Lots of questions these past couple of days; thank you for your help! First: Would AP Art History count as a social science credit, or does it count as an elective/fine arts credit? Next: I'm considering Amber Kane's AP Art History course (PA Homeschoolers) for my daughter next year (for 10th grade), but we've never done an AP course before and we've never tried PA Homeschoolers. I'm a pretty intimidated about the whole process of entering the world of APs (and frankly, I'm not sure I want to mess with APs at all). But at the same time, I see how they are a good method of norming my student against "regular" kids in school, and it's always good to have experience with outside teachers, etc. All that to say, any reviews/advice/thoughts (about the course, about PA Homeschoolers, etc.) would be greatly appreciated. I mentioned in a previous post that my daughter is an artist planning on art school, so I thought AP art history might be a good place for her to start, as the subject matter is in her comfort zone, but I don't want to throw her to the wolves if the course requires super advanced writing skills. (She is a great student and a very good writer, but her writing skills are obviously still developing, as she's only in ninth grade.) 🙂

We're currently doing world history for ninth grade (FWIW, I'm using Oak Meadow's World History curriculum as a spine, along with the recommend textbook and a healthy dose of Crash Course World History videos, and the usual Googling history necessitates, etc.). It's generally going well--I do really like Oak Meadow as spine!--but I think next year for history, I need to switch to a more streamlined read-and-discuss model (that is, require very little written output). This is mainly because my plans for next year's English course are very robust; I really want to focus on tons of reading and writing and essay writing there. (My daughter will be getting so much writing practice through her English course, I don't think I need to go crazy with writing requirements in history as well. In fact, I think doing so could really quash my daughter's interest in history altogether, which I definitely don't want to do!) I believe that it's possible to create a course that is intellectually rigorous without a lot of written output, but I'm wondering how I could best approach assessing and grading my daughter's progress. (We never kept grades of any kind until my oldest got to high school; I've always just kept portfolios. Now that she's in high school, I want to make sure any grades I give can withstand scrutiny.) I'm a person who likes to have paper "proof" of what's been accomplished, so I'm just wondering what I might do to substantiate a grade for such a course. For instance, I was thinking that in addition to keeping a thorough reading list (obviously), I could keep a brief log of discussions we've had. That's something that would be easy for me to manage, and that could be dated and orderly, but not onerous. But I dunno...is that enough? I'd love to hear how others kept track and assessed courses that didn't have written output. Thanks for any insight or advice!

Is it okay if the graded paper is graded by me? (We currently outsource French to WTMA, and my daughter plans to take some community college courses in 11th and 12th grades, but I used to be a high school English teacher, so I'm planning on teaching English throughout high school. Will colleges accept a paper graded by me for admissions purposes, or will it have to be graded by some other teacher? (FWIW, I provide extensive written comments, etc. when I grade my daughter's finished writing.) Thanks!

Context: My ninth-grade daughter is an artist who plans to attend art school for fine arts or illustration. She paints for hours and hours every week. She keeps track of these hours in her planner. We were recently looking it over, and found she logged over 50 art hours in January alone. The numbers aren't always that high, but they're consistently strong; if I were going strictly by hours, I could honestly give her at least 3 credits for art this year. (And that's just for hours spent actively producing art; it doesn't begin to cover the number of hours she spends thinking about art, discussing art, planning out new pieces in her planner, reading about artists, researching materials, listening to art podcasts....). All that to say: Where would you cap things, credit-wise, for self-directed passions or projects? I guess I'm concerned that issuing several ("too many"?) credits somehow won't look believable, or that it could call into question the time she spends on her other subjects. (She is a strong student who does a great job with her academics, so I don't want to unwittingly give the impression that she isn't also putting in tons of time for her core classes. She's just the type of kid who gets up at 6:00 AM and goes all day long.) My questions: Should I assign as many as 3 credits for art? If not, where do you recommend I cap things? How do you recommend breaking the credits up? (Should I call this one big art course and issue up to 3 credits for it, or should I break it up into 2 or 3 one-credit courses?) Would you go straightforward or creative with course titles? (I could call the course "Painting I," or whatever, but in my opinion, that title doesn't come close to capturing the energy of the self-directed work she's doing.) How did you go about labeling a self-directed course? What is the line between work that counts as an academic course, and work you would file under "extracurriculars"? Since my daughter is a prospective art major, my inclination is that her work in art should always be categorized under the umbrella of academics. (In contrast, I'm currently filing her weekly ballet classes--a pursuit she approaches much more casually--under extracurriculars.) Does that sound "right," to you, or do you have other suggestions? Thank you in advance for any guidance or ideas!

This is so good to know! (And congratulations to your middle dd!)

