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Aurelia

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  1. I just realized I need to get my rear in gear and actually sit down and plan instead of hiding my head in the sand. DD wants "useful" skills instead of "boring" things like history and algebra, so I'm planning to incorporate geometry into her art, and have her study economics before moving on to government at the local CC (hopefully, she didn't pass her test the first time, she has to take the admissions test again). Right now I have: PAC conceptual physics (should be finished by Thanksgiving) Economics (fall semester), using Basic Economics as a spine Math Relief Geometry Excellence in Literature plus additional classes with Home2Teach or Lantern English (grammar, plus outside feedback) finish Driver's Ed Still up in the air: spring semester of social studies art, other than Drawing Geometry foreign language or some other elective, I mentioned logic or debate and she seemed receptive, but I have to find a fairly inexpensive way to outsource it because she needs a "debate partner" other than me possibly chemistry at the local co-op
  2. Me: 😓🤪 I'm not even entirely sure DD qualifies as a 10th grader, but I couldn't find a 9th grade planning thread and she's 10th by age, so... Uh...extremely tentatively: Math: no idea, maybe another pass through Algebra 1, or consumer math of some kind? Maybe geometry (MUS? Math Relief? Mr. D?) I'll give her some placement tests near the end of the summer. The idea is to work towards math at the local community college, and they may want to do a remedial course. English: hoping for English Composition 1 at local CC History: no idea. World geography maybe? Science: Oak Meadow environmental science or Pacworks chemistry Foreign Language: ASL1 at local CC or Norwegian with the Fluent Forever app, if it's ready in time. She really wants to study Norwegian, and there's a dearth of materials Elective/s: Oak Meadow Health & Fitness, drawing (local CC, probably)
  3. We are jumping back in to school and tumbling classes after taking off July. Today was DD's first day back at one of her gyms and everyone was like "You're back! You cut your hair! What happened to your face?" (She scraped her forehead, nose and chin on the edge of a swimming pool last week. She still has a band-aid on her nose because she keeps scratching it.) I just ordered a new school ID for DD (with her new back to school haircut), so when her birthday comes around she will have one to get her learner's driving permit. ? English and science classes don't start for 2 more weeks, but everything else is full-steam-ahead. I have a high schooler! Eeeep.
  4. Math: Math Relief Algebra 1, maybe part of Algebra 2 English: CLRC Introduction to Literature and Composition (yay! no more teaching writing for me!), ABeCeDarian C&D History: PAC World History with The Human Odyssey 3 Science: Honors Biology w/local group Foreign Language: ASL 1 with ASL Rochelle Art: Drawing - 1 new technique per week plus 30 minutes daily practice using various free online resources Other: Maybe a half credit of creative writing in the spring, if DD doesn't want to continue with drawing PE: Competitive tumbling & trampoline plus recreational gymnastics
  5. DD took a course through So Verbose last year, but it wasn't creative writing, so I can't speak to that specifically. Assignments were emailed weekly (Wednesdays, I think), and due the following Tuesday. The feedback was good, the teacher praised strengths and told DD where she needed work. (Actually, after the first assignment, the teacher recommended creative writing because she had a great writing voice, but struggled with essays. That's part of why I'm planning on doing at least one or two of their creative writing courses.)
  6. Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum. Most things are listed for high school, but I think an 8th grader could do just fine with them. To save expense, you could either print everything, or buy the digital versions of the teaching materials and texts, and just order printed copies of the activity books. There's always CLE for math. I think they have the Sunrise version of algebra, and you could get Patty Paper Geometry pretty cheaply to go alongside. It's not really a workbook, but Galore Park's English (either the new English for Common Entrance 1 or 2, or the old So You Really Want to Learn English 2 or 3) is a slim textbook that covers pretty much all aspects of English except how to write. (EFCE 1 is the same as SYRWTL 2, and EFCE 2 is the same as SYRWTL 3) I bought the old versions because they were cheaper. It includes recommended reading, but has passages for analysis, so you aren't locked into a specific book list.
