Jump to content

Menu

SpringTulip

Members
  • Posts

    32
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by SpringTulip

  1. Is there any other way to view NC discussion on Career and College classes rather than through FB? Like a yahoo group?
  2. Hi Cindy in FL. Is Newberry a good place to live near UF? Someone said the bus system in the Gainesville area is great. Is it safe for college kids to ride back and forth even in the twilight hours, assuming the buses run late, that is? How long is the commute time?
  3. Hi plansrme, Yes, I was looking at some of the links. It takes time. :) It can take me a couple hours or more just to explore one link. I'm sorry I hope I didn't come across negatively. I'm always thinking of homeschooling families as one-income households and more financially stretched, but of course, there are some amazing moms who both work and homeschool and homeschoolers in many different situations, so it's hard to generalize. Hi Kassia, Evanthe, & Lori D., Not sure you mind mentioning...what CC network are you a part of? If you wish to divulge, you can private message me if you prefer. Your CC system seems wonderful. We might move in the near future, and are considering different areas of the country. I was looking in my home state, and one CC has a partnership with a big local university, but many of the computer classes will not transfer if the student plans to major in programming, so if I was looking at it correctly, my son could only complete one year of study at the CC, at most. Also, as it was mentioned above, the GE classes would (probably) be easier classes and would boost GPAs, so it might be a loss to take them at the CC. Decisions decisions. Heigh Ho What is Diff Eq?
  4. Thank you for the personal notes. It's always nice to get such quick answers. Thank you Elegantlion, I'll look at the College Board. Lori, I have interacted on WTM before but not very often, and you've shared other lengthy advice nuggets. Thank you! It's interesting that you mentioned about Lumerit because due to a webinar I attended through Lee Binz's website, they have tried to recruit us for their program. I have not spoken with a representative yet, though. When I saw the cost, their fees seemed similar to instate tuition, so it made me uncertain about that path; in addition, ultimately, I was worried if my daughter took a few classes through Lumerit that her credits be suitably transferrable. 1. Do you think Lumerit credits are transferrable to a state college? 2. Do you think Lumerit is a good program? 3. Do you think employers would have a high regard for a Lumerit degree? 4. If a student can earn a 4-year program in just 2 years, would that mean it's maybe not as rigorous as a traditional degree? I'll look at your links. Hi rdj2027, That's fascinating that your son is attending school in Germany. I was aware of the program and I know of one foreigner who sent her son there for school. I have always been curious about it, so it would be nice to get more info. I suspects he speaks German? How much are living costs typically? What major did he choose?
  5. My children have taken several PS courses, and it has been a good experience for them. This year, my two oldest are taking 4 courses each through PS, and I think the courses are academically rigorous. Last year, I looked at the College Music Theory class, but I was concerned about the level of complexity of the course content. If your child is very academic, it might be a nice fit. I did send the scope and sequence to someone who had a minor in music at a state university, and she told me that the course content seemed like graduate college level work. Since my daughter will not likely major in music, and the music course would probably take a lot of her time, I decided she should focus her energies on other core courses.
  6. I recently dove into previewing a variety of colleges through their respective websites and ultimately came away discouraged that most of the colleges, which are not even ivy league, would cost over 20k a year for dorm+tuition per child, even after subtracting automatic institutional merit-based scholarships. I looked at over 30 different schools. In order to compete for the largest scholarships at most institutions, it seems the SAT score needs to be higher than 1400 (I still don't know my daughter's score). My children seem above average but not necessarily in the highest accolade category. I have three children, so that would cost us 240k altogether. I'm surprised that most homeschoolers can afford these high fees. Excluding federal aid, the maximum amount being about 5k a year, and loans, which I will not procure, the costs seem prohibitive. 1. Where are most homeschoolers sending their kids to school? 2. In regards to college-bound homeschoolers, are most of them living at home after graduating and commuting to local schools in order to reduce costs? 3. My daughter is considering taking a GAP year after her senior year; theoretically, could she study for more AP courses through Modern States during that year and take more AP exams to help reduce her college credit requirements? Thank you in advance for your nuggets of wisdom. Marsha
