I think 2 weeks is the longest I've gone without seeing ds. Dd is going further away to college and I expect those times to lengthen, but I don't expect to hit 6 months - or even a semester. Long separations are hard and special days like birthdays make them harder. :grouphug:

This. I didn't want to get into how every course was evaluated. I certainly didn't mention it anywhere in my documentation that went to colleges. The letter grade on the transcript was all they got from me. I'd go with that. If you are explaining all your courses, then I'd use the "Taught to mastery. Evaluated by oral exam" suggested by others.

Another Nutgrass user. It was easy, independent, and got the job done.

I'll just answer your question. Apologia Physical Science is not redundant with chemistry; it covers almost no chemistry. It is half earth science and half physics. There is nothing wrong with doing it in middle school, then starting with Chemistry in 9th. That has nothing to do with whether your boys will be well served trying to do chemistry together or not. :)

Be careful of the return date. Right now, Amazon's rentals are running with a default return date in August. I saw a similar deal on ds's most expensive book for fall, then realized it was too soon for that rental period.

I don't see any problems with where he is now and where he has decided to go. I thought when you said he was a humanities kid, maybe you'd skipped science, but you haven't. He will have Biology, Chemistry and probably an advanced look at one of those topics. I would encourage you not to do A&P at the CC but do it at home instead. The reason for this is that the A&P might or might not transfer, but if it did it might replace a stronger course he would have had at the University later. Do the intro level of Biology and do a homeschooled A&P. In math, he is doing Pre-Calc as a Junior. If his TBI allows, he can do a placement test and take a math class at the CC his senior year. He could take a Pre-calc class at the CC (after TT) to solidify his math skills and have a good intro to college level math and make sure his vision and thinking are clear enough to make it. Then if he wanted, continue to Calc second semester. However, for a Life-Science major, not having calc before college is not a big deal. He could take statistics instead and save Calc another year to give him more time to heal. I see no need for him to take an extra year unless his brain hasn't healed enough to do the necessary math by the end of his senior year. Right now, he is on course and doing beautifully. Life sciences have as much need for the ability to read, understand, write and communicate as they do for math. There is nothing wrong with his early humanities focus; he should continue his course forward making math and science the priorities from this point.

I had one that did and one that didn't. My dd had a great job at a pharmacy (she plans to be a nurse so this was very relevant experience). The was able to set a maximum number of hours that she was willing to work per week (usually around 20) and she loved the independence and money that having a job provided. Ds has multiple LDs. When he is in school, school is all he can handle. School takes a great deal more time for him than for most kids and he needs mental recuperation time as well. He could never have successfully worked and gone to school. However, now, he has found some online work (tutoring, transcription, search engine evaluation) that can be done with a flexible schedule. He doesn't work much or make much money, but it does give him that same feeling of independence.

There is a private group here. It is called: Middle/High School W/Learning Challeng It was created by Onestepatatime and I think you have to request admission though her. The group is fairly young and fairly active. They have also been welcoming to parents of college age kids who can share btdt experience, but who also need a safe place to chat.

This was true for ds too. He had a laptop which he used. However, for his video editing class he used the more powerful computers with huge screens and all the editing software installed that were located in the communications building. Having the class gave him 24 hour access to the lab. I'm sure that many departments have similar situations with specific hardware/software being provided via computer labs.

I have had this problem several times. I put borax in my dishwasher after I unload the clean dishes. It takes care of the problem in just a couple of days.

I usually recommend the 7th edition, but really I think 6th edition or newer work. You can find links in the pinned math thread at the top of the board.

I have a 19 yo ASD kiddo and I never know if it is Jekyll or Hyde I'm going to be dealing with moment to moment. He is smart, funny and capable one minute. The next he is irrational, impractical, angry and dependent. His first year of college brought tremendous growth and tremendous struggles. Through high school I was never sure he'd be ready to go to college, not because of academics, but everything else. Now I wonder if he'll be ready to move on with life after college. We just keep baby-stepping along. I don't know that it is harder now than it always has been with this guy. It is hard sometimes and easy sometimes. It has always come in waves with him.

Sorry. Poor choice of words on my part. I still say (as a parent whose child took a 4 hour w/lab Bio spring semester) that is a 1 high school credit course. My suggestion was that rather than taking her homeschooled high school courses spread across an entire year - 4 classes - 4 credits, take some using a semester block system. She COULD take up to 4 courses per semester this way - 4 full 1-credit each, classes. We did most of our classes this way. So the full year's curriculum is done in a semester (just as a college course would do it). A large school district in my area does this, so it isn't unusual here. It makes the "can't take more than 19 hours" rule a non-issue, because you really can't fit in anywhere close to that.

