start with Brave Writer. All of the teachers that we've had have been great.

Yes, I would say that putting YOUR money in someone else's name to hold for you is unethical in trying to play the college finances game. I don't remember if it was the FAFSA or the PROFILE, but it asked this exact question - are any of YOUR assets in someone else's name, whether it be parental assets or student assets. If a grandparent opens a 529 in your student's name then that's great, and it's money that colleges can't see until it's reported on future income taxes. It is the grandparent's money and they have the option to reclaim that money as their own at any time so it isn't guaranteed that the student will ever see that money.

Brave Writer has an excellent 6 week MLA Research Essay class. In the past it has been offered limited times and fills extremely quickly, but well worth the money if you can get in. Both my high school boys have done that class. oops - it's only recommended for older students.

Unfortunately Derek Owens doesn't do an online computer science course - only live classes. My son will do it through Edhesive. Teen Coder is another option. There are several free MOOC courses.

Lori D - Do you know how retirement accounts are counted once you are retired? I assumed it was simply the income you took out of it for the year and not the entire account as assets.

First I pick AP classes as I do any class - a class that will teach material to my student. Therefore, I first look for any class that is a great class, not specifically AP. AP has been great for my oldest to validate some of everything else he has on his transcript. He's headed to a very selective college next year and I'm not sure he would have gotten in without something to validate his homeschool grades (this did not necessarily have to be AP classes, but that's the route we choose). Lastly, AP might be a way to get college credit and that appeals to my second son. He likes to learn and it comes easily to him, therefore he likes the thought of taking a bunch of AP classes.

I'd make sure math gets done, but everything else can be taught loosely for a year (not forever). Personally, I'd pick some great books and snuggle on the couch for read-alouds. I'd go on family field trips. I'd play board games. I'd also do directed learning. As far as school book-work, I'd have a pile of subjects. I'd simply assign whatever is next and not worry too much about a day to day schedule. If you want to spend all day doing science experiments, go for it. If you want to pick up and go hiking for the day - go. Focus on relationships and learning through whatever you choose to do. I may sound too unstructured and I don't really mean ignore teaching, but I'd put the focus on the family and teach along the way.

Thanks for the feedback.

The easy answer is yes, Dolciani is fine prep to go into Derek Owens later. The difficult piece is if YOU can do it. I'm not sure how to define an "average" mom. Algebra is a very important foundation to every math and science that follows. Do you understand how to manipulate equations well? Equations with fractions and negatives? How to apply the distributive property in algebra? I find that some just teach step 1, step 2, step 3 and don't really understand the nuances of how really to manipulate numbers and equations. Whatever you choose for Algebra 1, you can always ask for help along the way if you need it. You can even sign up for DO mid-semester and start anywhere if needed. I haven't looked at TT enough to give an opinion on it.

We did not do it as scheduled, but we did do most of it. I don't mind at all having some of the younger books interwoven. I would not hesitate to let me child skip the younger books or drop some of the less interesting books. This is a rule I generally have. You can freely drop one or two books for the year and use replacements, but we mostly do it as mom schedules.

So sorry for your loss. Praying for your family.