Gil Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 (edited) Here's a fun challenge: If you were going to do high school in house (no outsourcing) and without the internet, how would you do it? ETA: Keep in mind that just because you don't have internet access at home doesn't mean that you can't use resources that you've downloaded in advance, such as YouTube videos, TED talks, TED-ed lessons, eBooks/PDFs, images/diagrams, mp3s, etc. It doesn't mean you can't buy DVDs or books or take advantage of local community tutoring or personal connections. It doesn't mean you can't request something via Inter Library Loan, and it doesn't mean you can't make use of OpenSource (legally free) software or even a few commercial software applications. It doesn't mean that you can't use DVDs Edited February 8, 2016 by Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in VA Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 What is the reason for not using the Internet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gil Posted February 8, 2016 Author Share Posted February 8, 2016 What is the reason for not using the Internet? Not having internet access. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenneinCA Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 What do you already have and what do the supervising adults know? (I didn't need to outsource math or physics because I could do those myself with a good textbook. I did need to outsource foreign language, English and history because I don't have enough subject knowledge to do those well even with a good textbook.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad S Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 We don't use the internet much for schooling ourselves nor outsource much; for us, the internet is a distraction as much as anything for schooling. DS does find a lot of useful stuff himself on the internet, but in his free time. Your question is so broad, that the answer is almost "read the WTM boards," but broadly I'd follow the WTM book for social studies and English, and then find something in math and science (and other subjects) described on the boards that works well for you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristie in Florida Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Does having a tutor who is helping out from the goodness of his heart count as outsourcing? Our Latin tutor is a dear friend and he is spoiling us. But this challenge is our reality so I'm thinking about it. My daughter hates to do school online and we have a budget that makes me want to cry. The current plan is that we will continue with the wtm plan but do "something else" for science. I just don't know what "something else" is yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gil Posted February 8, 2016 Author Share Posted February 8, 2016 (edited) Let's see...I hate to give additional parameters because I don't want to bar any-ones suggestions because they "don't fit" some of the specifications. Keep in mind that just because you don't have internet access at home doesn't mean that you can't use resources that you've downloaded in advance, such as YouTube videos, TED talks, TED-ed lessons, eBooks/PDFs, images/diagrams, mp3s, etc. It doesn't mean you can't buy used books or take advantage of local community tutoring or personal connections. It doesn't mean you can't request something via Inter Library Loan, and it doesn't mean you can't make use of OpenSource (legally free) software or even a few commercial software applications. So, lets say you were stocking up on physical and digital resources to use for a high school level course in any or all of the following areas: English English Grammar/Composition English Literature English Creative Writing Social Sciences No idea what courses could go here but I think we're supposed to do 3 or 4. Financial/Business Education Macro-Economics Micro-Economics Personal Finance Accounting/Book Keeping Entrepreneurship Investing / Stock-Market World Languages German (from the beginning) Japanese (from the beginning) Spanish (intermediate and advance resources only) Health (approximate courses) Physical Health Nutrition/Cooking Science Physical Science Biology Chemistry Physics Math Statistics Calculus Discrete Math topics History World History African History European History United States History Art Traditional 2D art Computer art Animation Electives Pick something that you or your kids think is interesting, useful or fun. Or something that others think is interesting, useful or fun, whether you care for it or not. Edited February 8, 2016 by Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gil Posted February 8, 2016 Author Share Posted February 8, 2016 Does having a tutor who is helping out of the goodness of his heart count as outsourcing? Our Latin tutor is a dear friend and he is spoiling us. But this challenge is our reality so I'm thinking about it. My daughter hates to do school online and we have a budget that makes me want to cry. The current plan is that we will continue with the wtm plan but do "something else" for science. I just don't know what "something else" is yet. Of course not. There is nothing wrong with using personal connections, local opportunities or niche resources. We have a MeetUp group in our city that we use. We no longer need the internet to keep with