Thank you, Lori D., for this information and for your general encouragement. (I had not thought about the possibility of a prospective grad school requiring records! That is a good reminder to keep things for the long haul.) I'd personally rather err on the side of overkill than insufficiency, so it's encouraging to know I'm on the right track (or at least, that I'm not on the wrong one). Thank you so much for your help!

Hello! I'm reading through the Motherlode posts and working on my daughter's ninth grade course descriptions. (My goal is to draft course descriptions annually every spring; this is my first go!) Some example course descriptions I'm looking at say things like "completed 18 labs" or "completed research paper" or whatever. This makes sense, and I plan to include the relevant info in my various descriptions, but still...I'm curious: Have you ever been asked to produce said lab reports or research papers for college admissions? I'm Type A by nature, so one thing I have going for me is that I keep excellent homeschool records. (The truth is I genuinely enjoy it; I love looking back on what we accomplished each year!) But I can't help wondering: Will anyone ever ask to see any of this stuff? Are work samples required anywhere in college admissions? (I'm not referring here to things like a portfolio for a prospective art major; I just mean...is anyone ever going to want to see my daughter's 2-page ninth grade essay on To Kill a Mockingbird for general admissions purposes?) To put it another way: Do colleges generally take your course descriptions at face value, or do you have to somehow "prove" you did the things you claim you did? (Did you save everything at the end of each school year, or just the major math tests/bio lab reports/capstone papers?)

Thank you for sharing your experience--especially the reading aloud part. (As I said in my OP, we've always pretty much read aloud content stuff, so I think I will try to find a good mix of reading aloud and assigning her readings. I think it may just take a few weeks to see what proportion works best.) I also appreciate your point about just discussing ideas (without necessarily needing to be an expert). Appreciate your chiming in!

Thanks! This is very helpful! She is taking a French 1 class through WTM Academy, so I am just letting her do that all on her own. (I am not watching the lectures or helping her with anything; just fully outsourcing that class.) Outsourcing this class is definitely lightening my load, as French is not an area of expertise for me. I think I can handle keeping up with all her other ninth grade courses (we're doing all other courses at home, using curriculum for a couple of things, DIY-ing others). But I suspect we'll incorporate community college courses in 11th and 12th grades.... I appreciate your sharing how you've addressed things; thanks again!

For instance, if you assign, say, "read pages 2-21" in the biology text, are you doing that reading, too? Thus far in our homeschooling, I've always read what my kids read. (I'm NOT talking here about every last Nancy Drew or Hunger Games my children read! My kids are voracious readers, so they do tons of free reading--both fiction and non-fiction--wholly independently.) What I'm talking about is academic reading/nonfiction books/curriculum readings--actual content for subjects like science and history. Thus far, I have always read that content alongside with my children. It's been manageable because I only have two children, and our homeschooling lesson style has always involved tons of read alouds or very short readings that are easy for me to keep up with. It's just worked out that way--as a matter of course--that I am pretty much reading whatever they're reading for core subjects like science and history. But now that I have a high schooler, I'm doing much more assigning of work and I'm not sure I will be able to read everything my ninth grader reads. I definitely want to read all the same literature she's reading (mainly so we can discuss the novels, but also because English is my jam), but I'm not sure I'll be able to do all the same text or curriculum readings she does, because, as I said, this year I'm assigning her much more independent work. But if you don't do all the reading your child does, how do you stay on top of the content well enough to be an effective teacher? (I've really enjoyed learning everything they're learning thus far in our homeschooling journey....) I'm thinking of doing my high schooler's readings (part reading, part skimming) when I do my weekly planning session each week. I think I could do it all in under an hour, especially since everything is ultimately review (I've obviously taken all these subjects myself in high school or college), so I am mostly just reviewing the content, but I guess I'm just curious what other people do? My oldest has just started ninth grade, so it's my first go at homeschooling a high schooler. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your strategies!

I recently bought these in clear acrylic and we LOVE them! This is the small size, but they come in a larger size if you need something a little bigger. (Note: Getting a set of 4 was cheaper than buying them individually.) I know they come in black, white, clear acrylic, and several colors, as well as different sizes. If you search "mdesign caddy" on Amazon, you'll see a bunch of options. But the small size is perfect for the kids and me to carry our stuff around the house. Really happy with this purchase!

Thank you for this input! The QSL lab kit seems to have a good mix of these sorts of activities, so I am optimistic. (That's why I sought it out separately from the Oak Meadow curriculum; it seemed to offer a little more in this regard.) I will say that I'm pretty impressed with it so far, but again, we haven't actually conducted any of the projects yet. It's funny that you mention your activity above; the DNA model lab in my kit involves jelly beans, black and red licorice, and toothpicks, and the student builds/manipulates a DNA strand model. We haven't done it yet, but it sounds a lot like the sort of activity you describe above, so that is encouraging! Again, I appreciate the input!

