could you please give me your thoughts on our schedule for next year ..new to hs!!

[mcilvoy6]

I'm trying to get next year figured out and thought I'd run this by all the veterans!

 

Is it too much? Am I missing something? How often would you schedule each?

 

This is what I have so far for my 9th grader:

 

Math--LOF

 

English--CLE

 

Writing--?? I really want to put a heavy focus on it next year...any suggestions?

 

Bible Study--Queen , or maybe summit..with daily devotion

 

Spanish-Rosetta Stone

 

Keyboarding- is this all year or 1 semester?

 

Logic-The Fallacy Detective ( 1 lesson a week?)

 

Science-Apologia Biology @ CO OP

 

World Geography @ CO OP

 

Yearbook or Art @ CO OP

 

Nutrition @ CO OP

 

PE

 

wants to take piano

 

Whew! I'm exhausted just looking at it! How would you fit this all in or what would you combine or take away?

 

I really appreciate you taking the time to look over this with me! Any ideas or suggestions are welcome!

 

Blessings,

 

Michelle

[Brindee]

I'm leaning toward getting MFW Ancient for my dd for 9th next year. That will cover Bible, History and English.

 

I read on their site that Fallacy Detective AND the Thinking Toolbox can count on a transcript as a 1 semester credit, or .5 on the quarter system. On the transcript you would call it (both books) Intro. to Logic.

 

For Writing--We used some of Write Shop this year. Since it looks like we'll be going with MFW, where writing is part of the curriculum, I won't do that again next year.

 

From what I've heard Keyboarding would be a 1 semester credit.

 

It looks like you are on the higher side for credits. Are the Co-op classes all year? Credits depend on how many hours are put into it. WA State requires 150 hours per credit hour. We usually get closer to 180 hours in. You may need to pick and choose some so the load isn't too heavy.

 

I'm sure others will have more detailed answers..... :D

[FloridaLisa]

Michelle,

 

That looks like a solid schedule. Good job! :001_smile: I would schedule keyboarding for one semester and logic for the second. She should easily be able to complete FD in one semester at about 20 minutes per day. And that's likely true of the keyboarding course as well.

 

HTH,

Lisa

[Harriet Vane]

I love LOF and use it with my dd. However, I would consider LOF to be a great supplement to a different, core math program. Consider using a meatier math program as your core.

 

I also notice that you have World Geography but no history. I suggest you have history as well, especially if you want your program to be college-prep.

[Brindee]

 

I love LOF and use it with my dd. However, I would consider LOF to be a great supplement to a different, core math program. Consider using a meatier math program as your core.

I'd look up info., and e-mail Stan (the author of LoF). From what I gather from what he has said, and from what some others that have researched it have said, it IS a full curriculum. Since it's presented differently, in story form, people often consider it a supplement. But others consider it a full program. I'm not sure you need a "meatier" program, as it's been said LoF is a stand alone, and includes all the concepts other programs have. But check it out and see for yourself and your child, that's what's important!

[Karenciavo]

Hi Michele,

Welcome :001_smile: I don't think it's too much. Are you doing World Geography in lieu of some kind of history? Is it enough work to be considered a full credit course? What level Life of Fred will she be completing? As an aside: has anyone heard what the credit worthiness is of LOF? I'd like to know myself. The Fallacy Detective is definitely a once a week course if you simply follow the text. You could lump it in with whatever writing you choose and have her identify fallacies in newspapers, magazines, and/or online sources and perhaps write why what she identified is a fallacy, what type, etc. At the high school level I actually like The Art of Argument better because it includes some essay writing, defining of terms, and comprehension questions. There are samples on the site linked above. The Lively Art of Writing is a nice little book that goes through the steps of writing an essay, very easy to do in less than a semester and gives a good foundation. I also like The Lost Tools of Writing, but that is pretty teacher intensive.

[Teachin'Mine]

It looks good to me too. :)

 

Honestly, just giving this a bump to separate it from the duplicate thread. ;)

[Brindee]

What level Life of Fred will she be completing? As an aside: has anyone heard what the credit worthiness is of LOF? I'd like to know myself.

There have been threads on here about this, that's where I read that someone (who is better in maths than me!) did some research, and LoF came out as well as others. It's just set up differently, so people think it's a supplement.

 

So, somewhere in the recesses of math threads there are lots of comments on it, they just need to be found! :001_smile:

[ChemMommy]

Is your child planning on college? What kind of major or college program are you considering?

 

We are pretty hardcore, college prep people, so from my perspective, your courses seem a bit light. But, keep in mind that my oldest is definitely college track.

 

LOF is probably too light. I like the books, but assign my kids to read them and work the problems for fun and enrichment in addition to a more traditional algebra program.

 

We've had trouble finding a good foreign language program. Rosetta Stone is fun, but it doesn't cover grammar very significantly.

 

Fallacy Detective is definitely a one-semester course, if that. It is easy to finish a lesson a day, so if you did the lesson on Monday and discussed in on Tuesday, you would still have a lot of time for keyboarding the rest of the week. My kids did 15 minutes with Typing Instructor a day and made nice progress over the course of the year. However, I never considered it a high school course--just a nice additional skill that kids need to know.

 

World Geography, depending on the text, is probably not a great replacement for 9th grade history. I would consider beefing this section up.

 

Nutrition sounds like a healthy living kind of class that take along with high school PE classes. Is this a true nutrition class where you discuss metabolism or an intro to good eating?

 

On your schedule, I'd estimate

 

Math (45 minutes a day)

 

 

CLE (haven't used it before, so can't estimate. I'll guess at an hour a day)

 

Writing (if this is a heavy focus, I'd guess an hour a day)

 

Bible Study (30 minutes a day)

 

Spanish (30 minutes a day--how much of that computer stuff can he take?)

 

Keyboarding (15 minutes a day)

 

Logic-The Fallacy Detective (1 hour per WEEK)

 

Science-Apologia Biology (45-60 per day)

 

World Geography (depend on text book. We used Runkle's but didn't do a lot of maps, so we spend less than 30 per day)

 

Yearbook or Art (30-60 a day)

 

Nutrition (assuming this is "healthy, I'd guess 20-30 a day)

 

PE (sports teams take more time 1-2 hours a day; working out in the gym would be more like 45-60 a day, playing around in the yard and biking might be 30 minutes)

 

wants to take piano (a beginner would MAYBE practice 30 minutes a day)

 

That's more like 7.5 hours a day, give or take a bit. I typical high schooler is in school for 6 hours a day and THEN does a sports team or practices piano or works on the year book.

 

Long post, I know, but here's what a wonderful someone told me about planning for high school: think about where you want to be at the end of high school and work backwards. Are your 9th grade plans adequate to meet your college freshman goals?

 

Good luck with your plans! And remember that I'm coming from a college prep kind of background.

 

You are SO much braver than I was--when I was planning out my first 9th grader, you could not have PAID me enough money to present my schedule for review to others. Hang in there! The basic high school stuff is there--now, you'll just be tweaking it!:grouphug:

[Karenciavo]

There have been threads on here about this, that's where I read that someone (who is better in maths than me!) did some research, and LoF came out as well as others. It's just set up differently, so people think it's a supplement.

 

So, somewhere in the recesses of math threads there are lots of comments on it, they just need to be found! :001_smile:

 

Thanks Brindee, I will look into it more.