that group because I can call or text the members directly and ask about the meetings. Our library has a free tutoring program for K-12--we don't use it because we don't need it, but if we ever needed it, we'd use it. We have very few "educational/enrichment" destinations in our area, but I don't expect others to ignore them if they do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gil Posted February 8, 2016 Author Share Posted February 8, 2016 (edited) We don't use the internet much for schooling ourselves nor outsource much; for us, the internet is a distraction as much as anything for schooling. DS does find a lot of useful stuff himself on the internet, but in his free time. Your question is so broad, that the answer is almost "read the WTM boards," but broadly I'd follow the WTM book for social studies and English, and then find something in math and science (and other subjects) described on the boards that works well for you. :iagree: , we've got the same thing here. Edited February 8, 2016 by Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristie in Florida Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 I love threads like these. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 We don't use the internet much for school per se - i.e. no online courses, no online textbooks, no applets for studying etc. Our materials for hs were/are: English: books and TC lectures Math: AoPS textbooks Science: Intro college textbooks History: Intro college text as spine + TC lectures Foreign language: Textbook+workbooks+audio CDs - but this will plateau eventually and will need outsourcing to a fluent teacher to achieve adequate progress. You can get TC lectures on CD, but also as downloads from audible and don't need an active internet connection to listen. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 If I lived in a state with free virtual access to AP courses, I would be taking advantage. The library computers are usually available in the morning, before school is out and before the homeless arrive, so I would be using them for internet access. Otherwise, I would reach for textbooks and download original sources..I found it easy to find many that I used in high school. Do realize that college prep high school students are expected to know how to use the library online dbs to research and write papers....9th is the last year of how-to instruction. Wow, there are states that have that? We are living in the wrong state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 We didn't use a lot of Internet sources for full credits. We're techie people and on the Internet enough. :coolgleamA: We used a lot of real books, textbooks for math, various things for science - HHMI has free educational biology CDs (secular). I don't have time to list actual resources, but it could be done and not sacrifice quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 I can't rely on our internet...It always seems to quit when I most need it! We have the best plan for our area (without spending $100+ dollars per month), but I still can't depend on it for school. I use it for some enrichment things, but I made sure our curriculum doesn't rely on it. We've only had a few issues with it not working at all, but at times streaming isn't possible, so I'd be very hesitant to do any outsourcing. We'll be using some DVD based programs because of this (and of course texts or written books are fine). PDFs or e-books that I can pre-download are fine too. I even converted some Youtube videos to MP3 files for the AO Folksong selections just-in-case we didn't have access when folksongs were scheduled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 We don't really use the Internet for school. I don't tend to spend much on curriculum. Probably the most I've spent was on IEW, but with that it can be used for multiple years so overall it wasn't really more than I usually spend. If I had to school on a very tight budget, we'd probably use the library more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristie in Florida Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 I live in a college town and could get textbooks cheap. I just don't know what to assign. She would read it and then what? Labs? I worry about science the most. My library has some TC courses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest2 Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 I'll play. Can you use DVDs? English Lit...our home or public library. i prefer to start with modern texts, then go backward in history as my kids were more ready for the ancients in 12 than in 9th. I'd use teaching guides for discussion helps and some tc lectures. Grammar: I might use Analytical grammar for a year if needed. If you don't already have that, i wouldn't buy it new. Maybe use writing guides, or SAT gammar helps. History, I would use great books, or living books and a text , depending on the student. I would look for local resources , reenactments, museums, dvds. Math: used copies of Saxon( if you like it) for a few pennies and buy/borrow the DVD if needed. Ebay video text Algebra can get you a good price. I have never used AOPS, but think it sounds great. Life of Fred. I guess I would try to figure out what our goals were for each course . Then I would work backward using the library, and interlibrary loan,as well as practical hands on