[Lost time in Latin: what's the best way to do this?]

Thanks!

 

Yes, the tutor is the option dd prefers. I'm just afraid that at some point she's going to crash and burn under the pressure, and then it will be too late to switch to a different class. There is a lot of ground to make up.

 

Any thoughts on how understanding colleges would be of a student going backwards to catch up? Or how different possibilities are reflected on a transcript?

 

 

Can you talk to Lukeion? They may allow her to give Lukeion 3 a go and if it's too much transfer into Lukeion Transitions.

 

Since these are outside courses, you may not have a say in how they're listed on the transcript. I'm not certain if you'll need to send transcripts from every highschool she's attended or not. Your best bet is probably to include course descriptions - what text was used and how far the class progressed. Although these should be 1/2 credit courses since they're only 1 semester. In which case, you can include on your transcript Latin Semester 2, Latin Semester 3, followed by Transitions or Latin Year 3.

 

Chances are the university will be more interested in her AP Latin score than in course labels.

[Lost time in Latin: what's the best way to do this?]

Dd14 is a freshman in our local public high school, where we have realized that academics are sorely lacking. She wants to return to homeschooling, which she quit in the middle of eighth grade because of various complications of family life.

 

In the fall of her 8th grade year she took Lukeion's Latin 1a and made a 97. Since then, in school, her Latin instruction has been progressively worse each semester. She has always made As. In theory, in her public school, she took Latin 2 this past fall and is now in Latin 3. In practice her class is still near the beginning of the Ecce Romani 2 book.

 

She would like to return to Lukeion, but has not covered anything approaching their expectations for Latin 3.

 

How can I get her back on track without this looking too bad on her transcript?

 

I feel so bad for her, because this is not her fault.

 

If I hired a tutor and she worked through a bit over a chapter a week of Wheelock between now and classes starting in fall, she could make up the lost time. She'd need to work hard and consistently, and it would be expensive, but I'm assuming I could eventually put this year on a transcript as Latin 2 and have her do Latin 3 with Lukeion.

 

Or I could persuade her to take their (Transitions?) year between Latin 2 and 3.

 

Or I could call this year Latin 1 (could I? When she's been enrolled in 1,2, and 3 already, and theoretically aced them all?) and put her in Lukeion's Latin 2 next year.

 

She is a motivated student and a perfectionist who has her eye on some very selective colleges. She wants to do well in AP Latin and have a transcript that does not cause problems. She is very resistant to going backwards, but horrified at the thought that she's been wasting time in classes that are not equipping her to do well.

 

What would you do?

 

It sounds as if your daughter is very motivated and willing to put in the time and effort to be ready for Lukeion in the fall. If so, I'd go with first option. Hire a tutor, put this year down and Latin 2, and have her do Latin 3 with Lukeion next year. She may need the tutor for a time in the fall to make certain she's fully caught up, so I'd budget for that as well.

 

My 2nd choice would be to put her in Lukeion's transitions year. Since she's between 2 and 3, it would solidify skills and not feel like she's completely lost a year.

 

Kids tend to be demotivated by going backwards, so I'd try to avoid that at all costs.

 

 

[If you use TOG - would these additions be too much?]

TOG English at the high school level is complete. You're given the literature and writing assignments for a full credit and more. I plan TOG first and then add extras.

 

TOG at the elementary level is less complete. There's no spelling, grammar, phonics, or handwriting instructions included. For my little ones, I plan their language arts FIRST and then add the TOG literature and writing assignments as desired.

 

The geography is mapwork. The idea is to hand your children an atlas and a map. They learn how to use the atlas to find the information to fill in the map. You can also learn about the fauna and flora of the area. It can be as full or light as you'd like.

 

To be perfectly honest, TOG is a buffet. You're meant to pick and choose the suggested activities and subjects your family will study this year. There's no reason you must do the geography work. I've found filling out the maps helps the kids visualize where events are happening and it's not added much to our school day. However you can also simply grab an atlas one day a week, look at the maps, and discuss where the events take place. It doesn't need to be a formal, 5-day a week subject.

