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old homeschooler needs help starting fresh


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So I've been mostly awol on the board since 2010, but now I've come crawling back asking for mercy and seriously in need of some hive wisdom. :crying:

 

Summary: oldest ds was a dream student. He worked independently. Life was a joy. He graduates from college in June.

2nd ds was a slug. I enrolled him with Seton so we'd both be accountable. I dragged/pushed/pulled him to graduation. Now he's in college. Yippee--not my problem!

3rd dd--very add/disorganized (umm, like me?). Also in Seton for the last 3 yrs. Many tears shed by us both.

4th ds--rising 8th grader. High school looming large. I'm freaking out.

youngers all over the place creating distractions and inhibiting learning

 

I cannot do Seton any more. Can't. Do. It. I don't even know how we'll make it to the end of this year with one student.

The sad thing is, I began Seton to help me be accountable, and to help keep the kids accountable. But I feel like I am now paralyzed. Like, "Oh no, how will I come up with courses and grades for a transcript on my own?" Even though I've done this before, it's all very freshly scary to me.

 

How do you all do it? Do you grade everything? Do you make up all your own courses? Do you make transcripts or portfolios? Do you have successful college kids to prove it? :tongue_smilie:

 

I'm an easily overwhelmed person. {should consider changing my screen name to "ovrwlmd"} and so maybe I just need you all to talk me down and say it's ok and that many people have successfully homeschooled their children to college without an umbrella school to hold them by the hand.

 

Thank you in advance for hard batman smacks. I need some!

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There are a lot more online programs now than just a couple of years ago. So much of it you can farm out piecemeal or the entire 4 years. Kolbe is starting a new online program. MP has jumped into the game. Then there's the Ron Paul program, which I know nothing about, except that it's free.

 

Some suggestions:

Lukeion for Latin

Jann in Tx for math

Athena Academy for biology

Teaching Co. dvds for lit and history

Brave Writer for writing

 

Bam, you're done.

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There are a lot more online programs now than just a couple of years ago. So much of it you can farm out piecemeal or the entire 4 years. Kolbe is starting a new online program. MP has jumped into the game. Then there's the Ron Paul program, which I know nothing about, except that it's free.

 

Some suggestions:

Lukeion for Latin

Jann in Tx for math

Athena Academy for biology

Teaching Co. dvds for lit and history

Brave Writer for writing

 

Bam, you're done.

 

 

You can add Logos to your list. They just sent out an email today.

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So I've been mostly awol on the board since 2010, but now I've come crawling back asking for mercy and seriously in need of some hive wisdom.

 

Welcome back, Lynne.

 

 

Do you make transcripts or portfolios? Do you have successful college kids to prove it? :tongue_smilie:

 

Yes, yes, and yes. There have been many threads in the past on making a transcript. I'd be happy to share my daughter's transcript with you if you're interested. Simply send me a personal message with your email address.

 

 

Then there's the Ron Paul program, which I know nothing about, except that it's free.

 

I think that it may only be free for Kindergarten through fifth grade.

 

Regards,

Kareni

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How do you all do it? Do you grade everything? Do you make up all your own courses? Do you make transcripts or portfolios? Do you have successful college kids to prove it? :tongue_smilie:

 

Lynne,

 

Welcome back, good to "see" you! I've done a mix of self-designed, on-line, and outsourced classes with my high schoolers. My oldest went to college with this stuff on his home-made transcript and has done well. He, like your oldest, is graduating college next month. My next one is a junior in high school.

 

I've found that by using some on-line & out-sourced classes, my students have learned to meet deadlines and manage their time. However, if we tried to do everything outsourced, I know we'd fail and go crazy because sometimes life just gets in the way, and you need to let a few things slide in the present time to keep your sanity. We do pick up those things, usually at the end of the school year, and get them done.

 

I've been advising a mom locally who is done with Seton as well. Here are some of the things I've suggested that she look at.

 

Derek Owens on-line classes for high school math & physics

PA Homeschoolers for AP courses

Hewitt's Lightning Lit guides for literature

The Great Courses programs for history & government

Kolbe lesson plans for Bio & Chemistry

 

I've also just become aware of Homeschool Connections (http://homeschoolcon...ionsonline.com/). They offer on-line & recorded classes from a Catholic worldview. Some of their courses sound interesting, and they have a variety of courses in several different subjects.

 

Best wishes & welcome back to the world of eclectic homeschooling!

Brenda

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Welcome back! :)

 

BTDT w/Seton with my youngest who's in 7th grade. I finally realized though we need structure we didn't need the level Seton provides. I do think Seton can be a good option, especially for some high school classes. I have enjoyed reading CHC's High School book even to just get ideas but it is pricey unless you can find it used.

