Need some HS advising -- 9th grade

[bluedarling]

dd15 was in public school 8th grade this year (homeschooled until this year) and is returning to homeschool. Her plan is to do 2 years at home, and then move to full-time dual enrollment.  Her eventual goal is vet school.   In homeschool previously, dd struggled (especially in content areas and writing.)  When she got to ps, the other kids didn't even try, and my daughter excelled by comparison because she did the assignments!   The school has her slotted for AP classes next year (a shocker when everything at home had been such a struggle).   They slotted AP Environmental Sci, AP Human Geography, Geometry, Honors English 1, Spanish 1, and PE/Health.   Dd says at home she doesn't care about the AP classes, so long as she is ready for community college in two years.  So here is our plan....but I'm wondering if its enough rigor to prepare her for her eventual goal of vet school?  I feel like the public school was doing more for her educationally than I plan to?  (but she wants to come home due to the rough environment...language and distractions.)  She likes this plan:

 

Lightning Lit Amer Mid-Late + British Early-Mid  (she selected based on interest)  Also Wordly Wise, Grammar for Middle School (2nd attempt), Write Now (h/w still a struggle)

Lial's Intermediate Algebra (because we have it and she wants to delay geometry...she LOVES algebra!)  *I'm concerned because this didn't work for her brothers.

Notgrass Government + ?not sure 2nd semester, maybe Finance  (she hates all soc. studies, but thought I would take advantage of election year)

Biology (outside class with Apologia text...no worries about rigor here)

Then giving her freedom with elective credits (counting hours, req total of 7.5 hours/week):  PE, Spanish, Work Experience (she's hoping to find a job), Home Economics (she wants to learn to sew), etc.  She could also finish First Form Latin started last year? (she wouldn't choose that, though.)

 

*Foreign Language has also been a struggle for her due to memorization difficulty.  If she takes 2 years to get through a one-year credit, I'm OK with that, then she can take Spanish during dual-enrollment.

 

Thoughts?   I will gone at least 50% of the school day (maybe more) at school myself, so everything must be doable independently.

 

 

 

[GoodGrief]

Is the Intermediate Algebra equivalent to Algebra 2? And she will do Geometry next year? She will want a solid math and science foundation, for sure.

 

The language arts sounds like a lot of different things going on. I'm not so familiar with all those programs, but I tend to like simplicity. If you could find one program with a strong emphasis on writing skills, it might feel a little less overwhelming.

 

Could she do foreign language in a laid back setting with a tutor? If it is a struggle for her, it might be a better bet than dual enrollment. I am very cautious with dual enrollment choices, because you really have little ability to tweak/customize the learning to the student in that situation.

 

We did government in 9th grade and used the Thinkwell program. I don't think it is exciting, but it is simple :-) We added in some community opportunities.

[bluedarling]

Is the Intermediate Algebra equivalent to Algebra 2? And she will do Geometry next year? She will want a solid math and science foundation, for sure.

 

The language arts sounds like a lot of different things going on. I'm not so familiar with all those programs, but I tend to like simplicity. If you could find one program with a strong emphasis on writing skills, it might feel a little less overwhelming.

 

Could she do foreign language in a laid back setting with a tutor? If it is a struggle for her, it might be a better bet than dual enrollment. I am very cautious with dual enrollment choices, because you really have little ability to tweak/customize the learning to the student in that situation.

 

We did government in 9th grade and used the Thinkwell program. I don't think it is exciting, but it is simple :-) We added in some community opportunities.

 

Yes, intermediate algebra is equivalent to algebra 2, and she will then do Geometry next year.

She could do foreign language with a tutor...we currently use a French tutor for her brother, but I was hoping to not have to continue to pay a tutor.   I did offer her an outside English class and she declined.  We also discussed that if she studied French, her brothers could help.  She's open to that, but has wanted to learn Spanish for some time.  Anyway, I suppose I'd like her to try being independent and use a tutor if it becomes necessary.

[daijobu]

I don't know much about vet school, but I hear admission is quite competitive.  You may want to get in touch with vets and vet students to get the story on preparing for admissions.  Good luck!