Curriculum for college prep??

[lmkzbcb]

What curriculum has been used by students who score very well on their ACTs and SATs?

My ds is starting high school this year, and I am teetering between a) on-line classes at TPC, Landry, or VP, b) institutional school and c) whether ds and I are up for the challenge. Whatever I do will have to be mostly hands off and self-driven education.

 

Before we make any decisions, I would like to see what other families who have students going to college have used to prepare them. Any info you can give would be appreciated. Even if your child hasn't taken the ACT or SAT, but has scored very well on some other standardized test while in highschool.

 

(BTW, we have 5 children and would like for them all to go to college, but scholarships and grants are a must for this to happen. I know 2 people who received scholarships strictly based on their ACT score and GPA. One was 50% and the other was full tuition, books, and housing. That is our goal.)

[Jane in NC]

Whatever I do will have to be mostly hands off and self-driven education.

 

 

 

Hmmm... I do know that many of the posters here on the WTM boards have had students who have scored very well on standardized tests (my son included). But I do not think any of them were engaged in an education that was hands off from the parent's perspective. Few students can do well in Mathematics on their own, for example. Students need a great deal of input on writing--discussion within the planning phase and critiques of their work in process.

 

Is your son an autodidact by nature? If so, he can probably do well with any curriculum or just shelves of real books.

[creekland]

Self-driven education works well if you have a self driven kid. My middle son is that kind of guy. He used TT for math (starting Alg 1 in 7th, Pre-Calc in 10th) and scored top 1% on the ACT all three times he's taken it (didn't do SAT - got top 2% on the PSAT). Note that I also sometimes bring home math things from our ps just to be certain he knows them, but he always has. I also supplemented Pre-Calc a little bit, but not on things that are on the ACT/SAT.

 

English-wise he reads and reads and reads - a wide variety. For actual lessons he did Lightning Lit's World (non-European) and loved it, but more for the culture than the actual English. White and Strunk's An Element of Style is a good short book of review. Wordly-Wise has been part of our homeschooling since we started (which for this son was 7th grade). He said it helped a lot, but he's self-driven and took learning these things seriously. He also did one year (9th grade) with weekly lessons from our neighbor who is a PhD English prof at a local LAC. We did Latin and Greek Roots for a couple of years in his 7th and 8th grade years. He maxed the ACT English this last time after having come within 2 points of doing so his previous times (all 99% if I recall correctly).

 

The one thing he doesn't do well is write quick essays. He can write a great term paper or a prize winning essay when given more time, but isn't good at doing it in the short time allowed for the SAT/ACT. Colleges tell me it won't matter - that often good writers need more time. This coming year he'll take a cc English Composition course (that uses a book he read years ago :confused:), but it will give him an easy A and a good LOR.

 

Then, at home, we do discuss what he's been learning and doing as it comes up. He still does almost 100% of his schooling himself (aside from grading), but talking it over with others helps IMO. Plus, it's interesting.

 

Sign them up for the SAT Question of the Day from 9th grade on (or earlier). It's free, and it's good daily review.

 

Take the PSAT their sophomore year so they can get used to the type of test when it's cheap and doesn't count.

 

Be sure they have adequate time to go through a Prep Book or two before the ACT or SAT (though we did the first one cold). Have them do practice tests to be certain their timing is down.

 

Self-driven will not work for everyone. Know your student.

[berries]

My daughter is going to college this fall and she got an academic scholarship based solely on her ACT score. Her scholarship covers about 50%. Combined with our state's lottery scholarship, about 75% of total costs are paid for.

 

Having said that, we followed TWTM for the most part for her. She is very self-motivated and the program isn't working as well with my son. We are going to be switching things up next year. I agree that you have to KNOW your student. One of the beauties of homeschooling is being able to tailor our studies to fit each individual student instead of one size fits most.

[Cedarmom]

I think WTM and classical education prepared my son very well for the SAT and college. Latin is terrific for word study and will help in vocab. Grammar study is important too. Logic helps train their minds to think through problems.

[Janice in NJ]

How has this year gone for your student?

What curriculum did he use?

How much interaction did you have with him?

How did you evaluate his progress? Did you check every day, every week, or monthly?

How did he do on his own? Poorly, Good, Great, Over-the-top?

 

You can learn a lot about a student during his 8th grade year. Kids do mature, but don't ignore the warning signs. If you choose a program and accountability structure for a 9th grader that requires the student to be entirely internally motivated, you should be sure that you have evidence from 8th grade to support your expectations. If you don't, I would caution you against being too hopeful.

 

Some kids are motivated. But some parents are just hopeful that their kid will become overly motivated if they apply a hands-off approach. Few kids are mature enough to work tirelessly for a vague goal that's four years away. (No offense intended. MINE are not entirely internally motivated, so I'm not slinging accusations here. I'm in the loop with my kids: some subjects have face-time daily, some weekly, some once or twice a month.. :001_smile:) I would hate for you to be disappointed at the end of high school.

 

In the end, teaching the kids we have is easier than hoping they'll drastically change. That road is lined with a ton of debris. :001_smile:

 

And to answer your question: there are TONS of programs that educate well at the high school level. For us the trick has been to choose an organizational structure that helps us use those programs well.

 

Peace,

Janice

 

Enjoy your little people

Enjoy your journey

[Brenda in MA]

You can learn a lot about a student during his 8th grade year. Kids do mature, but don't ignore the warning signs. If you choose a program and accountability structure for a 9th grader that requires the student to be entirely internally motivated, you should be sure that you have evidence from 8th grade to support your expectations. If you don't, I would caution you against being too hopeful.

 

Some kids are motivated. But some parents are just hopeful that their kid will become overly motivated if they apply a hands-off approach. Few kids are mature enough to work tirelessly for a vague goal that's four years away. (No offense intended. MINE are not entirely internally motivated, so I'm not slinging accusations here. I'm in the loop with my kids: some subjects have face-time daily, some weekly, some once or twice a month.. :001_smile:) I would hate for you to be disappointed at the end of high school.

 

In the end, teaching the kids we have is easier than hoping they'll drastically change. That road is lined with a ton of debris. :001_smile:

 

And to answer your question: there are TONS of programs that educate well at the high school level. For us the trick has been to choose an organizational structure that helps us use those programs well.

 

Peace,

Janice

 

 

:iagree: Very well said, Janice! I would definitely be wary of being too "hands-off" early in high school unless your dc have shown that they are self-motivated. I agree that most early high-schoolers are not self-motivated. One of my goals during high school is to encourage a gradual transition to mostly self-scheduled work by the end of the high school years.

 

I've also found that teens need consistent face-time with other teens, and that is critical for maintaining a happy homeschooled teen.

 

Brenda