 

For high school, I haven't graduated any homeschoolers yet. My oldest was not homeschooled. My middle daughter is in 10th grade this year, and she's been home since she was 9. We've done a variety of classes, some home-based, some outsourced. We plan for dd to start at the cc in the fall for science. I did a transcript for the cc, and I somehow managed to survive. :tongue_smilie: I try to write our course descriptions at the beginning of the year and then update them if I need to as we go along. We so far aren't using an accredited program. As for grading, I don't really spend much time worrying about how to grade or what grade to give because we work to mastery. I plan to grade our home-based courses as pass/fail unless required to give grades. For outsourced classes, I convert everything to a 4.0 grading scale. I am keeping work in case we need a portfolio, and I do have my kids keep a reading list. There are lots of people who will generously show you samples of transcripts, course descriptions, etc. on this list and others. If you aren't a member of College4CathHS or hs2coll Yahoo Groups, you should consider joining.

 

HTH!

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Thanks to all for welcoming me back into the fold and happily suggesting ideas.

 

As far as outsourcing, am I tout of whack, or what? Everything I look at seems so expensive (Oak Meadow: $900/course?!?). That's one reason I struggle with this concept, I guess, because I'm un-willing/able to fork over so much money. It may be a totally unrealistic expectation.

 

One thing no one has addressed on which I would love to have some insight: motivation, accountability. How do you come up with these things for yourselves, your kids? I don't think school has to be all love and fun, but I suppose the definition of burnout is everyone hating what they're doing and resisting doing it, me included. I'm not "The Joyful Homeschooler" and I want to reclaim that. And I want my kids to walk away from high school feeling proud of what they've done, rather than hateful. Then again, maybe that's asking too much for some kids.

 

I have a great transcript form, and have no problem making one, but I do struggle with the idea of grading. Maybe I should worry less. I worry if I've graded enough, if the grades are "authentic", if what I called "good" really equaled a high-school level course. All that. I thought maybe some of you don't use a transcript, and instead went a different route.

 

TTC courses: From what I've read these are used as supplements, rather than stand alone. Correct?

 

All your responses are very much appreciated. I don't have support around here, so you guys are my lifeline on this stuff! Thank you.

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Maybe that was for their outsourced AP courses??? The regular Oak Meadow syllabi are quite affordable (under $30) and the texts are often available used. I suggested them because OM is one of the few who carries artsy, hands-on, or otherwise creative options into high school. You get a BJU hs tm, and there's just none of that left.

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Look at the samples of the syllabi. They're written to the student and should be pretty straightforward to implement. I've been eyeing them for my chick. I don't think you need an online structure when they're laid out so clearly. They have samples though so you can decide for yourself.

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Thanks to all for welcoming me back into the fold and happily suggesting ideas.

 

As far as outsourcing, am I tout of whack, or what? Everything I look at seems so expensive (Oak Meadow: $900/course?!?). That's one reason I struggle with this concept, I guess, because I'm un-willing/able to fork over so much money. It may be a totally unrealistic expectation.

 

From our experience, good on-line courses will run $500 - 600 for the year. These kind of courses have a teacher that makes assignments, sets deadlines, and grades the work, so you really just need to provide general oversight and make sure the kiddo is staying on track. The benefits here are the accountability and motivation (hopefully). My sons have done more work (and on schedule) for the on-line teachers than they were willing to do for me. One of mine is also motivated by competition, so he'd put in extra effort so he could get top grades. To keep the costs down, I've limited these classes to 1 or 2 per year per student. I pick subjects where I think the student would really benefit from outside motivation or feedback.

 

Also, that place I mentioned in my last post, homeschool connections, has both live, on-line courses and recorded classes. I would guess that the live, on-line options would be more engaging for the student, but the recorded offerings are much cheaper. With the recorded classes, they have an option where you can get access to the whole library of classes for $30/month for the whole family, and there is a $1 for 7 day access introductory special so you can check out what they have and see if you think it would be useful for your family before signing up.

 

While on-line courses are good, some kids are more motivated by an out-sourced, in-person class. In my area, however, these are more expensive than on-line courses. Some states have programs where course(s) at the local CC are free or reduced price for homeschooled high school students, so that would be something to investigate in your area.

 

One thing no one has addressed on which I would love to have some insight: motivation, accountability. How do you come up with these things for yourselves, your kids? I don't think school has to be all love and fun, but I suppose the definition of burnout is everyone hating what they're doing and resisting doing it, me included. I'm not "The Joyful Homeschooler" and I want to reclaim that. And I want my kids to walk away from high school feeling proud of what they've done, rather than hateful. Then again, maybe that's asking too much for some kids.

 

TTC courses: From what I've read these are used as supplements, rather than stand alone. Correct?

