Lost time in Latin: what's the best way to do this?

[Innisfree]

Dd14 is a freshman in our local public high school, where we have realized that academics are sorely lacking. She wants to return to homeschooling, which she quit in the middle of eighth grade because of various complications of family life.

 

In the fall of her 8th grade year she took Lukeion's Latin 1a and made a 97. Since then, in school, her Latin instruction has been progressively worse each semester. She has always made As. In theory, in her public school, she took Latin 2 this past fall and is now in Latin 3. In practice her class is still near the beginning of the Ecce Romani 2 book.

 

She would like to return to Lukeion, but has not covered anything approaching their expectations for Latin 3.

 

How can I get her back on track without this looking too bad on her transcript?

 

I feel so bad for her, because this is not her fault.

 

If I hired a tutor and she worked through a bit over a chapter a week of Wheelock between now and classes starting in fall, she could make up the lost time. She'd need to work hard and consistently, and it would be expensive, but I'm assuming I could eventually put this year on a transcript as Latin 2 and have her do Latin 3 with Lukeion.

 

Or I could persuade her to take their (Transitions?) year between Latin 2 and 3.

 

Or I could call this year Latin 1 (could I? When she's been enrolled in 1,2, and 3 already, and theoretically aced them all?) and put her in Lukeion's Latin 2 next year.

 

She is a motivated student and a perfectionist who has her eye on some very selective colleges. She wants to do well in AP Latin and have a transcript that does not cause problems. She is very resistant to going backwards, but horrified at the thought that she's been wasting time in classes that are not equipping her to do well.

 

What would you do?

[coffeegal]

Dd14 is a freshman in our local public high school, where we have realized that academics are sorely lacking. She wants to return to homeschooling, which she quit in the middle of eighth grade because of various complications of family life.

 

In the fall of her 8th grade year she took Lukeion's Latin 1a and made a 97. Since then, in school, her Latin instruction has been progressively worse each semester. She has always made As. In theory, in her public school, she took Latin 2 this past fall and is now in Latin 3. In practice her class is still near the beginning of the Ecce Romani 2 book.

 

She would like to return to Lukeion, but has not covered anything approaching their expectations for Latin 3.

 

How can I get her back on track without this looking too bad on her transcript?

 

I feel so bad for her, because this is not her fault.

 

If I hired a tutor and she worked through a bit over a chapter a week of Wheelock between now and classes starting in fall, she could make up the lost time. She'd need to work hard and consistently, and it would be expensive, but I'm assuming I could eventually put this year on a transcript as Latin 2 and have her do Latin 3 with Lukeion.

 

Or I could persuade her to take their (Transitions?) year between Latin 2 and 3.

 

Or I could call this year Latin 1 (could I? When she's been enrolled in 1,2, and 3 already, and theoretically aced them all?) and put her in Lukeion's Latin 2 next year.

 

She is a motivated student and a perfectionist who has her eye on some very selective colleges. She wants to do well in AP Latin and have a transcript that does not cause problems. She is very resistant to going backwards, but horrified at the thought that she's been wasting time in classes that are not equipping her to do well.

 

What would you do?

 

It sounds as if your daughter is very motivated and willing to put in the time and effort to be ready for Lukeion in the fall. If so, I'd go with first option. Hire a tutor, put this year down and Latin 2, and have her do Latin 3 with Lukeion next year. She may need the tutor for a time in the fall to make certain she's fully caught up, so I'd budget for that as well.

 

My 2nd choice would be to put her in Lukeion's transitions year. Since she's between 2 and 3, it would solidify skills and not feel like she's completely lost a year.

 

Kids tend to be demotivated by going backwards, so I'd try to avoid that at all costs.

 

 

[Innisfree]

It sounds as if your daughter is very motivated and willing to put in the time and effort to be ready for Lukeion in the fall. If so, I'd go with first option. Hire a tutor, put this year down and Latin 2, and have her do Latin 3 with Lukeion next year. She may need the tutor for a time in the fall to make certain she's fully caught up, so I'd budget for that as well.

 

My 2nd choice would be to put her in Lukeion's transitions year. Since she's between 2 and 3, it would solidify skills and not feel like she's completely lost a year.

 

Kids tend to be demotivated by going backwards, so I'd try to avoid that at all costs.

 

 

Thanks!

 

Yes, the tutor is the option dd prefers. I'm just afraid that at some point she's going to crash and burn under the pressure, and then it will be too late to switch to a different class. There is a lot of ground to make up.

 

Any thoughts on how understanding colleges would be of a student going backwards to catch up? Or how different possibilities are reflected on a transcript?

[elegantlion]

Thanks!

 

Yes, the tutor is the option dd prefers. I'm just afraid that at some point she's going to crash and burn under the pressure, and then it will be too late to switch to a different class. There is a lot of ground to make up.

 

Any thoughts on how understanding colleges would be of a student going backwards to catch up? Or how different possibilities are reflected on a transcript?

 

My son did Japanese in high school. We did not use any outside classes and he took 3 years. However, I did not feel comfortable labeling a class "Japanese 3." So I titled them as:

 

1. Beginning Japanese

2.Low-Intermediate Japanese

3.Intermediate Japanese

 

This gave him 3 years of credit, and better reflected his language ability. 

 

I'm not sure how that might apply since you are using outside programs with existing course titles, just wanted to show how it might be shown on a transcript. 

[OnMyOwn]

If she can complete the Latin 2 material by the fall and continue with Lukeion's Latin 3, that's what I would do.  I don't think it will be any problem at all that she is "going backwards".  Schools have different sequences for Latin.  CLRC covers grammar in Latin 1, 2 and 3, whereas Lukeion covers it in Latin 1 and 2, so if you did CLRC's Latin 1-3, then when you switched to Lukeion, you'd be doing Latin 3 again, but in reality, it is CLRC's Latin 4/5.  So, I would do Latin 1 - 3 for the public school work, do Latin 2 at home but don't list it separately and then do Lukeion's Latin 3 and 4, but call those Latin 4 and 5.  I'm sure there are many other ways to handle it, but I can't imagine it is going to hurt your dd at all.

[coffeegal]

Thanks!

 

Yes, the tutor is the option dd prefers. I'm just afraid that at some point she's going to crash and burn under the pressure, and then it will be too late to switch to a different class. There is a lot of ground to make up.

 

Any thoughts on how understanding colleges would be of a student going backwards to catch up? Or how different possibilities are reflected on a transcript?

 

 

Can you talk to Lukeion? They may allow her to give Lukeion 3 a go and if it's too much transfer into Lukeion Transitions.

 

Since these are outside courses, you may not have a say in how they're listed on the transcript. I'm not certain if you'll need to send transcripts from every highschool she's attended or not. Your best bet is probably to include course descriptions - what text was used and how far the class progressed. Although these should be 1/2 credit courses since they're only 1 semester. In which case, you can include on your transcript Latin Semester 2, Latin Semester 3, followed by Transitions or Latin Year 3.

 

Chances are the university will be more interested in her AP Latin score than in course labels.

Edited March 12, 2017 by coffeegal

[Innisfree]

Thanks so much, everyone! I think I will talk to Lukeion, as suggested. At least we do have more time to figure out the transcript. I appreciate the suggestions.

[chiguirre]

Another option is to use the Homeschool Connection's taped classes with teacher support to get through Wheelock. You could go at your own pace and get support when you need it. I haven't used them, but they were my back-up Latin option for high school so I did research them.

 

http://homeschoolconnectionsonline.com/

[Innisfree]

Thank you, chiguirre! That's an option I wouldn't have found.