Our state will not allow you to count high school credits in middle school for anything other than foriegn language and math. Obviously, if you have a stem kiddo, she is going to go on and do more science. More than likely do a few AP's in there too. We are getting passed the stipulation with AP tests. If he scores well enough, they cannot discount the courses. He still will have to take some science in high school, but it is far more open. Test scores can be your friend if they do not freak your student out.

We were going to do Lukeion history or lit run next year, but Ds was feeling like it might be too much. He is taking second year Latin and Writing and Composition next year for sure. He took grammar through them this year. We will see how he feels as time moves on for Greeks and Romans or for literature. The descriptions list a fairly significant time commitment (1.5 hours) for the classes. He has asked for lit to no longer be tied to history (though he is going to free read it, so I do not understand this). He wants to study various classic lit selections, but not necessarily all from one time period. He really likes fictional parodies of myth or classic stories. He really likes the freedom of Great Courses Plus for history. He can watch art, literature, travel, history, language, all about a part of the world or a time period. It is no pressure and dense content. He then writes up papers of various areas on interest. Languages are a big one over here. Currently it is Latin, Spanish, French. He dropped Greek and Japanese after spending a year on each. If I had infinite money, I would either travel around the world, pay for fancy language camps, or hire language tutors. Music is also very important to Ds. He is in performance piano now, and wants to begin violin in the next year or so. He takes a separate class with his instructor on musical history and theory. Honestly, if I could do it over again, I would have started these much earlier. Biblical study has helped Ds understand so much from his literature. Things like recognizing the story of Genesis and Cain and Abel references through out Mice and Men. Doing the Bible as literature or comparative religion has proven to be immensely beneficial. So many of the world faiths have extremely similar mythology. Geography has also done a lot more than I anticipated. Knowing both physical and cultural geography has really given Ds a lot more depth to his reading and analysis of literature. I really wish we could spend four months, every other year traveling to various historical places around the globe.

We skipped the Daulaire's and went directly to Bulfinch's Mythology. Nathaniel Hawthorne's Wonder Book and the Tangelwood Tales were also favorites. Around 7, my humanities kid became obsessed with Ancient mythology, culture, and languages. He has never moved on (12 now). He writes papers entited "Feminism in the Epic of Gilgamesh: Strong Females in a Patriarchical Society" or "Ancient History Repeats Itself: Climate Crisis and the Fall of the Assyrian Empire" or "Oligarchy As the Downfall of Egypts' New Kingdom." It all started with Percy. Let her obsess and just strew quality materials everywhere. You can only obsess for so long before you branch to keep the obsession going.

My 12 year old would find it HYSTERICAL to ask non French speakers to sleep with him. If they understood, he would me mortified with humiliation! But if they didn't, a mess of giggles.

Butting in is very appreciated! I know a bit at this point about language learning methodology, grammar for linguistics, an a lot of theory, but know virtually nothing about the specific languages themselves. Ds has agreed to doing one year himself to see if he actually wants to study the language or not. We have a friend who does translation for governments and travels internationally six months a year for missionary work. He is going to do the tutoring/pronunciation/question answering. After a year, we are going to re-evaluate. I am fairly sure he is going to want to continue. At that point he can see if he is going to want to enroll in an online class (if I can find one that is fairly rigorous) or if he will do another year at home before starting online classes. First Start was going to last very little time. It looks cute and simple (which I think he likes initially). I'll check out Galore Park and see if that will hold him longer. It definitely sounds like it. This child is weirdly good at translation, so the CLE books might be very helpful once his vocabulary picks up enough that he can get a good run at it. I have heard about French in Action. I'll see if he is interested in the CLE books or French in Action more. Having options is always preferable for this kid. Have either of you discovered an online class that is similar to the level of Lukeion only for French?

Honestly, if the charter looked at the problems at all they moght have increased the grade because the work is so far above and beyond what is normally done in most math classes. A C in super rigorous class is equivalent to an A in hum drum, low level class. Ask questions, but recognize that unless it is printed out as AoPS Class Title, they are probably changing it to reflect the actual quality of what was learned.