 

No, I don't think you're asking too much for your kids to have some input into and enjoyment of what they are studying. This would be where the self-designed courses come into play. For subjects like History & Lit in particular, you can find courses on all different subjects/eras/types of writing. We've paired The Great Courses DVDs with a "spine" book to make up history classes. For example, for A 1/2 credit government course, we used 2 short GC classes (on The Federalist Papers & Democracy in America), and I had my son read "The Idiot's Guide to Government" and make outlines of the chapters. This was a "TWTM-style" course, as SWB has recommended "The Idiot's Guide to Gov't" and The Federalist Papers & Democracy in America (the books, not specifically the DVDs). This class ended up not being a ton of "work" for my son, but he really enjoyed it and he learned a lot more than he would have from reading dry textbooks and taking tests. I graded the course based on how well he outlined the chapters in "The Idiot's Guide" and how he did in discussions of the DVD lectures. This would be a course, for example, that you could have your two high schoolers do together if they both need a 1/2 credit of Gov't.

 

Also, based on how you plan out their "core" courses, they should have some room for at least a few electives in their schedule. This is where they can have even more say in what they do. A friend's friend happened to live near a Vo-tech school, and she was able to get her son into an auto mechanics class over there. That turned into one of his electives, and he loved it and learned a useful skill at the same time. So you could look around in your community and see if there are any adult ed things as well. Many will take kids at age 16 for a class or two.

 

I have a great transcript form, and have no problem making one, but I do struggle with the idea of grading. Maybe I should worry less. I worry if I've graded enough, if the grades are "authentic", if what I called "good" really equaled a high-school level course. All that. I thought maybe some of you don't use a transcript, and instead went a different route.

 

Yes, I think you're probably worrying too much about grading. If your kids have decent ACT/SAT scores and grades from at least some outside class that show their ability to do well when graded by someone else, your own grades won't be a problem. My oldest son applied to college with all "Mommy" grades except for two CC classes and two on-line classes, and he had very strong ACT scores. He was accepted everywhere he applied. Now he didn't apply to Ivys, but did apply to several top 50 colleges and unis. He also had some outside ECs & activities (scouts & church-related).

 

I hope you are able to put a little sanity & joy back into your homeschooling efforts!

Brenda

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Thanks to all for welcoming me back into the fold and happily suggesting ideas.

 

As far as outsourcing, am I tout of whack, or what? Everything I look at seems so expensive (Oak Meadow: $900/course?!?). That's one reason I struggle with this concept, I guess, because I'm un-willing/able to fork over so much money. It may be a totally unrealistic expectation.

 

We've found for some things it has made sense to outsource but to keep it reasonable. Online classes can quickly get to be too much for us, especially if there are lots of meetings, lectures, interaction. Rolling Acres (A Catholic provider) for German has been fantastic. Lukeion for Latin has been excellent, too. I could have taught German but no way could we have managed Latin the way Lukeion has covered it. My daughter has accomplished a lot, and it was $ well spent. For other courses, we could have managed on our own w/lab sciences at the cc for 11th and 12th. But Derek Owens Physics and Write at Home have been a great fit here and worth the expense. DO is go at your own pace, and it is a solid physics course. WaH is great because it covers writing and it is pretty much totally painless, highly efficient, and leaves me out of the equation.

 

One thing no one has addressed on which I would love to have some insight: motivation, accountability. How do you come up with these things for yourselves, your kids? I don't think school has to be all love and fun, but I suppose the definition of burnout is everyone hating what they're doing and resisting doing it, me included. I'm not "The Joyful Homeschooler" and I want to reclaim that. And I want my kids to walk away from high school feeling proud of what they've done, rather than hateful. Then again, maybe that's asking too much for some kids.

 

W/re to accountability and motivation, it helps here to have my kids do things they find meaningful. The Write at Home Research Paper Workshop was great for this because the topic is the child's choice. I encourage lots of reading of whatever my kids want. I sometimes forget how beneficial it is to just read. And for some courses, we decide to just keep things basic. My kids can work through a manageable program better than when they are confronted with a giant program that seems never-ending.

 

I have a great transcript form, and have no problem making one, but I do struggle with the idea of grading. Maybe I should worry less. I worry if I've graded enough, if the grades are "authentic", if what I called "good" really equaled a high-school level course. All that. I thought maybe some of you don't use a transcript, and instead went a different route.

 

This is why I just opt for the mastery approach and give a grade of "pass" for things we do at home.

 

TTC courses: From what I've read these are used as supplements, rather than stand alone. Correct?

 

You can use TTC courses as the basis for a course. We haven't found them thrilling (maybe I am buying the wrong ones?) but they can come in handy when you need a class and don't know what to do. Each guidebook has a lot of suggestions for readings to go with the course.

 

All your responses are very much appreciated. I don't have support around here, so you guys are my lifeline on this stuff! Thank you.

 

 

Best wishes! :)

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