Gwen in VA
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Posts posted by Gwen in VA
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We have one but we don't want to pay the $50 annual fee.
So we go to the college library, poke around, find the "really good ones," and then request the books from our local library via interlibrary loan. Cheap, cheap!
The weird thing is that the local LAW SCHOOL library lets us get library cards for free! Isn't that weird?
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I know that we should all "eat healthy" with lots of whole grains, fruits, veggies, etc.
But the GI numbers seem somewhat random. I mean, I have no problem being told that sugary stuff and stuff made with refined ingredients digests very very quickly and isn't good for me. That makes sense.
But I have problems looking at a potato and seeing junk food!
So is the GI a bunch of hooey, or does it have scientific backing? Somehow every time I bump into much information on it, the information is connected to a sales pitch for something. That makes me suspicious!
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We use The Fallacy Detective and Memoria's Logic I & II and call it one credit.
One child has used The Thinking Toolbox, and I have now sold the book. We didn't like it. I have a hard time putting my finger on why -- it just seemed quite convoluted.
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We don't for several reasons, but the TOP reason is
1) We are trying to teach the kids to study the Bible and read theological books and do devotions because it's part of living.
If we give credit and grades for it, my kids will want to stop in June when we stop the rest of school! We wanted to separate Bible and say that Bible study is a life skill and not related in any way, shape, or form to what school you do or don't go to.
Bible study is more like chores or brushing your teeth (though much more interesting and rewarding) -- you do them because it's part of living. When you graduate from high school we still expect you to study your Bible!
Other reasons include --
2) My kids have enough credits as it is.
3) My kids were applying exclusively to secular schools, and we didn't want the Bible studies to look "odd" or raise any hackles in the admissions process.
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I'd focus on the scholarships available through the colleges. Some colleges do have scholarships available to pretty "normal" kids. Check out the colleges and look specifically at ones where he would be a good 'fit" and his scores would be above average (not necessarily above average by a lot).
I have several friends who have been surprised at having money offered to their kids just because they were the right kid at the right time at the right college.
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You might look at the summer school offerings for Scholars Online.
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My dd is in Amsterdam. Her apartment is so close to the game (or the fans were so rowdy) that I heard the noise the fans were making while talking to her via skype!!
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Hey Kelli (and anyone else who could help), could you answer some questions for me?
--Is there a larger "keeper at home" (KAH) community or just individual churches and families that subscribe to this school of thought? (I'm not talking about FLDS or anything like that. Just the average church.)
--How do they ensure that girls marry young? Are matches formally or informally arranged? What kind of men are seen as ideal husbands for these young women?
--What happens to girls who don't marry at 18 or so? Do they remain the financial responsibility of their parents? Are they allowed to work until they marry since they won't go to college?
--What happens in the event of a divorce? Are women encouraged/allowed to work outside the home at this point?
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Look at the Vision Forum website. There is a whole culture of people who are very much in favor of training women to be exclusively "keepers of the home." Various churches are loosely affiliated with VF (search the webite for 'family-integrated churches"), and most if not all of them would probably favor this approach. (I am familiar with only a few of the churches; I shouldn't generalize.)
The VF website certainly favors girls living at home until they are married, whether that be two years or thirty. They live under the roof and protection of their fathers until marriage. I know some "KAH" girls who do work part-time, but in the church we were part of, the ideal was to have the post-high school girls babysit and help other families in the church community on a volunteer basis until their marriage.
(My dd is off at college, which is one of the many reasons we left our family-intergrated VF church.)
I hope i'm not offending anyone; this is our experience, and I really shouldn't generalize. Vision Forum seems to be the common bond of the "KAH" families that we know.
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Ds2 just took Regina Coeli's Henle Latin 1. The class worked up to p. 124, which is sort of a strange place to stop.
Ds2 LOVED the class and is continuing happily with RCA's Henle Latin 2 next year.
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I have graduated two without even thinking about eh word "accreditation."
My third may be interested in sailing in college, which unfortunately is a NCAA sport. So I am beginning to think about the A word, but only with respect to playing sports in college, not with respect to admissions.
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I have asked my son, who is possibly interested in law school, to consider suing the college board for creating a monopoly on testing. :D
I figure that our family alone has paid for a VERY expensive vacation for one of the execs! (I started to figure out how much we have paid them over the years and stopped -- it was too despressing!)
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Yes, yes, and yes.
My kids did take AP exams in May and then the related SAT-II in June. The SAT-II prep work was easy after the AP studying -- they just worked through a study guide, took a sample test or two, and called it good.
Why AP and SAT-II? I have been told that the SAT-II's provide a fairer means of comparing the students -- all students can take the SAT-II's, but only some take the AP exams, so the SAT-II scores provide an appes-to-apples comparison.
My kids tok lots of SAT-II's, but I have many friends (whose kids applied to entirely different colleges than my did) whose kids NEVER took an SAT-II.
You might at least brainstorm a bit with your kids about where they are headed. If they are interested in "elite" schools, they should take all the SAT-II's they can. While SAT-II's are not required at most schools, having good SAT-II scores might help in making your child stand out for merit aid. But taking SAT-II's could be a waste of time for them -- you need to talk with them about where they are headed.
If in doubt, though, having strong SAT-II scores cannot hurt and it certainly might help.