  7. I really liked the samples I've seen from the Catholic Textbook Project. For secular, the Joy Hakim concise A History of US is good for middle school. I also like Galore Park textbooks. Their Junior series is for approximately grades 2-4 and the following series covers grades 5-7. We've used varying levels of their math, science, English and history books and liked them all. Killgallon books (we used Sentence Composing for Middle School and Paragraphs for High School) Early levels of the Michael Clay Thompson curriculum from Royal Fireworks Press. Writing with Ease (1-3) Treasured Conversations
  8. I thought Amy Upperman wasn't teaching this semester.
  9. I can't help with the Bible or missionary books, so I'll recommend a poetry book instead, but I'll take a stab at the others. Early Reader: Literature: The Oxford Treasury of Fairy Tales Poetry: Mother Goose History: The Giraffe That Walked to Paris Science: What's Bigger Than a Blue Whale Elementary: Literature: D'Aulaire's Greek Myths Poetry: A Child's Garden of Verses History: The Birchbark House Science: One Small Square (Any. Backyard is a good starting place) Middle School: Literature: Anne of Green Gables or Emily of New Moon (same author, and I really can't decide! I loved Anne, but DD identified more with Emily) Poetry: Favorite Poems, Old and New History: one of the Sheinkin books, like Bomb: The Race to Build - and Steal - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon Science: The Science Book: Everything You Need to Know About the World and How It Works High School: Literature: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Poetry: Poems by C.S. Lewis History: some kind of biography - The Diary of Anne Frank, Up from Slavery, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, etc. Science: Silent Spring
  10. Poor form tends to happen a lot in recreational level gymnastics classes. The teachers focus on teaching the kids new skills over perfecting current ones, mostly because the kids aren't going to compete, they just want to have fun and learn to do neat tricks, and parents want to make sure they get exercise. At DD's gyms (yes, she attends multiple ones - one that teaches USAG/TAAF artistic gymnastics, one that does Tumbling and Trampoline, and one that does cheer. She really, really loves gymnastics and tumbling), the older kids in more advanced rec AG classes (cartwheels on beam would be an advanced rec class) do get a lot less spotting time. I would assume the girls had worked their way up to the regular beams from the floor, though. Do you want your kids to learn to tumble, or use equipment? At the rec level, you're better off going to a cheer or T&T gym for tumbling. DD's cheer gym does the most warming up and conditioning, but has the slowest skill progression because they focus on technique (this gym focuses on competition, and the tumbling classes are meant to help their team cheerleaders learn and master tumbling skills). Seriously, DD and her classmates have been doing walkovers and handsprings for 2 years. They finally started having DD work on tucks in the last 6 months, and she is just mentally done; we are dropping this gym next month. Her walkovers, cartwheels, handsprings, etc. are beautiful, though. T&T is fun for kids because over half the class is trampoline instruction. We got started there because DD loved jumping on a trampoline and the instruction was much cheaper than either a cheer gym or an AG one. They definitely get a workout, and the one DD attends has a decent mix of stretching/conditioning, plus practice and learning new skills. All that said, it may take awhile to find a gym both you and your kids like. DD loved one gym when she was little, but I hated it because they only wanted to teach kids who were naturally good at gymnastics, and basically ignored the other kids. DD was one of the "other" kids. We tried another cheer gym, which I liked partly because they had cameras in the gym so parents could watch their kids in the waiting room, but DD did not, for multiple reasons. Another was awesome but WAY too far after we moved.
  11. They were cut off from each other for awhile. If you read the series about Laura's and Almanzo's daughter, Rose, they actually got along very well after Eliza Jane got married. Rose even lived with Eliza Jane and her son (EJ was widowed) for awhile so she could attend a better school than the one where Laura and Almanzo lived. I was surprised to find out that Almanzo had both an older sister and a younger brother, in addition to EJ, Royal and Alice. They don't appear in Farmer Boy because his oldest sister, ironically named Laura, was already married and his baby brother, Percy, hadn't been born yet.
  12. Little House in the Big Woods and On the Banks of Plum Creek, as essentials.
  13. First day of summer vacation! No school for the month of July, while I collect resources and plan to start August 1. DD is grounded, though, so she has to *gasp* entertain herself instead of watching movies/YouTube/etc., etc., etc... until nearly the end of the month. It's been 5 days. She's spent a LOT of time drawing. We went to my niece's birthday party, and that was nice. The company I ordered DD's history and science from sent the wrong books (texts instead of the workbooks), and I haven't gotten a response from them in nearly a week. I need to get that sorted soon.
