The biographies were more interesting than the spines. Overall decide what skill you are building with your R student. The spines build the skill to read at the college level and make deep inferences. Your student may already have a plate full and that skill is not the right one for this season of life. Or maybe your student is getting the college level reading and deep inferences in the lit selections and primary source docs in government. The content can be covered without the spines. You can lecture from the teacher notes and discuss some of the thinking questions. You can hand them the teacher notes and have them fill out the weekly quiz and then write a paper on the essay quiz.

https://www.elenco.com/e-learning/ Do you have these classic guides? We would do the experiments and quizzes. If you want to go another notch you could use free videos from Physics Fundamentals by Georgia Public Broadcasting. https://www.gpb.org/physics-fundamentals/episodes/physics/semester2 teacher materials are $20 https://sellfy.com/gpb/p/brgJ/ We used portions of episodes 901-1003 We loved this because all 3 kids (8,10,12) could participate at different levels. Then we went with the easier parts of Friendly Chemistry and some more hands'on fun chemistry.

English 3- Mrs. Gaines was great with literature discussion and lots of detailed notes written directly on the student's papers. The hard part was final exams the week of Christmas break. There was not a separate class week for finals for most of the TPS classes we have taken. The final in English 3 included a 90 minute timed essay on a lit book, closed book, while regular tests only practiced paragraph responses. Also the final included multiple choice on grammar concepts and writing concepts taught in class, no textbook to review writing concepts with, only notes student makes. Recordings are gone after 4 weeks. Weekly slides of class were not available. It is next to impossible to review for finals without thorough notes. The Analytical Grammar text has been changed since my student took the class. The multiple choice grammar quizzes were very different in structure and sometimes content/ terminology than the textbook and homework. Eng 4/5/6 -Western Lit- Mrs. Wood made the class. Definitely college level discussion and moving writing skills beyond the formulaic. Eng Comp - Dr. Leake In progress, my student is more independent. The two classes I've listened to were college level in content and discussion of literary tools. I see grades and feedback. Only one essay with a paragraph of feedback and a scoring rubric for fall. The structure of assignments and feedback doesn't really give an opportunity to practice and improve one's writing. I think this is typical of Fresh composition classes. Again reviewing for finals is totally dependent on the notes a student takes. No recordings beyond last 4 weeks of class. No slides as teacher uses whiteboard extensively and slides only capture preloaded content. Spanish 1 & 2 with Sr. Poortenga was excellent. He engages the students on mic and text and whiteboard and grades participation every week. Content is thoroughly covered in class and the workbook. He would tweak tests to retest what was most missed on quizzes. Chemistry Mr. Riesen The best part of this class. Students have written work on every test with written feedback. Then they correct their test and explain where they missed the problems and the multiple choice also. The many additional worksheets and worked out solutions to self check homework helped. My student needed to review for tests with extra problems I pulled from the book and worked out solutions to. There were sometimes concepts on the written tests that were not covered. It was not a problem since the student could choose which four out of the five problems to do and just not do the concept not covered. It was easier for my student to ask questions by email than in class. Mr. Riesen would often respond within 30 minutes of an email. In class, communication would get frustrating. AP physics 1 Mrs. Brown My student had to drop this class. My student is a learn by doing x3 type. Concepts are taught in class on whiteboard from AP test problems primarily. Student must constantly screen shot during class or go back and do it from the recording to have access to the content beyond 4 weeks. It was difficult to manage screen shots, learn new content, and attempt new problems during class. Mrs. Brown explained concepts well and answered questions about problems during class. The textbook problems are not structured like the AP problems on the quizzes and tests. Textbook homework had answer key but not worked out solutions. It was difficult to email back and forth to solve homework problems. There was not usually time in class for homework questions. My student needed another set of AP problems with solutions before the quizzes and then a review before the unit tests. Written solutions were often not enough; video solutions could work with the thinking process behind analyzing the scenario, which variables to consider, choosing the formulas and also all the steps to deriving formulas, especially when combining multiple formulas. Formal lab took 15+ hours.