We had this problem. I had to start asking myself the same question, "What if it wasn't digital?" Screens have been an easy way for my son to develop avoidence habits. That is the only negative we have found. He will do school in bed or in his pajamas all day long because it is easier with a screen to just not get up. I definitely do not like that part. I honestly think it took longer for him to develop some of those personal life habits (get up, shower, comb hair & teeth; make lunch, clean up, eat, brush teeth; reasonable bedtime, get washed, brushed, ready for bed) because he could digitally zone until I got overly frustrated. He has found a groove now, but I had to push a lot. In general, he has become more resourceful, discovered more interesting subjects, and developed more creative thinking when using digital school than with only books and occasional movies.

Great job. Even if you cave, which is not saying you will, you should, you shouldn't or any of that, just if you do, know you have already achieved a large victory. You stood up for yourself. You are not giving her power over tuo even in her absence. You can acknowledge you are freer. All such positive and difficult things. Way to go! No matter what happens, that is serious victory!

I do not like reading from an iPad. I am old. I openly admit this appears to be a generation gap. Ds has no issues unless it is a much longer book (novel.) iPad schooling has greatly reduced clutter and increased engagement in our house. I am personally all for it in many arenas of life. Just not *my* books :)

I would check on language, particularly things that would now be considered racially or socially insensative. I have a feeling that the founding history if Texas has not changed a whole lot. The only other part that might be different is the level of Nationalism and rah! rah! America. That sort of stuff drives me personally crazy. With the social movements happening in America at that time period, it might be pretty thick.

I have a question about how to re-rail a thread (or conversation for that matter) once it has become apparent that it is sliding into the blinking red light territory. How does one get the focus away from aggression, name calling, personal attack, feeling defensive, and back to a place where people are actually making progress with discussion? Maybe this is not possible. I am personally terrible at it. Often, I say something and it turns out I worded it wrong. It normally blindsides me. Any others out there gifted at smoothing the waters once dullards like me get things all murky?

Yep. It is considered history. Essentially modern history. It is a required course around here.

My husband's high school calls it "Contemporary World Problems" or "Current Social Global Impacts" They have two tracks. Contemporary World Problems is a much denser course that covers history to understand what is going on. CSGI is just current event discussion and debate.

Lukeion's Latin 3 requires three(iirc?) analytical grammar essays. It is a major part of the class. They focus on intensive translation and AP Latin prep. You could enroll her for 7th so she can practice.

If you go to the mall, you will find jewelry she is most thinking of and she will probably get a whole little kit to feel very adult. My don go to put on a wizard hat, they took pictures, there was the picking out of the jewelry. It was a whole thing. When you go to a professional piercest, they are used to adults. It is short, sweet, to the point and a million times more expensive.

When Ds was small (3ish) he began to display rather significant leanings to OCD. Pediatrician told us to watch carefully. At 4, he learned about Climate Change and went full anxiety. The major change we were instructed to do at home was encourage him to talk about his feelings all the time. As adults, if we could find healthy ways to suggest behavioral changes we were to try as much as possibke to accomodate. Most importantly, was to realize the fear was completely valid to the child (even if it sounded crazy to us). Often he could not explain. During a melt down we were supposed to ask "are you scared?" And wait for a nod or a shake of the head. If no, then "are you hurting?" It was always one of the two. It often made him feel seen, even if that was all we could do. It took the intensity down or shortened the episode. He was in therapy, too. No meds due to how young he was. Once we were able to get him deeply involved in the environmental community, his obsessions started dropping. He had to feel like he was in control of being able to make changes. When he was feeling powerless, he started falling into some very odd associations of what would help/hurt. I realize this is not the same situation as your daughter, so that might not be helpful. Could there be some powerlessness happening? We were told to limit choices, even down to just one option (you get this ice cream or no ice cream) when it was at its worst. He just could not handle the stress of making a bad decision. If she isn't in therapy, I would definitely try to get her there as soon as possible. The pediatric therapist did wonders with helping us as parents help Ds. He is almost through all the anxiety now. When anxious about a normal thing, like a piano test or something, it is usually over the top, no eating, sometimes completely passing out asleep for twenty minutes before hand just from over stress. But no more bizarre hoarding, starving, nose bleeds, vomiting, self loathing, counting, washing, etc. The rituals are gone.