  7. Thank you for your feedback. I tried to look at the Royal Academy's guidelines. I know that they set the bar pretty high, and we might not be able to attain their level, but it would be good to look over their guidelines. When I click on this PDF which supposedly gives guidelines, there is no information: https://www.rcmusic.com/sites/default/files/files/RCM-student-parent-guide.pdf Do you know of a better link? I tried to look over some past posts and came up with a list of possible music/art related activities for credit in high school. for art: 1. webart academy videos for music: 2. Great Courses lectures 3. youtube presentations - any suggestions? 4. go through instruction book again and review music concepts such as scales arpeggios, triads, inversions 5. write a paper - any suggestions? 6. Georgia Virtual AP music theory courses 7. biographies of composers - any suggestions? 8. music history books - any suggestions? 9. live musicals - not available in my area 10. Khan Academy music 11. online free courses: Introduction to Classical Music https://www.coursera...oclassicalmusic or Listening to Music http://oyc.yale.edu/music/musi-112
  8. First, thank you to all the moms who have answered previous questions that I have posted. It is very much appreciated!! I would like to ask current suggestions (or even relevant links to previous forum topics) that would suitably address my inquiry. For a legitimate music degree/credit, what would be the most suitable book/material which would offer a more COMPLETE music credit for an entire year's worth of study? I have looked at some previous suggestions, like coursera, Yale opencourseware, Khan, and Prof Carrol. All of these seem incomplete. They would not count as an entire year's worth of learning. The added complication is that I am overseas and have already made a state-side trip this year, so I would need to order something ideally that can be downloaded, like a PDF file, if possible. Currently, my daughter is taking a lot of courses through Potter's School. I think I've already missed the window to register for a music course this year, and also, the one suitable class offered has a time which conflicts with another course she is taking. I glanced at the Potter's School music syllabus for a standard to go by. They require a book written by Peter, D.M.A. Spencer Practice of Harmony. It seems fairly difficult and if I ever learned the details in this book completely, I have forgotten them and would have to relearn them myself before presenting the material. They do have Spencer's book on Amazon as an etext file. There are some activities in the book, but I'd have to take a screenshot and print those out. My daughter has already put in a lot of hours practicing during high school; before high school, I taught her the basics of reading music, including key signature, notes, etc. She has written some simple songs, recorded them in Garage Band, complete with lyrics, instruments, and voice. She plays simple chords on the guitar. Anyone who has heard her recordings seem impressed :). I had hoped she could apply to a state university later, but I am afraid that she needs a more detailed study of music for it to look legitimate.
  9. Thank you for taking the time and attention to type this out! I appreciate it. :) I will look into these resources.
  10. I was wondering if anyone could suggest a good resource for teenagers to investigate various career paths. Is it better to read a general book like: The Art of Work: A Proven Path to Discovering What You Were Meant to DoThis book has has a high rating on Amazon (642 people commented on it so far) Or, is it better to refer to some website rather than read a book? Or, is it better to buy more specific books directly related to a field that the teenager MIGHT be interested in? (for instance, a book about a career in writing) Also, what is the best website to refer to for understanding job placement success? I looked at one university's website recently, and they did not convey any information to a parent about the ability of graduates to land jobs. I'm concerned that, many times, universities might teach and offer lines of study for which there is no demand in the real world. Is it pretty difficult to find jobs in most career categories these days? I even saw on one website that it is hard for teachers to find jobs. That surprised me. How do you find out about or even begin to think about potentially great jobs that are lesser known, like a job in a waste treatment plant, for instance? Marsha
  11. Currently, we are living overseas. We might be traveling to Raleigh, North Carolina this summer. I would like to get an idea about the activities for homeschoolers while there. It's possible that we might move there in a couple of years. What are some good activities/groups, which are especially suitable for homeschoolers, that we can explore while there? I certainly would appreciate input! Thanks!!
  12. I'll let dd choose, but thought some of these books might be good.... Elijah Project (?) Black Horses for the King Bronte books Jane Austen books To Kill a Mockingbird
  13. Thanks Rebecca! I think you were answering my questions. Would WtoW also be suitable instead of the IEW (level C)? We've done some IEW already. By the way, does anyone have a link to a monster list of acronyms for homeschooling? I try to look at this website here: http://whythereyouare.com/homeschool/homeschool_abbreviations.htm#hsabbr but WWS doesn't show up on that list.
  14. I'm interested in the Excellence in Literature and will try to search past posts. It's interesting that Andrew Pudewa also contributes to this curriculum. I wonder how it differs from the IEW (level C), which he created? I was a bit concerned with EiL, though, that each subject/book seems to build upon itself so it's not easy to switch them around for different years, so one would almost seem to be forced to use World Lit for the senior year, for instance. I was hoping to do world history in 9th and it would be nice to have the literature match up.