Similar to above works here, i.e., scaffolding wherever they have hangups. For years we have done a lot of brainstorming and cluster maps and other organizers together. Together usually means we both end up with a fairly complete cluster map and then a pretty detailed outline. The actual writing has always gone easier when they have brainstormed more topics or points to make than they need. Then they can choose the better ones and own the process more. If moving from the outline to sentences is daunting, I'd model that too. IEW does this even going so far as to make lists of verbs, adjectives, and adverbs from synonym lists that might get the juices flowing. A thesaurus, A Word Write Now made this painless. https://www.christianbook.com/a-word-write-now/loranna-schwacofer/9781623412197/pd/412198?kw=21439910172&mt=b&dv=c&event=PPCSRC&p=1186432&gclid=CjwKCAiAouD_BRBIEiwALhJH6IS0-Sk4KXuvcZ9OWfsOVg7Yn3aELMBN21fSuG8aq9_wXgVYJ1M8XBoCVmQQAvD_BwE Another thing that has helped my more creative and perfection oriented writers is to encourage them to start on any paragraph they want. Typically they have found (over a couple of years) they like starting on the point or issue they feel strongest about. And although they have a tentative thesis from the organizers, they usually write the conclusion paragraph before the intro paragraph. Then they go back and verify that their thesis matches what they are saying (The thesis often changes, especially on literature topics and persuasive papers.) and tweak all the intro/ concluding sentences. And you may laugh, but my perfectionist writers did better when they started experimenting with cooking. I think it was something about the failures paving the way to some really good red velvet cake with home-made boiled icing. Here's how scaffolding is working now for us. I just brainstormed a 1500 word research paper with my 17 year old. We first looked at his old papers to get an estimate on the number of pages/ paragraphs he would need, 10-12 paragraphs for him. I wrote out a very basic outline of what the paragraph structure might look like for a paper this size as this is only his third large research paper. Intro/ background Issue 1 (weakest point) Issue 2 intro sub issue a sub issue b sub issue c Issue 2 conclusion Issue 3 (strongest) intro sub issue a sub issue b Issue 3 conclusion Conclusion I wanted him to think about the overall structure because that will guide how narrow a topic he selects. He first selected drones, too broad. Then he found a particular hybrid model, probably too narrow. I then asked him to search online for articles on the future of drones in urban settings. That gave him some interesting articles to read. We started making a list of relevant terms to search next: things like urban air mobility, distribution hubs, architecture, surveillance, etc. Now he's getting a peek at the issues. This took a good 40 minutes. Next I'll get him on EBSCO and other database search engines. He likes to pull quotes and citation info into a WORD doc by rough topics then choose his issues and sub issues. (Hugs) on the journey.

I like Easy Grammar Ultimate (I'd use grade 9) for the daily work. Have them buy the teacher edition and check their own work. For class I'd give the unit test out of Easy Grammar plus as a pre test. Then I'd teach the concepts most didn't know. I'd also give extra worksheets and answer sheets from the Easy Grammar Plus as homework for weak areas. I would give them quizzes from the sub units in Easy Grammar plus. the quizzes would show them where they needed more practice with the extra worksheets. For tests I'd pull 2 of their daily Easy Grammar Ultimate pages from a week or two prior. For my own students, I did add Shurley English 7/8 https://www.shurley.com/hs/?583c10bfdbd326ba151c5e39186c2 However, we only used the sentence labeling and sentence patterns sections. This replaced diagramming and matched the sentence labeling they were already familiar with in Latin for Children.

Live online course for dual credit through Letourneau University with ExcelsiorClasses.com https://excelsiorclasses.com/product/american-government-letu-pols-2503-or-honors/ My son took this with Ann LeBlanc. The highlights for him were the mock congress and a policy brief research paper.

Another option is Bryan.edu

Thurs. 3 p ET 1 hr. PM me for more info. I have an online room in appear.in. Students can bring a sentence(s) they've translated to share how they've parsed and labeled. No cost. I'm not teaching, just hosting a share time and teaching my student.

We're trying Green. I don't have a pre and post ACT score. We're about 2/3 done and have taken the April ACT. I did find out I can use this same subscription for multiple children, making it more cost-effective.

We're currently using Saxon Algebra 1. Are there other math programs that are heavier on the real-life application of math? I'd really like to see a physics and chemistry curriculum that integrated algebra 2- calculus over 3 years. Does this exist?

This is a great article for understanding what is happening as our children are learning to read.

I agree it's a developmental stage to see abstract winter as a noun. Understanding of predicate nominative, came for mine when we did labeling of words in sentence and learning patterns in 4th and 5th grade. The subject noun linking verb predicate nominative (Sn Lv PrN) is one of the sentence patterns we did with Latin for Children and Shurley English level 6 (This is just the level I had, and we spread it over 4th and 5th grade). The memorization of linking verbs/ helping verbs from FLL 1/2 was good preparation for labeling. The other memorization that really helped was pronouns and prepositions. All this to say, besides just time to develop, sentence patterns and labeling the words in sentences is what moved them from abstract knowledge to application. The real application then came in editing their own run-on sentences and dependent clauses (about 7th) by labeling the words in their papers. We didn't label every word in their papers. I just had them label words when they were struggling to find their punctuation errors. I also agree with Bluegoat. I wouldn't spend time memorizing grammar, even my pet favorites, unless the basic 3R's are humming along and even ahead of grade level. What takes 3 months to memorize in 2nd grade can be memorized in a couple of weeks in 4th.

I think 49/semester will beat anything on Black Friday. Just understand the 49/semester is for classes 2017-2018 beginning summer of 2017.