Thames and Kosmos kits. You would need to supervise and possiblly help with fine motor anyway, so reading would be no big deal for him. They are pretty fantastic. In our experience, if you have the money, go for the largest kit you can afford. Not only do they last longer, but they tend to give you far more in the long run for your money. Some of the kits are interchangable with each other to allow further exploration. We own the Physics Workshop and the Solar Physics Workshop. Ds combined them after going through each the first time to make larger solar creations.

As far as I can tell, most if the AP classes have significant numbers of study materials avalible to just about any one. It us a major racket. Most publishers are willing to cash in. We have Barron's AP Language and I have found it very well put together. We do portions slowly over time to allow skills to develop. Ds wants to take the exam his nineth grade year (2 years from now), but I am pretty sure that is because timed writing still has him a bit freaked out :). Tenth grade is when I have heard of most taking the Language. Literature in 11 or12 just so that enough time has passed to have read a very large number of the potential selections.

As someone who has worked quite a bit with at risk youth of varying ages, this makes my Spidey senses go off. Something is seriously amiss. You do not have to be childcare for this boy, but you might have inadvertantly become his soft place to land. Suggest the key. If necessary, when he comes over have him do homework with your kids. If they have chores, have him tag along. I would just go about life and he can go with you if you are willing. Having him leave while you run an errand or go to practice/lessons is very prudent. I would not call you the unofficial babysitter because I do not think Mom seems to give a second thought about the child. She could careless if he has someone watching him or not. To me this falls under are you willing to take him in.

I just got a job in composite engineering while I finish up school stuff to go back to teaching. I am much more pure math at heart than engineering, but it is a good job and it will work. Lots of creativity and problem solving.

We pulled the Drama and Lyrics from Greeks entirely. We are going to cycle through them when my student is older. I do not think you should cut the whole thing forever. There are too many cultural references which come up from those plays. I have a younger student, so I do not know the feasibility of that for you. The Epics and Metamorphosis within the Romans is not completely necessary (though enjoyable). Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid and most all of the content in the Histories is fairly foundational. I would not cut any of those. The Philospophers is remarkably light in reading. You can get through the Dialogs quite quickly. Augustine is dense and wonderful. I do not know your faith, so Early Christanity might be important to you. It covers quite a lot that is not necessarily important. I would not cut the later portions. For the sake if sheer student enjoyment, I would suggest something similar to what a previous poster listed and go the route of three years of material in two years. Rather than condensing two years into one, split Romans. Do Greeks and half Romans, then Half Romans, Modern. The joy of the curriculum is mulling over the same complex concepts in a number of different areas. Herodotus is discussing the same thrilling adrenaline for adventure that Virgil writes into Aeneas. The first line in the Aeneid is completely referencial to the Iliad and Odyssey. The Apology is pondering the same concept Odysseus spends two thirds of the Odyessey wrapping his stubborn head around and then later comes back up when discussing The Church in the Council of Nicea. It is the human condition. I am sure it shows up in Christiandom just as much. If you cram the curriculum in, that might easily get lost in names, dates, and plot lines.

Anyone out there done the Classical History run with Lukeion? Not the workshops, but the semester long classes? As far as I can tell, Ds is ready for it. However, he has never done testing where timed essay response answers are required. Any info about how hardcore they are talking with responses would be helpful. I am getting trigger shy about it at the last minute.

I don't think you are planning on ramming your kid into a system that he could not otherwise use at the "normal" time. I was just throwing out there that others might be thinking that. Because it does happen. If you have anything to show that he could meet general college readiness standards, it might greatly smooth your way. We are taking the online route other than foriegn language here too. The CC is not of the most immense caliber. I think that might also lead to a bit of their insecurity. Most of the 12 year olds in this board could do well in any number of their classes.

It is. But I understand why they had to impliment it. Here, you are hit with a lot of doubt if you want your kid in before 16. You have to majorly back it up. You are met with a lot of sarcasm and a lot of pushback until the kid can prove themselves. Schools are much happier to grant 60 of the 90 credits of an AA as AP transfer credit, than to have a student enroll early.

Many schools still want the essay. It is not just the UC. As a family who has a younger student who just wants to get his feet wet with the test, we are thrilled!