  15. Thanks for your replies!! I might have more comments and questions later, but tuesdayschild I was glad that you compared Biblioplan maps with Knowledge Quest in your blog. I had thought Knowledge Quest to be about the best map geography curriculum that I've seen. It is pretty pricey though, from what I remember. That's interesting that you get the kids to participate in making their own schedules. I think, as long as I check behind dd and give her detailed instructions in how to do that, it might be a useful skill for her to learn. I had given a cursory glance to the history text (I think those are the Cool History pages), but by looking at the BP briefly, I'll admit, in comparison, I was a bit more smitten with Notgrass. I might try to look over the Cool History pages again and rethink. Love the picture of the baby chicks, by the way! :)
  16. I was having many thoughts roll around in my head when looking at various curriculum these past few days. One of the thoughts I had was that as I downloaded and looked at the Biblioplan's 3 week bundle, I wasn't especially happy that their main history text is in printable format and the other texts/spines they suggested to accompany the history download were for younger kids. So, then I turned back to MFW's Notgrass history texts for World History for High School. I like the Notgrass books in that they also have a study book to accompany them. Literally, I wouldn't necessarily need to have my oldest study the same era as my younger two. She could just plan to study and answer the questions independently. I'm sure it would be valuable to have a group discussion, though. I like Biblioplan's suggested reading list. The books are very challenging, I think, and perhaps I could incorporate those? The books on the Biblioplan reading list are to be purchased separately, along with the study guides, through Amazon. After looking at Sonlight, MFW, and Biblioplan, I was thinking that perhaps I ought just to combine different elements of the three. MFW also gives a 1 year Bible credit. I might just make up my own schedule and have her review sections of the Kingfisher to supplement the history. It's for younger kids, but it would be a fun review. Additionally, I was considering have her reread 1-2 STOW texts for review this summer before we start high school.
  17. Hi! Thanks for your advice! Many of the items above are from MFW and then I dropped some of their items and added some others. But, the confusing thing is that MFW gives three credits: Bible, History, and English. I guess I dropped some of their Bible books, but not all of them, so I'm not sure if that's good or not because she's almost be doing 1/2 credit worth of Bible by reading all the books. My dd does o.k. on grammar. I'll check out the Warriner's Complete Course book. I had made a note of it elsewhere. Must be good! For the Pride and Prejudice, I was thinking of using all the downloads from Bookrags for guides. I'm not sure if they are suitable or not? I should go and modify that above to make it more clear.
  18. This is my tentative plan for 9th Grade: I have been reviewing different curriculums for the past few days, and I've come up with a tentative hybrid plan for 9th grade. I was considering MFW, Odyssey, Biblioplan. I would appreciate critiques and suggestions. Perhaps, I need to tweak the MFW and Biblioplan and add/subtract. This would mean I'd need to come up with my own yearly schedule or is that too ambitious? Here is the tentative plan.... Bible – Read through a portion of the Old Testament Assign Weekly Memory work – undecided about how much More Than a Carpenter Christianity, Cults & Religions Four Views of the End Times Experiencing God: Student Edition – does this already have accompanying questions and answers? The Gospel of Mark: Max Lucado - The Gospel of John Literature – (simply for reading and summarizing) Cry, the Beloved Country The Hiding Place Song of Roland My Father's Daughter Travel's of Marco Polo (tentative) Alas, Babylon The Last True Spartan (tentative) Literature – (for deeper study and discussions) Julius Caesar (Shakespeare Made Easy: Modern English Version Side-by-Side with Full Original Text) - watch a Julius Caesar film Another Shakespeare piece? Beowulf (translated by Seamus Heaney) with Bookrags guide - is there a film? British Literature (Parallel Text) with accompanying Teacher Guide for British Literature Pilgrim's Progress in Modern English A Tale of Two Cities (abridged edition) -with study guide from Bookrags Pride and Prejudice - with Bookrags study guide - watch a film also Sir Gawain - with guide Odyssey - with study guide from Bookrags Animal Farm -with study guide from Bookrags History – Notgrass World History Books with Study Guides (spine) Kingfisher pages supplementary– this would be a review mostly Famous men of Rome Greenleaf Guide to Famous Men of Rome Rats, Bulls & Flying Machines: A History of the Renaissance & Reformation (supplement/tentative) Supplement with audible.com Great Courses, as well Geography – World History Map Activities Rand McNally Historical Atlas of the World Additional – Have people found the timeline and historical figures sold through MFW really helpful? Writing - Tentatively thinking of using Writer's Jungle?? Vocab - Abeka Vocab Spelling Poetry Grammar - Do we continue grammar for High School?? She'll have completed through 8th grade Rod and Staff
  19. Thanks for the links momtofive! I just looked over the links. When I looked back over Biblioplan, I couldn't find a very detailed table which shows coverage for Year 1. In general this is the breakdown: Unit One, Creation to Joseph: 7 Weeks Unit Two, Egypt and the Nation of Israel: 7 Weeks Unit Three, Israel Divided-- Assyria and Babylonia: 6 Weeks Unit Four, Persia and Ancient Greece: 5 Weeks Unit Five, Rome, Jesus and the Early Church: 9 Weeks Maybe that's all I need? I did go through and tediously print out the book lists for the upper grades and mark them Greek, Roman, etc. I am a little concerned that I'll need to ask questions for the books but the Guide they provide won't give clues for questions for each and every book they list. What spine will you use? I've already used Story of the World. What should the next book be? Is it worth changing over to Mystery of History, for instance? Also, have you heard good things about their mapwork? I noticed they had The Cultural Atlas Series for several civilizations. Is it necessary to purchase those? I really like the 4-year cycle. I'm a little concerned about getting all the requirements for college met however. I think I would have to add in an extra semester to get the gov in. It makes me think I ought just to start with medieval Year 2 rather than the Year 1. For the MFW, they use Writer's Inc. Do homeschoolers generally like Writer's Inc? I know that IEW is good and I've used it for the lower grades. I haven't looked at their high school material closely yet, though.
