NOW I'm freaking out.

[Carrie12345]

(Mostly venting so I don't go full-blown lunatic IRL, but also open to responses.)

 

My lovely daughter wants to do every non-core option that exists in the entire world.  And I want to feed her enthusiasm and excitement.  This is why we do this!!! But she hasn't (yet) shown me that she is truly capable of juggling heavy workloads.  My own time management skills are rather lacking, and I have 3 other students (and 3 co-op classes) to oversee.  And yet, I have no idea what to tell her she shouldn't/can't/doesn't (or should/can/will) have to do.

 

If she were to do everything she wants to do and everything I feel like she *has to do, this is what her 9th grade year would look like:

 

Co-op classes:

Public Speaking (120-150 hours of total work)

Lab Sciences (90-150 hours of total work)

Dance (some practice outside of 30 hours of class)

Human Geography (60-90 hours of co-op work, plus I was hoping to beef it to AP at home. I'm the co-op teacher!)

Theater (dependent on the role/s she gets)

 

Other elective/extracurriculars:

Envirothon competition, well over 120 hours worth of study, plus at least one 3-hr class/mo and other team meet ups, field work, etc.

Two softball teams, I won't even pretend to ballpark that time commitment

Junior Firefighter member meetings, events, training, and calls, possibly a week long camp; undefinable.  But her father will be in charge of most of that, not me.

 

Actual, basic, high school, homeschool courses:

Bio (capable of at least honors level understanding)

English (beginning lit analysis and hitting essay skills hard)

History (ancients)

Math (Alg I)

French I

 

And she wants to get a job, but that idea just makes me laugh.

 

I'm trying to see how in the world we can make it all (minus job) work.  Nix AP Geography?  Keep Bio standard CP (especially considering the lab course?)  Dare I drop the history cycle in favor of spreading US across multiple years???  Let her let her shrinking Little League team down in favor of the school team?

 

For whatever its worth, she's not in the "I know what I want to be when I grow up" camp.  She is interested in possibly going into the environmental sciences.  Her plan is to go to college, but none of us cares about elite rankings or intense competition to earn funds to reduce a $70k/yr tuition bill.  (Not that we'll scoff at anything she can achieve at any price point!)

 

Just a few weeks ago, I was so excited about planning next year!  Now I'm alternating between feeling like an evil, crazy tiger mom and a  "do whatever your widdle heart desires, honey bunny" cornflake.  I'm feeling adrift.

 

[regentrude]

I would see where there are doubles in the core subjects.

if she does lab science at coop, I would not do bio at home.

If she does Human geography as her social science credit this year, I would not do Ancients at home.

 

I would make sure to cover the five core subjects, but not double up, and then let her lose on the electives. Maybe she rises to the challenge, maybe you have to cut back - time will tell. As long as you plan for a solid core of math, English, science, social science and foreign language, nothing can go wrong.

[FaithManor]

Regentrude is right about doubling up. The other thing that helped me guide my two over achiever - I-want-to-do-everything-and-think-I-can- children was to show them a calendar, a planner that had break downs in 30 minute intervals. I went over how much time each week would be needed for all of those academics in order to maintain a good GPA, plus all of the extra-curricular activities, and made them schedule the drive time as well. I had them fill out those planners. Once they saw that it meant up too early, to bed too late, and little to no downtime, then they decided to prioritize and come up with a more reasonable list. They still did a lot, but it was a manageable "a lot". If she is college bound, just make sure you have a solid plan for the core - like Regentrude said, math, science, English and literature, history and foreign language, so that if she gets in over her head, it is simply okay to drop the things are too much without impacting her future college/vo-tech/career plans.

[Corraleno]

What is "Lab Sciences"? Do they combine labs for physics, chem, and bio? If so, could you get an Integrated Science text and use that for your 9th grade science credit?

 

I would also drop history, bump the Human Geo up to AP and have that as your 9th grade social science.

 

Then her 5 core courses would be Alg 1, English, AP Human Geo, Integrated Sciences, and French 1, plus Public Speaking as an elective. Then I would give her a choice of 3 or 4 (no more than 4!) from the list of ECs:
Dance

Theater

Envirothon

Softball Team 1

Softball Team 2

Junior Firefighter

 

A full course load plus 3-4 intensive ECs is a real stretch — any more than that and she's going to be really frazzled and won't be able to do her best at any of them.

 

ETA: Not that you need to be designing her schedule with college apps in mind, but colleges generally like to see continuity and commitment in ECs — they like to see activities that the student sticks with for several years, not just lots of one-off type activities. They also like to see areas where the student can demonstrate leadership. So you might keep that in mind in choosing ECs.

