shanvan Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 did you keep the year more on the toned down side b/c of just beginning high school. Or, did you include some heavy coursework to see what your Dc could handle? I'm talking about for a bright kid who sometimes thinks he can do the minimum b/c it should be obvious to everyone that he knows the material. :glare: In particular, I'm having to decide about what to use for biology. Also, just how many courses to include without overloading the year. We are also in the midst of figuring out which extracurriculars will stay and which will go, and I am finding it exhausting. Ds has too many interests! Sorry I'm not being more specific, but I'm having a foggy brain day and specifics would make a looong post! I'd love to hear how you designed your Dc's 9th grade year for level of difficulty, number of courses, and extracurriculars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 We decided in retrospect to declare dd's 8th grade year her 9th grade because the level of work she did was clearly high school appropriate. We kept the schedule comparatively light, with only five core subjects and light electives, but had her do challenging work in most of the core subjects: a physics course at the university, AoPS Geometry, Ancients for history and English with a lot of literature, French 1 with a private tutor (but actually her 3rd year of French study). For electives she worked on computer skills and taught herself web design for which I awarded a half credit. PE, art and music history are built into our daily life. On her transcript she has 6.5 credits for 9th grade. We wanted her to have lots of time for extracurriculars; she sings in choir and rides horses. We are following a similar pattern for the other grades: quality over quantity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TammyS Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Academically, I mostly just kept to the next obvious thing. He had started algebra, so we finished it and moved into algebra 2 (Saxon). He had started Latin, so we just kept going. He had already had a ton of grammar, so I quit that (especially as he was continuing with Latin) and just kept on with writing and lit. I formalized his history studies a little bit to make sure that I got a full year worth each year, but it doesn't really matter all that much which order they are done in. I formalized his science, too, as we had been very informal with that (I use the LCC method of mostly nature study until high school). Science is probably the easiest to choose, because most 9th graders aren't going to have the math for Chemistry or Physics. So you are left with biology or earth science. If you only want three science credits, it has to be biology. If you are going to take 4 science credits it could either be biology, followed by either anatomy or environmental science...or it could be earth science followed by biology. I also chose to focus some time on skill sets (study skills and such). I use summers to pick up electives and do short units of things that I want to cover, but not spend time on during the school year (geography, catechism, etc). He also plays trombone with the youth orchestra at the local university during the school year. This is our only outside activity (aside from an informal homeschool teen group that meets just for social purposes). I really believe in not running myself ragged by being in the car all the time. During the school year I try hard to focus on core subjects (for us, that includes Latin) and leave the good, but not greatest, subjects alone. Multum non multa (much, not many). There are a million "good" things to do. Ignore them all. Figure out what the great things are for you and then choose only the greatest from among them. You will be doing yourself, your family, and your child a favor. We can and should not dissipate our energies all over the place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 I am planning dd's 9th grade now...and I guess sort of both:D. I picked some materials to challenge her....and some to box check. Iow, I want to challenge, but I also want her to move steadily into the direction of rhetoric level work. I chose Oak Meadow Biology because they use a typical school text ( Holt Bio). With their own study guide. We will use You Tube virtual experiments...and probably buy an experiment kit. I am choosing books for lit right now....some we will use guides, some we will just read. Some will be challenging...most will be at or slightly above her current reading level. We are going easy on grammar, after 7 years of thorough grammar....she needs to focus on writing. Math...we will be reviewing .....lots of reviewing...sigh. She is not ready for a full blown algebra program yet...so we will be doing Pre-algebra. Anyway, good luck planning. Don't forget to read the rhetoric section of TWTM. It has tons of info on planning for high school. Faithe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 I'm planning right now too. Right now we have 8 subjects worth 7 credits. GB Ancient history will be pretty heavy and he's doing two languages so that will take a lot of time (although one language is .5 credit). We're also working on solidifying writing skills and trying to keep some free time for his computer explorations. Driver's ed and some PE (walking and hiking) will get added to the mix. I'm still working on the balance. He'll be doing a lot of heavy reading in GB, so I'm making some tough choices on science. He definitely has a limit on the amount he can do in a day, so that's in there too. Right now everything is a big stew sitting on my desk. He amazed me last fall with a new level of maturity. I'm hoping for a similar jump this fall, so some of my plans will be written in pencil until we determine how much he can truly handle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 No, I did the opposite. I had really ramped up in junior high, though, to prepare for it. I knew as they got older that they would have more outside competition for their time, so I loaded up 9th and 10th grade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMindy Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 I wanted to continue to up the rigor in 9th grade so, for example, we opted to do AP chemistry instead of just regular chem. My 9th grader had fewer subjects than my 7th grader, but they were much more intense. She really rose to the challenge this year and I was very happy with both her level of independence and her ability to push herself. (let's not talk about the 7th grader, though....:glare:) In terms of outside activities, we have always limited those. Our evenings are family time and we try and not let very many things encroach on that time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanvan Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 (edited) We decided in retrospect to declare dd's 8th grade year her 9th grade because the level of work she did was clearly high school appropriate.We kept the schedule comparatively light, with only five core subjects and light electives, but had her do challenging work in most of the core subjects: a physics course at the university, AoPS Geometry, Ancients for history and English with a lot of literature, French 1 with a private tutor (but actually her 3rd year of French study). For electives she worked on computer skills and taught herself web design for which I awarded a half credit. PE, art and music history are built into our daily life. On her transcript she has 6.5 credits for 9th grade. We wanted her to have lots of time for extracurriculars; she sings in choir and rides horses. We are following a similar pattern for the other grades: quality over quantity. Yes, having the time for extraacurriculars is important for Ds too (once we decide what those will be). Can you give me an example of how art, music and PE are built into daily life? And, if they are built in, do you still show them on a transcript? My Dh is an artist and I know my kids know quite a bit about art (both technique and history) just from causally working with him and from all of the books, discussions and visits to museums and galleries. I keep wondering whether or not to design an official art elective, but it just seems so artificial. Edited June 21, 2012 by shanvan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanvan Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 I wanted to continue to up the rigor in 9th grade so, for example, we opted to do AP chemistry instead of just regular chem. My 9th grader had fewer subjects than my 7th grader, but they were much more intense. She really rose to the challenge this year and I was very happy with both her level of independence and her ability to push herself. (let's not talk about the 7th grader, though....:glare:) In terms of outside activities, we have always limited those. Our evenings are family time and we try and not let very many things encroach on that time. I really miss having time for nightly read alouds and would like to design a schedule where we can be home most nights. Ds' extracurriculars each serve a unique educational purpose which I have thought through extensively, which is why some are difficult to give up. Realistically, something has to go and he has to focus. We're also working on solidifying writing skills and trying to keep some free time for his computer explorations. Driver's ed and some PE (walking and hiking) will get added to the mix. I'm still working on the balance. He'll be doing a lot of heavy reading in GB, so I'm making some tough choices on science. He definitely has a limit on the amount he can do in a day, so that's in there too. Right now everything is a big stew sitting on my desk. He amazed me last fall with a new level of maturity. I'm hoping for a similar jump this fall, so some of my plans will be written in pencil until we determine how much he can truly handle. You are really hitting the nail on the head with the above statements. Not knowing just which outside activities we will have (including younger Dd's) is part of the problem. I am having trouble in general gauging how much time the schoolwork will take and how to still allow time for the extras plus free time---and deciding how chores will fit in, or if they will need to be toned down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanvan Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 Thank you to all who replied thus far. I am attempting to respond to each reply because of a thread I read on the general board yesterday. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=399893 Is it making for a cumbersome thread? Or, do you like knowing I read each response? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanvan Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 No, I did the opposite. I had really ramped up in junior high, though, to prepare for it. I knew as they got older that they would have more outside competition for their time, so I loaded up 9th and 10th grade This is a very good point and one I think of often, which makes me want to go with a more intense 9th grade plan. I am planning dd's 9th grade now...and I guess sort of both:D. I picked some materials to challenge her....and some to box check. Iow, I want to challenge, but I also want her to move steadily into the direction of rhetoric level work. I chose Oak Meadow Biology because they use a typical school text ( Holt Bio). With their own study guide. We will use You Tube virtual experiments...and probably buy an experiment kit. I am choosing books for lit right now....some we will use guides, some we will just read. Some will be challenging...most will be at or slightly above her current reading level. We are going easy on grammar, after 7 years of thorough grammar....she needs to focus on writing. Math...we will be reviewing .....lots of reviewing...sigh. She is not ready for a full blown algebra program yet...so we will be doing Pre-algebra. Anyway, good luck planning. Don't forget to read the rhetoric section of TWTM. It has tons of info on planning for high school. Faithe I think a mixture might be a good plan for Ds too. Now I just need to sit down and figure out all the particulars. Thank you for the reminder about the WTM, Faithe. Part of me is rebelling right now and just wanting to spend time gardening, at the pool, reading for fun, anything but face the piles of papers and homeschooling books! Did you recently change your avatar, or have I confused you with another WTMer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanvan Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 Academically, I mostly just kept to the next obvious thing. He had started algebra, so we finished it and moved into algebra 2 (Saxon). He had started Latin, so we just kept going. He had already had a ton of grammar, so I quit that (especially as he was continuing with Latin) and just kept on with writing and lit. I formalized his history studies a little bit to make sure that I got a full year worth each year, but it doesn't really matter all that much which order they are done in. I formalized his science, too, as we had been very informal with that (I use the LCC method of mostly nature study until high school). Science is probably the easiest to choose, because most 9th graders aren't going to have the math for Chemistry or Physics. So you are left with biology or earth science. If you only want three science credits, it has to be biology. If you are going to take 4 science credits it could either be biology, followed by either anatomy or environmental science...or it could be earth science followed by biology. I also chose to focus some time on skill sets (study skills and such). I use summers to pick up electives and do short units of things that I want to cover, but not spend time on during the school year (geography, catechism, etc). He also plays trombone with the youth orchestra at the local university during the school year. This is our only outside activity (aside from an informal homeschool teen group that meets just for social purposes). I really believe in not running myself ragged by being in the car all the time. During the school year I try hard to focus on core subjects (for us, that includes Latin) and leave the good, but not greatest, subjects alone. Multum non multa (much, not many). There are a million "good" things to do. Ignore them all. Figure out what the great things are for you and then choose only the greatest from among them. You will be doing yourself, your family, and your child a favor. We can and should not dissipate our energies all over the place. Tammy S - I didn't respond to you yet, sorry! I absolutely agree with you especially the bold print. I just struggle with trying to figure out the difference b/t the good and the greatest. Somehow I can talk myself into thinking absolutely everything is important. Then I just get really confused and sometimes that's what gets me in trouble b/c then I will plan too much. It's going to be a long summer as I try to weed out and trim down to the absolute best and necessary coursework and activities for Ds and our family. Thanks for the reminder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 I really miss having time for nightly read alouds and would like to design a schedule where we can be home most nights. Ds' extracurriculars each serve a unique educational purpose which I have thought through extensively, which is why some are difficult to give up. Realistically, something has to go and he has to focus. The answer for our family has been to become involved as parents in some of our dc's activities. So dh coaches sports, we both help with robotics teams, etc. The time is spent in a different location than when they were young, but it's still very valuable - in some ways more. Siblings are involved, too, such as when ds watches the girls' events with us, or they help out at his Scout events. We did start to focus in as they hit 9th grade, though, with extracurriculars, because each required more time as they grew. So some things fell off to the side and some things increased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 did you keep the year more on the toned down side b/c of just beginning high school. Or, did you include some heavy coursework to see what your Dc could handle? Having a bright kid myself, I plan on having a 50-50 split between heavy coursework and slightly fluffy stuff so she isn't overwhelmed, yet challenged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 My youngest is not in high school yet, but I am planning a very heavy year starting in August, as her dance life will become more intense soon enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Yes, having the time for extraacurriculars is important for Ds too (once we decide what those will be). Can you give me an example of how art, music and PE are built into daily life? And, if they are built in, do you still show them on a transcript? We backpack and rock climb over the summer, enough to award the kids a half credit for PE each