I graduated one senior this year and will graduate another next year. I don't have any suggestions, but I'm really glad you are thinking about it now. I hugely regret piling on an unnecessarily heavy load of classes on my ds and not making the year be focused on making positive memories. Dd is spreading out her classes through the summer this summer and the school year next year. She is taking most of them at the CC. I hope to manage a more relaxed schedule for her than I did ds. I'll be watching to see if there are other suggestions.

I think the only way to avoid it is payment in advance. It can even be half the payment in advance. As long as they know they won't get it back if they don't show. Not only does it increase the number of people that show-up to the events, if you don't have enough show, you can pay for the required number to keep the group rate for those who do. Homeschoolers are notorious for this, but it is an issue I hear from non-homeschool families too. I do think that homeschoolers are used to a level of freedom and flexibility that others are not and I believe that is what makes them the worst.

Lial's intermediate Algebra. It is super cheap and he can test through chapters and just review those where he isn't solid.

We use the student book and solutions manual for all the Lial's books. Older editions can be found easily for under $5. We used this one. Here is the solutions manual that matches. I bought used copies that specified no writing. Sometimes I had to watch for a little while to find one at the price I wanted and the condition I wanted, but I used this series through Algebra 2 with both kids and bought Pre-Calc, although my kids switched to CC classes instead of using it.

Typing.com doesn't require playing games and has relatively few games compared to Dance Mat Typing or many others. My kids used Dance Mat when in ps and when I worked on their typing skills we used Typing.com. It was effective and went to a high level of competency in keyboarding. That said, most kids learn best through the games which is why most programs that target kids are game based.

So for us there are two sides of this debate. I have considered teaching online classes and I just can't justify spending the time for such low pay in spite of the flexibility and the fact I love to teach. I recognize that online class providers really can't make money and charge less. On the other hand, for us CC classes are much cheaper than online classes. Homeschoolers get no discount for live classes at the CC, but tuition is only $98/credit hour. You tack on some fees and still stay well below $500 for a 3 credit class. For online classes homeschoolers do get a discount and those are only about $40/credit hour. All that and we aren't dependent on taking an exam at the end in order to receive college credit (or having no credit option at all). CC is subsidized by the state and school districts. It is a public school we are happy to take advantage of. My kids did very few online classes. They were just too expensive to justify. With the few we have done, some have ended up feeling "worth it" and some haven't. I would never claim that they are overpriced, but I would say they aren't always a good value for families.

I totally agree with this. I wouldn't give high school credit for history taken in 8th grade, unless maybe it was taken DE. My dd did history combined with ds when she was in 7th and 8th and he was in 9th and 10th. No modifications. He got high school credits and she didn't simply because she wasn't in high school. It is very difficult to quantify what should be taught in a year of high school history to make it credit worthy, therefor it is hard to give credit for a class taken prior to high school. I would keep all your documentation of the class. Write up a course description. If she wants to graduate early and need the credit, you'll have it. Otherwise, just count the courses she takes during high school.

Dd has done at least 2 credits of science each year. Most of her electives are science or applied science. Her freshman year she did Biology and Athletic Training. This year she did advanced Biology and Chemistry. Next year she will do Anatomy and Physiology and Physics. If she does another year of high school after that she will do Advanced Chemistry and Nutrition. We subscribe to the "there is no such thing as too much science" theory. The only caveat that I would add to that is that both of your sciences are soft, science for the non-science student courses. If he really loves science, I'd put in something more challenging.

I would decide which high school credit system to use based on where your dd is planning to go to college. If she will go in MA where they are very accustomed to the 5 credits = 1 year system, I'd keep it. If she is going elsewhere, I would use 1 credit = 1 year. Although, I really don't think it matters there are other states that use different numbers of credits to = 1 year, it isn't just MA. That said, for DE credits, just convert them to the system you are using for high school. The best recommendation I have heard for the conversation is that any class that would be taught across a full year in high school should be given a full credit (or 5). Those that would be taught as a semester class, give a half credit (or 2.5). Three hour classes tend to split on this. 4-5 hour classes are always a full credit. While I like that system, you are free to give the number of credits you feel the class was worth. You can give all DE classes a full credit. You can give all 3 hour class .5 credit. Don't make it hard. Just make your choices and be consistent.

Ds is autistic spectrum. He was in ps k-5. He had some wonderful teachers and they worked with him, but his social skills really skyrocketed when we started homeschooling. I even had people who barely knew us ask what we did to improve his social skills so much. If the problem is a lack of social opportunities at home, I suppose a classroom could improve that. If he is struggling with social skills, most often a classroom will just be a sustained torture chamber.

Novare is the only one I've seen linked before. In general, Catholic materials are Christian and OE. Kolbe offers classes and sells some of their books and syllabuses. BJU is as young earth as it gets. I've never used any of their videos so I can't comment on Mrs. Vick, but we used their science in 5-7th grade and Chemistry and YE was pushed hard in every. single. book.

You just described my ds at 7! He was diagnosed with ASD and dysgraphia. He is also 2e gifted. He was an early and excellent reader and reading remains his primary learning mode. People asked me all the time because of his writing and lack of coordination if we suspected dyslexia. I'm sure there are a range of possible diagnoses that could include those characteristics though.

