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Alice

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Everything posted by Alice

  1. I am doing Psychology this year with a 9th grader. This kid would hate any kind of textbook. He’s my most unschooly kid. We are using Crash Course Psychology as a backbone. I did fine a worksheet/notes go-along for it on Teacher Pay Teachers which has helped pull out the main points. We are then adding on movies, books, podcasts, textbooks, etc. For books so far he has read The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Anthropologist on Mars. Movies we’ve watched are Awakenings and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I am planning on watching others on this list: https://psychmovies.com. They have it divided by topic and also a list for high schoolers that takes out all the R movies if you want to do that. We’ve used several of The Hidden Brain podcasts, some from Invisibilia and a smattering of TedTalks. I had him take a few personality tests this week as that was the Crash Course lessons we did. Then we had an oral debate over whether or not they were useful. He kind of got off track a bit with an essay assignment and spent a lot of time independently studying identity and self from a more philosophical standpoint so I let him do that and kept Psych light for a bit around the holidays.
  2. This is what we are doing with my second son. He sounds very similar to the OP’s son. He has ADD. He was 13 in 8th grade when he started Algebra I. It took him about a year and a half to finish. We took the summer off, which I had mixed feelings about. I don’t think it’s a great idea but we had a house fire and in the middle of the pandemic everything was too chaotic. We all needed a break and I couldn’t fight him to do math all summer. He was able to pick back up in the fall and finish fine. He just started Geometry and will likely take a year or possibly 1 1/2 years to finish. I plan to put 9th grade for Algebra I and likely 10th grade for Geometry.
  3. This just came up here. Ds has used AOPS all the way through and did the Calc book first semester. He self-studies and doesn’t do the online class. He took a practice AP calc exam and realized he had to have a calculator. We had never gotten him one, so we did. I mentioned how weird it was that he was required to have a calculator and he mentioned that on all his other standardized tests he’s done, everyone has one but him. I was mind-blown. He’s done very very well on standardized testing so it hasn’t been an issue for him but I did realize this was one of those holes in education I was blind to. I do figure that leaning to use a calculator will probably be an easier hole to fill than others would be, so it’s not too bad. But I’m glad we figured it out now in January. This is what we ended up doing. Ds has used AoPS on his own all along and it’s been great. Given the choice of doing an “official” AP class or a DE class or using AOPS he chose to keep using AoPS. (The online classes don’t work for us due to timing. They are all night here and ds is a swimmer who gets up at 3:45 AM. Plus he likes the self-teaching.) So I hired a homeschool grad who was a math major and they meet once a week on Zoom. They worked through the Calc book last semester so are doing the Counting and Probability book now and also working through old AP exams. I’ts been a great solution. It’s not cheap but it would be about the same cost of a DE class or an online class and I feel like it’s working really well. If nothing else, he really enjoys having someone to talk math with who understands it. He’s used to telling the rest of us stuff and we just glaze over.
  4. Ok...I’m really only posting so that if someone else has a weird plan for next year they will feel better after seeing all the super rigorous plans.😃 My rising 10th grader is my most out of the box kid. The big question factor for our planning is how much travel we allow him to do next year. My oldest will be doing a gap year and the current plan is to drive around the country visiting every state. Obviously, that is assuming Covid is more under control and things are more back to normal. Rising 10th grader wants to go and we will likely let him go for a significant portion. If he does that I will create some kind of geography/history/literature course based on where they travel. That will take care of humanities. He currently does ASL online with Open Tent and he really likes it and will continue. He could do that while traveling. And he does Math with Derek Owens, he could also keep that up while traveling. He is starting an Animation course this month and I bet he will want to continue or maybe just do art on his own which is kind of a constant anyway for him. He also has talked about doing a podcast while they travel. If he travels a fair amount I think it will be a year off of formal science. But he is a huge consumer of non-fiction so I can throw in some science that way. If the travel doesn’t happen...then it will probably be all the same courses but we will use Simplify’s Global Perspectives Curriculum for Humanities and probably have him take Chemistry at our co-op.
  5. I answered that it was the most rigorous. Because we had chosen classes that are rigorous. Is it absolutely the most rigorous he could have done? No, of course not...but it was comparable to a very rigorous curriculum at our local high school. And I figured they were going to ignore my answer anyway as a homeschooler. I felt like I could honestly say it was rigorous and if I put anything other than most rigorous it would only potentially hurt him. As to this thread...I totally agree with what has been said here. We are lucky to be in an area that has easy access to AP exams for homeschoolers so that isn't an issue for us. Oldest is a good test taker and had very high SAT/ACT scores so I felt like that in itself was a validation of sorts. He did take some AP exams but not as many as a lot of kids (when he applied he had taken 3). He is taking 5 more this year but mostly because the classes were ones he was interested in and wanted to take at that level and it's the two Physics and two Econ classes, so that equals 4 tests. He is self-studying for Calc with AOPS and other materials. He has a lot of "validation" in Math and Science and virtually none other than the SAT in English or Humanities. He did take the AP Latin exam but all his other exams have been Math/Science. All that said, he has gotten in to 8 schools so far. He is applying to small LAC and none of them had extra requirements for homeschoolers. I think the exams helped but I also think the overall application was probably looked at more than it might have been at a big school. I know a lot of people say finances keep them from looking at a private school, but we found that all the schools will be cheaper than our state schools with the aid he has been given (mostly merit). My second son who is a freshman now will be a different story. He is not a good test taker and totally uninterested in learning anything "for a test" or inside the box. I'm hoping that by embracing a fully quirky outside the box non-traditional high school approach he will find a place somewhere. 🙂 I know everyone's experience is different and I agree that the focus on testing and on forcing all kids to take AP tests is a huge issue. But I wanted to post to say to people who might not have kids in high school yet that there are avenues open to them that might not require doing a tremendous number of AP tests a year. That's especially true if you are looking at smaller places or not trying for Ivies or super-competitive schools.
