Apologia Physics works very well for independent/self-directed study. My ds (currently a Comp Sci major) did well with it and enjoyed it. If your ds needs extra challenge, you could consider doing both the first and the advanced texts in one year. That is about the equivalent of AP Physics B. It can be a challenging pace, though, to do both books, so if you went this direction, you might start with the first book and see how rapidly he progresses in it (both books contain the same number of chapters, and are of similar length, with the first chapters of the advanced book being review.) ETA: By the way, I would second Regentrude's recommendation to study physics next.

I had to deal with similar situations for both my dc--both won high level honors in music, yet were not going to major in music. It was tricky to list these concisely in the awards sections of college applications, and in a way that would convey the level of honor to a non-music person. I think it's fine to use "second place." You could use "alternate" if you qualify it a bit, such as "alternate 1st place winner", which is what it really is after all! We sometimes used the words "winner" and "selected" as well. Here's how a couple of ours turned out: Statewide Junior Young Artists Piano Competition--Honorable Mention (out of 85 participants) Twice selected (by audition) as one of 4 top-level piano students statewide to solo at xxx graduation concert in xyz city... Just brainstorming a bunch of ideas, you could do: "2nd place winner in two statewide piano competitions" Or if you want to list them separately: "2nd place winner in statewide MTNA piano competition" "2nd place winner in statewide music teacher's association competition" Or if you wanted to use the actual terms: "Selected as the alternate 1st place winner in statewide MTNA piano competition" "Selected as the runner-up in statewide music teacher's assocition competition" Using the word "the" would help indicate there's only one alternate, only one runner-up. Or listing the competition first, which is fewer words and looks nice: Statewide MTNA Piano Competition--2nd place (or "alternate 1st place winner") Statewide Music Teacher's Association Competition--2nd place (or "runner-up") Hope this gives you some ideas!

Welcome back, Colleen! I always enjoy reading your posts. And thanks for the update--I love reading about what board members are up to and how their kids are progressing.

Our 4-yr cycle was a little off as we were still finishing the 20th century when we started 9th grade, so our ancients was cut down to a semester and our senior year history went only through WWII. But here are the course titles I used (accepted by all colleges my dc applied to): Ancient History Medieval History U.S. History in World Context, Part I U.S. History in World Context, Part II

I used Smarr 5 years ago, but I think I ordered it directly from Smarr. If I remember correctly, I had a couple options: order a print copy or get a download. I ordered the print copy. I purchased Medieval Lit and I forget how many pages it was, but just to give you a rough idea of the total size, it came with two 1.5 inch binders (one for the student manual and one for the TM.) I just checked out Smarr's website (www.smarrpublishers.com) to see how they do it now, and found it's all explained right there on the home page. Apparently they don't ship print copies anymore; it's all online. Looks like what you would get (whether you order through Rainbow or Smarr) is a password to access all the Intro to Lit materials on Smarr's site, and then you can look at them there, as well as download or print whatever you wish (and you probably would not need to print ALL of it.) I've ordered "online" stuff through other vendors as well, and that's how it worked. For example, I once ordered a Thinkwell online course through a homeschool vendor, and what got shipped to me was a box labelled Thinkwell xxxx with an access code for the course printed inside, which we then used to access the course on Thinkwell's site. It worked the same as if I'd ordered through Thinkwell and gotten the access code from them via email. Hope this helps! ETA: Oh, and I'm sure Rainbow Resource would provide you with instructions on how to use the password to access the course materials.

We had good success using Oxford Latin--even jumping in at the 2nd year. My ds had been using a grammar intensive Latin I program in 8th grade (not Wheelock's, but something else--blanking on the name), and had gotten totally bogged down with it, to the point where he just hated Latin. I really wanted him to get through Latin II though, before dropping it entirely, and Oxford looked appealing. So I switched to Oxford, which uses a more inductive approach, and started ds with the Latin II book. There was a bit of a learning curve, and an adjustment to the very different presentation, but he really enjoyed it. It was colorful, he enjoyed the stories, he enjoyed the glossing of the texts (so different than the texts he had been struggling with in the previous program), and he enjoyed the extra sections (written in English) on Roman history. After that positive experience, ds was willing to go on and do Latin III (and finally the Reader). Just as a heads up if you try Oxford and decide to go on, I will tell you that Latin III is longer, and harder (covers ALL of Latin grammar), but it is just as interesting, which is probably what kept ds going. Also, while the material in each chapter and the exercises seemed very hard, the parts that you actually score (end of chapter questions and tests) were much more straightforward. Ds (and even dd who struggled mightily with Latin) always aced those, and that success probably helped as well. So if you do Latin III, don't faint--it will all work out! :)

