[List view of 2016 Acceptances - copy and paste, and add your student here so we can celebrate!!!]

Just popping in after a long hiatus to update our status.

 

DD16 applied early action to The Master's College and was accepted with a couple of nice scholarships.

 

Congratulations to all you other Class of '16 board moms and your kids! It's so exciting to check in and see some familiar names and all the different places our kids are going, whether proud or humble.

[2016 decisions thread]

I haven't been on these boards in many moons, but I felt it was my duty (and privilege) to announce that my eldest is headed to The Master's College in Santa Clarita, CA. She'll major in Communication. She has wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember, and my only request of her is that she finds a way to eat, LOL.

TMC (soon to be The Master's University) is local to us, and my daughter has taken high-school level classes there throughout high school. Her senior year she spent doing dual enrollment there. We were all set to head off to community college, but TMC came through with some unexpected money. DD couldn't be happier, except if she were able to live on campus. Since we're committed to getting her through college debt-free, she'll have to commute and graduate in three years. But she'll be there, and I can hardly wait to see all the relationships she'll form with her professors and fellow students.

 

We made it. Hallelujah. One down, five to go.

 

I can hardly wait to click "Add Reply" and see what my signature says.

[Algebra 2 at CC -- one semester or two?]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. Jann, that was my precise concern about Algebra 2 at the CC.

 

I may not be able to schedule a placement test until I have her apply. In the meantime, I'll see about getting some sample tests from the CC.

[Algebra 2 at CC -- one semester or two?]

I checked with the CC and they will allow DE students to take remedial classes if that is where the placement test puts them. Then they just work their way up to the regular college-level math.

[Algebra 2 at CC -- one semester or two?]

Well, yeah, that's why I'm asking. How do I figure an audited class into her GPA? I don't see how I can give her credit for just auditing a class.

[Algebra 2 at CC -- one semester or two?]

She cold audit the community college class and not have a grade recorded.

 

OK, but how does that work on a transcript? Do I assign a mommy grade?

[Algebra 2 at CC -- one semester or two?]

She hasn't taken the placement test yet. I was planning to give her the sample test from the CC website.

 

The tutor did geometry with her all summer, so it's possible she'd be willing to do it again if necessary.

[Algebra 2 at CC -- one semester or two?]

That was my plan, and I have a couple of books to choose from. I don't think the tutor wants to continue. I get the feeling she wants my dd to be moving faster to be finished with Algebra II by the end of this school year.

[Algebra 2 at CC -- one semester or two?]

My 11th grader is being tutored in geometry and should be done by the end of this semester. Her tutor is suggesting we have dd take Algebra II at the community college in the spring so that she'll be ready for the SAT. I'm concerned that a traditional college-speed course may drown her and her GPA. We have the option of taking Algebra II at the traditional high-school speed through the CC. The downside to that is having summer break between the two semesters, and she still might not be ready for the SAT in the fall of senior year.

 

What says the hive?

[Geometry with Video Instruction?]

I know the OP's question is old, but I'd also add Derek Owens Geometry to the list. Textbook plus video component. $58/month, self-paced. He uses Jacobs Geometry as a spine.

[Which colleges have good writing programs?]

I'm not sure I agree with this. A good journalism school, not part of a communications department, will probably have a student newspaper associated with it. At my university, the paper was published daily and the j-students I knew competed fiercely to be published in it. Because where they really honed their craft was in writing everyday for a real paper not from a text. AND those hiring them knew that and hired based on clippings. 

 

From the standpoint of getting practice and experience, I agree. But I learned everything I needed to know about how to craft a good article from one newswriting class.

[Which colleges have good writing programs?]

That's an interesting article. I was intrigued by the profs at the school where they said an applicant's choice of undergrad school was almost irrelevant.

[Which colleges have good writing programs?]

That's an interesting article. I was intrigued by the profs at the school where they said an applicant's choice of undergrad school was almost irrelevant.

