We're moving into a new home this weekend, and it has a front porch of pressure treated lumber. I'd like to paint it, but I was wondering if anyone has done that and can give any advice. Thanks in advance! Debbie

17 year old 11th grade son Hits: -Computer Networking Academy at the Career Center -Apologia Physics -Life of Fred Trig Miss -Chalkdust Precalculus 15 year old 10th grade daughter Hits: -Teaching Textbooks Geometry -Putting her in a co-op for several classes so we don't spend all day arguing every day -Supplementing a one semester Shakespeare course with Netflix on demand performances Miss -Apologia Chemistry (I think she'd dislike Chemistry no matter what the text, however!)

He was an integral part of my son's SAT prep this spring!

high school English courses are generally expected to focus on composition and literature. The beauty of homeschooling, of course, is that you know where your student is in terms of the basic English skills, and where you want them to be, and can tailor the course accordingly.

Fortunately, my husband loves science, so I handed that subject over to him when they were still in elementary school. He's done a wonderful job -- they both have a love for science that I could not possibly have instilled in them! Funny memory: When my son was jr. high age, he liked his Apologia book (physical science, maybe?) so well that he would read it to me and then ask me the questions in the text. I literally fell asleep on the couch during this torture and didn't wake up until he asked me, "Mom, are you thinking or sleeping?" Blessings, Debbie

I'm sure you will get far deeper and more meaningful answers from others on this board, but since I'm first to respond, I'll give you a couple of quick-n-easy answers. First, as mine have grown older (currently 10th and 11th grades & homeschooled all the way through, more or less) I've given them increasing amounts of freedom and responsibility in school, just as I have in life. In the early years, I made school schedules with times on them... Math at 10; English at 10:30, etc. Now, their work is scheduled by day or week, depending on the subject and the student. They also some of the correction on their own work. Secondly, I've outsourced some of their classes. I did not want them to face a teacher other than mom for the first time when they arrive at college. So, starting in high school, they've had a few online classes, and this year my 10th grader is taking most of her courses with a homeschool co-op (partly due to teen girl/mom struggles) and my 11th grader is taking half his course work at a local career center. Blessings, Debbie

Level One of PTIW was an excellent tool for helping my clueless-in-writing son improve. Info is at http://www.barrettsbookshelf.com/ Following that we took that paragraph course at Home2Teach.com which cemented and advanced his skills even more. It's wonderful that you're willing to do this for someone!

My son, who is finishing 11th grade, loved science in his younger years. He's pretty smart at math, but doesn't like all the work! He took Apologia's General Science in 6th, Physical in 7th, Biology in 8th, Chemistry in 9th, and then we hit a bit of a snag. He wasn't really ready for physics in 10th, partly because he'd not had trig yet, which I was given to understand should be at least simultaneous if not prior to physics, but also I just thought he seemed a bit young for it. So, for 10th grade, we gave him some options -- I don't remember what they all were -- two of them were electronics or Apologia Anatomy & Physiology via the Potter's School, as neither of those were courses I could teach well. He chose the latter, and though it was a challenging course, he did quite well. (Actually, not bragging, but point of info regarding starting science a year early... he's gotten As in all of the above courses.) This year, he's taking physics at home -- my husband can teach that -- using Apologia, and doing great. Next year... ??? not sure yet, as it depends on some other choices. Options are some kind of electronics course, as he's probably going into some field related to computer hardware or networking, maybe something at the CC, maybe one of the Apologia advanced courses??? Really don't know yet. HTH Blessings, Debbie

Is there a... "ACT seems to be more common in Ohio, but having grown up in NoVA, I'm just more comfortable with SAT" option? Also, I've not seen any schools that I've looked at that have not accepted SAT.