I think this is fine plan to start with. Both my dc did Apologia and I have no regrets. We found Apologia to be solid for high school level, and highly do-able for a student working mostly independenty. This is important, because often the best curriculum is the one that gets done! Anyway, I would go ahead and start off with the Apologia Bio followed by Apologia Chem. If you find your ds is thriving and you sense his academic capacity is increasing a lot, you can bump up the challenge by doing both the regular & advanced Apologia texts in one year, perhaps for physics (or maybe chem--I just wouldn't recommend it for bio in 9th grade--the regular bio is plenty, and Apologia Adv Bio should really be called Human Anatomy & Physiology--it's in-depth, and very challenging. It's not what would be in an AP Bio course.) After Chemistry in 10th, you could look again at your plan in light of your ds's college plans, his academic capacity (kids change and grow!) and your family situation/finances at that time. He could always continue with Physics as planned (maybe with the higher challenge of both texts), and Advanced something else senior year, or he could take an AP Bio or Chem class in 11th (which is good for getting an outside grade before college applications)and pick up physics in senior year. I wouldn't plan on Apologia's Adv Bio unless he's headed for a health field, though, for the reasons stated above. If you feel it's necessary for your ds to take the SAT Subject tests, it can be done after Apologia Bio or Chem, but it requires setting aside about 6-8 weeks at the end of the year for him to go through and soak up 2-3 additional high school texts, plus work through at least 2 prep books. My ds did this and scored high, but it really takes a kid who's willing to work hard, who remembers large amounts of information and does well making connnections and identifying concepts expressed in different terminology than he's used to. This is really what's required no matter what text you choose--no high school text teaches to the SAT II test (it can't); rather, the test is constructed by drawing material from a variety of texts used nationwide (often picking that unusual piece of info in the little side bar on p. 254! ha ha) If you find you really wish to do this, feel free to pm me and I'll give you the list of texts my ds used. If you do both of Apologia's Physics books, however, prep for the physics SAT Subject test is not nearly so hard--my ds pretty much just looked at one prep book, did one practice test and did fantastic. His tons of previous testing experience probably had a lot to do with it, but obviously the knowledge gained from Apologia was good. All that said, you may not need SAT Subject tests--they're more for admission than scholarship consideration, and often the schools that require them are not the schools that give out much in merit scholarships. For merit scholarships at the colleges which offer them, our experience has been that SAT and ACT scores are key (in addition to high GPA and solid college-prep transcript--and your science plan is solid--colleges want to see the big 3 in the sciences.) So I would encourage your ds to focus and work hard on prepping for the SAT/ACT (over the Subject tests, unless they're needed.) Also, aim for and work hard on prepping for the PSAT--there are universities that offer full tuition and sometimes full-ride scholarships to National Merit Finalists (which is not hard to achieve if you make the cutoff for semifinalist.) No college ever sees the PSAT score, so there is nothing to lose by taking it. Take it for practice in 10th, and for real in 11th. The testing experience alone is worth it. Well, I didn't mean to write a book. I hope some of this helpful! Just wanted to encourage you that you don't have to rethink everything and that your plan will be flexible/workable if needed down the road.