Edited April 20, 2016 by Corraleno

[regentrude]

On the other hand, some kids also seem to have an inexhaustible supply of energy and want to be on the go and involved in something all.the.time.

When my DD was homeschooled for high school, she took up to three classes per semester at the local 4 year university, had her homeschool coursework and managed to be involved in the English Honors Society, sing in the university choir, be an equestrian athlete, volunteer in the tutoring center for several hour each week, and still had time to hang out with her friends.

Last semester, at her college with the absolutely crazy work load, she petitioned to take an extra course beyond the regular allowed amount, worked as a TA for yet another class, was secretary of the Women in Physics Society, vice president of her house, co-director of a program that offers ACT tutoring for local kids, editor for the school newspaper, and sings in choir. I swear she must have found a way to make the day have 48 hours. It was only with a crazy schedule like this that she could make the valuable experience that one sometimes has to cut back and let go of something... before, it was always somehow manageable.

 

In the light of this, I would find it a good opportunity for your DD to make that experience earlier and to be forced to learn to say "no". Let her jump in, having the bases covered, and let her figure out where her limits are.

Edited April 20, 2016 by regentrude

[Carrie12345]

I think Regentrude gave some great advice. I would also point out to dd that finances arent inexhaustible. We all have to pick and choose what we want even as adults. We can't have it all at once. I also think that maxing the family out for one child isn't necessarily fair and could cause resentment. I would find a balance be it one or two electives and one or two extracurricular and not beat myself up. She can't follow every dream right now, and trying to do so would probably rob the enjoyment from them as she can't be "present" with everything. I would encourage the enthusiasm. Just try to contain it a little maybe! :)

 

The plus side is that a few of these things stretch across multiple kids.  They're all there for co-op, both girls do Envirothon (though they will be on separate teams next year), participate in theater together, and they will eventually be on the same softball team. Not that that helps so much *this coming year!  Gah!

 

What is "Lab Sciences"? Do they combine labs for physics, chem, and bio? If so, could you get an Integrated Science text and use that for your 9th grade science credit?

 

Yes, it stretches across physical science, bio, chem, and physics.  My only concern is that she does intend to do AP Environmental Science in 11th grade.  Though I probably shouldn't be concerned b/c of her background.

 

I would also drop history, bump the Human Geo up to AP and have that as your 9th grade social science.

 

I do think that's a good call.  It may take me a while to accept after planning this cycle since 2008, lol.

 

Then her 5 core courses would be Alg 1, English, AP Human Geo, Integrated Sciences, and French 1, plus Public Speaking as an elective. Then I would give her a choice of 3 or 4 (no more than 4!) from the list of ECs:

Dance

Theater

Envirothon

Softball Team 1

Softball Team 2

Junior Firefighter

 

A full course load plus 3-4 intensive ECs is a real stretch — any more than that and she's going to be really frazzled and won't be able to do her best at any of them.

 

ETA: Not that you need to be designing her schedule with college apps in mind, but colleges generally like to see continuity and commitment in ECs — they like to see activities that the student sticks with for several years, not just lots of one-off type activities. They also like to see areas where the student can demonstrate leadership. So you might keep that in mind in choosing ECs.

 

And that's another reason it's difficult to trim down.  Dance, meh.  But she's in love with theater, has done it for 2 years, and hopes to do 4 more.  She's on year 3 of Envirothon and has been gearing up for the official high school level from the beginning.  It's a G&T class in our local schools.  Softball, year... 5 or 6 now, and the school coach is recruiting hard.  The fire company would be new, but her background in our mountain woods would make her an excellent candidate for brush fires and search and rescue for a lifetime.  Man, I've got an awesome kid!  :D 

 

 

I knew I needed a heavy vent, but I didn't expect to feel THIS much better after doing so. <3

[Mom22ns]

I think if you drop down to one history and one science, that it is reasonable. That leaves her with 6 solid credits. Dance and Theater could be .5 credit each for a fine arts credit or they can stay as ECs. Her EC list is clearly following her own passions. 

 

I know plenty of kids in the local IB program who do 8 challenging credits, play multiple sports, and participate in theater and music. Some kids love being busy. Then again, some don't. Know yours and don't worry about any one else. Help her look at the hours/week she is committing and see if she really thinks she's up for it. 

 

I hope she has a great year!

[Corraleno]

I do think that's a good call.  It may take me a while to accept after planning this cycle since 2008, lol.

 

....

