Yes, I don't want to overwhelm or set him up for failure. I also want him to really learn the material well so he will be adequately prepared for the program he enters. I thought it would be best for him to take courses related to his major at college so I was trying to help him get core classes out of the way. I have a little room to shuffle some credits around while still being totally truthful, so I'll play with it a bit, plan some summer stuff (still have 2 summers to work with) and beef up his science sequence. I can easily do Econ and Gov at home this summer and give him room for science DE. Health, as well, as it's just pieced together. I could try to have him do big precal and cal at home in 3 semesters, freeing up some room senior year. Or even start precal this summer giving us 4 semesters to get through calculus before senior year. A programming course sounds good. We could do that next summer. Would 2 DE chems be as good as 2 DE physics? I am just blown away at what it takes to get into school nowadays. My transcript was a joke other than 2 AP classes, and I got a full ride to utd. Dh has a BSEE and an MBA from utd, and I graduated summa cum lauded in business. We were both totally unconcerned about his coursework until I started reading over at college confidential and sensed something was off. Will have a good talk with dh this weekend. 20 years can change a lot!

I'm planning to keep the 2 Athletics credits because he is playing JV/Varsity Bball against JV/Varsity teams from reputable private schools in our area, and those players are getting credit. 2 players from ds' program are going to play college ball at div 1 schools. A girl from a similar program in our area played 4 years at uconn and is now in the WNBA. A boy from a similar program just led his team to win the NCAA championship and signed up for the NBA draft. So it is a truly competitive program, not rec. Kind of how some of the courses we outsource are real credits even though they are not taken at a school, kwim?

Thank you! I really appreciate the info and advice. I'll have to have some talks with dh and ds. If he's serious about engineering, we'll need to reconfigure things a little.

Can he take cal based physics concurrently with calculus?

Wapiti, your info was super helpful. Thanks!!!

9th was light. Everything was new to me and we had misstarts in a few subjects, which is why we did Classical Conversations this year. We both learned a lot this year. I looked at the college websites and assumed that as long as we hit those markers we'd be fine for admission. It wasn't until I started reading the College Confidential website that I found out we may not have done enough. So this confirms what I suspected - we haven't done enough. I'm going to work on a new plan... We do have an inexpensive community college that has transfer agreements with state schools. We've had several homeschool friends get into UTD that way and they said it was so easy to get in. That's our backup plan. I'd be disappointed if my poor planning left him without options, though.

This makes sense. Thanks! We have planned to do a ton of reading in economics and finance this year just because he is interested in it. I might find a way to turn that into an elective. I had a successful ecommerce business before the 4th child came along, and he was interested in trying it. So I could teach him that as a 2nd academic elective. Would those help? I could also look for a computer science course for him. I think he'd like that.

Yes, we do need to do SAT this fall. Thanks for the reminder! The materials I bought are for PSAT and SAT. I did make sure he met the minimum for college admission, but I wasn't sure to how to guage whether or not he'd be competitive for admission. How do I find out the stats for the specific schools within the college?

You're right. He's doing Physics next year with Saxon through Classical Conversations. I just edited to add that. What would constitute an academic elective?

DD wanted to do more dual enrollment so I made her plans a little different. Our community college is cheap and seems to be well respected. They have agreements with several state schools like UTD. She's only entering 8th grade, but I wanted to plan better than I did for ds. She's considering a premed major. 9th English 1 - at home, New Oxford Guide to Writing w/literature and essays as assigned Geometry - Foersters Geometry Biology - Apologia through class with local physics professor World History - Great Courses World History, Great Courses American History, with writing assignments Spanish 1301 - community college Spanish 1302 - community college 10th English 2 - at home, Shakespeare and Poetry Algebra 2 - Foersters Algebra 2 w/trig Honors Chemistry - thinking about The Potter's School Fine Arts - not sure... Engl 1301 - community college Hist 1301 - community college 11th Pre Calculus - Foersters Precal w/trig Honors Physics - The Potter's School Engl 1302 - community college Gov 1301 - community college Would like her to volunteer or work in health field part-time for 1 credit 12th AP Calculus - The Potter's School AP Biology - The Potter's School Econ 1301 - community college Speech - community college Again, would like her to volunteer or work in health field for 1 credit She's planning to play either competitive homeschool soccer or club soccer for 4 years. I'll give 2 credits for that. The DE classes count as 1 credit each. So 25 credits total. She's an A student, and I'm going to start the PSAT prep very early. She also wants to referee soccer as a job, and I'm sure she'll also volunteer somewhere for 50-100 hours. She likes being active and not just staying home studying so that's why I didn't load up on classes for extra credits. She's a Scottish Rite patient and there's one local that accepts student volunteers so if she can volunteer there, that's where I'd assign the health co-op credits. How does this look?