That's what I did also, and it was accepted by all the schools my dc applied to, from state schools to highly selective private schools. Here are a few real examples from my dc's transcripts: Biology (w/Lab) Physics (w/Lab) Adv Chemistry (w/Lab) Adv Biology AP Physics C: Mechanics Adv Biology had no lab (dd used Thinkwell, ds used MIT OCW--neither of which included a lab component and there was not enough time--and in the case of MIT's course, which went beyond AP and totally over my head, not enough ability--for me to provide one.) AP Physics was an outside online course through Stanford EPGY and did not have a lab component either. We were more than okay, though, for meeting college requirements, because each of my dc did have 4 courses that included actual labs (the highest requirement we found anywhere.) Hmm. That's an interesting perspective. I think that would be true of B&M high schools, where labs would be a integral part of biology, chemistry and physics (they certainly were integral at my high school, and I don't think my transcript specified labs for those classes, nor did it point out that my Zoology class didn't have a lab.) So it could well be that B&M school transcripts don't say "with lab" for anything, and colleges know how to interpret it. But I think coming from the home school world and/or the world of online high school programs and courses, where having the lab component is not a given (and some still wonder if homeschoolers can even do labs at home), it's important to note when labs were included--because I think it's lab experience that colleges are looking for/expecting when they say they want a certain number of lab sciences. Even if there's no lab, I think it's best to have course titles accurately reflect the content. For me, if the textbook or lecture series is titled Biology, I would call it Biology (Adv Biology if it were college or AP-level.) I think calling it "life science" might give the wrong impression.

WOW, just Wow! This is wonderful. You are awesome, Lori D.!

Be sure to include a projected graduation date. Employers and colleges often want to see this. Later, after graduation, you just take off the "projected" indication and adjust the date if necessary. I also included a grading scale, and a section for test scores (SAT, ACT, etc.) You still have to send official score reports to colleges, but it's nice to have them all available at a glance on the transcript. I used Excel to create our transcript. I based it on (and got many ideas from) the transcript that Jean in WI shared in her blog, and one of the samples on the HSLDA website. I didn't have it calculate GPA (I'm not that Excel savvy) but it was handy to have it add up the number of credits, and handy to line everything up in cells the way I wanted and create the boxes and lines to make it look professional. My other tips have already been mentioned, but I'll second them here: fit it all on one page, use the words "Official High School Transcript", include the SSN, and sign and date it at the bottom. For the sign and date section, I included the phrasing, "We do hereby self-certify and affirm that this is the official transcript and record for (Dc's name) in the academic studies of 200x to date." (An idea lifted from the examples I looked at.) Both my husband and I then signed below, on lines with our printed names & "titles" beneath.

Yes, it's no problem to fill out later. I did this with Biology. When ds did Apologia Bio, we started the course in November (for a variety of reasons beyond our control), and so he ended up going into the following summer to finish the text. I wanted to supplement the evolution part with a bunch of other resources, but there wasn't time at the end of the summer. So... we added that in during the following winter when we had time. I put everything in the course description and just listed Bio on the transcript for the year in which the majority of the work was done. Ds also had a summer class, and I listed it under the year that made the most sense, rather than having a separate section for summer classes--just as Gwen suggested above. In your case, you could simply list your health course for the 2012-2013 school year (i.e. the year between the 2 summers) and that would be very accurate.

My dd used Windows to the World in 9th, and it was very good. (Gr 8 may not be too young--it kind of depends on your dc's maturity level--is he ready to look beyond basic plot and comprehension?) However, you do kind of have to teach it--that is, you need to keep up with the instructions in the teacher's manual, and sit down with your dc to guide him through and discuss concepts. It's not very straight forward, "open and go" for the student. Unfortunately for us, dd's 9th grade year was also ds's senior year--so it was a very busy time and it was hard for me to focus on this with dd as I should have. Consequently, she bogged down and the curriculum took all year. Be aware, too, that WttW uses short stories for analysis, not novels. My original plan was to do WttW for the first semester, then apply the techniques to novels for the second, but that didn't happen. Incidentally, I know what you mean about Stobaugh--I tried his literary analysis book with ds, but it didn't tell me how to teach literary analysis. We muddled through, but it was frustrating, which is why I went with WttW for dd. WttW does provide much more help in teaching, if the format works for you. If your ds really does not do well working directly with you or doesn't seem ready for WttW, another option you could consider would be Grade 8 Lightning Literature (from Hewitt Homeschooling Resources.) It is more "open and go" and the student can be more independent. Dd used this in 8th grade and liked it a lot. I thought it provided a pretty good introduction to literary analysis as well. It has worksheet type assignments that are quite good. I can't remember if there are essay assignments or not (the ones in the high school texts were not the greatest), but with writing already covered by a tutor, you could skip those. You could add extra books too, if the ones they use aren't the most appealing to your ds. For more adventure-type books, I would also recommend the G.A. Henty series. Also, for books that would tie into your history, you might look at the book list for Veritas Press's Omnibus II. Books like The Hobbit, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, Otto of the Silver Hand... might be appealing. Smarr Literature's list for Medieval also has some good adventure books (The Black Arrow comes to mind.) I second these suggestions for history. We used the Story of the USA workbook a number of years ago and it was quite good. We've also used the Famous Men series (for Greece and Rome), and liked those. We did them around 6th grade, but I think my dc would have gotten more out of them if they had been older--so it could work well for Gr 8. For science, I'd suggest looking at Apologia's Physical Science. Apologia is solid and very easy to implement--the student can be quite independent. I don't have experience with the Physical Science text itself, but we used all the high school texts, and I assume Physical Science would be similar. For logic, I highly recommend the two Bluedorn books for 8th grade. My ds really enjoyed those! And he learned/retained a great deal from them. We never did Traditional Logic, so I can't comment on that, but my gut feeling would be to start with the Bluedorn books (to help develop interest), and then see about TL later. I hope these ideas help. I don't think you're missing anything--it looks good to me!