resources to achieve the learning goal. I love Texas in that I can request items ( limit of 20) for free . Interlibrary loan is free. In CA that was not the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storygirl Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 DD14 is technically still an eighth grader, but she is doing high school work this year. We really don't use the internet, except to occasionally look up a fact or some background information about a topic. We have not outsourced any subject and don't have a plan to, though that may change as we go along. We simply researched curriculum providers and selected materials that would work for her level and abilities. We use a combination of textbooks, workbooks, teacher's guides, and literature. We either buy the books we need or get them from the library. Until this year, I did all of the teaching, but now DH is helping. He oversees math, science, and Spanish (just an introduction this year, not a full credit yet). I oversee language arts, history, electives. DD does the bulk of the work on her own, but we supervise and provide needed instruction. We haven't found the internet to be essential, but we don't use a lot of digital resources. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73349 Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 I could teach four years of English with books already in my house, but I would want to select some novels from the library or bookstore also. For history, science, math, and foreign language, I'd use library computers to select and order used textbooks. I'm not sure what we would do about art. Maybe just drawing. I'd also use the library's internet to sign up for the PSAT/SAT/ACT. Our library carries test prep books we could check out. The ACT meets my state's annual testing requirement. Until the '90s, everybody did high school without the internet. I'm old enough that it doesn't sound like that much of a challenge, I guess. :) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Do you have a dvd player in this scenario? Are the kids neurotypical without learning disabilities? How low of a budget are we talking? Animation particularly gets tricky without internet access.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justasque Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 If they're bright kids (and OP I remember that yours are, yes?), I'd keep in mind that many universities offer good summer programs; some are for a bit of college credit, some are more of a DE situation, and some aren't designed to be a full course but could easily be used as a large component of one. Some of these are residential, giving the added benefit that you don't have to live nearby and the student gets some experience living on a college campus (which can really help them to have a sense of what they're looking for when they have to choose where they will go to college). In addition, programs like JHU-CTY offer residential summer programs for bright kids. Not all of these programs offer financial aid, but many of them do. (JHU-CTY also offers a variety of high school programs during the regular school year - do take a look at it as it might be useful.)Summer programs can supplement a curriculum, allow a student to explore a topic of interest with enthusiastic peers, and beef up a college application. I have found excellent ones just by choosing a few colleges, and searching their websites for "summer high school" to find what they have to offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 I'll be at the library every day from opening time (10am) until closing time (9pm) with packed meals from home. We actually did that when hubby's office was opposite a library. What hubby and I did was to go to library book sales that have free books to give away. I picked up older editions of calculus, physics, chemistry, biology, german, french and dictionaries. For literature and history we borrow from the library or read there. We are out of space at home so we don't keep many books. Many psychology and philosophy books in the library too. Every textbook subject can be covered with library materials if you do an inventory of what is in the reference section. Only hands on subjects like technical workshop you would have to do at home or look for a MakerSpace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Let's see...I hate to give additional parameters because I don't want to bar any-ones suggestions because they "don't fit" some of the specifications. Keep in mind that just because you don't have internet access at home doesn't mean that you can't use resources that you've downloaded in advance, such as YouTube videos, TED talks, TED-ed lessons, eBooks/PDFs, images/diagrams, mp3s, etc. It doesn't mean you can't buy used books or take advantage of local community tutoring or personal connections. It doesn't mean you can't request something via Inter Library Loan, and it doesn't mean you can't make use of OpenSource (legally free) software or even a few commercial software applications. So, lets say you were stocking up on physical and digital resources to use for a high school level course in any or all of the following areas: English English Grammar/Composition English Literature - Excellence in Lit. English Creative Writing - NaNoWrMo (I know the resources need to be downloaded, but they are small and you can