Wondering how many others have 11th graders taking the plunge tomorrow. He took PSAT in 9th and 10th, but this is our first time with the SAT... gulp

In our house, VT was wonderful, and CD got dumped after a couple of months. Our high school schedule was too busy to spend 45 minutes to over an hour (!) watching the lecture, before even getting starting on the problem sets. I can certainly see the benefit of the written textbook for review, however, but we were generally able to make do with the lesson summaries in the student book, with occasionally rewatching a video if something hadn't sunk in well enough. Blessings, Debbie

Not really a question... just some comments on where we are now and various curricula we've used other years in case anyone is interested! My 11th grade son's math history: Elementary school... First Miquon, then MUS and Singapore. I felt it was a good preparation for more advanced math (for him, not ME!) 7th grade - NEM 1: a nightmare for this math-incompetent Mom 8th and 9th grade: VT Algebra: loved it; great program and would have been better had I been more diligent about adding more review 10th grade - VT Geometry. I only had the first three modules. D was out, but I would have had to buy them new, and I don't like those prices. E and F weren't out yet. So partly because of that, and partly because I wimped out of grading all those proofs... when he finished Module C, we completed Geometry with ALEKS, and figured we were done with VT. (In hindsight, I think that was a mistake.) 11th grade: Started CD precalculus. One of the top curriculum mistakes I've ever made. Horrible textbook, overly long lectures, so many problems my head spun just trying to figure out what to assign. After a couple of months, we jumped to LOF Trig. That's been okay, but my husband has to help bridge the gap between the explanations in the text and the actual working out of all the problems. So, I've been completely baffled about what to do next year. LOF has calculus, but it clearly doesn't have adequate instruction for this student. I also wasn't certain if 'trig' was sufficient as a precalculus course for a student to head into calculus. I thought about community college classes, and we still may do that if he doesn't continue in another very challenging and time consuming program he's currently taking at a career center. Then, I saw mention of MUS Calculus on a thread recently, and thought I'd look into that. They don't have a placement test, but looking at the scope and sequence, most of it my son has seen in LOF, so it at least gives me an option to think about. So, that's my loooong story. My daughter's is even weirder and worse, but I won't subject anyone to that! ; )

I meant to add the school's website instead of only the town's website... here it is! PS: Thanks, Valerie!

My husband, who has a masters degree from MIT, says that the high reputation schools help open some doors initially, but after that progression in one's career is a matter of merit. Neither of us think it's worth either the horrific tuition costs or the stress of turning our kids' last few years with us into such a grueling race. We're looking at lesser known schools with lower tuition, smaller class sizes, and a focus on learning instead of on reputation. Also, I'm hoping that merit scholarships will flow more freely if our kids are in the higher tiers academically at the school.

Okay, first college visit ever (I didn't even do them back in the day for myself since I knew where I was going already) so don't expect much! But I've enjoyed reading others, so I figured I should give back! Baldwin Wallace is in Berea, Ohio, just outside of Cleveland. It's on the west side of Cleveland and we're on the east side, so I'd never been there before. 'Downtown' Berea had a surprisingly small town feel. It has some nice park areas close to the college. Here's the city's website. We didn't go to the information session, only the tour, but it was pretty informative. The campus is has two areas (because Baldwin and Wallace used to be two separate schools) but it was easy enough to walk the entire length, though when we arrived at the north end they picked us up in a shuttle and drove us back, going through the town and parkland, too. Things I liked, assuming the tour guide (a freshman marketing major) knew what she was talking about: -It's a small school, and seems like a pleasant environment. -The classes are small, even the general ones that all the freshman have to take, so that her professors all know her name. -Students don't find themselves in the conundrum of needing classes to graduate, and not being able to fit in. She says they'll write you in, if necessary, and that four years is the expected and normal graduation term. -The professors are teachers, not researchers. There are a few who do research, but it's on their own time; they are there for the students. -Single sex dorm floors are available. Didn't like: well, the whole environmental and diversity stuff is there, but one assumes that's in almost all colleges these days. (NO flames, please, just my first amendment allowed opinion.) We chose BW as our first visit because it's close enough for my son to live at home, and because they have a computer major that's more hardware/networking than software engineering. That's all I can think of. We'll probably also visit the University of Akron soon. It's about the same distance away (in the other direction) and will allow us to compare a small/small town private college to a large, urban public university.