year. It will show on the transcript, and the course description will list the skills taught. Art and music history: lots of museum visits and live performances are part of our lives, and we focus particularly on the art of the period we study in history each year. Plus Annotated Mona Lisa and Sister Wendy for Art, TC lectures for music. All in all, about 1/4 credit for each per year, totaling to 1 credit each over high school. Will probably list upon completion and explain the synchronous treatment with history in the course description. I do not award a letter grade, just a P for Pass/Participation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 We decided to just go with the heavy load. Six core courses and 2 credits of electives (4 half credit classes, two in the fall and two in the spring.) We are using Kolbe for Biology. As for extracurriculars - jr. varsity volleyball in the fall and volunteer work in the winter and spring, so quite light. No need for a personal response. :D Though it did make me laugh that you were trying to respond to each person due to the general board discussions. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Thought of another thing we have done to make the schedule work: We use the flexibility of homeschooling. This year, because of dd's CC classes and outside activities, her fully-homeschooled classes (history and English mostly) are wedged in around the busiest times. So her Great Books study will start in a few weeks and go double (or triple) time, get light during fall CC semester, pick up over Christmas break, get light again in Jan-Mar for robotics, and then finish full strength in May and June. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seshet Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 did you keep the year more on the toned down side b/c of just beginning high school. Or, did you include some heavy coursework to see what your Dc could handle? I'm talking about for a bright kid who sometimes thinks he can do the minimum b/c it should be obvious to everyone that he knows the material. :glare: In particular, I'm having to decide about what to use for biology. Also, just how many courses to include without overloading the year. We are also in the midst of figuring out which extracurriculars will stay and which will go, and I am finding it exhausting. Ds has too many interests! Sorry I'm not being more specific, but I'm having a foggy brain day and specifics would make a looong post! I'd love to hear how you designed your Dc's 9th grade year for level of difficulty, number of courses, and extracurriculars. We actually went a bit easier, with number of courses, for 8th. We normally do 10-12 courses per year. My eldest, ET1, has waffled on the decision to graduate on time or graduate early. When planning 8th, ET1 was planning on graduating on time, so needed less courses for the year. Of course, less than halfway through 8th grade, the decision was changed, again, and went back to graduate early. So, the plan for 9th went back up to 10 or 11 courses (that does include Gov & Econ, neither of which is a full year course), leaving 6-7 for 10th. The level of rigor never changed, though. Some of the courses are a little lighter, while others are heavier. We try to keep a balance with that each year. ET1 is an exceptional child, but I don't want to pile all the heavy/time intensive courses on at one time, as even the exceptional can burnout. So, we strive for a decent balance of time intensive/heavy workload courses and lighter workload courses. As for extracurriculars, those are easy for us to plan. We've never done many ECs to begin with. With only one vehicle & limited available time, the kids have always been limited in how many ECs they could do. Basically, they choose the one most important to them, and maybe get one other as well. ET1 chose volunteer work. The way I see it, the younger grades should have a wider focus, so they are introduced to more things, and high school should have a more prioritized focus. If ET1 would be graduating on time, there would need to be less than 6 courses each year to reach all of our requirements & ET1's personal choices (ET1 started HS level courses before 9th). However, with wanting to graduate early, the course load for each year had to be increased. ET1's top priority is graduating early, spending 2 years doing volunteer work & attending the local CC (or an online college), and then going to a 4-year uni (and beyond). We're lucky though, ET1 has a plan for the future and knows what needs to be done to make it happen. 9th grade will be starting soon, and we can hardly wait. Oh, and we've totally btdt with the whole "I'm only going to do the bare minimum" thing. We haven't had too many problems since ET1 realized that I AM willing to flunk my kids and make them repeat a course, if I don't believe they put in enough effort or didn't learn the content well enough (Yes, I know. Mean mommy!). Having to repeat your least favorite course, because you chose to screw around, slack off, and refused to put in effort, can really help motivate them to not make that mistake again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sattlers1 Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 No, I did the opposite. I had really ramped up in junior high, though, to prepare for it. I knew as they got older that they would have more outside competition for their time, so I loaded up 9th and 10th grade Makes a lot of sense to me and I have heard many others say the same. Junior and Senior year are very busy preparing for college, graduation etc. Plus they might have work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 This is a very good point and one I think of often, which makes me want to go with a more intense 9th grade plan. I think a mixture might be a good plan for Ds too. Now I just need to sit down and figure out all the particulars. Thank you for the reminder about the WTM, Faithe. Part of me is rebelling right now and just wanting to spend time gardening, at the pool, reading for fun, anything but face the piles of papers and homeschooling books! Did you recently change your avatar, or have I confused you with another WTMer? I am in total rebellion now too....especially the gardening part. I am fried....and don't want to even think school....but alas, if I don't ....no one will! And YES, I went back to my original avatar, for some reason. I miss my "make tea" one....and plan to switch back. I guess I was in a " I miss my baby" mood. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 (edited) nm Edited June 24, 2012 by Momto2Ns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 I have done three ninth grades so each was different. Number one didn't need any ramping up since he was already doing a lot in the earlier years. We did switch to more video courses to add to his reading but otherwise, we pretty much left the same level of intensity. Number two had a difficult year. We started with grand plans and she was doing great. Then she got a severe migraine headache the day after THanksgiving and it didn't relent until June. My plans had to radically change, mainly because while she wanted to do more work, she physically wasn't able to. Something similar happened to my third. FIrst of all, I tried to ramp up her work but very soon figured out that I had assigned too much reading for a child with mild dyslexia. I immediately dropped the AP class she was in and added in more taped books rather than all reading. Yes, she is able to read but tiny print on giant textbook pages and lots of pages to read was just too much for her. Then in winter, she developed a serious food allergy. Then she developed repeated anaphalactic episodes when she either ate something she shouldn't have or later, had a shot at the allergist. She must have had six anaphalactic episodes in a matter of three months. THen to have that, her older sister having to return home from college and medically withdraw with a mystery illness, and her being new to the area and not having friends, really, our ninth grade wasn't great. The only salvation we had to it was that she had done quite a bit of ninth grade work the previous year so yes, she has finished ninth grade. But not to the point I would have hoped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 I'd love to hear how you designed your Dc's 9th grade year for level of difficulty, number of courses, and extracurriculars. You know, I keep seeing this thread and thinking about how to respond. I have some free time now, though, and am going to jump into the conversation. I just finished 9th grade with my second student. In both cases, I was aware that it was "high school" and therefore "important," but I don't think I put a lot of contemplation into the question of ramping it up versus easing into it. I just chose subjects and materials that seemed like the obvious next step for this particular kid. In both cases, I started from the position that there are certain basic requirments for graduating from our homeschool. I came up with that list and then started researching materials. Once I had it narrowed down to a few equally good options, I talked with my student and got input about which books or curricula looked most appealing to him/her. Together (sometimes with a little nudging from me), we choose electives that interest the kiddo. And, again, I research materials and make final decisions after consulting the student. In my daughter's case, the result was a total of 8.5 credits in her ninth grade year. Five of those credits were required, core subjects: English, American History, Geometry, foreign language (Latin). A couple more half credits -- art history, music appreciation -- were things we strongly recommended. The rest were electives chosen because she was very interested in the subjects. I would say that most or all of those core subjects were fairly rigorous. Some of the electives were lighter. But it was a pretty serious courseload, with no slacking or box checking. My son had a somewhat lighter ninth grade. He finished this year with 7.0 credits. Again, English, math, science, foreign language and history were required, core subjects, although he had a lot of input into the specifics for each one. In his case, we ended up designing very personal approaches to science, math and English to match his interests. And he was allowed to choose the foreign language he wanted to study. He, too, had electives that were based on his interests and passions this year. We took it fairly easy on history, admittedly. And Spanish has not gotten the attention I would like. Otherwise, though, it was a fairly demanding year. Each of mine has been active with extracurriculars, too. In her ninth grade year, my daughter sang with two choirs, participated in activities with a local Camp Fire group and with an environmental club, was a founding member of our church's youth group and a member of the local anthropological society, did community theatre and served as editor of our homeschool group's monthly newsletter. My son dances, does theatre, participates in church youth group and volunteers at the science museum and as a junior counselor for a local theatre's day camps. I've been enjoying reading the other responses here. I hope it's all giving you the information you wanted? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 For my oldest, I eased into things. She did English, history, math, science, health, and p.e. That makes a total of 5.5 credits, but one of them was p.e. For my middle dd, I added a bit more. She did everything my oldest did, but also added in Philosophy of Mind (she LOVED it!) from The Teaching Company, so she had 6 credits. My youngest is not my academic student. She always struggles because she is dyslexic. She is doing English, history, math, and science. She is also going to try Visual Link Spanish. I don't know if I'll have her do a p.e. or not. My other two were actually taking p.e. classes several times each week (kickboxing for oldest, gymnastics for middle). My youngest has no interest in that type of thing. She is taking guitar, banjo, voice, and sewing lessons. She spends several hours each week practicing her music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanvan Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 (edited) I have done three ninth grades so each was different. Number one didn't need any ramping up since he was already doing a lot in the earlier years. We did switch to more video courses to add to his reading but otherwise, we pretty much left the same level of intensity. Number two had a difficult year. We started with grand plans and she was doing great. Then she got a severe migraine headache the day after THanksgiving and it didn't relent until June. My plans had to radically change, mainly because while she wanted to do more work, she physically wasn't able to. Something similar happened to my third. FIrst of all, I tried to ramp up her work but very soon figured out that I had assigned too much reading for a child with mild dyslexia. I immediately dropped the AP class she was in and added in more taped books rather than all reading. Yes, she is able to read but tiny print on giant textbook pages and lots of pages to read was just too much for her. Then in winter, she developed a serious food allergy. Then she developed repeated anaphalactic episodes when she either ate something she shouldn't have or later, had a shot at the allergist. She must have had six anaphalactic episodes in a matter of three months. THen to have that, her older sister having to return home from college and medically withdraw with a mystery illness, and her being new to the area and not having friends, really, our ninth grade wasn't great. The only salvation we had to it was that she had done quite a bit of ninth grade work the previous year so yes, she has finished ninth grade. But not to the point I would have hoped. Wow! I can see how you would need to alter your plans! Sounds like you went through some difficult times. I *think* I could technically count some of Ds's 8th grade year as 9th if I wanted to, but I don't b/c of maturity issues and not wanting him to graduate early. However, were we to face all the difficulties you have faced that is what I would do. Your post is making me think that I can plan all I like, but better be ready to adjust if necessary. Maybe, just maybe I'm to focused on a magic plan---but I thought I read the magic 9th grade plan in some other posts.:lol: Edited June 25, 2012 by shanvan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanvan Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 Each of mine has been active with extracurriculars, too. In her ninth grade year, my daughter sang with two choirs, participated in activities with a local Camp Fire group and with an environmental club, was a founding member of our church's youth group and a member of the local anthropological society, did community theatre and served as editor of our homeschool group's monthly newsletter. My son dances, does theatre, participates in church youth group and volunteers at the science museum and as a junior counselor for a local theatre's day camps. I've been enjoying reading the other responses here. I hope it's all giving you the information you wanted? Yes, I'm carefully considering each response. The biggest problem for me is that Ds is interested in just about everything under the sun and insists on continuing with TOG history/lit (Fine, except for the planning and book gathering, which I will need to do during the summer). I'm teaching a public speaking class basically just so he can have more opportunities for speaking b/c he loves it. We investigated all the homeschool speech and debate opportunities, but decided it is too much with his other commitments. He's just doing as much public speaking as he can through 4H and other local contacts. Then there are the extracurriculars --too many interests again, but your Dc and other seem to get it done, so maybe he won't have to give up some. Currently he has dog training classes, is president of his dog 4h which involves a lot of emailing and event planning, dog agility trials & 4H shows and meetings, ice skating (which he wants to get serious about), piano and organ, church choir, volunteering for a local therapeutic riding program, plus our county teen naturalist club. He was also riding and in a 4H horse club which we recently dropped. He just wants to ride for fun now and that's fine b/c something had to go! He had me searching out local theater opportunities, but has since changed his mind (for the moment). I think I'm mainly worrying about how to fit everything in and even if we are going to be able to fit it all in. And, that is where the issue of how difficult to make his academics come into play. I certainly don't want academics to suffer b/c of extracurriculars. Maybe my next thread should be about how Dc with multiple activities manage to stick with a heavy course load. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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