 

Just remember, your homeschool... your rules. :)

[Do colleges ask for high school diploma?]

Do I need to prepare high school diploma for my senior DS? It never occurred me that he might need one, but today I was told I'd better have one for colleges. Any experiences? Is homemade diploma- you know, the kind you can buy online- sufficient? What is the point then?

 

We weren't under any kind of umbrella or organization, just fulfilling state requirement. Do I need to worried?

 

My oldest kid needed a diploma. The administration wanted a transcript, but financial aid needed a copy of his diploma. Go figure. :glare:  A homemade diploma was sufficient. :001_smile:

[RLTL or Phonics Pathways]

Phonics Pathways has been very successful in my family. We simply read through the pages and ignore all writing suggestions.

[Emergen-C for kids?]

There's a children's version. Can you use that?

[Once you've filled out the FAFSA, when do you hear from the college?]

In my limited experience, I needed to follow through with financial aid. In both cases there were additional papers beyond the FAFSA needed before the colleges' financial aid department would even process and offer aid. Once all the papers were submitted, my sons received notification within a few weeks.

 

My recommendation is to ask your son to call the financial aid office and find out what's going on.

[Do you do science AND history in the same day?]

I just switched to doing science and history in the same day for my littles, K and 1st grade. They're wiggly and short lessons work best (10 minutes). I also discovered to my delight that by the end of the week their retention and comprehension is much higher that when we were alternating longer lessons. It's a win-win for me. More engaged kiddos with better retention. :001_smile:

 

 

[Saxon Math 1-3 -- Have you completed it?]

I worked through Saxon 1-3 with my oldest 4 children and now am starting again with my 5th. It's a gentle program that the children enjoyed. My oldest two kids had a few issues moving into Saxon 54 because of the change from worksheet to textbook. We began with 1/2 lessons for a time before working up to full lessons. The next two children had no problems, probably because they expected and looked forward to using textbooks like their older siblings.

 

The teacher's manuals are scripted, but I never followed the script. Instead I'd glance over the lesson and teach it to my child using my own words.

 

[Latina Christiana 1 or First Form?]

Of the two, I'd go with First Form.

 

I'm using currently using it with my 8th grade and loving the system. The DVD lectures are informative and interesting. He tosses subtle jokes into the lectures that have all teens in the vicinity grinning. So far the vocabulary words have been words which relate easily to English derivatives. My son is doing well and I've been able to easily keep up myself.

 

More importantly, First Form hammers the basic Latin grammar you need to know. If you can finish the first 3 units (20 weeks), You'll have covered the entire 1st conjugation system and the 1st and 2nd noun declensions. Since you're working with a high school teen, you may even be able to move more quickly and finish the book. In that case you'll cover the 3rd, 4th, and 5th noun declensions as well as the 2nd verb conjugations.

 

First Form Latin is thorough without being overwhelming.

[Morning Time ... gone BAD!]

I've found it works best in my family if we schedule morning time during lunch and I keep it to the 'essential'. Their mouths and hands are busy while ears are ready to hear. Once lunch is over, I pull out art supplies to keeps hands busy. As far as subjects, I like to have a read aloud going, poetry memorization, and a looping subject. My high schooler is too busy for a long morning time while my 5yo has the attention span of a gnat. :lol:

[Curriculum Indecision, Teaching from Rest, and Large Families]

What are your priorities? No one has time for EVERYTHING. ;) In the early years I prioritize reading, language arts, and math. Then we combine for memory work, read aloud, history, science or nature study, art, and music. Geography is combined with history, and I liberally strew books all over the house. These can be puzzle books, art books, poetry, etc.

 

Also not everything needs to be done every day. You can alternate history and science, and save art for Fridays.

