Holly, I started out teaching my high schooler at home, and we did that for all subjects for 9th & 10th grades. We have a tutorial center nearby for high schoolers, but none of their offerings fit in with what we wanted to study, and it is very expensive, so I decided to keep him at home. We had a good 9th grade year, but 10th grade was tough. The issue wasn't so much the course materials, but my son's need to "get out of the house" and get more interaction with other teens. I also found him less and less willing to work hard to satisfy my expectations. This year for 11th, I tried the tutorial center again, but they canceled the one class I wanted him to take due to lack of enrollment. I did sign him up for some on-line classes, and that has helped somewhat with his motivation. He is willing to work a lot harder for an outside teacher, and it's done him a lot of good to have to meet another teacher's standards. If we lived closer to the local cc, I would have considered that for this year, too. Next year, he'll be old enough to drive himself and will go to the cc for at least a couple of courses each semester. I see this as a necessary step for this particular child before heading off to college. I'm not sending him there because I can't teach the high school subjects, but because he needs the outside classroom experience for motivation and as a stepping stone to full time college. I guess what I'm getting at is that the need for outside courses is very dependent on a particular child's and family's situation. Some children are more socially needy than others, and some need the outside motivation/competition. Others are great workers/learners when they work independently with just mom as a guide. I disagree with your school's policy of excluding all 8th graders because some might not be ready. If you feel you need outside courses, perhaps you could teach Biology at home in 8th and then send him to this school for Chemistry in 9th? I really enjoy having my teen at home for high school, but it has really been a challenge meeting his social needs and the need for outside teachers. I will definitely put more thought into how we do high school when my current 6th grader gets there. HTH, Brenda

My youngest is in a "between" year -- between Singapore PM6 and Algebra. I chose to use Saxon 87 to give him one more year of practice with basic math before tackling Algebra. It has been a constant battle all year trying to get him to write out simple equations and show his work step by step when he can do it all in his head. I don't really know of a good solution, other than just to keep making him write things out. While I know the necessity of it, he just thinks I'm mean, too!!! Maybe someone else will have some suggestions in this area!?! Brenda

If your ds thinks he'd like a city locale -- Pittsburgh is a nice city, and the Pitt campus is right down Forbes Ave. from CMU. I believe that Pitt & CMU used to have an agreement in place where students from one school could take courses at the other. I don't know if that's still the case, but if so, it might open up more course options for your son. Best wishes to all of you on the decision! Brenda

Yes -- I was thinking of a full-time or close to full-time job in his area of interest, if we let him go that route. I'm thinking that a potential employer of that type will be more interested in hiring him if he's available to work more than 5 or 10 hours/week. I think he'd get more out of the experience, too. I'm just trying to think about balancing the flexibility of homeschooling with what is best for him and what colleges will think of the arrangement. Thanks for your input, Brenda

How much time each week outside of the 1 - 1.5 hours class time was needed to do the work for the Moral and Myth classes? TIA, Brenda

when my son was 6 or 7 yo. He enjoyed it. I think it gave him some confidence with his drawing. There are no specific lesson plans with the book. We just used each lesson for 10 - 15 min/day several days a week until he could easily draw the subject of that lesson, then we moved on to the next lesson. Now, I'm using Atelier Art (http://www.homeschoolart.com). I've used it for past 3 years. While it doesn't teach drawing specifically, there are some drawing lessons mixed in with each level. It's pricey, but my son really enjoys it, and the video lessons are excellent. The teacher demonstrates the project, and then the video shows actual kids making the project. Seeing other children doing the project and seeing their results helps my son want to jump right in and get started. Just another thought ... Brenda

but I direct my kids not to oversharpen the Prismacolor pencils (make a sharp point). I didn't even know a dedicated sharpener existed. Brenda

I'm thinking ahead to next year. We use NARHS, and my son, who is a junior this year, will have enough credits to graduate this spring (2008). However, I don't want to graduate him early because I think he needs another year at home to mature before going away to college. Any way -- next year, I'd like him to take a couple of year-long courses at home and a few at the community college in the fall (at least). I was planning on having him take 2 more courses at the community college in the spring, but then I got to thinking that maybe it would be more valuable for him to get work experience the second semester his senior year instead of taking more cc courses. Have anyone's dc done this? I'm wondering how his potential colleges would view this because one of his English credits was earned in the 8th grade (but is high school level according to NARHS). TIA for your thoughts, Brenda