get them in advance. Social Sciences US History (2 years) - America Past and Present (college level texts) plus some library books/videos Psychology - Psychology by Meyers (available in AP or college level) Our plans from world history and government don't translate well to your specifications, but I'd probably pick up cheap textbooks and add. World Languages Japanese (from the beginning) - We used Irasshai. It was inexpensive if you watch the videos online. I think you can buy them as a DVD set, but I don't know the price. Science - Physical Science - PH Physical Science Concepts in Action (not overly expensive used) Biology - M/L Biology (not overly expensive used) Math Statistics The Practice of Statistics I really liked this text but I don't know if we'd have made it through without Professor RobBob on YouTube History See Social Sciences - its the same thing. Electives We did forensic Science, Athletic Training, Anatomy and Physiology, Creative Writing (OYAN) and I can't even remember what else. OYAN was expensive, but most of our electives based out of a text book and added library and hands on activities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Here's a fun challenge: If you were going to do high school in house (no outsourcing) and without the internet, how would you do it? ETA: Keep in mind that just because you don't have internet access at home doesn't mean that you can't use resources that you've downloaded in advance, such as YouTube videos, TED talks, TED-ed lessons, eBooks/PDFs, images/diagrams, mp3s, etc. It doesn't mean you can't buy DVDs or books or take advantage of local community tutoring or personal connections. It doesn't mean you can't request something via Inter Library Loan, and it doesn't mean you can't make use of OpenSource (legally free) software or even a few commercial software applications. It doesn't mean that you can't use DVDs Sounds pretty much like our situation due to such slow internet connection that we effectively don't have it at home. Ds uses computer at library usually at least once often more times per week, and as you say, can download in advance. Don't know if you can afford Netflix, but it has been a big help to us for DVD documentaries. Audible has been a big help too, including being able to get some Great Courses on it. And then there are books of course, which can be much less expensive, especially for text books, if bought used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Older edition textbooks purchased cheaply on Amazon. Library copies of The Great Courses for lectures on same topics, as desired. Trading instruction in areas of expertise with other homeschoolers - you teach x and they teach y 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 To stay within budget I'd do subjects that can easily be used by multiple children either at the same time or in later grades. I'd buy used and I'd buy things that have a high resale value, like IEW or TGC DVDs. For things that have the PDF option I'd only purchase it if it was a huge discount or if the paper copy had a low resale value. I'd try to beef up courses like history and Science with free or cheap resources from the library(they often have TGC and Documentaries), I'd do a library day at least 1X per week to watch YouTube Documentaries and do research. Check out Belltower books for $1 shipping. Honestly we've done the severe budget thing and I am soooo looking forward to having a bit more wiggle room in the future. It can be done but it's hard and takes a lot of planning to do it right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 (edited) Let's see...I hate to give additional parameters because I don't want to bar any-ones suggestions because they "don't fit" some of the specifications. Keep in mind that just because you don't have internet access at home doesn't mean that you can't use resources that you've downloaded in advance, such as YouTube videos, TED talks, TED-ed lessons, eBooks/PDFs, images/diagrams, mp3s, etc. It doesn't mean you can't buy used books or take advantage of local community tutoring or personal connections. It doesn't mean you can't request something via Inter Library Loan, and it doesn't mean you can't make use of OpenSource (legally free) software or even a few commercial software applications. So, lets say you were stocking up on physical and digital resources to use for a high school level course in any or all of the following areas: English English Grammar/Composition English Literature English Creative Writing Social Sciences No idea what courses could go here but I think we're supposed to do 3 or 4. Financial/Business Education Macro-Economics Micro-Economics Personal Finance Accounting/Book Keeping Entrepreneurship Investing / Stock-Market World Languages German (from the beginning) Japanese (from the beginning) Spanish (intermediate and advance resources only) Health (approximate courses) Physical Health Nutrition/Cooking Science Physical Science Biology Chemistry Physics Math Statistics Calculus Discrete Math topics History World History African History European History United States History Art Traditional 2D art Computer art Animation Electives Pick something that you or your kids think is interesting, useful or fun. Or something that others think is interesting, useful or fun, whether you care for it or not. English: I would dump this squarely on my husband. He can make use of his master's degree and all those books cluttering up our house. Social sciences and history: If they were interested, I would run my kids through some Anthropology 101, using some good ethnographies and a few critical pieces. We would probably do a social and environmental justice unit--I have books on hand we could use for that, along with downloading TED talks and watching documentaries. We would do U.S. History with materials downloaded from the Zinnedproject.org at our local library. We could round it out with research projects on topics of the child's choice, with a weekly research trip to the local public library. Writing and other presentations could be done on OpenOffice. Art: We would probably count our hobby stuff, emphasis on historical costuming. But also we would take advantage of community classes readily available near our home (at the arts center next door to the library). For science, we would probably do anatomy and physiology using some outdated textbooks and a few up-to-date materials, because those books are on my shelf from college. We could likewise do a non-math-intensive physics course using books sitting on the shelf. Darwin would be read, and discussed, and understood, as well as a few other classic pieces on biology, ecology (Rachel Carson's Silent Spring comes to mind), etc. We would do some hands on projects and I might use state standards to round out biology topics--maybe one of those biology coloring books. Food science could also be readily taught at home (again, I would outsource to my husband, who still has books from culinary school sitting on the shelf). For maths, Life of Fred. For foreign language, Rosetta Stone. I don't think we would get far doing much chemistry, unless there was some child-led interest there. Overall, I would emphasize sharing the things that I have learned that impacted me and the way I think, and encourage individual exploration and "diving deep" in topics of strongest interest to my kids. Overarching emphasis would be on learning how to research to learn what you want or need to learn, how to write well, and the math skills needed to go on to whatever next level the student was aiming for beyond high school, along with being reasonably well-rounded human beings who can both rise to a challenge and work hard, and hopefully find the joy in doing so. Edited February 9, 2016 by Ravin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Older edition textbooks purchased cheaply on Amazon. Library copies of The Great Courses for lectures on same topics, as desired. Trading instruction in areas of expertise with other homeschoolers - you teach x and they teach y Speaking of which.... I recently came across a company that puts together used textbook packages (including TMs and answer keys) for homeschoolers. These are used and older edition books. In case anyone is interested: http://www.thebackpack.com/homeschool_curriculum_packages.htm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dereksurfs Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 (edited) Here's a fun challenge: If you were going to do high school in house (no outsourcing) and without the internet, how would you do it? ETA: Keep in mind that just because you don't have internet access at home doesn't mean that you can't use resources that you've downloaded in advance, such as YouTube videos, TED talks, TED-ed lessons, eBooks/PDFs, images/diagrams, mp3s, etc. It doesn't mean you can't buy DVDs or books or take advantage of local community tutoring or personal connections. It doesn't mean you can't request something via Inter Library Loan, and it doesn't mean you can't make use of OpenSource (legally free) software or even a few commercial software applications. It doesn't mean that you can't use DVDs Out of curiosity, I'm wondering why? Is it mainly because these are not available (e.g. poor internet) or instead out of preference? One of the reasons I ask is that for homeschool families in our area who do not like to use the internet as much (sometimes personal reasons), they use free dual enrollment courses at our local CC. Of course, that is not for everyone either. Do you have any CC or other courses available? We use both, so its kinda hard to imagine eliminating them entirely. If we didn't have internet, we would use the CC for more classes, especially for science with labs and advanced mathematics courses. If we didn't have the CC, we'd use more online classes. I have no idea what we'd do without both to be perfectly honest. I'm not sure we could/would do it, though obviously many do. I would most likely pay a lot more to get better internet service somehow like a friend of mine does on his ranch. But, I also need it for work as well school and other things. So, internet is more of a necessity than an option for us. Edited February 9, 2016 by dereksurfs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Togo Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 (edited) Robinson curriculum with Saxon a library card Latin ideas from WTM Edited February 9, 2016 by 1Togo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lllll Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 (edited) nm Edited February 13, 2016 by - 8 95 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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