[AP Environmental Science teacher?]

I was just on the phone with Susan Richman at PAH, and she mentioned that they're looking for someone to teach AP Environmental Science for them starting this fall.  Anyone want to make a connection here?

[Any experience with Worldly Pupil?]

Has anyone done a class with Worldly Pupil?  Their site looks interesting, but I first heard of them just this week. 

[PSA: AP test site planning is about to get even worse.]

The College Board has announced that starting in the 2019-20 school year, schools will have to order their AP exams by November 15.  In other words, start your annual round of begging calls as soon as you boot up in the fall.  Aargh.  Here is their new info sheet for homeschoolers.  

[History of the Ancient World: A Global Perspective from The Great Course - reviews?]

We loved it. The lecturer is lively and engaging: perfect for a 9th grader.

[Help with PAH's AP Lang class.]

My son is in the secondary section this year, and it’s great. He spends a ton of time on the class (up to three hours/day), mostly because he loves the interaction with the other students. His older brother did the same thing, so it’s hard for me to say how long the daily workload would take a kid who wanted to approach it more efficiently.

[Rhetorical and Scientific Analysis?]

Not sure how to do a link with my phone, but there’s an annual book series we’ve used, The Best American Science and Nature Writing.

[Looking for 1 semester online literature course]

Last year, WTMA let my son enroll in a literature course mid-year.

[WTMA Study Skills for the Logic Stage]

I’m asking here, since no one has anything to say on the K-8 board: Does anyone have experience with this class? The syllabus looks great, and I’m thinking of signing up ds13.

[WTMA Study Skills for the Logic Stage]

Checking back on this, as I’m thinking of signing up ds13 for this spring. Any experiences to share?

[Light the World ideas?]

Do you have any great ideas for acts of service to do with your kids this month? I’ll start: for Day 2, “I was thirsty,†we made a small loan on Kiva.org for a water filtration system in Cambodia.

[Chromebook for online classes?]

One Chromebook feature I like is the ability to set up a user account that only permits access to whitelisted sites. For some kids, at some times, it’s nice to be able to limit distractions.

 

This has worked fine for us for Bravewriter, WTM, and AP Lang through PAH. Sometimes they’ll need to click through to other sites to complete assignments; in that case I just let them on my own, less restricted user account.

[Smartphone - do your kids have and what rules/limits do you have?]

DS15 has an iPhone. I've disabled the internet browser, disallowed games, and subscribed to OurPact, which lets me schedule and control his access to apps. Right now, apps he uses for school are available all the time, while others, including messaging, are available only for an hour a day outside "scheduled" blocks (school, dinner, nighttime and Sundays). I can grant temporary access for good reasons. Tougher than some, I know, but we figure it's easier to start out tight and loosen up than to go the other way.

[HS Korean]

No firsthand experience, but a friend liked BYU's Korean courses: is.byu.edu.

[Dual enrollment -online list of providers...favorites]

Missed this thread the first time around.  Re: the BYU Idaho recommendation above, you should know that the Idaho campus is much less selective and academically rigorous than the BYU flagship campus, which also offers DE:  www.is.byu.edu.  That said, DS1 took Biology 100 through BYU a couple of years ago, and we were underwhelmed.  It was very much a check-the-intro-course-box kind of class--read the textbook and provided course notes, and take ungraded quizzes and three or four graded tests.  DS was frustrated with unclear/imprecise wording in some of the questions, and there was really no way to take that up with an instructor.   Customer service people and tutors were available, prompt, and helpful, but we could never figure out who was actually in charge and grading the tests. Furthermore, for "test security reasons," they wouldn't allow students to look at their graded tests, so they couldn't figure out what they missed and thus what they needed to bone up on for the final.  

 

Overall, DS doesn't regret taking it, since it got him out of freshman bio, but I'm not rushing to sign up his brothers.   No idea if this is an outlier--other people I've talked to love BYU classes, particularly for foreign language, so take it for what it's worth.  

 

 

[Experience Astronomy]

I hadn't heard of it, but looked at the site since ds12 is an avid stargazer. They lost me at "Bible-based projects."

[Community service ideas]

Thanks for your great responses, everyone. We've always done ad hoc kinds of service projects through scouts and church, and I'm thinking of adding a more regularly scheduled commitment--maybe Meals on Wheels a couple of times a month. I appreciate all the ideas.

[Community service ideas]

Have your teens found great ways to serve your community? I'd love to hear what they're up to.

[Looking for Advice on Grade Placement (LDS/Seminary)]

For us, one of the great features of homeschooling is the ability to move ahead academically without having to skip nominal grade levels. Ds will head off to BYU in the fall at age 18 with a nice scholarship, having already finished all of the math classes required for an engineering degree. He intends to use the extra space in his schedule to study music and other things that interest him.

 

I'm very leery of putting a bright kid in a situation where s/he will be treated like a prodigy all the time. It's hard for them socially, and can influence them to avoid challenges for fear that they'll lose their status as the smart kid if they're seen to fail at something. FWIW.

[chorister -]

Get a metronome or metronome app--the book gives a suggested range of tempos for each hymn. Ask the organist if you can spend a few minutes before sacrament meeting going over tempos together.

 

I would never lead anything in 6.

 

You might print out a physical copy of the relevant handbook page to have with you if it comes up at church. Some of the church's best-kept secrets are in there. 😊

[European literature, post-Renaissance (more or less)]

Scandinavian: Kristin Lavransdotter (long but absorbing); maybe Ibsen's The Doll's House.

[List View of Class of 2017 College Acceptances - updated 6/6]

DS is off to BYU in the fall!

[Thinking again about developing an online high school chem course for homeschoolers]

Yes!!

[AP Chemistry Prep Book with PAH AP Chemistry?]

I got a prep book, but ds scored a 5 without using it: the class was very thorough.

[Outsourcing physics and other physics advice needed]

Have you seen www.conceptualacademy.com? They have lessons, videos, etc. to go with Hewitt.

[Another Look at A-G for those of you looking at UC's]

Thanks for the helpful post! BYU Independent Study has a-g approved courses; does anyone know of other providers?