I have 7 children ages 1 to 16 and have homeschooled the entire time. I have experience teaching the younger years, but preparing kids for college is new and I wondered if a few of you would be willing to take a look at our high school plans and see if this seems competitive enough for state schools like U of Texas, Texas A & M, Texas Tech, UTD (dh and I both graduated from UTD), etc. We can't afford elite schools and would be full pay so we've told the kids those are off the table. Ds is 16 and finishing up 10th. He is interested in either electrical engineering or something business related (economics/finance). 9th English 1 - WWS 2 Algebra 2 - Saxon Algebra 2 Biology - Apologia thru a local class taught by physics professor Fine Arts - Piano, Music Theory, Attendance at various performances We did some American history with Beautiful Feet this year, but I decided not to assign a credit for it. 10th (through Classical Conversations Challenge 3) English 2 - Shakespeare and Poetry through CC Geometry - Saxon Advanced Math Chemistry - Apologia, labs with CC American History - CC Western Civilization - going to combine philosophy and theology from CC for this credit Logic - CC (1/2 credit) Plans for future: 11th (through CC Challenge 4) English 3 - Ancient Lit through CC Pre Calculus - Foersters Precal Physics - Saxon through CC World History - CC Speech and Debate - CC Health - at home w/various courses such as gun safety, first aid, driver's ed, and reading assignments (1/2 credit) 12th Engl 1301 - community college Calculus - Foresters Calculus Chem 1411 - community college Gov 1301 - community college Econ 1301 - community college Spanish 1301 - community college Spanish 1302 - community college (Spanish at home didn't work out in 9th grade and Latin was a flop this year, so we've unfortunately put it off to the end. He's more than capable of learning it, though.) He'll also have 1/2 credit each year for competitive home school basketball. He's competed in regional and national tournaments each year, and he won regional awards both freshman and sophomore year. His team won the regional championship this year. Total credits = 24 Knowing him, I anticipate a GPA around 3.75, which is what he has now. He'll have 2 years work experience, which I've heard is a plus. I've told him to select a place to begin volunteering regularly with the goal of amassing 50-100 volunteer hours. 10th grade PSAT score was an 1150. We are going to work at least 2 hrs a day all summer to bring this up. The goal is 1350. Does this seem like enough to reach our goals? I've been researching this on my own and it seems to meet college admission guidelines, yet I see others doing quite a bit more.