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Be sure to buy a study guide or two. The SAT-II tests are fairly predictable, but they have two quirks --
1) The type of problem asked. My kids' favorite is on the SAT-II chemistry, which involves two statements. The student needs to decide if they are both true and then if the first causes the second. Imagine trying to figure out those directions for the first time on a test.
2) The knowledge expected. My kids both found that for the most part the tests were fairly easy, but they both said that if it weren't for the study guides they would miss more questions than they do -- the study guides really help the student focus on material that mis more likely to be on the exam.
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Our endo won't let kids get a pump until they have been diabetic a year. So a pump is next spring's problem!
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I third (or fourth or fifth or sixth) the motion to check with the college.
Many colleges don't require SAT-II's; there are a few (like William & Mary) that don't require them of "normal" applicants but really really want them from homeschoolers.
We didn't find any college that wanted more than three. Some colleges did specify that they wanted to see only one of the math SAT-II's, not both, for part of the three tests. (I'm sure if you took the other math in addition, that wouldn't be a problem!) Some did say that they wanted to see SAT-II's from different subject areas.
My kids took five each, so that the colleges would have SAT-II scores in most subject areas. My kids both did a science, a math, literature, and US history. One did Latin, and one did another science.
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A question for those who voted "other" -- what party do you feel closest to? Libertarian? Constitutional? I know I'm missing several.....
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Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and insights.
My dh and I just need to chew on this a bit.....but your ideas will help provide some fodder to chew on!
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How about when to join a church?
Would you join a church if the sole plus is good doctrine? Or would you seek a church where you felt at home with the members as well?
Should there be some fellowship compatibility, or should we just be happy with the doctrine?
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My older two kids have gotten in to a bunch of good schools and received a LOT of merit aid. My son was accepted into his first choice school, U Chicago, early action. For financial reasons, he will attend Washington & Lee this fall on a full-ride scholarship. (My dd is there on a full-tuition scholarship). Each of my kids received over $400,000 in merit aid offers.
We certainly haven't noticed any difficulty with college admissions!
Like Meryl, we used the flexibility of homeschooling so our kids could pursue lots of interests and activities that they either couldn't have pursued or couldn't have done in such depth if they had been in school -- debate, SERIOUS historic volunteering, pilot training, Civil Air Patrol, fife and drum, historic volunteering, reenacting.....
I made sure that my kids had enough standardized tests (SAT-II and AP) so the colleges could do some comparison between my kids and the other applicants.
We "outsourced" many classes (online, community college, and 4-year college) so my kids could experience real deadlines, teaching styles, and classroom settings; and so the colleges could see that my kids were strong students in a classroom setting.
Homeschoolers can do very well in college admissions. There are many reasons to homeschool and many reasons not to homeschool, but you can put aside any fears that a well-prepared homeschooler will not be competitive in college admissions!
BTW, my dd received an award for being the top freshman chemistry student this year, and the sophomore with the highest gpa at W&L this year is an ex-homeschooler. Homeschoolers can even do well in college!
Hang around these boards -- the ladies here have an amazing amount of wisdom about homeschooling high school!
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Yes. My dd2, 12, was diagnosed 2 months ago tomorrow.
One funny and somewhat TWTM-related incident -- when we were receiving our "education" about diabetes, the endo of course asked where dd2 went to school. We said that we homeschool. The doctor CHEERED!!!!! Apparently dealing with schools, nurses, field trips, peer pressure, etc. makes taking care of diabetes in school challenging. The doctor was SO psyched that we homeschool!
Diabetes is a challenge, isn't it? But God is good, and we have actually received SO many blessings through dd's diabetes.....
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Yup. We also counted it as an elective. Since I grade electives P/F, the grade is listed as "P".
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Weird thought here that you can totally ignore -- your dd looks like she is heading in the math/science direction, no? Even engineering schools like foreign languages.....
What are her plans for life after high school? Many colleges are happy with only three years of a foreign language, but many prefer four years. Does she have any standardized test results (SAT-II) for her Spanish? Or were some of her Spanish classes out-sourced so she has an "official" grade? I would hate to have a shortage in foreign language hold her back from any college plans she has. (Call any colleges in question so they can provide their opinion!)
Other than a bit of concern about her foreign language, her schedule looks great to me! I hope she has a wonderful year.
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My initial reaction to the question was, "Of course they have electronics in their rooms. They NEED alarm clocks, don't they?"
This probably gives you a clue what electronics my kids do NOT have in their rooms! :D
two years for AP and high school physics?
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
Well, I think the answer may involve what level of math he is at.
Physics B, the non-calculus-based physics exam, is not that much harder than a rigorous honors-level physics class. (In other words, Conceptual Physics won't do as a textbook!)
There are two physics C (calculus-based) AP exams, and they are quite rigorous. One is mechanics, the other is electricity and meganetism I think, though you should double-check that.
If your son won't be taking calculus until his senior year, he should take AP Physics B. Honoestly, he probably doesn't need to take a "regular' year of physics before he does AP physics B. It is only a baby-step harder than an honors-level high school physics class. My kids have both taken AP Physics B with no prior physics classes. One received a 5 on the exam; the other is waiting for his score but he thinks he did well.
However, if your son will have completely calculus before the end of his junior year and he wants to do either of the AP Physics C exams, he should have done some physics beforehand. They are VERY rigorous classes.
The AP physics B exam usually won't get you much credit and is much easier exam than the Physics C ones. If your son is accelerated in math and strong in science, I would recommend going for the AP Physics C exams.
I just wrote a book, didn't I? I hope this is helpful!