This depends on what college she wants to go to. Is she looking at highly competitive or Ivies? If so, she'll need AP. If she is looking at a less competitive LAC or a state University, having 4 years of science with no APs will be just fine. ETA: For Biology or wildlife management or any applied science degree similar to wildlife management I would consider a solid 4 years of high school science very adequate prep. She will be ready to jump into first year major's level sciences. That is all that is necessary.

Lial's does cover a few more topics and some topics with more depth. I consider it a solid on-level text. My dd had no trouble placing into college algebra a little before she finished LIal's and she really isn't particularly "mathy". However, I hesitate to even mention that, because you can find kids that place into College Algebra after TT Algebra 2 as well. Every kid is different.

It was the DuPont essay contest this year. I read quite a few of the papers. They were fascinating! I was pretty sure that Mrs. I's workload was in the mid-high range as AP classes go. It may lean toward heavy, but I have heard of several classes that are much more intense. I don't know how it compares to other AP English classes. I think for some the fact he assignments are daily, rather than weekly causes problems. However, there is not a single assignment I would have wanted her to leave out. I appreciated that every assignment was of value, there was no wasted time.

I thought the contest was wonderful. Ds was not even vaguely interested in scientific writing and was not at all interested in the contest. However, he found a topic of interest (topics varied WIDELY) and ended up learning a TON about how to craft a persuasive paper on a topic that is far outside your area of expertise. Mrs I's class is a lot of work, but the work in Mrs. I's class is a very few assignments per day or week with a lot of effort expected on each. They were really able to put effort into each assignment and work for perfection. The workload is high, but the opportunity to learn and grow was tremendous. You should know going in that you are looking at a daily commitment, not weekly assignments. Also, her grading is really quite generous. Not her scoring of individual assignments, but her grading for the course. I'm sure it isn't for everybody, but no regrets here.

Sure, you could add Apologia labs to any Biology course. They won't necessarily line up as far as the lab being what you are studying at the time, but you'll probably cover everything that the labs cover. I have always considered Apologia labs to be the weakest part of the courses, but I haven't looked at the Biology labs to see if that holds true. You might want to take a look at the lab list and compare it to whatever you choose. See how useful they would be and if you might want to do some additional labs on your own. It would give you a base though to allow you to call your Biology a lab science.

My thought is borrow it. There is nothing you will view with a microscope in high school that you can't view a better image of on the internet. However, trying a microscope, learning how it works, getting basic microscope skills will be helpful. I'd borrow now, and if they love working with it and want it, reconsider at AP Biology. We have a 1000X oil immersion microscope and my kids always preferred to look at things on the internet instead <sigh>. They did learn how to use a microscope, make slides, stain, etc, but I'm not sure anyone but me would have missed it if it wasn't here.

I second looking into American School. I haven't used it, but it is supposed to be a good option for "get it done" high school. Here are some past threads that might help. Can I get your course lineup for American School? American School enough for Community College? American School LIfepacs, Ace, or another workbook based curriculum could work for fast credits to achieve a minimum standard for a diploma, but mom has to be the accountability there and I don't know if her health will make that feasible.

I agree with the others, after TT Algebra 2, move to TT Pre-Calc. From there, you can see what she tests into at the CC. Some go straight from there to Calc, some retake Pre-Calc at the college level. Much depends on her own ability to intuit how to do more complex problems from the basics she will have learned in TT. Some can, some can't. Another option would be to take something like Lial's Intermediate Algebra and go through it quickly. A good method is to look at each chapter and if she thinks she already knows it, take the test. If she doesn't know it or doesn't do well on the test, go ahead and complete those chapters. She might be able to do this over the summer in time to register for College Algebra in the fall. The old version of TT Algebra 2, finishes Algebra 1 and includes quite a bit of Algebra 2, but not all that would be in a typical Algebra 2.

We do ICP in 8th grade. My kids found it very helpful to have a little background in Chemistry before hitting Biology and the intro made the full courses go a little faster and easier down the line. However, it isn't necessary. I don't know what science study she has done in the past, but ICP is nice, not needed. It can also stall a year for math to catch up to science requirements if that is helpful for you. If she wants to take Biology, let her. There are lots of choices. Christian or secular? Pre-planned or you plan? video based or textbook based?

We did it and I could probably give you a syllabus if you need it. He created the syllabus for Physical Science Concepts in Action for me and has it on his website, but it really wasn't well done. The first half worked, the second half was totally wrong. I had to redo it and decided not to bother asking after that. Instead I just did my own. eta - there are several chapters in Miller/Levine not covered in DIVE. We did read those where we thought they fit. ETA - I PM'd you a pdf. Hopefully it will help.

We are Christian but homeschool mostly secularly. I used Notgrass Government with ds. The positives were that it covered everything I wanted covered and it was super convenient. The negatives were that it is strongly Christian and had a strong conservative slant (we are politically conservative too). These things were strong enough I could never use it with my youngest who is repelled by Christianity infused into academic topics. What about Thinkwell?

Here unlicensed vet assistants start at minimum wage with little room for growth. A certified vet tech would do well to make $12-14/hr.

Oh wow congratulations! I wish we could find that in a Japanese tutor for ds!