Hi! We are skipping the Oak Meadow labs entirely. (I did not buy the Oak Meadow lab kit; I bought only the Oak Meadow curriculum and will pair it with the QSL lab kit instead.) My rationale: I really like Oak Meadow Biology's scope and sequence, the way it follows the Holt textbook in a tidy way, and the general creativity of OM's offerings. So that's why I bought the curriculum, but we are definitely not doing all of the questions and activities, etc.! (For context, we're also using Oak Meadow World History and Oak Meadow Health this year, so doing all the activities in all these curricula would be impossible!) Instead, I'm going through each lesson and selecting tasks that seem worthy and interesting. I am weaving in the QSL labs wherever they fit, but again, we won't be doing all of them. (Basically, I like to do things my own way, but I like that OM curriculum provides a framework for me to work off of, so I'm not starting completely from scratch.) Stephen Nowicki (the author of the Holt textbook) is the teacher of the Great Courses class, so I am selecting videos that relate to the readings where applicable. (The Great Courses class definitely offers more than we need--there are 72 videos!--so we're not planning to watch all of them, but I plan to weave some in wherever they relate to the readings. I don't expect things to line up perfectly, but I think things will work well enough for our purposes. I keep reminding myself that this is a general, introductory class and no ninth grader is going to cover all of biology (lol), so I'm just chasing down whatever is fascinating.) To summarize, for each Oak Meadow lesson, my daughter will: Do the assigned reading from the Holt textbook. Take some general notes/note the most interesting or significant thing she learned from her reading in her notebook. (A brief narration, in her own words, in writing.) Ponder a few of the Oak Meadow questions and/or do one or more of the Oak Meadow activities. (This will mostly be discussion and jotting notes, NOT a lot of formal writing. My daughter really wants to focus on labs this year. Plus, she will be doing a ton of writing across her other subjects.) Watch a Great Courses biology lecture if there is one (or more) that pairs well with the readings. Note the most interesting or significant thing she learned from the lecture in her notebook. (A brief narration, in her own words, in writing.) Complete a QSL lab roughly every other week (Again, this won't work out perfectly. Some lessons might work out to have more labs than others, etc.). Like I said, it will be a mish-mash, but I'm trying to keep in mind that my overall goals are to maintain my daughter's enthusiasm for science, to develop a solid understanding of basic biology, to engage in scientific thinking and inquiry and all that jazz, and to do lots of hands-on work, because that is what she is most excited about. I hope that helps! 🙂

This is SO helpful, thank you!!

I'm putting together my daughter's 9th grade biology with lab course. (I'm using a mish-mash of materials: Oak Meadow's Biology, Holt Biology textbook, The Great Courses Biology videos, and QSL Biology NGSS lab kit.) There are things I like in each and I am trying to make it all come together, but the 37 labs in the NGSS kit definitely feel like too many now that I'm looking over everything. I am thinking of doing 18 labs--picking out those my daughter is most enthusiastic about--which would work out to one lab every other week (for a typical 36-week school year). Is this "enough"? The labs in the QSL kits are super thorough, so on the face of it, it feels like plenty. (And I think doing one every other week feels much more sustainable than trying to do one every single week. When I think back to my high school biology class, I know we did nowhere near 18 labs, yet I still got "lab science" credits. Not sure what is common nowadays.) Anyway, I would love to hear from others about how many labs you typically complete in order to legitimately call something a lab science. Thank you!

I love your plan and everyone's ideas. I'm mostly seconding ideas, but some additional thoughts: Practical items/gestures: I second gifting The Brave Learner and/or TWTM. (The Brave Learner is friendly and inviting; TWTM could possibly feel intimidating, but I love them both.) You could curate her a short list of podcast episodes that are motivational/speak to beginners. (Julie Bogart, Homeschool Sisters, Read Aloud Revival, Pam Barnhill, etc.) You could send her an email with links. Create a little "cheat sheet" packet for her that outlines what is needed to homeschool in your school district/state, if she needs help figuring out the legal side. (I had a homeschooling friend who came to my house before my oldest officially started homeschooling kindergarten. My friend showed me her notification paperwork, her assessment/review paperwork, and a little binder of what she presented to her reviewer, etc. It was SO helpful and I was no longer intimidated by the legal side of things.) Fun/gifty items: Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty (for the kids for read alouds, etc.). My kids have loved that stuff for years! We still use it all the time. Pretty bookmarks. A clipfolio or planner or notebook (Rifle Paper Co. and Erin Condren make gorgeous ones, but there are tons of inexpensive and likewise beautiful options at Target.) Have fun; this is such a thoughtful gesture! (Now I want to throw a "homeschool shower" for a new homeschooling mom, lol.)

Awesome; I am bookmarking it for the future. Thank you again! 🙂

Is this the class you're referring to? (I don't know why it didn't occur to me to consider a half-credit for physics! That could work well for us!)