 

And that's another reason it's difficult to trim down.  Dance, meh.  But she's in love with theater, has done it for 2 years, and hopes to do 4 more.  She's on year 3 of Envirothon and has been gearing up for the official high school level from the beginning.  It's a G&T class in our local schools.  Softball, year... 5 or 6 now, and the school coach is recruiting hard.  The fire company would be new, but her background in our mountain woods would make her an excellent candidate for brush fires and search and rescue for a lifetime.  Man, I've got an awesome kid!

 

You could still do a WTM-type history cycle, just over 3 yrs instead of 4. But I get the disappointment over letting go of something that's been planned for ages. I had so many awesome courses planned out for DS, only to have him go off in a totally different direction, lol.

 

With the ECs, then I would do theater, Envirothon, 1 softball team, and Junior Firefighter. That gives her 1 art, 1 sport, an academically-focused EC that may relate to her future major, and a community service that could lead to a leadership position. That's a really nice well-rounded package of ECs. 

[chiguirre]

Carrie, I'd think about using the summer to get ahead on either the textbook portion of your science credit or on essay writing. That would lighten the load during the school year and keep your eager beaver busy over the break as well.

[katilac]

I agree with using the summer or at least getting an early start. 

 

The 30+ hours of dance are really what is giving me pause, because that's a huge chunk of time. And then you said "meh" about it in a later post, so can that be decreased? 

 

I agree with those who say to get out a calendar and start blocking out classes, study times, and so on to get an idea of what might be realistic. 

 

If the combined lab class is a full-on integrated science class, not just labs, I'd drop biology. 

 

I myself would definitely not up the geography to AP so I could keep Ancients, but that's because I puffy heart love my four-year cycle. Also, am not the geography teacher, lol. 

 

I'd likely have her wait a year, or at least till mid-year, to add junior firefighter. That's a pretty time-intensive commitment around here. And one softball team seems like plenty to me, lol. 

 

Sit down and do the math on a printed calendar. Color code it so she can see exactly how much time each activity takes up, and that might make the decision easier. 

[Lori D.]

Co-op classes:

Public Speaking (120-150 hours of total work)

Lab Sciences (90-150 hours of total work)

Dance (some practice outside of 30 hours of class)

Human Geography (60-90 hours of co-op work, plus I was hoping to beef it to AP at home. I'm the co-op teacher!)

Theater (dependent on the role/s she gets)

 

Other elective/extracurriculars:

Envirothon competition, well over 120 hours worth of study, plus at least one 3-hr class/mo and other team meet ups, field work, etc.

Two softball teams, I won't even pretend to ballpark that time commitment

Junior Firefighter member meetings, events, training, and calls, possibly a week long camp; undefinable.  But her father will be in charge of most of that, not me.

 

Actual, basic, high school, homeschool courses:

Bio (capable of at least honors level understanding)

English (beginning lit analysis and hitting essay skills hard)

History (ancients)

Math (Alg I)

French I

 

And she wants to get a job...

 

I did not read the previous posts before commenting, so forgive any repeat suggestions. :)

 

Just for general planning purposes, a solid 9th grade year that allows for transitioning to the high school level of work, while also allowing for extracurriculars would look something like 5-6 credits, with 1 credit being for following the student's interests or trying something new (Fine Arts or an Elective), and the others being academic/required credits. And 1-2 extracurricular activities -- 2 works well if one is fall-based and the other is spring-based for scheduling purposes. If doing 5 credits, that would likely look like: English and Math and then choice of 2 of these 3: Science, Social Science, or Foreign Language. Of those 3, Foreign Language is the easiest to pick up later on in high school, esp. if you can do dual enrollment.

 

I would be careful about the fact that you are teaching 3 co-op classes, and have other children to oversee -- that is not going to leave YOU much gas in the tank to mentor a new high school student. If at all possible, I'd cut your teaching to just 1 co-op class. Pick your favorite that would be *enjoyable* to you. Be firm and tell the co-op leaders that is all you can manage and can do WELL. If they can't accept that, then consider bowing out of the co-op this year, and focus that time you would have spent prepping for co-op and traveling to co-op and teaching at co-op on your own children, and on transitioning to high school (mentoring harder classes AND keeping up with record keeping and research for future courses, career exploration, and college planning).