[Which colleges have good writing programs?]

I was a communications major in college, so I'm familiar with j-school programs. At this point I don't see journalism as being a growth industry, and newswriting format can be learned from a good college textbook.

 

I've been talking with my dd about the need to have something to write *about* -- either learning about a topic in-depth, or reading widely so as to have a broad knowledge base for her writing. Then there's all the other possibilities for people with strong writing skills in different fields. I just wonder how much of that you get from majoring in English. Maybe a major in something lucrative and a minor in a writing-oriented discipline? I've toyed with the idea of having her get a certification in some marketable skill before she starts college, so she has a way to pay the bills.

 

Thanks for the school suggestions. Keep 'em coming!

[Which colleges have good writing programs?]

DD wants to be a writer. She writes lots of fiction, but we're not sure that's the kind of writing she'll end up doing for a living.

 

What schools do you know of that have good track records of producing skilled writers? Or is she better off just finding some real-world mentors to critique her work? (I don't have much faith in college English departments' interest or ability in producing graduates who can write well.)

[A friend just called me because her son is essentially failing 9th grade]

The CAD is one other thing that makes me think "visual learner." For homeschool, I'd be looking into video options wherever possible. IEW might be a good step-by-step choice.

 

And age notwithstanding, I would also be seriously considering having him repeat 9th grade, to give him a fresh start, especially if they find out he's got learning disabilities.

[Anyone interested in learning jewelry-making?]

Ooooo, this sounds like fun. Off to check the site.

[A friend just called me because her son is essentially failing 9th grade]

Poor speller? Can't do word problems? Underachiever? Insecure? I would so totally be testing for reading problems.

[Latin II, not Wheelock's. Suggestions?]

This was a live class. She got bogged down early in the year and didn't catch up. There was a teacher change mid-year also. I was really distracted this year, so I didn't get her a tutor.

 

Her workload is going to be pretty heavy next year, because she'll be doing The Inklings through Biola's Torrey Academy (like three classes in one). I was hoping we could take a year off from foreign language, or even consider ourselves done, but that's not an option now. I'm looking into some self-paced Latin options for her, so that even if she takes two years to get through Latin II, she can go more slowly and not feel overwhelmed with her schedule.

[Most stressful number of children?]

Two to three was hardest, with four years from oldest to youngest. After that, it's pretty much all about head count.

[McRuffy Math or possibly BJU Math]

My dd hated CLE for the one unit we tried. We switched to BJU and she went from hating math and feeling stupid to getting A's on her tests and thinking about becoming a software engineer like her dad. The quantity of review is excellent, and all in one book. It's what we were missing in Singapore Math.

[More reasons to follow TWTM reading lists (NPR story)]

We didn't have official tracking at my high school in the late '80s, but the smart kids were all in honors and AP classes, and the slower/less-motivated kids were in either general or remedial classes.

 

My dad says he took "dummy" math in the '50s; it was plenty enough for him to support a large family as an HVAC technician. That was back when very few people went to college, because you didn't need a college degree to be a secretary.

[Latin II, not Wheelock's. Suggestions?]

Do you think Cambridge is sufficient as a stand-alone program? She used Cambridge as a supplement to Wheelock's in her online classes.

[Latin II, not Wheelock's. Suggestions?]

It was an online class. She got stuck on certain concepts (e.g., passive periphrastic and gerundives) and it really impaired her translation ability. She did OK memorizing vocab and such. She almost passed the class, but a couple of big translation assignments killed her.

 

I didn't take Latin, so she needs a teacher. I'd prefer a RL one, but I'm afraid the only options I have are online.

[Latin II, not Wheelock's. Suggestions?]

DD did fine in Latin I using the first half of Wheelock's. Latin II, also using Wheelock's, was a disaster, and she needs to repeat the course or choose a different foreign language. Before I ask her to decide, I'd like to have some options to give her. I'm wondering if she'll have an easier go of it the second time around and with a text that explains things in a slightly different way.