  6. Just to report. I had my second dose Friday (Pfizer) and have had no real side effects. I had heard that the second dose was worse. My arm was more sore and I did have some muscle aches in the middle of the night that could have been related. But it was all very minor.
  7. I agree! I finally signed up for Tap this year and it's been fantastic. I am terrible, but it's still really fun. And such a stress relief. It's on Friday nights and I feel l like I get out all the frustrations of the week. I also have realized it's the most mindful thing I do. If I think about anything other than what my feet are supposed to be doing...I can't dance. So I have to just focus on dance and whatever other things that are worrying me or stressing me out go away for an hour.
  8. My oldest took the SAT or ACT every year starting in 8th grade. I figured I'd rather use it to fulfill our end of year requirement than the Iowa (which we use and find not really that helpful other than as a box checker). I thought at least having him practice taking a test that he needed to take eventually would be good. I just made it very clear the first year that he wouldn't know all the Math (he was doing AOPS Algebra but hadn't had Geometry) and that I didn't really care how he did. I will say I knew that he was a good test taker. I planned on having my second son do the same thing, even more so because he is not a good test taker. He has ADHD and gets distracted and also way overthinks every question. He is an outside the box thinker and I have had to tell him so many times that standardized tests are about the NORMAL answer, not the "well, maybe in this weird circumstance" kind of answer. So he just needs to learn to take a test that he finds boring and stupid. He wasn't able to do it last year due to Covid and I'm not sure if I'll do it this year. I wouldn't if it was now. We'll see in June. As for the score jump, I always just hoped that colleges would be able to see that if a kid took a test in 9th grade and then again in 10th grade you would expect their score to jump due to learning more stuff.
  9. Have you tried timed free writing? Where you set a timer and then just have to write for 15 min (or whatever time)? The rule is you can write anything (even something like "this is stupid" over and over) but you have to keep writing. I find my reluctant writers are more amenable if I also do it with them. Then we share, but it's optional to share what we wrote. Other thoughts...one of my kids really likes outlining. He's more of a logical thinker so outlining really helps him where a more free-form brainstorming doesn't. Another of my kids who is a good writer really pushes against it if he thinks the prompts are stupid. I don't know if your program is one where you could change the prompt or allow her to write something else. Or maybe a free write first on what would be better prompts and then she can see if any of those topics can fit into the original prompt.
  10. Even weirder is that our dog loves snow but hates all other water. Although we don’t get very much so maybe it’s just the novelty.
  11. I got my first dose right before Christmas. I had a bit of a sore arm, kind of like a tetanus shot. No fever, no generalized symptoms. All the other docs at my office, and my SIL who is a doc have gotten it with similar minimal side effects. Same with the nurses and front desk staff at our office.
  12. I went on a long walk in the rain yesterday also. It was great. I made my kids come and they enjoyed it too even though there was much complaining beforehand. Weirdly, I have the one lab in the world who hates water. She will usually walk with me even if it’s wet but she puts the breaks on for anyone else.
  13. Hello! I'm on a journey to being healthier. I had some successes last year. : I gave up a decade's long Diet Coke habit (I don't even want to admit how much I drank a day). I started tap-dance classes which has been a long time goal of mine but I think I had been waiting to do it until I lost weight. I finally just started and it's been so fun. The teacher is awesome and so good with beginners. We are able to go in a safe way in person and they also have it on Zoom. The people on Zoom look really fun, so look forward to when we are all together. At 48, I'm probably the average age in the class and the Zoomers are all older. I also started swimming semi-regularly last summer and continued in the fall. My current exercise goals: -Walking outside every day at least 15 minutes. This is as much for fitness as mental health. I find that I really am in a much better mood when I'm outside at least a little every day. I set the bar low because I do better at being consistent when I'm trying to keep up a streak BUT I also tend to get frustrated and give up entirely if I break that streak. So I didn't want to do mileage or steps. I wanted to do something that I knew I could do every day, even when it's horrible weather or when I have a really long day at work. -Swimming consistently. This is a little hard becuase we have to sign up for lap lane space at the Rec Center and it can fill up. But my goal is to go 2-3 times a week. -Tap class I'd like to add in Yoga and Strength training slowly. My daughter is a dancer and has been doing "stretching sessions" with the whole family over the pandemic which has been really good. We are going vegetarian as a family for the month of January. My middle son has been a vegetarian since he was 6 by his own choice and he went vegan in October. So we're fairly used to having veggie options. I also signed up again for Noom. I had tried it once before but ended up giving up because we had a house fire last year and I just got off track. I think it's a reasonably good program and if nothing else it keeps me accountable. And they had a huge sale so the price was pretty minimal.
