Please critique my 9th grade plan

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

I’m really not sure about posting this. After reading what others are doing for 9th grade my plan feels very light. I do want some honest feedback though. 

My DD14 is an average student who hates school. I’ve tried different styles, making things easier, making them harder, helping more, helping less...nothing changes her opinion of school. No learning disabilities, she’s just a creative kid who would much rather be creating than doing schoolwork- unless I try to build creativity into school, then she’d rather not create. She loves to read, unless it’s an assigned book for school. She has no intention of continuing her education past high school but I’d like her to have the minimum for college in case she turns 18 and changes her mind. I’m trying to keep things simple and not over complicate anything. Here’s what I’m thinking:

Math - Algebra 1 with Singapore Dimensions Math. I think this covers some Geometry too. 

History - Notgrass Exploring America

Science - Apologia Health and Nutrition. She REALLY dislikes science but I thought this might be more practical and interesting for her. I’m going to have her listen in with my younger three to their Apologia elementary Anatomy also. 

LA - Notgrass Literature and LLATL. We haven’t done much serious grammar yet and her writing needs help so I’ll probably go lower than Gold level. 

Language - ASL. She’s taking a class taught by a retired teacher and will have practice time at home. This goes year-round

Electives/Extra Curricular - 

Music - piano, choir, violin

Art - weekly class with homework 

Karate

Home Ec - we’ll be doing a lot of cooking to coordinate with what we learn in science. I have CLE Home Ec also. 

Bible - Apologia What We Believe (family subject) and the Bible lessons from Notgrass 

 

I have a lot more questions about this whole homeschooling high school thing (especially with a resistant teen) but I’ll start here. How does this look? What is missing, needs to be changed, is too light for high school?

[Lori D.]

Welcome to planning for high school! : ) Here's what your line-up looks like to me:

1 credit = English (Lit - Notgrass & LLATL. /  Writing = ?)
1 credit = Math: Alg. 1 (Singapore Dimensions)
1 credit = Science: Health & Nutrition (Apologia)
1 credit = Soc. Studies: American History (Notgrass)
1 credit = For. Lang: ASL (outsourced with a teacher)
1 credit = Fine Arts: Music (piano, choir, violin) **
0.5 credit = Fine Arts: Art **
0.5 credit = Elective: Home Ec. ("DIY" cooking & CLE Home Ec)
0.5 - 1.0 credit = Elective: Bible
7.5 - 8.0 credits = total

extracurriculars:
- Karate
** Music (piano, choir, violin) -- counted as a Fine Arts credit
** Art -- counted as a Fine Arts credit

Schedule/Credits:
Nothing missing; and not light. Iif anything, 7.5 - 8.0 credits looks ambitious to me, esp. with a school-resistant teen, AND esp. for 9th grade. A lot of 9th grade students need to start with just 5.5-6.0 credits for a successful transition into the first year of high school. HOWEVER, you're not using any overly-heavy materials, and what you have really have going for you is about half of your schedule consists of things your student DOES like or that are the student's choice -- Music, Art, Home Ec/Cooking, and the ASL, plus the extracurricular of Karate. Great planning! : )

Science:
Health is not a high school science, but an elective. And Nutrition is usually part of a Health credit (unless it is a rigorous math-based program). What you might consider doing for Science instead is:
- substitute Guest Hollow's High School Chemistry in the Kitchen for your Science
- and switch the Apologia Health & Nutrition to be the elective, OR...
- drop Apologia Health & Nutrition this year and just do the CLE Home Ec as the elective

If you don't think your student is quite ready for the Chemistry, what about trying out the Guest Hollow Botany (for gr. 6-12), which includes journaling (writing practice!), recipes (to go with your cooking!), art (your student already does art!). Or, perhaps the book-based Story of Science by Joy Hakim, which is an Integrated Science history that focuses on scientific discovery. Using that as your first high school science might provide an overview -- and appreciation -- for Science for later years in high school.