Our Homeschool Profile document has the following: 1. Background (how and why we chose homeschooling) 2. Philosophy and Methods (talked about our focus on academic excellence and some unique things we did in math and science, plus our more classical, "great books" approach to literature and history) 3. Outside resources (listed and described the resources we used for outside classes: EPGY, Pennsylvania Homeschoolers, dual enrollment at a university, etc.) 4. AP, Honors, and Advanced level courses (listed all the advanced/college level courses we did, both home courses and outside; explained why we didn't label any courses "honors") 5. Grading and GPA (explained how I did grading both objective and subjective, the grading scale I used and the reasoning behind it, and how GPA was calculated--e.g. with no weighting) 6. Credits (explained how I awarded credits--i.e. what constitutes 1 credit, .5 credits etc.) For ds, I sent the profile to all the colleges he applied to. Most of them used the Common Application, and so the profile was expected. One rolling admission college had it's own application and didn't request a profile--but we sent it anyway. It seemed to be accepted by all. I have a homeschool profile all written up for dd (some of the details/approaches/classes were different for her) but only sent it to one college, I think. All the colleges dd applied to (except the one) were very familiar with homeschoolers, had rolling admissions and had their own applications. They only wanted transcripts, test scores, and letters of recommendation (same as for any student)--no mention of a profile! Oh well.

My dc used the McGraw-Hill PSAT study guide and that worked well for them. They also did the real PSAT practice test that comes in the PSAT booklet (which you should get from the school where your ds will take the test.) I think using PSAT materials to prep is better than using SAT materials, because the tests are a little different. The PSAT math for instance, covers much more geometry than the SAT and the questions are phrased differently. The critical reading sections also have a different feel. And the format is different as it's a shorter test. From what I've seen, I think it's actually a little harder than the SAT, so I think the more targetted prep that you get in a PSAT book is helpful. We found that studying for the PSAT was excellent prep for the SAT... I'm not sure if the reverse would be true.

I agree in general it's better to avoid 1/4 credits if possible. I have, however, put them on the transcript in two instances. One was an outside class that both my dc took--a rather unique art apprection-type discussion course that met once a week for 8 weeks. It took valuable school time during those 8 weeks, plus prep time, and it helped fill a niche on the transcripts, so I included it. The other instance was for a PE course--fitness walking at home. We only had time to do it for about the length of a semester, and I have PE earn half the credit of an academic course, so it ended up 1/4 credit. But we needed PE on the transcript, so it went on. None of the colleges ds and dd applied to batted an eye.

Trig is likely to be covered in their Precalculus--that's where it was for both my dc (one did EPGY precalculus which uses the Lial's text, and one did Thinkwell Precalculus.) Back in the dark ages when I went to high school, trig was a separate course--but you rarely see that today. It's almost always rolled into precalc (maybe Alg 2, but that would be unusual, I think.)

My dd has taken 2 dual enrollment courses through Cedarville. The quality of both courses was excellent. It's important to know that these are regular university-level courses offered online--with the same pace and workload as for the course taken on campus.