 

As far as my household, I've usually used the same curriculum for each child once I find something I like. I can change the way I teach it, change the kids' assignments, and make adjustments once I'm comfortable using it. I also don't like using a ton of different curricula. It's too much for me to keep track, so we use Tapestry of Grace. It combines all the kids and quite a few subjects into one lovely unit. :001_tt1:

 

School in my house has varied between everyone sitting at the table while I walked around helping kids to scheduling sit-down time with each school-age child. During this sit down time, we'd work through the skill subjects together while another child played with the baby, the rest were working independently. Later we'd come together for history, science, or art. Right now my homeschool is in a period of adjustment. Next year I'll be homeschooling two very independent older children and two very dependent young children. It should be interesting!

 

Oh and one last thought. The best curriculum is the one that gets used. There's no point in having the most rigorous curriculum created if it sits on your shelf gathering dust. ;) Find a good curriculum that helps you get the job done.

[How to teach reading to a three year old]

Personally I like Phonics Pathways and started most of my kids when they were 4. It begins by teaching short vowels, then adds consonants and easy blending. You can use it as a guide or simply work through it reading each page.

 

Another wonderful option is The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. It uses a similar approach and is very well written.

 

My library has both books, so it's worth checking to see if your library carries them as well. :001_smile:

[Curriculum for Large Families]

We use Tapestry of Grace as the backbone for our homeschool. I place each child according to their reading/maturity level. Sometimes the older kids have answered the accountability questions, written weekly essays on the assignments, or filled out notebooking pages. I've substituted books, adjusted assignments, and personalized it. But everyone is on the same page, studying similar material (or at least the same time period). We began Tapestry when my oldest son was starting 9th grade and just finished our 5th year using it. :001_smile:

[Struggling with depth vs. breadth. Advice, please!]

There's nothing magical about the 4 year rotation. Let your daughters enjoy their studies for several years. You can postpone the 4 year rotation until high school if needed. You're better off with girls who shriek, "We LOVE history!" than girls who only tolerate the subject.  :001_smile:

[Kindergarten plans!!]

My youngest will be kindergarten next year.

 

Saxon Math K or Liberty Math K

 

Saxon Phonics K + Phonics Pathways (I adore Phonics Pathways!)

 

Elemental Science Intro to Science or Exploring Nature (Nature Study) or both!

 

Tapestry of Grace Lower Grammar

 

 

[Do you usually use Saxon 8/7 or Alg 1/2 (or both)?]

They're roughly equal. Saxon 87 is similar in setup to the lower Saxon maths. It's also has more arithmetic, but still covers the algebra. Algebra 1/2 is setup like the upper Saxon math. It's slightly heavier on the algebra versus the arithmetic.

 

Many families do one or the other, but some use both.

[Home School Survey - Poll]

By the time you're dealing with high school, teenagers are well able to stay home and study while you run errands. It seems rather absurd to be required to stay home with my 18 year old senior while he studies.

 

Female over 18.

[What if we just give up on math altogether?]

 

 

The one issue holding me back from this decision is the when-the-going-gets-tough-the-tough-get-going ethic. Am I helping her or hurting her if I let her bail? 

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

Wendy

I doubt quitting algebra 2 now is going to hurt your daughter's work ethic. Dropping out of school would be a game-changer, but changing one class isn't. I do like the idea of switching to a business/consumer/financial math class for the remainder of high school though.

 

Best of luck to you both.

[Tapestry of Grace Lapbook Question]

I never did find the recommended card stock for the lapbooks when my 13yo and I were doing them together. Instead I taped 4 regular sized pieces together in a row. Here's a post with a couple pictures of my process: http://classicallyhomeschooling.com/upper-grammar-tapestry-grace/ 

 

HTH!

[How many old-timers are still around the TWTM Board?]

I still drop by from time to time. Let's see, started on the old board sometime in 2001 when my oldest was in preschool. Now he's in college and my youngest is a preschooler!  I think I'll be sticking around for quite a few more years. :smilielol5:

[Large family dish drainer (no dishwasher)]

I use a regular dish drainer but cleaning the kitchen is considered a two person job. One washes, one drys and puts away the dishes. After the dishes are washed, the dish drainer is put away in the cabinet.