My two oldest children are in the last couple of weeks of CC Challenge A and 3. We had done a few years of Foundations many years ago, but didn't have any prior experience at the challenge level, and we mostly fall under the category of relaxed homeschoolers. Overall, Challenge was good for both of my children. My oldest is very bright but has a laid back personality, so the positive peer pressure of the group setting was good for him. He is in 10th grade so should have been in Challenge 2, but only 1 and 3 were offered on our campus. He was already on schedule to do Saxon Advanced Math and Apologia Chemistry so I put him in Challenge 3. Last week, I asked him what he got out of the program, and he said he enjoyed the peer interaction, he learned to push himself to complete assignments in a prescribed format on a given timeline, and he learned to prepare for and lead group discussions. He didn't care for a few of the strands (Latin, philosophy and logic), but enjoyed other things (Shakespeare, poetry, Chemistry experiments) that may not have been as enjoyable if done at home. Before CC, most of his friends were from his basketball team, so he enjoyed getting to know new people who have varied interests. His tutor was very good about organizing social activities for the class. My 7th grader had a great experience in Challenge A. She is also very bright but also highly motivated and was a leader in her class. She wrote weekly science reports that strengthened her research and writing skills. She learned to draw different body systems from memory, did some dissections, and fell in love with biology. She now says she wants to be a premed major. The science portion of Challenge A was, IMO, more interesting and useful to her at this age than that simply reading a science text and doing experiments. I had not had experience with LTOW before and found it great for teaching thinking skills. Although the writing is highly formatted, I can see how it will lead to some excellent papers once she adds in her own style. She learned to draw the map of the world from memory, which is something my husband and I cannot do. She found that she LOVES Latin and wants to continue with it even when we're no longer doing CC. She has enjoyed learning about logical fallacies and sharing that info with our family. She has really benefited from the weekly presentations and class discussions and also from leading devotions, sharing math problems, etc. Both of my children had motivated classmates and excellent tutors. Their tutors were not experts in every subject but did a great job of preparing themselves to lead the class in projects and discussions. The students all worked at different levels, and that gave my children a chance to see where they were average and where they excelled. As a homeschool mom, I was exposed to new books and curricula that I might not have otherwise encountered. I learned new (and better) ways to teach my children in the logic and rhetoric stages. I have a clearer picture of my children's weaknesses and areas where they need improvement. For example, my oldest writes excellent papers but answering in class essay questions was a HUGE area of weakness that I might not have discovered otherwise. I had more time to focus on my five younger children and an entire day to spend with them while my older children were in class. I have ideas about things I will do with my younger children that I did not do with the oldest ones. Overall, I feel I'll be a better teacher. The downsides for us were that as a relaxed homeschooler I felt there was some work that amounted to busywork. I still had my children complete it but would not have assigned it at home. Both of my children are very active in sports that are fairly time consuming. My daughter really missed the free time she had as a relaxed homeschooler. She used to have hours per day to play with younger siblings, cook, sew, and do other projects like start businesses. We will finish up at the end of April, though, so she'll have summer to do those things, whereas we previously schooled year round. Both children are looking forward to another year of CC (Challenge 4 and Challenge B), and then we'll move on. My son will be a senior and plans to take dual enrollment courses at a local community college. The workload for Challenge 1 seems heavier than A and B, and my daughter would rather pursue other interests than increase time spent on schoolwork. Saxon math has not been a good fit for our children, so we're using something else next year. My dd used Saxon Algebra 1/2 this year, while most of the class was using 7/8. Using a different math program doesn't really affect the program. The students do not go over specific assignments in class. They discuss concepts and present problems to the class. It was good for my children to learn to demonstrate and explain concepts to their peers and they did learn from watching others. My 10 yo has expressed an interest in doing Challenge A when he's 12, so we'll probably let him do it if the tutor and class seem to be a good fit. I might also do a few years of challenge with the others, but who knows??? This year has been great, though!

He took the official PSAT at a local high school last October, and is taking the PSAT 9/10 at a testing center next Monday. I didn't know their was an officially graded test at Kahn. We have a book full of practice tests to work through, and then I'll do the official one at Kahn to see if he's making progress. Thanks for sharing that info!

Thank you all for the feedback! It has been helpful! My kids have been self-taught in math since they started reading independently, and it has always been one of their favorite subjects. I do not think my oldest has been working as diligently as he should so it is not totally a Saxon problem, but I know dd has been working very hard and is still not thriving. I think it's time to make a change, and I also need to take a more active role as teacher until they are on solid ground again. They are VERY reluctant to change texts, and I'm not sure why... I think it is because many of their friends use Saxon. I have done some additional research and printed some information for them to consider so hopefully we can reach agreement on this.

His PSAT math score was 580 at the beginning of his 10th grade year. We're hoping to improve it before 11th grade by studying over the summer. Yes, I'm talking about his homework scores. With so much of the practice problems being review, I would expect consistently high grades. I have been having him correct and re-do missed problems. I haven't been giving him tests, just basing his grades on the homework.

​Having some math trouble with my 7th and 10th graders and wondered if those of you with experience could help me think it through. We used A Beka in the elementary years, and I thought both my kids were mathy as they learned the material well and rarely had to be shown a new concept more than once. I did Stanford standardized testing with them before middle and high school to make sure there were no gaps, and they both scored above 95th percentile in both math procedures and problem solving. My oldest has taken the psat, and scored well in math, although we are trying to improve his scores to be more competitive for scholarships. The problem is their math grades are all over the place. My oldest might get in the 90's 2 days in a row, then in the 80's, then a couple of 70's then in the 90's again and then back in the 70's. My dd also seems to miss a lot of practice problems. I do have them correct their problems, but that hasn't helped with consistency. If they were just B students in math, that would be fine, but that is not consistent with what I saw in them previously, and they are both interested in STEM careers. I am concerned that they're not fully mastering the material. We switched to Saxon for middle and high school, and I *think* maybe that's the problem. It seems to switch topics frequently, not thoroughly practicing and building on new concepts before reviewing old material. When I learned math, I learned a new concept, practiced it a bunch, learned more about it, then reviewed old stuff. I wonder if something like this might be better for them. However, I'm open to other thoughts about what the problem might be... I have looked at AOPS since it seems highly recommended here and Ask Dr. Callahan. Oldest has finished Saxon Algebra, Algebra 2 and half of Advanced Math so I was thinking I could let him do AOPS Intermediate Algebra and Pre Calculus for 11th and 12th or Ask Dr. Callahan Pre Calculus and Calculus. My 7th grader is finishing up Saxon Pre Algebra, and I was thinking about using AOPS Pre Algebra or Jacobs Algebra. My main concern is giving them a really strong math foundation for STEM classes in college. Do you have any thoughts about curriculum or anything else that might help?

