ktgrok Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Okay, spinning off from my "can I do this anymore" thread, I'm looking for highschool level work that is very objective, that I can grade and he can do without a lot of argument or back and forth. We are using sonlight for history right now, and he does enjoy the reading so may stick with that for the rest of the year, and just add the Hewitt tests as something to grade. But after that we will move to something else. So, easy to schedule, get r done, etc for a highschool student. I know...not ideal. At all. But probably the best we can do. History: Catholic Textbook project having him answer the questions at the end of the chapters and do the tests. Notgrass World History. CLE World History? Science: We are using Kolbe right now, it seems to be going okay. May stick with that. We need Physics. Or Apologia physics, as much as I hate the idea. Or Derek Owens physics, if I can get the scholarship to pay for it, maybe. English/Literature: Notgrass woud cover that with history. Or CLE literature? Something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoraBora Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Hi there: I haven't read the earlier post to which you refer, but I would like to say that Notgrass can be very easy to "get done". Your son can simply read the text and supplemental book on his own, answer the assigned questions and turn them in. The answer key will make it easy for you to grade. The short quizzes following each unit are usually multiple choice or true/false... very easy to grade. In the newer editions, at least, he can choose from three "projects" for each unit. One of the choices is a paper - 300 to 500 words - on a topic given in the book. The other two might be art or cooking projects. You could skip the projects altogether or require the paper each time and find a simple rubric to use for grading. I like Notgrass. I think the author has a balanced approach to history... I think I recall that you object to BJU because of the anti-Catholic feel. I don't sense that in this text at all. The Notgrass Student Review book (which is part of the curriculum package) contains brief overviews about the assigned literature, along with a few questions about each book. This might be enough for your purposes. Alternatively, you could likely find little quizzes online for each of the books that would be easy and "objective" to grade. (I know EXACTLY what you mean, here, btw, and I feel your pain.) I would probably do that, and skip evaluating books for which I couldn't find an quick and easy quiz. Have you looked at allinonehighschool.com? It's the so-called "Easy Peasy" curriculum. She has a physics curriculum posted. It's based on Georgia Virtual Learning's course and is self-graded (if you think that would work). She also has a few literature courses for high school. The British Literature in particular looks good, and all of her curriculum is free. I would post the link, but I'm not sure I'm allowed to do that. I hope this is helpful. :001_smile: Dora Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted October 10, 2015 Author Share Posted October 10, 2015 OH MY GOODNESSS!!!! I'm looking at American Lit on the All in One highschool and LOVE the lit choices!!! I hadn't found anything where i actually liked the lit choices. We may switch to this ASAP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scholastica Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Homeschool Connections has lectures for Light to the Nations. You can subscribe to the recorded sessions to beef it up more. But you really could just gave him answer the questions and take the tests. He'd get enough. Skip the workbook. It's just busywork. ETA: Catholic Textbook Project has added an American History book. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted October 10, 2015 Author Share Posted October 10, 2015 Homeschool Connections has lectures for Light to the Nations. You can subscribe to the recorded sessions to beef it up more. But you really could just gave him answer the questions and take the tests. He'd get enough. Skip the workbook. It's just busywork. ETA: Catholic Textbook Project has added an American History book. Yeah, I'd just have him read, do the questions, and take the tests. I almost went with their American History one for this year, but it wasn't ready yet when I was buying so went with Bookshark 8 which I'm kind of regretting. No output. But I will add the tests from Hewitt, but that's only one per book. Basically one a month. I suppose I could switch. But he likes the Hakim books, so I think I'll keep doing it. Maybe I'll have him answer the discussion questions in the notes in writing. That's an idea. Wouldn't take me long each week to type them out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 I agree with Notgrass being get 'r done. We only used it for Government, but it was so easy and straight forward. Ds did it completely on his own (which he did with very few things). I just graded the tests. We found Excellence in Lit to be very easy to get done too. The reading and writing assignments were clear and clearly scheduled with samples of each type of paper to be written. Apologia Science works well for get 'r done. Again, clearly scheduled, reviews cover everything that will be on the test, you grade tests and call it good. Those are the only things I have personal experience with that I consider to be solid get 'r done, scheduled, easy to manage, and complete. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Those of my friends who do get'r done high school are all using American School. The kids say it is easy, just dry and boring. I have no personal experience with the curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 (edited) .... Edited June 22, 2016 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 So, easy to schedule, get r done, etc for a highschool student. I know...not ideal. At all. But probably the best we can do. It's better than a hell of a lot of kids will get. I admire your tenacity and hope you find something that works. If your son doesn't like Rosetta Stone (I cannot recommend it, but I agree it's a get-r-done thing, which is why the military pays for it for its soldiers)--Assimile is an excellent program. I used it to learn Persian and improve my French and I highly recommend it. It's much better than Rosetta Stone IMO especially as it's written. http://www.languagequest.com/product.php?prodCode=ARCD&lang=Russian&gclid=CJb57ojFucgCFYaTfgodsA0K0Q He likes coding, right? Coding + Russian = Lots of fun on the net. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 I need the same type of stuff, so I buy programs that have a teacher resource CD with quizzes, tests, worksheets, etc. Each day my son does the next lesson, I correct it and go over it with him, and then he takes the pre-made quizzes and tests at the appropriate times. We do this with science and math very successfully. I am switching over to that approach for literature (gasp!) because I found one program I like that has great teacher support. Rainbow Resource has started selling homeschool bundles for Prentice Hall math & Holt science. Holt has excellent "teacher one-stop" CD-ROMs that have all of the printables on them, though I think their newest editions come with a code for online access to that stuff. I've bought the components for literature, math, civics, health, psychology & sociology, etc. via Amazon too. I'm narrowing down my choices for world geography right now. I have absolutely no guilt about this approach. I know our coverage is thorough, and since I grade and discuss everything, I am still plenty involved. http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?subject=Science/11&category=Holt%2FMcDougal+High+School+Science+%28Gr.+9-12%29/10945 http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?subject=Curriculum/2&category=Prentice-+Hall+High+School+Math/7705 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Yeah, I'd just have him read, do the questions, and take the tests. I almost went with their American History one for this year, but it wasn't ready yet when I was buying so went with Bookshark 8 which I'm kind of regretting. No output. But I will add the tests from Hewitt, but that's only one per book. Basically one a month. I suppose I could switch. But he likes the Hakim books, so I think I'll keep doing it. Maybe I'll have him answer the discussion questions in the notes in writing. That's an idea. Wouldn't take me long each week to type them out. When they FINALLY get us access to the online IG, then we will be able to just C&P the questions from the guide into a Word doc. I will be having my son type his answers each day once that is available. We use Essentials in Writing, and I have my son choose a history topic for his papers. He just wrote a compare/contrast paper about the Federalists and Republicans. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Output for history can be other things, such as: Taking Cornell notes daily on his readings (he learns good study habits, you don't have to type out questions, less back and forth) Writing weekly summaries (1-2 paragraphs on a reading or let him do half a page on a person or event he's interested in) 1 page projects (as often as you feel good--let him read in other books and online for that day's history, and write a page up the next day or for that day's writing assignment/English). Research projects (a topic he wants to delve into more deeply that he researches and writes on over a course of weeks). Just some ideas if you don't want to give up SL. I did Notgrass US history with my second child (who I didn't think would like Hakim, and I knew wouldn't like the core 100 notes...overkill!) It definitely is "Get-er-done." I was unimpressed. Maybe the world one is better. I do like their Government and will use that again. We did notes/casual writings and more formal writings as described above for all our histories, and studied what we wanted (loosely based on Sonlight but more eclectic, and not the volume of reading). Really like Essentials in Writing for teaching writing. And it gets done too :-). Doing Apologia Physics right now--my daughter is really enjoying it. I don't know physics at all, so if she gets something wrong, I have her read the answer key with all the reasoning and ask if that makes sense to her. Thankfully it has so far! If not...I'll be calling or posting online for help, LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted October 11, 2015 Author Share Posted October 11, 2015 UPDATE! : Never mind, ignore my ditherings over history. He REALLY wants to stay with Hakim for history. He suggested on his own taking notes and showing them to me daily, and he will take the Hewitt Tests. He says the books are really interesting and he doesn't want to change. I agreed, but if it becomes an issue I'll change despite him not liking it, and he knows that now. We will stick with Power in Your Hands for writing and I'll look up study guide questions for Literature. Thanks all! Foreign Language is actually covered, we outsourced that and are happy with it. His teacher keeps on top of him AND copies me on all emails, so I know he's getting it done. And at $55 a month I can afford it. He'll do Latin 1 this year, Latin 2 next year, and then if he switches to another language we will deal with that then, but I Imagine he'll dual enroll for it. I need objective things to grade. This KILLS me. I KNOW he'd learn more in other ways, or at least I think one should learn more. But....if I can't trust him to get the work done well I need an objective way to keep him on track. I'm going to talk today with him, and lay it out there. So far, he IS doing the readings in Hakim, most of the time. Then if we both remember we do the discussion questions orally. But he forgets a LOT of details when we are discussing. I suppose the tests from Hewitt would be enough output to have to put in a portfolio, but it's designed for Jr High. I'm starting to question this whole plan. Catholic Textbook option is a regular textbook, we've used them before. He answers questions at the end of the chapter (this time I'll make him use complete sentences!, then has a quiz once a week....at least that is how it worked before.) I have to type up the tests, they are not premade but there are sample test questions in the teacher manual. You just can't copy and paste them, so I have to retype them all. We'd continue to use the Power In You Hands for writing, I imagine and lit...sigh. I'm just having him read books. Again, how do I grade that? I LOVE most of the books he's going to be reading...(sonlight core 430, with a few books switched out), but there is no lit analysis at all really. I could try to find study guide type questions for each book, do one book a month, and call it good....? Or do Catholic Textbooks and switch to Excellince in Literature, which may overwhelm him honestly, it's SO much. It's a lot more than we've been doing. But would cover all of English. Or if we do Notgrass, which isn't the best and skews mroe right wing than we are, he'd have the review questions built in (I'd get the Student review packet), quizzes, and tests. And projects. I don't love the reading list as much, but it's not a bad one I don't think, and there are lit questions built into the student review he'd be doing. It would cover all our bases, and has a research paper scheduled which he's never done (I know....not good). I'm REAL close to just ordering it. He'd read some original sources, some poetry, some speeches, get an overview of history, do some projects and writing assignments, and have lots tograde. At the end of the year I may switch out the last two books as I know he's read To Kill A Mockingbird, and I THINK he read The Giver last year. Maybe throw two of my favorites there instead, unless he wants to reread them. So,I guess Catholic Textbooks Lands of HOpe and Promise with Excellence in Literature, OR Notgrass Exploring America covering both history and english. Which for a reluctant student? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almondbutterandjelly Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Seton Books has an American Literature book, World Literature, Poetry and Prose of England, and a High School Grammar. They are from a Catholic perspective and very get'er done. They also have some history books, with accompanying workbooks. Christ and the Americas is American history with a workbook. Christ the King Lord of History is a world history book with a workbook. Just something you might want to check out. I am Protestant, former Catholic, and I adore their High School Grammar and also their Composition book. Straightforward, get'er done, but thorough. I'm toying with their history and literature but have not taken the plunge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted October 11, 2015 Author Share Posted October 11, 2015 Seton Books has an American Literature book, World Literature, Poetry and Prose of England, and a High School Grammar. They are from a Catholic perspective and very get'er done. They also have some history books, with accompanying workbooks. Christ and the Americas is American history with a workbook. Christ the King Lord of History is a world history book with a workbook. Just something you might want to check out. I am Protestant, former Catholic, and I adore their High School Grammar and also their Composition book. Straightforward, get'er done, but thorough. I'm toying with their history and literature but have not taken the plunge. Will go look, thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted October 11, 2015 Author Share Posted October 11, 2015 How about Lightening Lit? Seems pretty open and go? They have an American one that's a semester long, we could start it, and still have time for a few other favorites I'd like to throw in . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenn121 Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 We are using Lightening lit for 9th. Starting with Early to Mid. \They are pretty open and go and there are gradeable comp questions and papers. It is designed to be used as a semester long course but the syllabus has an option for a full year as well. We like it. Well, I like it. DD14 is having a hard time adjusting to the greater responsiblities of HS. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 We are using Lightening lit for 9th. Starting with Early to Mid. \They are pretty open and go and there are gradeable comp questions and papers. It is designed to be used as a semester long course but the syllabus has an option for a full year as well. We like it. Well, I like it. DD14 is having a hard time adjusting to the greater responsiblities of HS. :( Thank you! I ended up getting the mid-late as I thought he'd enjoy it more, and I think I'll just add on the Scarlett Letter on our own, and some Poe short stories. Maybe in December when we tend to go light, or at the end of the year. Until it gets here he can finish up A Separate Peace and keep working in The Power in Your Hands. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 And...we're switching to Apologia Biology. He did not do well on his first Kolbe test, and it doesn't hand hold enough. He was overwhelmed, with the test covering 5 chapters of Miller Levine at once. I never thought I'd be using Apologia, but we can add to it a bit, and he already doesn't like bio, so again, get r done is better than rigorous but not done or rigorous and failed. That puts us at: TT Geometry Apologia Biology Bookshark History with Hakim tests (if he does poorly on that today I'll switch to Catholic Textbook Project or Notgrass something with weekly quizzes/tests) Lightening Lit Wordly Wise Latin 1 Henle with online class Linux Programming class dual enrollment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 And...he bombed the history test. A 65%. And missed stuff he should have known YEARS ago. Like the Mayflower Compact, Pilgrims, etc. Not lying. Dear heavens. I just ordered Notgrass. We will do the history, but use Lightening Lit for literature. Got the student review pack so he will have questions to answer for homework, plus a weekly quiz and some tests. He needs the constant feedback or he blows it off. I'm sorry in a way, as he enjoyed reading Hakim, but he's retaining almost nothing. I'd have gone with Catholic Textbook project but it's more dense, and at this