I have never looked at the Apologia Health & Nutrition program, but if it is at all like the other high school level Apologia science texts, ug. Everyone is different, and so every publisher is going to be a fit for some and not for others, but we really did not care for Apologia -- esp. my very visual-spatial-learner with mild LDs who never liked school all the way through. Dry, overly-wordy and repetitive, difficult to read as it is an over-sized textbook with text running in lines that are too long, so that you lose your place easily. And it is heavy on "memorize for the quiz/test" as the mechanism for learning -- absolutely NOT a fit for my hands-on/visual learner. But that is our reaction to Apologia Biology and Chemistry -- the Health & Nutrition may be very different.

Grammar:
At this stage, unless she really doesn't understand and naturally already use verb tenses properly, or doesn't know how to use capitalization or punctuation, I probably wouldn't worry too much about a formal grammar program, but would instead just learn it/use it in context of learning to be a solid writer. Or, perhaps use a Grammar review program 2-3x/week to practice Grammar concepts in short little bites throughout high school.

Reading:
As far as loving reading -- but not assigned reading... I know my own strong-willed student who hated school always did better when he had some control and input over what we were doing and when it happened. So perhaps try putting your DD in the driver's seat to some extent in 2 ways:
1. include some books of her choice and of high interest that will be read/discussed/analyzed
2. the non-negociable books are handed to her in a stack, and she gets to choose the order in which they are covered

LLATL:
I would NOT add this if you are already planning on doing the full Lit. program of Notgrass -- too much formal Literature if trying to do *both* Notgrass and LLATL. And no detailed/incremental grammar or writing instruction in the LLATL. I really wanted to like this program (LLATL), but it just never was a good fit for us. Too light for the Gold levels we tried, and with the one elementary level we tried years earlier, my students were not at the right level for any of the LA elements -- they were above some aspects and below level of other aspects of the program.

Instead, since DD loves to read, why not have a stack of books for DD to choose from (or not) that will be "just for fun" reads (no analysis, no assignments), that would be of high interest to DD. A bunch of them could be historical fiction (if she enjoys that genre), to help flesh out your American History studies.

Notgrass Literature:
Personally, not a fan. We used and enjoyed the History part of Notgrass' Exploring America, but made our own "DIY" American Literature.

Notgrass has little guidance for analysis or info about literary elements and literature topics. And almost half of the works are either non-fiction (autobiography) or inspirational novels. The latter is great for Bible study support, and the former works great in support of the History, but neither inspirational works or non-fiction is not analyzed in the same way that that novels, short stories, plays, and poetry are analyzed and discussed. If you go with the Notgrass Lit., you might want to add a few individual lit. guides to help flesh out your study of a few of the works.

Again, similarly to my thoughts about LLATL, because your DD loves reading, and because a number of the Notgrass choices are non-fiction, you might want to have a stack of historical fiction for "just for fun" reading to go along with Notgrass.

Writing:
Notgrass has quite a few writing assignments, but not a lot of writing instruction or rubrics. What you might try is dropping the Writing out of Notgrass, and using something like The Power in Your Hands (Watson), which covers a wide variety of types of writing (essays, research paper, business writing, etc.), and is written to the student and can be done largely independently. Then from time to time, you could set aside The Power in Your Hands, and spend a week or two doing a writing assignment out of Notgrass. My struggling writer/school hater did well with the middle school version of this program (Jump In), with a minimum of argument of resistance.

Just my random thoughts. You've got a great start on your high school planning! Hope both you and your DD have a wonderful 9th grade year. : ) Warmest regards, Lori D.

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

15 hours ago, Lori D. said:

Welcome to planning for high school! : ) Here's what your line-up looks like to me:

1 credit = English (Lit - Notgrass & LLATL. /  Writing = ?)
1 credit = Math: Alg. 1 (Singapore Dimensions)
1 credit = Science: Health & Nutrition (Apologia)
1 credit = Soc. Studies: American History (Notgrass)
1 credit = For. Lang: ASL (outsourced with a teacher)
1 credit = Fine Arts: Music (piano, choir, violin) **
0.5 credit = Fine Arts: Art **
0.5 credit = Elective: Home Ec. ("DIY" cooking & CLE Home Ec)
0.5 - 1.0 credit = Elective: Bible
7.5 - 8.0 credits = total

extracurriculars:
- Karate
** Music (piano, choir, violin) -- counted as a Fine Arts credit
** Art -- counted as a Fine Arts credit

