Well, after reading all of the awesome posts in the thread this last sentence you wrote helped a bunch because I do want the kids to be prepared for the SAT II. I went to Barnes and bought a SATII Biology study guide and if the students are going to be prepared, we WILL have to cover Anatomy/Physiology and EVERYTHING ELSE! Gasp! But, I like your ideas of taking the animal chapters 2 at a time (2 by 2 haha). Angie-My dh is actually the teacher on this course and he really likes the PH Miller and Levine.:blushing: I sooooo appreciate your advice and warnings about the book. I know that you did not like the labs. Did you do the labs from the lab manual or the textbook? I think the book labs are pretty "lite" too but there is a huge lab manual (which I don't have yet) and I'm holding out hope it will be good. Looking at the book, dh thinks that the chapters on photosynthesis, cellular respiration, intro to genetics, dna/rna, all deserve two weeks, rather than one. This has been incredibly helpful everyone!!! Holly

an entire chapter in a week? Do you assign the questions within the chapter and at the end of the chapter as well? Thanks for telling me which chapters you skip and skim. That helps a lot. Holly

Good idea. I tried this a little this afternoon. Looked like several teachers eliminated the human body information at the end of the book. I intuitively feel like learning biology is all about the eventual understanding of your own body. So, it seems strange to leave it out, but I guess somethings gotta go. Holly

I'll look for those suggestions when I get the IG. I didn't want to get it until I had a good look at the text. Thanks! Holly

So, I take it that everyone does every chapter?:001_huh:

I am looking at an enormous Biology book for next year. Are there any "throwaway" chapters that we can eliminate ahead of time. I want to plan ahead because the end of the book is all human body and I want to cover that since the person teaching the course is a doc. I know he won't want to miss any of those chapters. But, what is "ok" to miss? (It all looks important to me.) Any BTDT advice? TIA Holly

Yes, I did understand what you meant. My daughter has spent the past 2 years working on an engineering project and so I suppose that (to quibble a bit) the advances are really due to the engineering world rather than trash collectors. But, I digress. Thanks for the fun discussion. Holly:D

"Sometimes I wonder who does more for my family's health--the doctor we see occasionally, or the men who come pick up our trash each week (so far I haven't seen a woman trash collector, although I'm sure there's at least one somewhere.)? I'm being serious, but not to make light of doctors and their training at all.. " :confused::confused::confused: I do not think it means that a trash collector isn't important when you say that a doctor is more important to your health than a trash collector. If you had a heart attack on trash day, who would be more important to your health? And just because you personally have not taken full advantage of all the skills that a doctor has, does not mean that they aren't important to you. They have done all the training and are ready to help you when you need them. You don't want to wait 13-15 years for them to complete their education when you finally need them, right? I know what you are trying to say. All people are valuable-intrinsically. I agree. I just take issue with your analogy. Holly

So in the same vein, All homeschoolers are above reproach Anything above approach must not be questioned Therefore all homeschoolers must not be questioned.

I was once in a position where I was a "advisor" to new homeschoolers. They called me on the phone and I would talk to them about our state's homeschool laws and then just generally talk them through various resources. I was there to answer questions both general and specific. It was a volunteer position. One day I got a call from a man who at first seemed reasonable to me. He wanted to talk about curriculum. Fine. Then he proceeded to tell me that he was going to work during the day while his son (2 or 3rd grade-can't remember) was at home. Then he'd homeschool him at night. I said, well you really can't do that. It is not legal to leave him home by himself all day. He was pretty disgruntled and then said, "Well can I leave him home if he does the school work during the day?" At first I was pretty calm about it and tried to explain how legally (and for good safety issues) he could not do it. The phone call went downhill from there. Later, I was on some homeschooling board and related the story. Responses were varied. But, I was attacked pretty fiercely for finally telling the guy that in HIS situation as he described it to ME, he had no business homeschooling. "How dare you act as judge and jury?" "What gives you the right to tell him he shouldn't homeschool?" etc.etc. What I got out of it was that there is a certain segment of the population at large (homeschool and other) that brooks no judgement over whether someone should homeschool or not. And heaven help any of us who voice that there probably should be some minimum standard-though I don't advocate a law for it. (Course its totally acceptable to judge the school system.) From the minimal amount of homeschool volunteering I did, I can tell you that you would be surprised at the wide variety of homeschoolers. Many in the ps see more of the families that "gave up" on homeschooling because it wasn't going well and therefore have a skewed view of how successful homeschooling can be. It would probably be interesting to see how college professors who have dealt with graduated hsers view homeschooling. They'd probably see a more balanced cross-section that a typical public school setting. Holly in N NV

I did this with SL Core 5, SOTW 1,2 and 3. It went well. Holly

Great idea! I love John Barry who wrote the music for Dances with Wolves (and many others). Holly