point, mediocre history he remembers is better than great history I can't drag him through. Don't let perfect be the enemy of the good and all that jazz. Sigh. Once again a reminder to me that this kid is a textbook kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 :grouphug: That's very frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 :grouphug: I totally understand. My kid is definitely a textbook kid too. I hope your new stuff doesn't set you too far behind schedule, if you have to keep one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted October 13, 2015 Author Share Posted October 13, 2015 :grouphug: I totally understand. My kid is definitely a textbook kid too. I hope your new stuff doesn't set you too far behind schedule, if you have to keep one. thanks. We'll manage somehow. The lit won't be a problem, I am getting only one semester worth then will add anotehr book or two, plus what we've already done. The history is 30 weeks not 36, so that gives us some leeway, and biolgy is I think 32 weeks? But we won't use their chapter on evolution, we will use materials I'll put together instead, that can be done quickly. He's fairly well versed in it already from documentaries and discussions we've had. If we have to go into the summer a bit, well, we have to. I'd hoped I could skip over the stuff we've already covered this year but he really can't, as he didn't learn it the first time around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 And...he bombed the history test. A 65%. And missed stuff he should have known YEARS ago. Like the Mayflower Compact, Pilgrims, etc. Not lying. Dear heavens. I just ordered Notgrass. We will do the history, but use Lightening Lit for literature. Got the student review pack so he will have questions to answer for homework, plus a weekly quiz and some tests. He needs the constant feedback or he blows it off. I'm sorry in a way, as he enjoyed reading Hakim, but he's retaining almost nothing. I'd have gone with Catholic Textbook project but it's more dense, and at this point, mediocre history he remembers is better than great history I can't drag him through. Don't let perfect be the enemy of the good and all that jazz. Sigh. Once again a reminder to me that this kid is a textbook kid. I'm not an expert and you didn't ask, but that could be an ASD thing. It's all naming for the history. Does he have the *concepts* but not the names? I'd leave him alone. He's probably not going to learn history well no matter WHAT curriculum you use, so he might as well at least be reading something he finds engaging. I would supplement it with *1* book (for the year) on something he finds interesting and wants to rabbit trail. Then try for some output on that one book, one topic, like maybe making a 5-7 minute video exploring a controversy surrounding it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted October 13, 2015 Author Share Posted October 13, 2015 I'm not an expert and you didn't ask, but that could be an ASD thing. It's all naming for the history. Does he have the *concepts* but not the names? I'd leave him alone. He's probably not going to learn history well no matter WHAT curriculum you use, so he might as well at least be reading something he finds engaging. I would supplement it with *1* book (for the year) on something he finds interesting and wants to rabbit trail. Then try for some output on that one book, one topic, like maybe making a 5-7 minute video exploring a controversy surrounding it. It's more than just the names. It's whole events.He did much much better when we had a program that had questions where he had to stop and write down the answers, then could review those later for a quiz or test. He has trouble pulling out what the important elements are otherwise. I'm not saying that he will get all the names and dates right, but he'll at least kind of remember stuff. I'm looking for culturally literate here, not trivia king. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Is he doing anything with the questions in the student guide? I would have him type up his answers to those in complete sentences each day and review them periodically. I would also look ahead at the Hewitt tests and make sure he is studying the info he's going to be tested on. It's a ton of material for one test. I am starting to require my son to type up answers because he isn't well enough prepared when we do our discussions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 Is he doing anything with the questions in the student guide? I would have him type up his answers to those in complete sentences each day and review them periodically. I would also look ahead at the Hewitt tests and make sure he is studying the info he's going to be tested on. It's a ton of material for one test. I am starting to require my son to type up answers because he isn't well enough prepared when we do our discussions. No. We do the discussion questions orally, and he struggles with that. Doing questions in writing would help, so he would take the time to sit and search out the answers again. And yeah, it was too much material for him for a test at this point. Notgrass will be delivered by the end of the week, and we'll see if that goes better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 He did much much better when we had a program that had questions where he had to stop and write down the answers, then could review those later for a quiz or test. He has trouble pulling out what the important elements are otherwise. I'm not saying that he will get all the names and dates right, but he'll at least kind of remember stuff. I'm looking for culturally literate here, not trivia king. For future reference if you need it, Smarr Literature guides work like this. They have 4 vocabulary words to look up and fill in the blank, 8-10 recall questions, and a couple of short essay topics for each book of the Iliad and Odyssey. I've only used the ancient lit stuff so I don't know how they break down more modern works. They have a free sample short story unit here: http://www.smarrpublishers.com/moodle/course/view.php?id=52 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.