I just started IEW with my 6th grader this past fall. I watched the TWSS video set, and then we started with the Ancient History Based Lessons. One of the premises with IEW is that you start out by giving your children the source material because often finding a topic and getting started is the hardest part. They take the provided source material and create a key-word outline. They then write their paragraph using only that outline. The dress-ups and sentence openers are only introduced a few at a time over several lessons. In the Ancient History Based lesson plans, the children work for weeks and weeks with provided source materials. Only when they have the hang of that, is there an assignment that directs you to go to the library and find your own source materials and work from those. I can't tell from your description of exactly how you're approaching their assignments, but I would definitely recommend either the theme based writing lessons or the student writing intensive, as both of these do a bit of hand holding to get you started with the IEW process. If you can't or don't want to use either one of these, try and find some source material to give your children to begin with. It usually takes us 3 days to work on a 1 paragraph assignment. The first day, we go over the lesson, and my son makes the outline. The 2nd day, he writes the paragraph, and the 3rd day, he and I review it, he makes his corrections, and prints out a final copy. If the assignment calls for more than 1 paragraph, sometimes I have him do 2 outlines in one day or we review and revise 2 paragraphs at a time. HTH, Brenda

If I were you, I'd continue with the Rod & Staff writing assignments for the rest of this year, and then study up on teaching writing over the summer so you can implement some new ideas come the fall-time. If you watch the TWSS programs a bit at a time over the summer, then you can decide what kind of source materials to gather for the fall. As one of the other posters suggested, I'd highly recommend the IEW Theme Based writing books as a great place to start after watching the TWSS programs. The Ancient History one would be a great place to start with a 5th grader. It lays out easy-to-follow lesson plans for you to follow with your child. My 6th grader used it earlier this year, and we both really enjoyed it. If you feel you need more direction, and the ancient history plans don't mesh with your other curriculum, then SWI would give you more detailed lesson plans. HTH, Brenda

One idea -- have him write a "Year in Review" paper with articles about the various subjects he studied over this past year. Sit down with him and come up with a list of articles he thinks should be in the paper, and then let him work on one or two a week during the time he would have been doing other "English" subjects. Or if he has a passion for something (e.g. airplanes, whales), he could write a newspaper with lots of articles on different types of airplanes or whales. You could help him compile it on the computer and email it to your friends and relatives. Another thing to consider might be to let him use the extra time to learn to touch type. I had my 11 yo learn to type over last summer. He used Typing Tutor. It's made a lot of difference in his willingness to write his school papers because editing is such an easy job now. Congrats to you both on finishing early! Brenda

and found it short and to the point. The experiments really illustrate the concepts well. My older son used it in middle school and is now on high school Physics. He hasn't had any trouble with high school science. My younger son is using it this year (6th) and will continue with it for 7th grade, too. He really enjoys the sense of humor the author brings to the textbook. Following most lessons, there are just a few questions to be answered. My son is learning how to answer in complete sentences and explain concepts in writing without being overwhelmed with a page of 10 questions/lesson. I met Jay Wile at a convention many years ago and asked him whether he thought Rainbow Science (whose booth was around the corner) would be a good preparation for his high school courses. He said that he thought it would provide a good preparation for his high school courses. He said that middle school students who preferred a lot of reading would like his course better and that those who preferred a more hands-on approach would like Rainbow better. We have found that to be true in our experience. HTH, Brenda

my oldest used Saxon from Math 54 through the first half of Advanced Math. He also has had trouble with the SAT-type math problems, but I think that has more to do with the SAT than with Saxon Math in particular. IMHO, the SAT math questions are really more "logic" problems than problems that test one's math knowledge. My son was able to improve his score somewhat by doing lots of practice SAT math problems and by using the Chalkdust SAT math DVDs and the Rocket Review Revolution book. None of these things increased his math knowledge, but they helped give him strategies with which to approach the SAT math problems. He was able to recognize the tricks and traps in the problems better. I liked Saxon and kept using it with him because of the continuous review. This child needs lots and lots of practice, and that was the good thing about Saxon. Both of us became a little disenchanted with the program in Advanced Math because a lot of abstract concepts are covered, and there is no explanation of what these things are used for. Ds is using Chalkdust's PreCalc course this year, and he likes it better in a lot of ways. Each section has a little box at the beginning that describes the applications of the material, and there are quite a few exercises that show practical applications. This is very important to my son; it motivates him to slog through the tough parts. He enjoys the DVD instruction much better than he liked the Dive CDs. He is also really benefiting from the use of the graphing calculator in Chalkdust's course so he can actually "see" the functions. Although, I do think it's easy to become a little too dependent on the graphing calculator. There are a few review problems at the end of each section, and those are helping him remember what he's learned. My biggest issue with CD is the pacing. The author gives a general suggestion of how many problems to do, but exactly what you assign is up to you. I find it frustrating to schedule the course because I don't know in advance which lessons are relatively easy and which would be harder. I expect that a classroom teacher would know this by experience after covering the course the first time. I've read many reports over the years about how some love Saxon and some hate it. It seems to me, that the families that succeed with Saxon and whose dc get great SAT math scores are those whose children are naturally math-inclined or just bright or good with logic problems in general and who do significant SAT prep. My guess is that these kids would have done well on the SAT no matter what math program they used. I guess I'm trying to say that, IMHO, if you use a decent math program diligently (and there are many, many of them, Saxon included), and if you prepare them for the SAT math with lots of practice, they will most likely do above average on the SAT math. At least in my experience, getting a great SAT math score requires innate math ability or very high intelligence, something very few kids are lucky to be born with. One thing you might want to consider is to have your children take the ACT because most colleges accept both tests (check your school of interest to be sure, though). The math portion of the ACT is more in line with the type of math taught in high schools. So far in practice tests, my son has done much, much better on the ACT math than on the SAT math. I'll be curious to see, in a few months, how his actual scores come out. Sorry this got so long, and I hope I addressed your question. Brenda