[Saxon Math]

Which edition? The older editions (1st -3rd, I think) integrate geometry. If you're using an older edition the progression is algebra 1, algebra 2, then advanced math.

 

The new edition separates geometry, so the sequence is algebra, geometry, and algebra 2.

[Writing assignments in SL and TOG]

Thanks, coffeegal!  I appreciate hearing how you adjusted the levels up and down to have the kids doing the same types of writing or covering poetry at the same time.  Do you recommend going through IEW for at least one year before tackling TOG writing? I found the seminar helpful for teaching my kids writing, but we never actually finished a year of IEW. TOG or TWTM approach of letting the kids write a short paper on a favorite history topic of the week has worked best for my family.

 

I spent at least 3 hours Sunday reading your blog, lol.  Loved it! :)  It is very informative, and I appreciate having wisdom from a seasoned homeschooling mom!

 

Thank you! You just made my day. :laugh:

 

Kathy

 

[Writing assignments in SL and TOG]

Thank you for all the details, coffeegal!  It's helpful to know the first quarter of every year and level is spent in review.  Do you think coming in at say Unit 3 of a year plan would make the writing difficult to jump into?  My kids are 5th and 2nd grades.

 

It's doable. Part of it depends upon your comfort level and how strong of writers your children are. For instance you could simply place your kids into levels 2 and 4. The first couple weeks are spent in some basic skills, then the rest of the quarter is spent creating a newspaper together. Both children would be doing similar assignments.

 

In looking at the samples, it seems like the writing assignments aren't completely open-and-go, since Writing Aids is a generic tool.  However, it looks like Writing Aids is thorough.  Do you find that with time, the writing assignments have become more open-and-go for you?  

 

Yes, I'm able to hand many assignments to my high school kids and let them write. Younger kids need much more handholding. I've also found that as my confidence in teaching writing increases, I need less handholding. :001_smile:

 

Do you generally teach the lesson with your kids first, or do they use Writing Aids independently?  I work with my children hands-on until they're confident at writing. We'll work through Writing Aids together, or I'll simply explain the lesson.

 

How long does it take to teach the lesson? Not long? I touch base with my high school kids on Monday, check on Wednesday, and expect the assignment on Friday. My youngest children aren't writing beyond penmanship yet, and my 7th grader and I can work through his material in 30-45 minutes a day. That means we run through math and Latin together, and touch base on his other subjects as needed.

 

Can you please walk me through how you handle a typical writing assignment with your kids?  Do you have certain days you work on writing assignments each week?  What do you use for grammar?  Do you use their EG recommendation?

 

I sit down and explain my expectations on Monday. Usually note-taking is done while they're reading through history. We're discussing on Wednesday this year and an outline should be completed. Thursdays they write from the outline. (These are 7th - 12th graders). I would expect 2nd and 5th graders to need more hands

 

Do you feel the explanations in Writing Aids are sufficient and clear?

 

They're okay. I prefer the how IEW teaches structure, but I love the assignments in TOG. After 14+ years, I tend to simply teach and only reach for Writing Aids or IEW if I need more guidance (proper notation for plays as an example)

 

Do you do most/all of the writing assignments? It's changed per child and year. My oldest did every writing assignment and loves writing.  I was thrilled with his writing as he completed high school. Writing worked the best the year I adjusted the levels each quarter so the children were completing similar assignments. We were all doing poetry, or play-writing, or newspapers, etc.

 

Is poetry covered every year?  Is it covered in the lower levels as well, or just high school? It's covered at levels 3, 6, 8, and 10. The levels are timed so all 4 levels are covering poetry at the same time. I've jumped or dropped levels at time to keep as many kids doing the same assignment as I could in previous years. It worked very well. I might still work with each child one-on-one, but we were covering the same information. ;)

 

Thanks!

Kathy