My dc each play violin and piano--lots of hours of practice, and piano included music theory with state-wide theory tests. Some music history and appreciation also just goes along with studying the instrument. So, for their transcripts, I gave my dc 1 credit each year for music (Music I, II, III, IV)--which covered the lessons, practice and academic components (theory). Since practice is an activity thing, like PE, I felt like it should earn credits at half the rate of an academic course--so for 2 instruments (about 1+ hours a day of practice for each one) all year that's .5 credit each--1 credit for both. (I do think for one instrument though, if your dc is practicing 2+ hours a day, then I'd award the whole credit just for that.) I also gave a letter grade because of the theory component. Splitting it out as a PP suggested is also a neat idea, with instrument study as one course, and theory/composition/appreciation or whatever as the other, if you have enough of each to warrant it (I didn't feel like our theory study was time-consuming enough to warrant separate listing on our transcript, so that's why I just rolled it all into one music course per year.) Orchestras, performances & competitions, string quartets, ensembles, and music camps/festivals all went down as extra-curriculars on my dc's college applications. Hope this helps!

Timing can be a problem on the science section--it's easy to get bogged down by the reading. We found tips from Barron's ACT 36 helpful for maximizing efficiency, the science videos mentioned above for learning helpful thinking processes in approaching the questions, and the red book of 5 Real ACT tests is best for practice. There are also a couple more released ACT tests out there--part of the ACT prep booklets from past years--online. It's worth searching for them (the videos use one of them)if you need more practice.

It's OK to not fill in colleges to send scores to at the time you take the test, esp if you are not sure which colleges to list. We waited until application time (fall of senior year) when we knew for sure which colleges ds/dd would apply to and then sent the scores to those colleges at that time. There was a fee per school, but it's not too bad. Listing colleges on the test is only helpful if you know for sure you are going to apply to those schools, because the scores are sent for free.

I have no experience with BJU Pre-Algebra, but this sounds like a very reasonable plan to me. Both my dc did Singapore up through 6B, and then we did another Singapore book called PSLE (it was a prep book for Singapore's Primary School Leaving Exam) and parts of Singapore NEM1 during 6th grade before starting Videotext. Ds started Videotext in the spring of 6th grade, doing Module A, and then he did Modules B & C in 7th. Dd started Videotext in the fall of 7th grade, doing Modules A, B & C that year. (We also did NEM 1-2 on the side as a supplement.) It is good, and important, to have the growing time--my kids needed it. And starting Videotext in 7th (assuming your dc is ready at that point) is plenty early to allow for a nice math sequence through high school. It allows you to get through geometry in 9th, which is very nice for the PSAT, and allows you to go on through calculus, statistics, or beyond by senior year. Ds did not take statistics, but got through university level multi-variable calculus before going to college. Dd has been able to fit in both calculus AB and statistics. (One side note I'll mention for you to consider as you plan--Videotext says if you go all the way through both their algebra and their geometry courses, you've had the equivalent of precalculus. While that may be true, I had both my dc take a separate precalculus course in 10th grade, since they had done algebra so early (and Videotext geometry only had modules A-D out at that time, so we had to switch.) It proved to be a good decision--the precalculus was very valuable to cement and expand their algebra and trig skills before calculus, and Videotext algebra was great prep for success in precalculus.)

Hi Jean, I don't know if this will help or not, but we did use Smarr Medieval interwoven with 2 other lit programs when my son was in 10th grade (so about 5 years ago). At the time, I had planned to use the writing instruction in Smarr and started off with it. Basically it centers around writing an argumentative papers on a rhetorical issue in literature--the kind of paper the author assigns after each work of literature in the program. It also has a lot of grammar instruction and exercises. I thought the first part of the writing guide, introducing the structure of the essay and thesis statements, was reasonably good, and it was helpful to ds. He did a number of the assigned papers, but I did not critique them too heavily--he struggled with writing so I was just glad he was willing to try, and was glad for whatever he could get down on paper. We also used IEW's Teaching Writing with Structure and Style that year (their main seminar, which I had finally broken down and purchased) and that helped ds as well--though its focus was different. I did not like the grammar instruction in the Smarr writing guide at all. Ds had done Abeka grammar from 4th grade through the end of their program, and it was excellent--Smarr's does not compare. So ds skipped all that--he was already great at grammar. Anyway, as we went on through Smarr's literature program, I became increasingly concerned over the author's grammar and usage in the literture lessons (and the writing lessons too). It just grated on me, and I found numerous instances of grammatical errors and things that were just plain poorly written. So.... I really lost confidence in the author's writing program--did not want my ds learning to write the way the author did, and I jumped ship about a third of the way in. From that point we focussed more on the IEW. Perhaps others saw it through and had a better experience, I don't know. I'd suggest going ahead and using Smarr's writing program--or parts of it, but keep an eye out for what it's teaching your dc. Look more at some of his advice that's specific about writing about a rhetorical issue, and organization, but then have some other better resources on hand for writing instruction to use as well. The Lively Art of Writing (which I used later with dd--who did not do Smarr) is a very good and inexpensive resource for argumentative essays--one idea would be to use that and apply the lessons to the Smarr literature at hand (instead of having to write about the topics the book suggests--which we found hard to relate to.) If you're looking for your writing program to cover more than argumentative essays, then you'll definitely need to find other resources for the types of writing you want to cover. Hope this helps!