To me the difference is teaching your child how to dress/behave based on what you as a parent feel is right and good vs. teaching your child how to dress/behave based on what you feel is or isn't acceptable to white people. My husband has encountered racism while wearing jeans (not baggy ones ;) ) and while wearing suits. He's encountered racism while driving, while in grad school, and even while at work in a professional environment (and he doesn't even have locks or an afro). I sympathize with the OP in wanting to protect her children, but racism is simply a fact of life if you're a minority. It is based on skin color - not on whether or not you speak respectfully or wear hoodies. Sadly, I doubt there was much Trayvon could have done to protect himself. The problem was in the mind of his killer. That's part of what makes this story so heartbreaking.

I definitely don't need an education as to the challenges faced by people of color, lol. My husband and I have both experienced racism, as has just about every black person we know. I assume my children will eventually encounter racism, as well, even while exercising their rights within the confines of the law. I still won't teach them to behave as if they are "less than."

:iagree: As a black mom of 1 daughter and 3 (soon to be 4) sons, I am so glad to see you post this. I am not going to diminish my sons in their own eyes on the off chance they encounter a homicidal racist. My husband and I are law-abiding, U.S. citizens. We go where we want to go, wear what we want to wear, and do what we want to do within the confines of the law. We will teach our children to do the same. We will NOT teach them to "stay in their place." Trayvon did nothing wrong.

The aunt's comments are totally disgusting. Unbelievable! Ever since that 15 year old's "friends" set him on fire a little while ago, I have been wondering what is going on with kids. Why are they killing each other? It is sad... and scary.

:lol: We're a loud family, too. I once tried to act all quiet and talk like Michelle Duggar. My 8 yo said it made him feel sad that no one was laughing and yelling and being happy.

Well, it's not that I am afraid to ask - it is just more a matter of being practical and courteous, really. I think moms are so busy and overwhelmed nowadays that it is hard for them to remember what to bring or what not bring, or they may not even fully understand the risks we are facing. Also, with all of the allergies and intolerances out there, it is hard for people to find things that are safe for everyone. And there are those people who are clueless or just plain selfish. I have family members who think my son's allergy is all in his head. I once picked my son up from a visit at a friend's house (who knows all about the allergies), and saw that his mom had taken out a bowl of nuts and set them on the table because her son really wanted them. I've had a Sunday School teacher force my son to accept candy after he told her he could not eat it. He thankfully just politely told her he would bring it home for later. It said right on the package, "Made on equipment that contains peanuts." This would have surely sent him to the hospital. It is too stressful to continually rage against these attitudes. I have had to accept the facts of life, and realize this is our problem. We are over the top thankful when people help, but we don't expect it. We are very careful about who we leave our son alone with. Some people are off limits - including that friend I described, my aunt and my mother-in-law. My son knows the risk he faces, and my other children do, too and they watch out for him. We have let him know that if there is any question at all about the food - don't eat it, we'll get you something later. This is a fact of life for him, and nothing he feels sad about. We have talked about the fact that some kids have cheese allergies and cannot even eat pizza - THAT would be sad! ;) Really, this is preparing him for adult life anyway. One day he'll be away at college and then off in the workforce... He has to learn to live with it. I think it makes sense to have a balance of personal responsibility and courtesy on both sides of the issue. I also think it would be wonderful if we could stop serving food at every activity. :)

:iagree: My son is anaphylactic to peanuts (meaning death is a likely outcome), and will get sick if he even touches or smells them. When I go places where everybody is bringing food, I make sure I bring something that is safe for him. If we are caught off guard, then he has no problem waiting for a treat and knows that I will get him something later. His brother and sister will usually choose on their own not to eat in order to be supportive of him. I am always thankful when moms go out of their way to make things safe for my son, but I do not expect it, nor do I ask for it. It's my responsibility.

My motto is better safe than sorry.

:iagree: