My son has asked for letters of rec, and I have been asked to write them. What I suggest is that your son go ahead and ask the teacher if s/he would be willing to write him a recommendation in the fall. If the teacher says yes, then your son will forward the college link(s) or form(s) to the teacher when you determine what the schools require. Many schools provide a direct link for the teacher, so the student doesn't actually receive the letter. All the schools we have been involved with have their own form and/or questions, so I suggest that you not ask for a general letter of recommendation -- but wait so that the rec will be in the form that the colleges want. In the late summer/early fall, your son can provide the teacher with all the college info at one time -- so the teacher can take care of all the letters in one brief window. That was how we approached it. Congrats to your son! A wonderful accomplishment! :)

We listened to the Recorded Books version of The Iliad, narrated by George Guidall (because that was the only unabridged version available at our library). It's not as good as Ian McKellan's Odyssey -- but we liked it just fine. It's the Fitzgerald translation -- which IMO is second best to Fagles. :) I think audiobooks are a wonderful choice. Consider watching -- or showing excerpts from -- the movie Troy, too. While Troy is based on The Iliad, there are some MAJOR Hollywood changes. Watching excerpts was fun for us -- and really reinforced many aspects of the story (those that followed the book and those that didn't, that we then discussed). Enjoy!

I love the way Perrine's explains the elements of poetry. So I suggest looking at Perrine's Sound and Sense. You can find very cheap older editions of this book. It's been out forever. :)

In addition to considering the merits of the online provider, I would consider the needs and attitude of the student to determine a good fit. Some questions I would consider: Is the student willing to participating in online discussions? (Some may be too shy or lack interest.) Is the student comfortable posting his/her written work for peer feedback and discussion? Does a synchronous class (one that meets at a specific day/time) or an asynchronous class (no specific meeting time) work best for a student’s/family’s schedule? Does the student (and/or parent) prefer a live teaching component (audio or video) to a class, and if so, to what degree is student interaction with the teacher/class desired? While parents may find that after answering these questions, an online class is not optimal for their students – there is value in learning how to interact and learn in an online environment. Even seated classes in college have significant online components. Online education is only going to become more prevalent. So parents may want to consider the “practice†of at least one online class before students move out of high school. Good luck with your presentation! :)

I recommend The Lively Art of Writing. It is a small book that is an excellent resource for learning how to structure essays. :)

I agree! Wow! I never cease to be amazed by the generosity of those on this forum. It takes quite a bit of time to synthesize this kind of information! What a huge help this is LoriD!

We loved the Tapestry of Grace literature selections and pacing. There is far more to TOG than literature, but you can zoom in on just that part. It has activities and discussion questions that are directed to the student. It is fast paced -- lots of reading! So don't be deterred if it is too ambitious. Just eliminate a book or two . . . or three. :) Best of luck!

If you want to pay $8, you can call and get the scores on July 1st. Here is more info: AP scores by phone

My ds took the econ and English lit exams, and felt well prepared for them. Howard Richman's AP Economics course is so good. Both of my guys have taken his course and have learned a ton -- and had fun. My ds felt like the multiple choice and essays on econ were right in line with what he had been studying and practicing. As far as the AP Lit exam, my ds said he ran out of time and did not answer five of the multiple choice questions. ARGH! Since there is now no 1/4 point penalty, it was reeeally hard for me not to pounce! But there is nothing that can be done. When I asked him why he didn't just fill in random bubbles, he said the proctor had called time. Sigh. My honest Abe. :) The Q2 prose essay was the most challenging of the three essays. But it has been all along. We had selected Crime and Punishment as the last book of the year intentionally -- knowing that it would be a good book for almost any Q3 essay question. And sure enough -- a question about justice! Yaay! The waiting is tough. July seems so far off! I hope everyone else felt well prepared and successful.