  14. Is there a particular site or source(s) that you recommend to learn to do this? Or somewhere that has templates for a newbie (me)?
  15. Planning, planning, planning. Also chores. I think I finally have DD's stuff settled for "next year" (starting August 1 - I need to get my rear in gear and get stuff ordered!). She really wanted to do the Groovy Kids chocolate study, so I've got that planned. DD actually turned in her essay for her So Verbose class early, so that's not hanging over our heads this weekend, and next week is the last class for that. We're taking July off because everyone needs a break. Today: vacuum the house, do the laundry, grocery shopping (done!), and wrap my niece's birthday present (done!).
  16. For middle school, you could use Silent Spring, A Sand County Almanac, In Defense of Food and Spark. The first two are environmentally themed and the second two are human body related.
  17. Why not PAC for English and world history? They check the boxes, even if they aren't rigorous. He could do So Verbose for English, maybe. There are no online classes, the teacher emails the assignments weekly and the student emails the completed one back. Mom could print the lesson and email the teacher so he doesn't do anything online. Math Relief has been good for my "git 'er done" kid. They have DVDs and worksheets, but the DVDs could be watched on a TV if using a computer is an issue.
  18. I'm planning to do it, so I say yes. ? DD is dyslexic, and prefers to talk about what she's reading anyway, which is what classes frequently do.
  19. Now that it's summer, plans are getting more firmed up here. Slightly less tentative: 9th grade. DD has dyslexia and ADHD, so school can be challenging. I was originally going to do a transition year, but suddenly DD is much more mature and may actually be ready for high school in the fall. Algebra 1 (Math Relief) - DD is almost 1/3 through the course, so she might be able to start Algebra 2 next spring (Math Relief does algebra 1 and 2 before geometry), but we'll see how things go once she gets past concepts that are review. Introduction to Literature and Composition (CLRC) + ABeCeDarian C and D + spelling. Maybe Spelling You See E/F PAC World History plus Groovy Kids chocolate study (fall), for spring: maybe add Human Odyssey vol 3 with some additional lit PAC Physics with Physics 101 DVD ASL 1 (ASL Rochelle) Creative Writing (combo of So Verbose and at-home resources) Writing is a real weak point, and DD is MUCH happier doing creative writing vs academic. Drawing (drawing books we have + YouTube videos because DD already does that. She asked for drawing to count for school, so we will be more deliberate in counting hours and developing skills.) gymnastics and tumbling (we haven't even started the reduced summer schedule, 2 days a week instead of 4, and DD is already asking if she can go back to the old one in the fall, and she was the one who requested to have time off!) How is everyone else's planning going?
  20. Momo (Ende) El Deafo (Bell) - DD's favorite book EVER The City of Ember series, especially The People of Sparks (DuPrau) Seconding: The Birchbark House (Erdrich) -- 1800s; Native American; first of a 5-book series - Wonder (Palacio) -- contemporary setting, boy with facial deformity - The War That Saved My Life (Bradley) -- WW2 British homefront; girl with a twisted foot - 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)
  21. Online classes. We are experimenting with a couple of online 8-week writing courses, and for the first time, DD is doing writing without a huge fight. So I'm planning to do at least English online, and maybe math. I'm also incorporating more videos into science and social studies (history, sociology, etc).
  22. Regular schoolwork Watch videos for Fluent Forever and set up study deck in Anki. I bought the British English pronunciation trainer for DD (she likes playing with the British accent, and I'm hoping this will help with her dyslexia, since part of it seems to be hearing the wrong sounds) and Latin American Spanish for me, since I deal with a lot of Spanish speaking callers and using a translator is a pain. Personally, I want to study Russian and French, but I know more Spanish and would get a lot more practice, so I'm going with that one. I just ordered a bunch of stuff for later this semester, though I also got The Manga Guide to Biochemistry to go with DD's anatomy and physiology studies. I'm also going to have her read Spark and In Defense of Food, which I got for the OM health course that I don't think we're going to get to.
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