Thank you for this suggestion!!

Oh, I'm not against physics at all! It's just not an area of passion for this particular student. She's an art kid, so she'd much rather do botany or anatomy in the upper grades. (She's just about to start 9th grade, so I'm just looking ahead. Part of me wants her to do physics in 11th grade to be able to check that box--and because I think physics is part of a solid science education--and part of me thinks this particular student would be so much happier doing alternative sciences in 11th and 12th grades. We're going to take it one year at a time.) But to answer your actual question, I'm not sure why physics isn't generally more emphasized in US education. In my own (US) education, we did a pretty typical sequence of earth science/bio/chem/physics in high school.

My daughter is taking a WTMA French class (our first online class), so I'm perusing the site to get situated. I've been reading WTMA's Student Parent Handbook and saw a suggestion for a high school science progression (screenshot attached). The sequence pictured shows that biology (with year-long labs), chemistry (with year-long labs), and physics (with no lab) is "an excellent sequence for students who do not intend to pursue science at the college level but want to have a competitive high school transcript." That definitely describes my student. However! I have two questions: The screenshot shows "4 Laboratory Science Credits, 1 Non-lab Science Credit" for the progression I just described. For my daughter's upcoming year, we will be doing biology with year-long labs. Can I give her TWO lab science credits for this, as the screenshot suggests? (I thought I could only issue one lab science credit for a year of biology with labs.) We will be combining Oak Meadow's Biology curriculum (using the Holt Biology textbook) with the QSL NGSS biology lab kit, which has 37 labs. (We probably won't do every single lab, but we will definitely do most of them.) How many lab science credits would you issue? 1 or 2? Is a non-lab physics class considered competitive for a non-science kid? (I was expecting to have to do three lab sciences, but doing labs with bio and chem only would certainly free us up to focus more on her other areas of interest in 11th grade. Thanks in advance for any thoughts and feedback!

Thanks for the feedback! (I'd still love to hear from others, if anyone else would like to chime in!) I've been looking into this more since posting, and I think I am going to use Crash Course World History videos instead, for this particular course. (The Crash Course videos actually align pretty well with the Oak Meadow lessons and the readings I'm planning. Plus the Crash Course videos are much shorter, which is a plus with an endlessly expansive course like world history.) But I'll definitely be using Crash Course for other subjects... Thanks again!

I'm new to Great Courses; I just today signed up for the free trial for Wondrium. My question: As a general rule, can I have my child watch just individual lectures from various Great Courses? (That is, do individual lectures generally make sense on their own? Do they work as stand-alone segments?) What I'm trying to do: I'm using the Oak Meadow World History curriculum as our spine for world history, and I'm poking around through different Great Courses, looking for individual lectures to pair with our weekly reading assignments. I guess I'm just wondering if this approach will generally be successful? For instance: There is a 48-lecture course on ancient history that looks great, but we can't possibly spend that much time on ancient history. Can I just pluck out the lecture on the Nile River to pair with our readings about Egypt? (Basically, I'm concerned the individual lectures won't make sense if we haven't also watched all the previous lectures.) Thanks for any advice!

Does your child use binders or spiral notebooks for their high school coursework? (This probably seems like a silly question, but if we go with binders, I want to invest in nice ones that will last the long haul of high school. I'd need 5-7 total, so it's not an insignificant investment, financially. I also want to think ahead to long-term record-keeping, and which format makes the most sense in that regard.) Spiral notebook pros: Portable (easy to move through the house and to activities with these) Folds back on itself for easy writing Everything is bound together, so it stays in one place and in chronological order (notes won't go mysteriously missing like loose leaf paper on a clipboard tends to do) Easy to study from/easy to look back at previous work and notes Spiral notebook cons: Size (# of pages) is pre-determined and inflexible. Would need a separate folder for labs and papers, etc. (or to tape them in) Once ripped out, pages can't go back in Binder pros: Can add loose sheets and extra handouts easily Can rearrange materials and add sections as needed I love the tidiness of page protectors Durable Binder cons: Takes up tons of space (both shelf space and desk space). My kids hate how big and bulky binders tend to be and how much table space they take up when opened flat. Leaves little room for writing and other books. Much less portable. (My kids are less likely to carry binders around to their rooms, throw them into bags, flip through them, etc.) I'd love inspiration. What does your child use for their high school coursework? A separate notebook/binder for each subject? One giant binder with five or six sections? A notebook for notes and a corresponding binder for labs and papers? Some other system entirely? How do you store finished work for long-term record keeping? Thank you!

My girls (13 and 11) both took the Babysitting Basics course this past semester and loved it. They each did it entirely independently and earned a certification that is good for two years. I can't speak to Red Cross's higher level classes, but we all thought this one was great. It was affordable, allowed me to count something new for health, and just a fun thing to do during Covid. Recommend!