Hi Stacey, Glad you're back home, and just in time for Easter! Brenda

and the reading load is very heavy. Sonlight typically mixes in more meaty literature with easier titles to achieve a balance. It's true that some of the readers are a bit easy, they are there to give a break from the heavy books and to fill in the historical picture. I thought Core 300 had many, meaty high school-level books like Brave New World, Cry, the Beloved Country, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and the Great Gatsby. The level of detail of the literature guides was a concern of mine when we used Core 300. I didn't think there was enough meat to the guides. I do believe that SL is working on improving the Core 300 guide. They have a new catalog coming out April 1st, so you could wait and see if the IG was revamped. HTH, Brenda

many, many classic titles available for download for free. I hope your dd enjoys her summer! Brenda

and my 11 yo son also dislikes it very much. I sensed what Plaid Dad said -- that it just doesn't come naturally to him. I'm going to press ahead and keep with it for awhile. I think he'll eventually come around. He's not super excited about Henle, but we've been at it for some time now, and he's very good at the exercises, so I know that he's got a strong foundation. I've read that first chapter of LL 3 times myself, and I'm feeling more comfortable with it already. I appreciate the advice of the others to read it over and over and it will become more second nature. I hope that happens. Not much advice, but know that you aren't alone as you start out with LL. Brenda

I used it almost as Lori described. I wrote the sentences on a white board, leaving a lot of space between the words and lines. My son placed the cards under the words, allowing him to see the color patterns made by typical sentences. Brenda

she would be a 7th grader this coming fall, since you have to be 12 yo to start 7th grade and the cut-off is Sept. 1. She would be an "older" 7th grader, though. In some other near by towns, the cut-off date is later, even to Dec. 31. In those places, she would be an 8th grader this coming fall. HTH, Brenda

There are so many versions available, can anyone recommend a good one? TIA, Brenda

Thanks for sharing. I didn't have any trouble with the food at CMU, but that was 20ish years ago (oh, I'm old....). I liked your story about the woman designing the tennis robot. I can relate to the posts by Gwen et al. about what to do when your dc need you around but don't need you every moment. Like that woman you mentioned, I feel like I need to start thinking about pursuing my dreams again, but then, I wish I knew what they were! Brenda

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Heather, I watched the TWSS video set and then went straight to using the History-Based Lesson plans. My 11 yo has enjoyed them very much. The Ancient and Medieval plans, that we are using now, don't have many stories. The assignments are mostly like a typical history summary or report on a history topic. Sometimes my son will stick in a dress-up that sounds a little off, but the idea of the program is to get the kids used to using them. I heard Pudewa speak at a hs convention, and he said that you have to get the kids writing and using the dress ups for a year or two before they become natural, so I'm not too concerned at this point. My son's writing has improved dramatically, and he really enjoys how nice it sounds. We have much less grief over writing this year. HTH, Brenda

Ds is looking at either Computer Science or Engineering. He wants to go to a school somewhere in the Northeast (say anywhere from VA to PA and north). My other question is this -- should he bring some paperwork with him (e.g. transcript from NARHS, a resume, some course descriptions)? TIA, Brenda

My son is a junior this year, and we will be visiting a few prospective colleges in the coming weeks. We will take in the info session and tour, and I'd like him to have an interview if they offer it (still researching this on specific schools). A couple of the schools offer a lunch with a current student, and one offers the ability to sit in on a class with a current student. I'd like some guidance on what ds should wear. I was thinking of a nice, long sleeved cotton interlock-type of shirt and khaki pants. Would this outfit be appropriate for a prospective student tour/interview? TIA, Brenda