 

As far as what you have on the table at the moment for your 9th grade planning -- do realize you do NOT have to do it all -- again, 5-6 credits, and 1-2 extracurriculars is plenty. This is a great time to start learning the real-life lesson that we can't have it all, and to model it for the younger students, which will make their high school planning and transition that much easier. ;)

 

Credits:

1 credit = English* (co-op -- or -- home)

1 credit = Math - Algebra 1 (home)

1 credit = Science - Biology (home and co-op -- combine forces efficiently to create 1 solid credit)

1 credit = Foreign Language: French I**

0.5 credit = Social Science: Geography (co-op) -- I'd probably skip trying to make this an AP class

0.5 credit = History: Ancients *** (home)

0.5 credit = Fine Arts: Dance**** (outside class)

0.5 credit = Fine Arts: Theater (community group)

6 credits = total

 

Extracurriculars:

- Envirothon Competition

- Softball ****

- Junior Firefighter member

 

Job/Scheduling*****

 

Where you can make adjustments:

* = English -- wait on doing any Lit until next year, and this year your credit would be English: Rhetoric (the co-op Public Speaking) -- as long as there is a fair amount of Writing/Composition involved; OR -- drop the hours spent on this to about 30-45 hours for 0.25 of your English credit, and do 0.75 credit of the Literature you planned for the rest of the English credit -- VERY frequently, public high schools require 0.25-0.5 of one of the English credits to be Public Speaking or Speech/Debate, so reducing the co-op class hours to a much smaller amount would fit right in with what many schools already do :)

** = Foreign Language -- if you're really overwhelmed, drop this and do it in a later year; you can even wait until 12th grade and do 2 semesters of dual enrollment, which equals 2 credits in one year

*** = History -- since you're accomplish 0.5 credit of Soc. Sci. with Geography, only do 0.5 credit of History this year

**** = Dance -- could drop this in favor of softball if this is not that high on her interest list; Softball -- if you cut out the Dance, could do 2 teams -- double dip and count some of the hours towards: 0.5-1.0 credit = Elective: PE; OR -- cut back to 1 team to reduce stress/driving/free up schedule; OR -- if interest is waning in the softball, cut it out entirely and just go with 3 outside the home activities: co-op, Envirothon, and Jr. Firefighter

***** = Job -- wait until a few months into 9th grade, or until after Christmas, to give the schedule a shake-down before seeing if a job is realistic or not

***** = Scheduling credits -- if most of your extracurriculars take place during the school year, either school year-round to give you more flexibility in being out of the house so much, OR, use your summer to knock out 2 of the at-home credits, which drops your school-year credits to 4, which is about 4 hours of work/day -- very do-able with a busy extracurricular load

 

Busy, but do-able. Just be willing to be flexible. And, if it's not working, re-assess at the end of the first semester and make any changes as needed. Good luck! And enjoy your entry into the busy and exciting high school years! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Lori D.

[Carrie12345]

I agree with using the summer or at least getting an early start. 

 

The 30+ hours of dance are really what is giving me pause, because that's a huge chunk of time. And then you said "meh" about it in a later post, so can that be decreased? 

 

I agree with those who say to get out a calendar and start blocking out classes, study times, and so on to get an idea of what might be realistic. 

 

If the combined lab class is a full-on integrated science class, not just labs, I'd drop biology. 

 

I myself would definitely not up the geography to AP so I could keep Ancients, but that's because I puffy heart love my four-year cycle. Also, am not the geography teacher, lol. 

 

I'd likely have her wait a year, or at least till mid-year, to add junior firefighter. That's a pretty time-intensive commitment around here. And one softball team seems like plenty to me, lol. 

 

Sit down and do the math on a printed calendar. Color code it so she can see exactly how much time each activity takes up, and that might make the decision easier. 

 

I'm "meh" on dance just because we're already AT co-op the whole day, and there isn't any time consuming homework. (They do do a 5 minute or so performance during our fine arts night, so she should do SOME practicing, but it doesn't eat up huge chunks of time.  Of course, skipping that 1-hour weekly block could hypothetically be used as a study period, but I have some serious doubts as to how effective that would actually be.  I may ponder that for a little while.

 

Unfortunately AND fortunately, lol, the firefighter training program begins in the fall.  That still makes for a crazy spring season, but the hours of class time would be out of the way well before sports, rehearsals, and a few other things come into play.  We're also looking into sending her to a week long summer program for young female firefighters so she can make a better informed decision before the department registers her for training.  I'd much rather we spend a little money and her back out than have the community spend a bunch of money and her feel obligated to serve if her heart isn't in it.  I still think she's going to love it, but there's always the possibility that she won't!

 

We have been talking about getting some work done in the summer, so I think we're going to have a big planning session this weekend.

[Carrie12345]

 

 

 

I would be careful about the fact that you are teaching 3 co-op classes, and have other children to oversee -- that is not going to leave YOU much gas in the tank to mentor a new high school student. If at all possible, I'd cut your teaching to just 1 co-op class. Pick your favorite that would be *enjoyable* to you. Be firm and tell the co-op leaders that is all you can manage and can do WELL. If they can't accept that, then consider bowing out of the co-op this year, and focus that time you would have spent prepping for co-op and traveling to co-op and teaching at co-op on your own children, and on transitioning to high school (mentoring harder classes AND keeping up with record keeping and research for future courses, career exploration, and college planning).