These are posted in the pinned math thread, but I'll put them here too. These are free youtube video playlists for each high school math course. I learned about them when ds took AP Stats. We found them very helpful and they would make a great supplement for any high school math. Professor RobBob:

A 4 hour college biology class is 1 high school credit. You really can't legitimately give more. She only has 5 hours at the CC so that leaves 14 for home right? That is 4 full credits plus another .5 credit. So are you arranging your high school classes by the semester too? We did this. If so she could be taking 4 classes at home each semester (12 credit hours) along with her 2 classes at the CC. That is 12 classes/year! Clearly too much. There is plenty of room within their system to complete credit hours. You don't need to try to cheat the credits.

I'm in the re-examine your requirements camp. I know people who give 4 years of high school English credit if their kids can pass the CLEP exams in Literature and Composition. The theory is that if they have learned enough English to get college credit, they have finished all of high school English. I'm not a fan of this system, but with your ds - I think I'd consider something similar. With a 33 on the English section of the ACT, he has clearly learned all that was required in high school English. Say he unschooled it if you'd like, but the information got into his brain. Since he has learned more than the average high schooler (by test scores), I'd figure out a way to give him the credit and the diploma. Obviously, he can get back into school at the CC level if he chooses and getting into a trade makes great sense.

Apologia has Marine Biology and A&P - I think that is why they are often on the list. I don't think there are as many pre-packed elective science courses. Oak Meadow has Environmental Science. When we did elective sciences: Forensic Science, A&P, Nutrition, Athletic Training, I generally put them together myself (I used Apologia for A&P). If you search for any of those elective sciences (do an advanced search, search for the name in the thread title only on the high school board) and you will find out what resources people used for that specific course. There isn't just a source of elective science courses... Hmm maybe I should work on that? I've always wanted to write Science curriculum for homeschoolers.

I can't really compare them because I didn't use LL for high school. I did use LL for 7th & 8th, then switched to EIL for high school. The things we like about EIL: Book selection, price, independence, and quality of assignments (I really disliked the quality of the assignments in LL). My two favorites were Intro to Lit and American Lit. I really don't think you can beat EIL for the price and I really wanted nothing else that a higher price would have bought. The one thing I think is different, in LL (in lower levels) there were a lot of comprehension questions for each book. I'm not a fan of comprehension questions. I think you show comprehension by writing about the book, not by answering trivia questions. However, if you are a person who doesn't read the books your kids read but wants to be able to discuss or have some questions provided to make sure your kids are reading the books, LL has them and EIL doesn't. For me that was a reason to buy EIL, but for others it would make LL a better fit. If you have any specific questions about EIL, I'd be glad to answer, although you might do a search, I respond to questions about it frequently. :)

Yes! My dh is a database guy and made me something to order. It made all the difference!

Drop off days are always hard. West Point would be an extra layer of hard. Congratulations to you both though! It is a big accomplishment!

I did this over the weekend too. I told dd when we were together that I had done it and it made reality hit. She just looked at me like I was an idiot. :lol: No trunks. Thank goodness for twin XL beds because those of us who are tall do not enjoy sleeping with our feet hanging off the end of a twin bed! Have fun at parent orientation!

Have my kids moved in with you? I only had two kids, but I had one of each of those :banghead: . Planning kept me and them on target. Giving them something and saying go learn it was a total disaster. Neither could ever handle that. They were smart and capable, but one had issues with executive function and one with motivation. Nope, syllabus and lesson plans were always necessary. They both graduated. They've both got plenty of college credits done to prove they could move on even if I had to handhold while they were in high school. PS kids don't have to organize or teach themselves. I don't see why homeschool kids should be expected to. Enjoy your break and come back refreshed. I always needed a summer break!

I've used the One Year Adventure Novel and their follow up Other Worlds and highly recommend them. I haven't used either of those you mention.

I don't think there are any rules. I didn't use + or - but in a thread on the topic I thought it was pretty equally divided. I didn't put my grading scale on the transcript and was never asked for it. I used a 4.0=A 3.0=B 2.0=C to calculate GPA. (multiply grade points by the number of credits for the class .5 or 1, add up all the classes, then divide the total number of point by the total number of credits to get GPA on a 4.0 scale). I used this scale on all transcripts, but never listed it. I also did a weighted GPA on one of ds's transcripts (5.0 for college level work DE, AP etc) only because the school specified they wanted it for scholarship awards. If you weight your GPA (giving additional points for honors) you should list both the weighted and unweighted GPA. My understanding is that most colleges disregard the weighted GPA.

Wow! That sounds terrific! So glad you dropped by! Thank you for taking time to update. I don't know if we overlapped enough for you to remember me, but I remember you. I am now retired from homeschooling after my dd graduated a year early this year. Ds is in college and lives on campus but less than an hour away. Dd will be moving about 3 hours from home. I'd love to have them back in the neighborhood!