I'd also say that classical music is a pretty broad category. Are you playing diverse pieces? Gershwin is totally different than Bach. Brahms is totally different than Mozart. I have a music degree, but if you played Bach around me all the time I'd scream. Too-much-counterpoint-aaaah! For me, Bach is agitating-not calming. So, in case you don't listen to a variety of classical music, I'd suggest that you do. But, if you are already-KUDOS. I had to laugh at your post though. I am currently learning a Brahms violin sonata. My son has to listen to it while I practice-over-and-over-and-over again. Then he has to listen to it when I listen to a good recording of it. He is thoroughly sick of it and lets me know. (He's in second grade and good at complaining.) I just ignore him and play louder:nopity:. Holly

I really enjoy lots of different books but I HATED CoMB. (with a passion I might add) I have enjoyed reading Self-Reliance by Emerson this past week, so I doubt my problem is maturity. I just hated CoMB and found it impossibly dull. I quit reading it mid-read and I my dd never noticed. Sorry-not a fan of that book-at-all! Holly

I would also say that my education classes were unhelpful. My music education classes were much more helpful in a broad sense. They taught me how to isolate different skills and work skills separately. They also taught me to budget time for a goal accurately and carefully track time spent on separate goals. Music also taught me to think globally while thinking specifics (and vica versa) which is still something I have to work on. I'm kind of in a similar situation as you-do I go get a masters degree? I had to quit my goals so my dh could finish his education. I decided that what I really want (to become as accomplished a violinist as possible) is only going to be hampered by other classes and responsibilities I'd have with the Masters program. So, I'm studying violin and practicing a lot on my own (with a private teacher-but no degree). In your case, it makes sense to get the degree because of your goals. Holly

I am teaching Am Lit at a co-op. The books on our list include: Narrative and Life of Frederick Douglas The Trees Our Town Adventures of Huckleberry Finn F451 To Kill a Mockingbird Red Badge of Courage Essays: Civil Disobedience Self Reliance Short Stories (that I remember) The Yellow Wallpaper (a hit with my students) The Wife of My Youth Young Goodman Brown An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Gift of the Magi The Ransom of Red Chief (another hit) Celebrated Jumping Frog/Calaveras County May add a couple in this last category by more contemporary authors.

That site is very helpful. Since I am assigning Civil Disobedience next week, it is doubly helpful. Thanks so much! Holly

Capitalization-Why are some of the words capitalized? Is it to somehow "humanize" or "personalize" the words? I'm leading a discussion of this work tomorrow. Is there anything that is a "must-discuss" within this work. I was just planning on going line-by-line in a pretty straightforward way. Then I can give a writing assignment based on Self-Reliance (or not). Any suggestions on that? BTDT prompts that worked? These are pretty advanced writers. TIA!!! Holly in N NV

I'm wondering what subjects do you generally quit teaching formally in high school? Are there subjects that you covered so comprehensively in the earlier grades that you feel your child has mastered them by high school? Or are there skills that you just continue practicing, but don't set aside a time slot to formally go over them? Thanks for your feedback. Holly in N NV

I'd have her verbalize the outline for a couple days in a row BEFORE she commits her words to paper. Verbalizing the outline should help her eliminate the sentence fragments. It also allows you to praise strengths and suggest tiny improvements so that by the time she writes the paragraph, she has a better idea of what will work & what won't. HTH, Holly

tomorrow CNN will publish an article about "bad" parents who send their kids to college and then have no part in their college experience. These horrible parents don't look at the entrance essays and applications before they are sent in. Fiddlesticks. Moderation in everything is probably the key to most problems. Holly

Thanks everyone-for your good wishes and congratulations. Thanks Cynde-I printed out your travel suggestions. Mary Ann-This was our second year of competition. The girls learned a lot from their previous experience. They had received second place as 7th graders. At first they were really bummed to lose. However the team that took first place ended up taking second place in nationals. So, they had really strong competition as 7th graders. We just didn't know at the time. I'll let you all know how it goes! Holly

I've not posted on these forums much since they've changed. Our family has been pretty busy getting ready for an engineering contest called the Future Cities Contest. The regional competition in our areas was held last weekend and my dd and her friend won first place. They get an all-expenses trip to D.C. to compete in the national competition! Because I was the "teacher" I also get the free trip. Our engineer mentor is a homeschool dad and also gets a free trip. This is the second year the girls competed. Last year they won 2nd place. The competition includes an abstract, essay, computer model, 3d model, oral presentation and ability to answer questions on the spot. Proud to represent homeschoolers in D.C.! Holly PS-Our family has never been to D.C.-we'd love to hear about any "can't miss" monuments/museums etc.:D

Wow-with the new board, these messages move off the main page fast! Thanks for the link Jane. That's a helpful website. Thanks for the extra explanation Tina. You helped tighten up the definition of precis for me. Thanks guys! Holly

I've been reading about various writing structures that I've never taught. One type that intrigues me is the precis. As I was never taught it in school, I was wondering if a few of you more experienced folk could tell me more about it. In a nutshell, I understand that a precis is a75%-80% shrinkage of the original article/chapter and gives all the important information of the original. It leaves out all secondary information. What would be a good step-by-step approach to teaching the precis, assuming the students are already good writers, grades 8-12? What are the benefits to teaching the precis? What size article would you start with & what is the largest selection that you would write a precis from? What do students find the most challenging about the precis? What would be something students would do that would be "incorrect" in a precis? Thanks so much for any & all input! Holly