MOre writing - More writing. More WRITING. :iagree: I have come to realize that much of the writing that I assigned over the high school years could have been more interesting and meaningful. My big "duh!" -- very late in the game -- has been that if I let my two write about what resonates for them (within the context of the course/book/issue at hand), and not worry so darn much about narrowing the scope based up on my own notions, they learn what they need to in the long run -- and they write far more interesting papers. I also think they need an audience. Writing papers for me -- as the sole audience -- becomes a task for a grade, draining so much from the student and the effort. So making sure that someone other than mom is going to read and talk about the ideas in a paper is another thing I would do differently. :)

We loved Fagles. Go for the originals, not a retelling. Reading while listening to an audiobook makes the two epics much more accessible to younger readers. The audiobook for The Odyssey that is narrated by Ian McKellen is fabulous. ;)

That's a problem I have with it too. I assigned it one year, and a couple of students were saddened that it revealed so much. The book is frequently assigned as summer reading before AP English Lit. ;)

My reasoning for recommending only The Odyssey was because the book list question was limited to four books. I just wouldn't want to dedicate 50% of Ancient reading to one writer. :) The Illiad and The Odyssey are very different tales, so it is definitely worthwhile to read both! But if the book list were limited to four, I would choose only one Homer.

If you are only choosing four, I would limit yourself to one Homer, not two. So: The Odyssey The Aeneid Oedipus Rex or Medea Epic of Gilgamesh :)

I would choose Oliver Twist for the first Dickens -- but Great Expectations is right up there with it. I would wait for A Tale of Two Cities until 10th-12th. It is a more challenging read, and quite different from Oliver Twist and GE. A Tale of Two Cities would be a great book to read when your history plans include the time period of the French Revolution. You can't go wrong with any Dickens! Enjoy!

The Lively Art of Writing. A concise, helpful little book.

I think the biggest shock for me was just how long it took to write course descriptions. Because my ds was applying to some real "reach" schools, we had decided ahead of time that we would include streamlined course descriptions (along with a one-page transcript). Boy, getting the content aligned so that the wording did not sound pieced together in a totally cut-and-paste fashion -- and then also getting the formatting the way we wanted -- took a LOT of time. One help -- that would have been a shock otherwise -- was having to submit a transcript for a summer program between 11th and 12th. That MADE me decide on a transcript format, and get the template established. Otherwise, the time spent on that would have been a real shocker at college app time also! :001_smile:

I am so glad your ds has the option to drop the class! That is excellent news! All instructors are NOT created equal -- and there are some doozies out there. Best of luck regrouping! Warmly, ~Brigid

If you find that your ds cannot drop the class with a "Withdraw/Passing" then you definitely want to consider the impact on his CC GPA if he were to withdraw and receive an automatic F. If he cannot withdraw, I would counsel him to use the instructor's office hours regularly, and try to develop a rapport with the guy. Our experience is that most instructors want to be helpful during their office hours. Even if your ds has not had much success in the past, I would encourage him to go talk to the instructor regularly. Your ds will need to go in with specific questions. If the instructor is not very helpful, I'd still suggest that your ds keep trying. At the very least, it will show the instructor that your ds is really trying to learn. Most instructors want to help students who want to learn. Some, however, are quite cynical, though -- believing students to be whiners and shirkers. So specific questions are a must. Best of luck to you. It is a tough life lesson -- and this will not be the only prof he'll have in his high school/college career that will be a challenge. Working with your ds to constructively navigate his way through this dilemma will be a great help to him down the road, when he has similar challenges -- but on his own (in college). Warmly, ~Brigid

I think it is great that you are sharing this good news! As our kiddos move into the high school years it gets tougher and tougher to truly "home" school. You are showing that it really is possible to home school and get the AP transcript credit that our kids deserve. Kudos! :)

You have to round one way or the other -- so just be consistent in your rounding from class to class, year to year. A 93-100 scale is rigorous enough. I vote round up! A 92.7 is a lot closer to a 93 than a 92. Give your student a deserved psychological boost! :-)

Well I called this the number you suggested and got the information! Wow. I guess it just depends on who you talk to. It was probably my fifth try. I did select the SAT-option on the phone, not the PSAT option. Once I talked to the SAT folks, they linked us right up. Good luck to others!

Well, I tried again to request access and was told that I must be misinformed. The individual at the College Board said that they do not have the capability to provide access to the PSAT scores/Quickstart. Sigh. I argued -- nicely -- that others were being given this access. I was told that this must be word-of-mouth misinformation. If anyone else has success with this, I would love to know. The scores where my ds took his test were distributed two days ago. It is hard to be patient. :rolleyes:

Thanks, Frances! It is so frustrating to have to beg for what we should be able to get without the trouble. The office is closed now. I'll try again in the morning. :001_smile:

I tried this twice today with no luck. How did you do it?