  14. Ds has gotten mutliple things from one school that shares his name. It’s kind of fun becasuse I don’t think that’s where he’ll end up but he now has a blanket, socks, a glass straw and some other stuff all essentially personalized. 🙂
  15. Thanks. We really liked Messiah when we visited. But partially it was because we went for a swim recruiting event and so got to really meet a lot of people. I think both my son and I felt like it was a great fit...but we also realize that it’s hard to judge a lot of other places because we can’t visit. We also like Calvin, although haven’t visited. My son’s name is Calvin so that is providing us all kinds of amusement right now. They have sent him stuff with “Calvin” on it so our family joke is that if nothing else comes out of it he’ll have a glass straw and banner and socks with his name on them. 😁 I told my other kids their new strategy is to find school’s that have their name so they can also get personalized swag if accepted.
  16. I just bought a bunch of the Subpar stickers for various family members. We went on a trip to Utah last year and did a bunch of National Parks so I think the kids will love it. I personally LOVE the wooden anatomy ornaments. I can't see spending $24.00 on one just for me though and I can't think of anyone else who would appreciate it in my life. If you have a Math lover in your family this is a great website: https://mathsgear.co.uk. It is international shipping but the things themselves are pretty reasonable. Oldest son is a huge fan of Matt Parker so I got him the newest book and it's a signed copy. Amazon had the book, but not signed. I also got him a 120 sided die which he is going to love.
  17. I got the mugs for my sons for their birthdays this fall. They are really fun and actually also very attractive.
  18. These are too funny. I might have to get the Grand Canyon one for my 11 year old who famously (in our family) declared it the most boring hike she had ever been on last year. Granted, we had just been to Zion and Bryce so she was a little over the beautiful rocks and scenery.
  19. Ds has gotten into three: Messiah, Calvin and Clark Univ (in Mass). He’s working on Honors program and scholarship applications as we speak. Some are due this weekend. He had an interview with the Honors Program at Messiah. He did get offered a scholarship at Clark, athough not enough to make it a great financial fit for him yet. The bigger ones are the ones with applications. He’s also planning on swimming. It will be D3 so no money but it does add a layer of recruiting and coaches to talk to and such. It is really a sigh of relief to have acceptances.
  20. Mine has gotten two acceptances as well. It is such a relief...kind of “Ok, I didn’t totally fail him.” 🙂 Not that I really thought that was true but still...it’s nice to feel validated a bit.
  21. If your high schoolers would be willing to fill out this quick survey to help my son with his statistics project that would be great! He needs it by next Friday and it should take no more than 10 minutes. (If they know their Myers-Briggs personality type it’s about 2 minutes, if they don’t know it they can follow a link to a quick test and it takes about 10-15 minutes to complete). Link for the survey is below. Thanks! https://www.google.com/url?q=https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdu75eXfeVNB_Oi7AEVO_6VQW5eCd3m61C6jgn7XVEDYUmReg/viewform&sa=D&source=hangouts&ust=1604779843714000&usg=AFQjCNE9NeTnp4A2WqbM859_yCLkFHq7Gg
  22. If your high schoolers would be willing to fill out this quick survey to help my son with his statistics project that would be great! He needs it by next Friday and it should take no more than 10 minutes. (If they know their Myers-Briggs personality type it’s about 2 minutes, if they don’t know it they can follow a link to a quick test and it takes about 10-15 minutes to complete). Link for the survey is below. Thanks! https://www.google.com/url?q=https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdu75eXfeVNB_Oi7AEVO_6VQW5eCd3m61C6jgn7XVEDYUmReg/viewform&sa=D&source=hangouts&ust=1604779843714000&usg=AFQjCNE9NeTnp4A2WqbM859_yCLkFHq7Gg
  23. If your high schoolers would be willing to fill out this quick survey to help my son with his statistics project that would be great! He needs it by next Friday and it should take no more than 10 minutes. (If they know their Myers-Briggs personality type it’s about 2 minutes, if they don’t know it they can follow a link to a quick test and it takes about 10-15 minutes to complete). Link for the survey is below. Thanks! https://www.google.com/url?q=https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdu75eXfeVNB_Oi7AEVO_6VQW5eCd3m61C6jgn7XVEDYUmReg/viewform&sa=D&source=hangouts&ust=1604779843714000&usg=AFQjCNE9NeTnp4A2WqbM859_yCLkFHq7Gg
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