CAtoVA
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11th grade planning thread
CAtoVA replied to Porridge's topic in High School and Self-Education Board
Well, this is the year to ramp up all the (online) DE as DD is starting to finish up some of her "required" courses for high school which will empty her schedule for the "fun" courses she WANTS to take. Online DE classes lasting 8-15 weeks suit my daughter quite well because she typically gets bored with a class after 15 weeks unless it's something she absolutely loves. Language Arts/Literature: Fall & Spring: Continue with home-made literary analysis of various texts and working through her reading list. I am College Board approved to teach AP Literature so I plan to integrate some AP type of assignments into her curriculum. Also, she has finally talked me into teaching a class at our local co-op; it will be a low-key, discussion only teen book club which she will attend. Language Arts/Grammar & Composition: Fall: Continue with writing across the curriculum using various college textbooks such as Everything's an Argument, Patterns of Writing, etc. I am College Board approved to teach AP Language so I plan to integrate some AP type of work into the curriculum. She also will work on Easy Grammar 11th grade and sentence combining and style to "keep sharp". Sadlier Vocabulary will round out her Language Arts program. Spring: Probably, DD will take DE English Composition 102. She took DE English Comp 101 in the fall of 2023 and did well. She will continue with Easy Grammar, sentence work, and Sadlier Vocabulary. Mathematics: This is not DD's strength or pleasure. She is finishing Algebra II with Mr. D Math this year and the plan is for her to take DE College Mathematics next as her 4th high school math course and for transfer to a college. She will be a liberal arts major and only needs one college-level math class for her degree. Science: Again, NOT a subject she enjoys; although, she likes science better than math! DD will take her 4th lab science as a DE class this summer (probably Geology/Earth Science w/lab) and will be finished with science for high school (and have science credits for transfer). She has already taken Honors Biology w/lab, Physics w/lab, and Genetics w/lab. Social Studies/History: Fall & Spring: DD really does not enjoy American history so up until now we have been taking our time with a year of high school world geography (online) and two years of world history (home-made). For 11th grade, however, my plan is for her to take DE American History I, DE American History II, and possibly also DE American Government. The classes are 8 weeks long each and will move quickly which is exactly what she wants. Electives: Fall & Spring: Advanced Creative Writing at our homeschool co-op which DD is excited about. Winter Session: Ethics in Popular Culture at Open Tent Academy. DD discovered she loves philosophy and ethics when she took courses in each at Open Tent Academy last year. Fine Arts: Continue with weekly piano lessons/performance & theory Continue with dance classes four days a week: advanced ballet w/pointe, contemporary, jazz, and tap -
PA Homeschooler vs Blue tent vs Aim academy AP English
CAtoVA replied to sgd's topic in High School and Self-Education Board
My DD did the AP Lit (prep) class with Lilli S. at AIM Academy last summer. To say that I was underwhelmed would be an understatement after all the raving reviews I had heard about Lilli S and her teaching of this class. I'm sure everybody has an opinion; this is just MY opinion about MY experience. YMMV. I'm just trying to provide an honest review from my own point of view as I always appreciate hearing from others prior to signing my children up for specific classes. There were many things that were not stellar about the experience but two things were especially poor in my opinion. The class consisted of three units that were likely lifted from the longer year-long course which was entirely fine with me. However, to present the lesson content, the teacher used lots of powerpoint slides that were completely full of information (too much text written on each slide) and then proceeded to read each.one. of. the. slides. to. the. students! EACH. slide. This was the bulk of her "teaching" and it became tedious very quickly. Second, she gave marginal, "light" feedback on written work/essays. I had expected a deeper level of feedback (a more extensive critique) from the reviews I had read about her and about the classes she teaches. I ended up having to give the substantive feedback to my daughter that I had been expecting from Lilli S. Okay, but I did not expect to have had to pay $$ only to end up basically evaluating all of my daughter's work. -
online schooling options
CAtoVA replied to Homeschoolmom4412's topic in High School and Self-Education Board
That's good to hear something positive about True North Academy. My daughter has now decided to switch her lab science for the upcoming year from Marine Biology (Athena's) to one semester of Genetics w/lab at TNA and one semester of Neuroscience w/lab at AIM Academy. I have had no previous experience with TNA and am just going to have to see if it works out for us. I think Kristin Moon is the teacher for the Genetics class. -
online schooling options
CAtoVA replied to Homeschoolmom4412's topic in High School and Self-Education Board
Oh, yes, I forgot to mention FundaFunda. My son took their Personal finance class two years ago and hands-down it was one of the best online classes we have ever taken. The curriculum was (is) creative, complete, and thoroughly engaging. AND the cost is criminally low! -
10th Grade Planning Thread 2023-2024
CAtoVA replied to Porridge's topic in High School and Self-Education Board
