Shelly in VA
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Posts posted by Shelly in VA
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Absolutely! Ds currently volunteer teaches at his karate dojo, and I count that time as volunteer service hours.
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Ds is slogging through Thinkwell AP Chemistry this year, and it is not going well. His scores are fine, and he seems to enjoy the rigor of it, but the multiple choice format of the exercises is not resulting in a solid grasp of the concepts, in my opinion. I have had him use the Zumdahl textbook when he has struggled, but I am thinking of switching to the text as our main portion of the course and supplementing with the Thinkwell lectures and tests. I'd assign problems from the book and ditch the Thinkwell questions. Has anyone done this? Is it a bad idea to switch mid-year? Also, is there a resource anywhere that correlates the book with the lectures? That's fairly straightforward, but if it's already out there somewhere, that would make my task easier.
I should ask, too, if anyone has had similar issues with Thinkwell and comprehension. This is the 3rd kid I've had go through Thinkwell Chemistry, and I was very happy with it the first two times. Ds just seems to be tackling it differently.
Thank you!
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Yes to all of the input in the above posts!
My oldest dd was homeschooled through high school and went on to a university for her BSN. In science, she was thankful that in high school she had done both a full year of biology and a full year of anatomy and physiology. Be sure to cover chemistry - nursing majors have to take a microchem class that can be tough.
Also, be sure she has solid math computation skills - nurses have to take "Med Math" tests to be able to be able to calculate medicine dosages.
It is good to recognize that nursing is a major that leaves very little leeway for interest classes during college, so now is a good time to enjoy literature, art, etc. Dd had much less opportunity for elective classes than either of my other two college kids (one was a math major and one is currently an English major).
Finally, critical thinking skills are always a great area to focus on!
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Statistics is a good suggestion. I was surprised that the only math class my nursing major dd had to take in college was statistics, while my math major ds never had to take a statistics class. I actually think it would be worthwhile for everyone to have some exposure to it, because, as several people have mentioned, it can be both interesting and practical.
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On 8/13/2021 at 2:52 PM, Lori D. said:
Yes, but I didn't like it much -- we used the last 450 pages or so of Spielvogel's Human Odyssey. [Ug. It gets somewhat socialist-leaning and somewhat negative towards religious faith. It glosses over the atrocities of Hitler and Stalin, making them seem no worse than any other leader from history. 🤮]
I would have gladly used a Teaching Company Great Course... but DSs were not really tolerant of those. sigh. It looks like Wonderium puts out a cool series of articles, The Great Courses Daily -- that would have been something I would have used, if it had been around way back then.I agree on the Spielvogel - I used it a few years ago with another of my kids, and liked only parts of it.
Thank you for pointing out The Great Courses Daily - I had no idea that was out there! I spent way too much time today looking at various articles there. 🙃
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43 minutes ago, Lucy the Valiant said:
We used Dolciani because I was self-learning alongside my students for the first year. The Slader website was actually more useful than the teacher's edition because the website had solutions while the TE had only answers.
I'm a little embarrassed to admit on a board of this caliber how many times we had to start with the solution and work backwards to the problem, but what I'm NOT embarrassed to admit is that we did it, and those students went on to do just fine in calculus. (And I was a MUCH better teacher when the 2nd set of siblings came along, LOL.)
Getting ready for my 3rd trip through this year. 🙂
Thank you for the link to that website!
I am constantly telling my kids that if they have tried to work a problem, working backwards from the solution is a perfectly fine approach. I've always thought that is part of the reason some of the solutions are included in student textbooks!
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10 hours ago, cintinative said:
I have the TE and there are several paths suggested with problem sets in the front.
Can I ask if the TE was helpful beyond the schedule? I'm guessing I would need it if I go with a textbook instead of an online program. Although I have a math minor from college, it has been MANY years since I tackled math (beyond helping kids with problems here and there). Not sure how I managed to do so little math with my older kids throughout their high school years, lol.
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10 hours ago, cintinative said:
I have the TE and there are several paths suggested with problem sets in the front.
here's a picture of what that looks like. There are different plans depending on whether you are including trig or not. It has
180(CORRECTION: 160) lesson days. The "average" plan does not include a lot of C level problems in my experience.PM me if you think this would help you. I could probably scan my copies. My son uses them as his assignment guide for his work.