  20. I'm still trying to decide what curriculum to choose next year. I like the Biblioplan, but had a few questions. When I searched on CathyDuffy's website, she rates Biblioplan highly but said it is more labor intensive for the teacher (more labor intensive than Sonlight, for instance). What has been your experience with it? I really liked the fact that they use challenging books, like Shakespeare's works but am a bit concerned that I can keep up with it. I do like literature and history, but I'm a little concerned I can pull everything together since I have 2 younger children. I'm college focused and would hope that my children could get adequately prepared for college. I was also concerned that there is a large booklist and I'm not sure which books or how many to choose from the list? I live overseas, so I have to buy everything very soon and I can't update the list later. There seem to be about 40 books. At the top of the books list it states, "We do NOT recommend buying all of the books on this list! Instead, we recommend using the annotated book lists in our Family Guide " but I don't see the list from the Family Guide on the website. Further, the Biblioplan curriculum seems to cover lit and history but not writing and vocabulary, so it seems I'd need to purchase these separately. For vocabularly, I like the Vocabulary, Spelling, and Poetry books sold through Abeka. For writing, I've still not decided, but perhaps I might use the composition set sold through Abeka as well.
  21. I didn't see the 2 for 1 deal for the courses. Is there a particular page to go to for that?
  22. Lori D. ~ Once again thank you!!! I'll look over these suggestions and websites (might take me a while)! That's helpful to know that the science kit through Rainbow resource is $62 cheaper!
  23. Thank you MomsintheGarden and jlhonegger. Those are very helpful comments! I'll check out the other websites and will write them in my plan. I'm not sure my oldest will be able to have much interest in the programming, but I took programming in high school and did a little programming in my adult life with VB, so I think it's important. My second child though will really need this information because he is more interested in technical things. Congratulations on the 5 for AP! I think the teaching experience will also look very, very good on you son's college application. I am trying to bookmark these for later. If a homeschooled student wants to take an AP course, what's the best website to go to for that? ( I just saw www.aventalearning.com, and it looks like a good website?)
  24. Thank you, thank you, thank you! There were a lot of good points to digest. I'm trying to look at all the recommended websites. Thank you for all the links!! Very helpful! Especially the ideas about computer classes. ~Laughing Lioness I glanced at the Bridgeway Academy Learning labs. The cheapest option seemed to be >1000. I was wondering if that included all subjects or if one subject would be cheaper? I think my problem would still be the lab equipment. If I were to do the science at home, the sonlight kits seem appealing because everything is included in the package already. ~Momto2Ns what would you recommend for History in lieu of the SL? I'll look at the Excellence in Lit. Looks interesting. I saw the description of Maya. Yes, she seems very accomplished :). dd can type pretty o.k. She's been using StarOffice. Maybe I should just focus on some of the other computer courses and keep requiring her to type her writing assignments. ~Lori D. I've heard of Tapestry of Grace and might have looked at their products in the past. I am not sure that I'd trust myself to complete Easy Peasy but it does look interesting. I like the vocabulary exercises. I noticed that the creator of the website labeled one of her subjects as "Honors." How would I know if it meets the criteria for Honors? I did read somewhere that we have to be careful on transcripts when we label as course "AP", for example. It'll take me some time to look over all the English link suggestions. I appreciate the opinions about the Omnibus. It's really hard to gage the Omnibus books because Veritas doesn't show you much more than the preface. If a program had Literature and History combined (like Tapestry), would that count as 2 credits, then? When I pulled up the more familiar Veritas website, that seemed to be the case, because they didn't seem to have a separate History category. It might be nicer to have literature and writing more intertwined. The Teaching Company Great Courses look very appealing, but I don't have a library nearby so I'd probably need to purchase them, and I'm not sure if I should invest that much in supplementary material. They do look enticing.
×
×
  • Create New...