 

 

* = English -- wait on doing any Lit until next year, and this year your credit would be English: Rhetoric (the co-op Public Speaking) -- as long as there is a fair amount of Writing/Composition involved; OR -- drop the hours spent on this to about 30-45 hours for 0.25 of your English credit, and do 0.75 credit of the Literature you planned for the rest of the English credit -- VERY frequently, public high schools require 0.25-0.5 of one of the English credits to be Public Speaking or Speech/Debate, so reducing the co-op class hours to a much smaller amount would fit right in with what many schools already do :)

 

 

The thing that's both good and bad about our co-op is that it's an entire day.  Once we're there, we're there.  The younger kids are in classes every period, and they wouldn't have it any other way. It's exhausting, but it's efficient!

 

Your ideas on English definitely interest me.  The Public Speaking course is described as a full credit (taught by our director/former English teacher) but I hadn't really thought about it in terms of a "real" English credit!  I've been bogged down by the fact that my dd is only just starting to produce some quality writing.  She also reads a fair amount of literature but, like her mother, gets uptight about lit analysis.  But I DO know that this teacher will challenge her, and she's going to come out with much improved skills.  I will be taking this into consideration and asking the teacher for her thoughts!

 

People, I feel like I have even more to think about now, but that I can finally do so calmly!  I wish I had been able to put my crazy into words sooner, lol, but at least I finally did.  I think I'm actually breathing normal now! 

[Reefgazer]

Oh, Lord, I've got one of these; I sympathize!  All I can say is that it is exhausting and has nearly killed me.

[Lori D.]

The thing that's both good and bad about our co-op is that it's an entire day.  Once we're there, we're there.  The younger kids are in classes every period, and they wouldn't have it any other way. It's exhausting, but it's efficient...

 

People, I feel like I have even more to think about now, but that I can finally do so calmly!  I wish I had been able to put my crazy into words sooner...

 

Meaning this gently and kindly and out of a desire for your best welfare: For YOUR sanity, and to actually have time for YOUR children, I would still cut YOUR teaching to one class (and, if you are required to be in more than 1 class, just be the sit-in assistant/cat wrangler for the other 2 classes). Use the rest of the time at the co-op to grade your children's papers and prep for the following week of homeschool.

 

Preparing for teaching a co-op class requires a lot of prep time to do it justice, and you don't look to have that kind of time with 4 children to homeschool, 1 of whom you are running alongside to launch into high school, and multiple extracurriculars to drive to...

 

Just 'cause your DD wants to be crazy-go-nuts with doing everything doesn't mean you have to as well. ;) BEST of luck in finding a good and healthy balance for everyone for next year! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Lori D.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Look at college requirements for schools she might apply to. I have seen some specify that they don't count Speech as an English credit. It would still count as an elective, but a more typical reading and writing course would be needed too.

[Mom22ns]

Look at college requirements for schools she might apply to. I have seen some specify that they don't count Speech as an English credit. It would still count as an elective, but a more typical reading and writing course would be needed too.

 

I've seen this too.

[katilac]

I'm "meh" on dance just because we're already AT co-op the whole day, and there isn't any time consuming homework. (They do do a 5 minute or so performance during our fine arts night, so she should do SOME practicing, but it doesn't eat up huge chunks of time.  Of course, skipping that 1-hour weekly block could hypothetically be used as a study period, but I have some serious doubts as to how effective that would actually be.  I may ponder that for a little while.

 

I completely misunderstood about the dance; I thought it was a much bigger commitment. One hour of class when you're already at co-op plus some practice is a whole different story. I don't think you would gain much by cutting it. 

[foxbridgeacademy]

Look at college requirements for schools she might apply to. I have seen some specify that they don't count Speech as an English credit. It would still count as an elective, but a more typical reading and writing course would be needed too.

I've seen some schools who do this :glare: .  I'd probably do 2-3 good books with literary response essays, vocabulary, along with the speech and call it English 9.  Colleges don't get to tell you what you can include or count in your credit.  It all depends on how you write it up for the course description.  

[TKDmom]

No advice but ((hugs)). She sounds just like my dd! She's interested in every extracurricular out there. She tried to do everything this year and crashed. It was pretty miserable. 9th grade has been almost a wash, since I had to make her drop things to take care of her mental health. Even core subjects got dropped. Maybe this summer she will be able to finish biology and algebra...