Apologia Physics is definitely algebra-based (not just conceptual) and it requires some basic trig. If your dd has had Algebra 2 though, she should be fine as far as the math goes. That's the level of math the Apologia folks expect students to have had when they begin physics. The trigonometry necessary is very basic and easy to learn/look up on the side (that's what my dc did.) Hopefully the co-op teacher will cover it also--you might ask to be sure. (ETA--also ask if the teacher will cover significant figures. This is another concept that will be needed. Apologia teaches it at the beginning of Chem; I don't remember offhand if they cover it again in the physics book.) Also, since it sounds like your dd has done well with Physical Science, she will likely do fine with the concepts as well. Really, the traditional sequence is just math driven, so since your dd has the math, I don't see any reason not to go ahead with the physics next year. Physics is good to have had in high school, and taking it now would keep her options more open later.

After my ds's experience, I don't think it's a good idea to do both AP Physics B and AP Physics C in high school, especially if you are not going to use the AP credit from Physics C for college. The problem is that the topics are the same in both courses (and will probably be even more so once B splits into two courses like C.) The only difference is in the math used, and it's not huge. My ds did the equivalent of Physics B in 11th grade using Apologia, and loved it. He enjoys physics and he aced the SAT II. So naturally I thought AP Physics C would be the next step, not for credit, but to show rigor and as good prep for college physics. So he did EPGY's AP Physics C Mechanics in his senior year... Well, he was bored to death and said it was all the same stuff he'd already learned, just with some calculus. And when he found out he'd have to take calc-based physics all over again in college if he went into engineering, he nearly cried. (I can still hear his voice: "HOW MANY TIMES do I have to take physics??!!!) So when he went to college, and the prospect of physics loomed, we strongly encouraged him to find out if there was a physics placement test could take. But as it turned out, he became a comp sci major instead, so a repeat of physics became a non-issue. For his required lab course, he instead took Experimental Physics, which he enjoyed immensely. Anyway, all of that to say, I would suggest picking either B or C for high school, depending on the child's math level. Then if your dc is going to go on with physics, I'd suggest following it with university level calc-based physics, either waiting until after the dc is actually in college and taking it then, or via dual enrollment if he is still in high school--but make sure it's a course where the credit will count. That way even though the topics are the same, the adjustment to university level will be the new part, the rigor and credit will be there and your dc will not get burned out having to do essentially the same course 3 times. You don't want to kill their love of physics. Hope this makes sense! ETA: Just looked back at the original post and wanted to add that I think it's a great idea to do the AP Biology. Both my dc did biology in 8th grade, so I had them do an advanced biology in high school (ds did MIT OCW, dd did Thinkwell), for the same reasons you mention. Looking back, I think it was a good decision--both for their transcripts and educationally as well.

Apologia Adv Chem is designed to be done after Chem is completed, so you don't really need to integrate them--just do them back to back. My ds did Apologia Physics and Adv Physics in one year, one after the other, and it worked out well. He essentially did a module per week. Also, the first modules in the Adv books are pretty much review, so if you've just finished the first book, those go very quickly. (Ds also did both Apologia Chem and Adv Chem, but with a year's gap inbetween them, so the review at the beginning of Adv Chem was very useful in that case.)