Thank you! Going to grab my book and look at it compared to the page you sent to see if this could work. I appreciate it! I will PM you after I get a chance to look it over.
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5 hours ago, EKS said:
I think that three 4-year cycles is too much. I prefer to do one year of world and one year of American in high school, and then use the extra time to explore other social science topics. My younger son ended up doing work in economics, psychology, philosophy (which is more humanities), sociology, and anthropology. Since he loves the social sciences, it was fun for him.
That sounds like a good approach. Ds has expressed an interest in economics, psychology, and philosophy, and this past year he watched Crash Course videos as an intro to both economics and philosophy. I had my older kids do a semester of economics in addition to history, but I had not considered covering those social sciences for all of their junior and senior years. Maybe because the others were less interested in those topics. But this might work well for this particular kid. Thank you!
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5 hours ago, Clemsondana said:
Possibly for world, but more likely for senior year or as an elective, I've been accumulating a narrative books like Salt or Gunpowder and Steele as an interesting way to look at history. We've been doing 8 credits/year, so kid has room for more electives. We've pondered doing some semester-long themed history classes. After reading a book series called 'How to lose a war' (at sea, in the air, etc) kid is intrigued by dumb historical decisions and has in the past expressed interest in a class where we explore the decisions that caused various catastrophes, or looked into unintended consequences (such as some of the consequences of prohibition). I don't know what all we'll end up doing, but in case you were looking for ideas....
These are great ideas, thank you! I am not familiar with the "How to Lose at..." series, but I think ds would be very interested in something like that. I'll search for those.
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6 hours ago, kristin0713 said:
We used Guest Hollow for geography and I very much adapted it to fit her needs/interests. There is also a new world geography curriculum by Notgrass if you are ok with Christian.
I was considering Guest Hollow for geography! That looks interesting to me. I like the way they integrate interesting reading into their curriculum.
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Thank you all! This is incredibly helpful!
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11 hours ago, Lori D. said:
20th Century World History
5 hours ago, MamaSprout said:Contemporary World History and Geography
How did you tackle these subjects? Did you have some sort of spine that you used as a guide? With one of my older kids, we tried to pull our own course together to cover European History in high school, but it wasn't a great experience. I want to be more of an academic unschooler than I am, haha, but I'm not very good at it! 😉
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1 hour ago, Kassia said:
Dd used Thinkwell for Algebra 2 and liked it a lot. She used Teaching Textbooks the year before that for geometry and liked it, but said she preferred Thinkwell. She went straight from Algebra 2 to Analytic Geometry and Calculus at DE with no problems. She's a strong math student but doesn't care for math.
I forgot about Thinkwell! Thanks. I've used Thinkwell Chemistry in the past, and ds will actually be doing that this fall. That might be a great fit for him.
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1 hour ago, J-rap said:
Another dd was bright, understood math well, but didn't enjoy it.... so we just needed to get Algebra 2 done in a way that felt straight forward to her.
You are describing my son here! 😉 I have always heard good things about Foerster, but I've never used it (or even seen it, actually). Thanks!
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5 hours ago, MamaSprout said:
Have you look at Derek Owens or the Larson Intermediate Algebra texts?
Dolciani can be scaled back- just assigning A level problems and a smattering of B level problems. If you happen to have a copy of the TE, they often even tell you what sections to cover for different levels.
This teacher has teaching videos and his assignments online here: Lecture Notes (clausentech.com) and HW 2012-2013 (clausentech.com)
Thanks! I have not looked at Derek Owens or the Larson book, but I'll check them out. I don't have the TE for the Dolciani, but I can see where it could be scaled back the way you are suggesting.
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Has anyone covered history at the high school level without following the 4-year cycle? I followed that with my older kids who have all graduated and gone on to college, but I'm looking to try something different this last time around with my youngest ds who will be a sophomore this fall. I considered a full year of geography last year, but ended up doing a year of ancient history. For his sophomore and junior years, we could still do a full year of geography and perhaps a year of world history, then his senior year could be topical choices. I'm not sure why I'm looking to make this change; it's probably burnout on my part! But I remember taking focused classes (a Civil War class that lasted one semester stands out strongly in my memory) my junior/senior year of high school and finding them engaging.