Still formulating plans, but we school year round with breaks so things are started when others finish (aside from online courses). Here's what I have so far; Language Arts/Grammar & Composition: Sadlier Vocabulary Book E Easy Grammar 180 Lessons (11th Grade) Megawords Books 6 & 7 Dual Enrollment w/Southeast University online English Composition 1 using IEW SSS Level C materials (fall) Continue with various textbook spines for writing such as Writing with Skill Levels 2 & 3, Patterns for Writing, Rhetorical Devices, etc. (spring) Language Arts/Literature: Homemade AP Literature & Composition using College Board approved syllabus Mathematics: Thinkwell online Algebra II Science: Not sure yet but either In-Depth Marine Biology w/lab online at Athena's Advanced Academy (1 year) OR 1 semester Genetics w/lab online at True North Homeschool Academy AND 1 semester Neuroscience w/lab at AIM Academy History: Continue with Homemade World History (start Part II) using various resources including Wondrium and the Spielvogel textbook Foreign Language: Italian II online at Big River Academy Homeschool Co-Op: High School Choir Teacher Assistant (3rd year) for primary grade literature class Fine Arts/P.E.: Continue with piano lessons Continue with dance: Advanced ballet w/pointe, contemporary, tap, and Broadway jazz -
online schooling options
CAtoVA replied to Homeschoolmom4412's topic in High School and Self-Education Board
We have had quite good experiences with Open Tent Academy, IEW online, Home2Teach (writing), Lantern English (writing), Veritas Academy, and some excellent providers on Outschool. We have had moderately good experiences so far with Blue Tent Academy and Aim Academy. I am willing to try more classes at BTA and AA; this has been our experience thus far. With The Potter's School, the teachers and classes were fine, but the admin and general policies are not. This upcoming school year, my children are trying classes at Big River Academy, Athena's Academy, Online G3, and My Fun Science for the first time. I have never tried Time4Learning or Acellus. I have not heard good things about either provider, but I do not know anything about them personally. -
World geography with Wondrium (Great Courses)
CAtoVA replied to Shelydon's topic in High School and Self-Education Board
This is how I am currently teaching World History I: Ancient to Medieval to my 9th grader. I also subscribe to Study.com and use a variety of trade and text books to round out the course. Right now we are studying ancient/medieval China. My daughter really loves the variety of resources and is receiving a very well-rounded World History education (better than the AP World History class I took in high school). -
So I logged in and there are two areas: AP Teachers and AP Coordinators and Administrators. Both have yellow buttons and I am focused on the Teacher side.: Teachers Gain access to AP and Pre-AP Classroom by submitting a subject-specific Course Audit form and having it approved by your AP and Pre-AP Course Audit administrator. My course is already approved. When I push the yellow button beneath the message, I get taken right back in a circle to the log in page again. It's confusing and frustrating. I have emailed the College Board but have not heard back yet. This is probably happening because, even though I am approved, the course is for next year so I can't get into the classroom yet?
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I have an account and I have an approved AP Art History course. What I can't seem to do is get inside the AP Classroom. Is this where I will get exams and practice documents? I am being asked for an access code which I don't seem to have anywhere. There was a tab for Practice Exams and Secure documents where I think I should be able to get exams (?). All I get is a download of the AP logo : ( How do I access the AP Classroom? Thanks!
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Best Ancient World History
CAtoVA replied to borninthesouth's topic in High School and Self-Education Board
We have been using tons of lectures/documentaries from Wondrium (I have a subscription that costs $15.00 a month). There are many aspects of history presented depending on which lectures/documentaries you choose which my daughter really appreciates, i.e, political/military (traditional topics), social history (daily life), cultural history, deep dives into the lives of specific historical figures, fine arts/art history, even culinary history. The lectures are typically presented in 30 minute segments which we also like. It takes me some time curating a list of lectures for her to watch for various historical time periods, but her enthusiasm and enjoyment is worth the time. I am supplementing Wondrium with selected lesson topics from Study.com (teacher subscription) and assigning her readings from assorted trade and textbooks including Foundations of Western Civ and History of the Ancient World: A Global Perspective. She also will create maps for each civilization we are studying. In addition, my daughter reads literature that goes with specific historical periods (i.e. Gilgamesh during the study of Mesopotamia, etc.). We typically discuss topics as we go along and she also has some essays and short response questions I assign. Occasionally I will supplement what we are doing with short classes from Outschool. Brandy Dalhen is one of my daughter's favorite Outschool teachers. She has taken and loved World Literature 1: Ancient Times Literature in Historic Context with Brandy. -
Art appreciation/ Art History course
CAtoVA replied to bethben's topic in High School and Self-Education Board
www.study.com has a lot of art history courses for the high school level. Your daughter can do the lessons and quizzes independently and then you can check her progress. I also second the Great Courses (Wondrium). I have a $15.00 a month subscription and it's been wonderful for my kids.