There are kids.... and then there kids, kwim? And I've got one of each! My son: reasonably compliant, a stubborn streak at times, but well-applied discipline in his early years convinced him that we were the authority in the home, not him. He's generally polite, respectful, a hard worker, etc. If my daughter were like him... I'd be one of those superior mothering types and would still think that all children need is proper parenting and effective discipline, and of course, the corollary to that is that a rebellious and difficult child really just isn't being parented properly. Boy, have I EVER been humbled. Hopefully, I will never again judge a person's parenting skills by the behavior of their child. PS: I LOVE MY DAUGHTER. She is a brilliant, talented, delightful human being (with some issues.)

As usual, I was more brief than clear, but the OP referred to students not being required to sight statements of faith, and another poster said in some 'Christian' colleges, the PROFESSORS don't even have to do so. This thread was about far more than the above quote, in my mind.

This was very informative (eye-opening, to say the least! :scared: ) and helpful. My two are 10th and 11th this year, and these are criteria important for me in judging a college, at least one that dares to claim the name of Christ.

She specifically mentioned incorporating Christianity into it... I should have thought to have mentioned that. I'll check out what's been mentioned already and pass them on to her... Thanks!

Hi, I'm asking for ideas on behalf of a friend of mine. My kids are 10th and 11th grade, and not only do I barely remember what I did for 3rd grade, I'm sure lots of new and interesting curricula have come out since then! My friend is wanting to start homeschooling her daughter next year in 3rd grade, but is really nervous. She's not interested in classical, but is looking for something that will have a lot they can do together, with fun, hands-on, type activities. I always lean toward combining history/literature, and her daughter loves to be read to, so I thought I'd ask for suggestions here. Recommendations in any other subjects that are fun and interactive are also very welcome, as are programs (especially typing) that are computer based with games, etc. Thanks so much in advance! Debbie

My son is a junior this year, and taking a fantastic, but very time consuming computer networking course at the local career center. It counts for 3.5 credits, and goes from 7:45 to 10:45 every morning (plus travel time.) It also can give a pretty heavy homework load at at times. When I was planning ahead for this year, I was stuck with a similar question: How to fit it all in? Computer Networking Academy (3.5 credits) British Lit (1) Trig/Precalc (1) Physics (1) Health (.5) That's 7 credits, which, if you're not tweaking schedules with block scheduling, is a very healthy load! I also knew that, even going pretty easy on him in terms of British Lit and health/PE requirements, it's a demanding schedule. So, since most college seem to only require 3 years of social studies type classes... I dropped it completely. Frankly, I'm not sure WHAT I'm going to do next year if he continues with year two of the program, though. Maybe have him take some kind of science over the summer so he can leave that out next year??? Best of luck to you! I know it can be tough for a lit/history loving mom to figure out how to educate these math/sciency kids! Debbie

Sometimes I try it when people post questions like this, because Algebra is as much of a bugaboo of my homeschool life as it was when I was in high school... But I got it right! :party: Debbie

That's basically what we did (although we wandered through ALEKS and Chalkdust on the way.) LOF would be considerably better for us if the solutions were worked out in detail for every problem instead of just having the answers given. I'm using it for Trig, and had hoped to use it next year for Calculus, but now I don't know WHAT to do next year.

I would definitely agree that you should not expect a student to solve proofs the exact way as in the solutions manual. I checked (most of) my son's proofs to make sure they made sense, and periodically assigned him to read through the solutions manual proofs to make sure he understood their way of doing it, too.

Just some comments which may or may not be helpful to anyone. My now 11th grade son did Videotext Algebra in 8th-9th grades. We started VT Geometry in 10th. I'd bought Modules A-C used, and when he finished those -- probably about a year ago -- only Module D had been completed and was available. For a bunch of reasons, none of which seem very compelling from this perspective, we stopped VT after Module C and finished Geometry using ALEKS. (That worked fine.) After hearing so much about Chalkdust, I decided to use it this year for Precalculus... BUST! Horrible text, unbelievably long lectures, and impossible for this Mom to figure out which tiny fraction of the gazillion problems to choose. Went to Life of Fred Trigonometry. We like the text, but most of the time, the answers are given, but not the worked-out solutions. Fortunately, my husband can help him figure it all out. It won't take the whole year, though, so he's stopped it for a couple of months to do SAT math prep with Khan Academy. I just don't know how to put it all on a transcript, or what to do for math next year.... Ok, I'm done.