I agree it definitely varies among students. I've had one wanting to discuss connections and why's at age 4 and one at 11. Here's how it's working at our house with a 12, 14, & 16 year old. I'm using Tapestry of Grace. Each week I assign the reading, fact questions, and thinking questions for literature and history 3-4 days before discussion. I read through the teacher's notes and pick 2-3 meaty questions to enjoy exploring for each discussion. I also highlight the factual information the students need. We typically prime the pump with a few related fact sharing questions. For example we primed the pump by reviewing what makes a civilization vs. just a group of people (specific skilled labor). Then we discussed the geography of ancient Greece. Then we discussed how this geography(isolation, mild climate) led toward the formation of city-states. Then we compared Egypt's geography and type of government. Finally, How did Greece's geography influence development of their language and subsequently their arts? The 12 year-old's eyes lit up when he described how the geography allowed the Greeks time to develop their amazing pottery. The sixteen year old appreciated the connection between geography and the literary achievement of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. General tips: I find the 12 year old benefits from doing venn and comparison charts before attempting to discuss. Also Lost Tools of Writing has a step by step analysis method for should questions. Ex: Should Achilles have made an oath to never rejoin the war? I use these steps in helping the kids get traction on discussions. But only if I've wrestled with it myself. http://www.artofmanliness.com/2011/01/26/classical-rhetoric-101-the-five-canons-of-rhetoric-invention/ Another approach is to lay out the question but take the role of a fellow student. I also model Socratic seminar sentence starters, and then ask the student to use one or a variation to respond. http://bolinas-stinson.org/sites/default/files/Socratic%20Seminar%20(Sentence%20Starters%20handout).pdf Hope these ideas help, Melody

http://www.lampstandbookshelf.com/ZC/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=98_150 I'm currently in the 3rd week of TOG's new stand-alone Literature Studies for Young Adults: The Ancients with a soon to be 14 and a 12 year old. I'm in the same boat. This will be 8th grade for 14 year old, but later we may want it to be 9th grade. The 12 year old does portions of the program which is already set up for 2 levels of work. Here is the link to a sample. http://www.tapestryofgrace.com/company/products/lisya.php#1

Love the socratic discussion. I enjoyed leading a rhetoric group of 7 in modern history in an online group, but even then we never got close to the amount of discussion we get with 3 students around the kitchen table. I wonder what bandwidth would be needed to have 7 people all with live video feed in an online classroom?

Were you needing a framework for yourself to know what to ask/ discuss? This teacher training class for home school teachers helped me. https://www.lampstandbookshelf.com/ZC/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=100_101_139&products_id=730 You may also need a resource called Poetics. http://www.lampstandbookshelf.com/ZC/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=99_97_15&products_id=649 You could double check with customer service.. Customer Service: 1-800-705-7487 (M-F, 10am to 4pm EST)

The other ones I know of are Blue Tent Tutorials (Honor English 2 is the one we used for a strong 10th grade writer) but both English 2 and 1 are currently full and Captive Thought Tutorials ( Intro to LIt) currently not offered. These classes seem to fill in March and April for future reference. I know that doesn't help now. They just have the topics you asked for. Blue Tent goes all the way to AP. I've also looked at Debra Bell's online classes.

I'd recommend asking on the used books site on LA for generic semester to buy for 2015-2016 and take composition intermediate in the Spring. This fall I'd work through Elegant Essay, Daily Grams 9, and some Progeny Press study guides for literature and vocab.

3 pronged parallel thesis for most papers SEE structure in most body paragraphs ( statement followed by example followed by explanation how the example proves the statement)

If I'm remembering correctly, it is because of World Book encyclopedia copyrights that TOG needed to go with a Loom Disc and Lock Lizard for a digital product. Every week of teacher's notes pulls many pages from all the topics out of the World Book with teacher highlights in the margins to give the teacher a quick refresher before delving into the meatier why's in the individual leveled lesson plans. In order to sell a product with weekly sections of World Book encyclopedia, there were extra hoops to jump through to make sure I could not make multiple copies to sell. Essentially there's no problem with reselling my one print copy as long as I don't keep a copy too (DE). It's also only 10$ to replace my Loom disc if I'm the original purchaser and have lost it or broken it. If I was buying a used print copy, I'd have the seller get a new Loom disc since discs have a limited lifespan.

Thank you, This is definitely something that started small and has grown significant.

These were fascinating to read. But most seemed to be situations where the electorate saw the extent of the problem within a few years. I'm looking for legislation that the electorate feels is drastically wrong only to find out later it wasn't such a big deal, or the opposite legislation that seems fine at the time but drastically changes things 30-50 years down the road.

I see the small line item being huge. Was it seen as a big change at the time also?

Do you have time to fill me in on the specifics? The original case and a few subsequent cases that demonstrate the extent of the effects? Thanks, Melody