Does anyone have curriculum to suggest that could cover either geography at the high school level or specific topics in enough depth for a high school credit?
Thank you!
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I realize those options are vastly different! I used the Dolciani Algebra 2 and Trig book and used it with one of my older kids. But I'm not sure that it's the right choice for ds. He is a solid math student, but he does not like math, and he gets easily frustrated. I also previously used VideoText, but I hesitate to use that now since ds did not use if for Algebra 1. Because of that, I am considering something like CTC or Teaching Textbooks, but I am hesitant to use something that is computer based. Based on older reviews, I am also concerned that CTC is better as a supplement rather than a full curriculum, but maybe that has changed.
Also, if I go with CTC, would I need to do their Algebra 2 course followed by Trig and PreCalculus before getting to Calculus? Could those three classes cover two years of math without too much overlap, leaving his senior year open for Calculus?
Any input would be appreciated! Thank you!
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Thank you, @Lori D.! That is a fabulous list! And, yes, the age range is a bit challenging. 😉 We started off as two separate age groups, but merged last year and now this is where we are. 🤷♀️
We read Long Walk to Water last year - it was one of our favorites! Great story and great discussion. But we haven't read any of the others as a group.
I really love the group and the chance to watch the kids interact with the books and each other! Thank you so much for the list of titles!
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I facilitate a monthly book club for kids aged ~10-14, and this year I'm trying to follow a geography theme. I want to pick engaging, discussable titles that also give a sense of the region (no particular time period). So far, we've read Angel on the Square by Gloria Whelan (Eastern Europe/Russia) and The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood (Western Europe/England). But now I'm stuck. 😉 I am struggling to choose titles for Africa and Asia in particular (maybe because these regions encompass so many different cultures!). I'm roughly using the regions from Give Your Child the World by Jamie C. Martin, but those titles are on the younger side of the age range I'm targeting.
Any titles or authors anyone can suggest? I appreciate it! Thank you!
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I facilitate a monthly book club for kids aged ~10-14, and this year I'm trying to follow a geography theme. I want to pick engaging, discussable titles that also give a sense of the region (no particular time period). So far, we've read Angel on the Square by Gloria Whelan (Eastern Europe/Russia) and The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood (Western Europe/England). But now I'm stuck. 😉 I am struggling to choose titles for Africa and Asia in particular (maybe because these regions encompass so many different cultures!). I'm roughly using the regions from Give Your Child the World by Jamie C. Martin, but those titles are on the younger side of the age range I'm targeting.
Any titles or authors anyone can suggest? I appreciate it! Thank you!
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Bumping to see if anyone has used this. I've looked at it, too, but I'd like input before deciding. Thanks!
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Dd moved in this past weekend. She will be an RA this year, so it is only student staff on campus at this point. Most of their staff training this week is online, so she spent 6 hours in Zoom training yesterday in her room by herself. 🙄 But she and the others in her section of housing walked together to pick up their grab-and-go dinner. The majority of move-in starts Saturday, staggered over a week, with everyone assigned a 2 hour window and only 1 person allowed on campus to help the student with move in.
Classes start 8/24. All but one of dd's classes has been moved online over the course of the summer, and the only one that will still be in person is actually only having one day a week in person with the other days online. Really there are hardly any classes meeting in person at this point, even though on paper it appears that the university is hybrid for the fall.
Also, at this point, everything will be online after Thanksgiving, BUT students are allowed to stay on campus until Christmas break starts. Which makes no sense to me! Even in this new era when so little makes sense, this decision tops the confusing list for me! 🤣
Art History
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
We were very pleased with this course Charlotte Mason Inspired High School Fine Arts from Music in Our Homeschool last year. It covers music, art, and poetry appreciation from different eras, but you could easily adapt it if you wanted to focus on art appreciation. We did it with another family and added in several projects and field trips.
I also like the Sister Wendy resources and The Annotated Mona Lisa book. I haven't seen The Big Book of Art, so I cannot speak to that.