Schedule/Credits:
Nothing missing; and not light. Iif anything, 7.5 - 8.0 credits looks ambitious to me, esp. with a school-resistant teen, AND esp. for 9th grade. A lot of 9th grade students need to start with just 5.5-6.0 credits for a successful transition into the first year of high school. HOWEVER, you're not using any overly-heavy materials, and what you have really have going for you is about half of your schedule consists of things your student DOES like or that are the student's choice -- Music, Art, Home Ec/Cooking, and the ASL, plus the extracurricular of Karate. Great planning! : )

   We've tried to allow and encourage classes for as many of the things she loves as possible. She spends many hours on art, music, and recently, ASL. Fortunately, we have friends who are skilled, professional teachers who have offered free, extremely low cost, or bartered classes in these areas. I try to keep the rest as streamlined as possible so that she has the maximum amount of time to spend on the things she's passionate about. 

Science:
Health is not a high school science, but an elective. And Nutrition is usually part of a Health credit (unless it is a rigorous math-based program). What you might consider doing for Science instead is:
- substitute Guest Hollow's High School Chemistry in the Kitchen for your Science
- and switch the Apologia Health & Nutrition to be the elective, OR...
- drop Apologia Health & Nutrition this year and just do the CLE Home Ec as the elective

If you don't think your student is quite ready for the Chemistry, what about trying out the Guest Hollow Botany (for gr. 6-12), which includes journaling (writing practice!), recipes (to go with your cooking!), art (your student already does art!). Or, perhaps the book-based Story of Science by Joy Hakim, which is an Integrated Science history that focuses on scientific discovery. Using that as your first high school science might provide an overview -- and appreciation -- for Science for later years in high school.

I have never looked at the Apologia Health & Nutrition program, but if it is at all like the other high school level Apologia science texts, ug. Everyone is different, and so every publisher is going to be a fit for some and not for others, but we really did not care for Apologia -- esp. my very visual-spatial-learner with mild LDs who never liked school all the way through. Dry, overly-wordy and repetitive, difficult to read as it is an over-sized textbook with text running in lines that are too long, so that you lose your place easily. And it is heavy on "memorize for the quiz/test" as the mechanism for learning -- absolutely NOT a fit for my hands-on/visual learner. But that is our reaction to Apologia Biology and Chemistry -- the Health & Nutrition may be very different.

    I was hoping for a light science year, thus the Health and Nutrition. She's been interested in nutrition recently so I was hoping to capitalize on that as well. I guess I realized that it was an elective but was hoping to add to it a bit to make it more of a science. This is a new course for Apologia and I do like what I've seen. Maybe I should consider something else for science though. I had never looked at Guest Hollow and I like what I see. It looks like a lot of fun. I think my middle DD would love the Chemistry! DD14 has recently developed an interest in plants and gardening so maybe the Botany would be a good fit for this year. The biggest drawback is getting all the books. We have a fairly tight home school budget and a small library but I'll see what I can find. Maybe it'll be doable. The Joy Hakim series looks interesting as well. Do you recommend the extra guides to go with it? Maybe I'll drop the CLE home ec this year too and just make a point to include her more in cooking daily meals. That would leave more time for science. 

Grammar:
At this stage, unless she really doesn't understand and naturally already use verb tenses properly, or doesn't know how to use capitalization or punctuation, I probably wouldn't worry too much about a formal grammar program, but would instead just learn it/use it in context of learning to be a solid writer. Or, perhaps use a Grammar review program 2-3x/week to practice Grammar concepts in short little bites throughout high school.

   The reason for Grammar was that we simply haven't done much up til now. Just the first two levels of Fix-it. I was considering Analytical Grammar for this year but it looked like it assumed a certain level of previous grammar instruction that she doesn't have yet. And I wasn't sure I knew enough Grammar to teach it. 

Reading:
As far as loving reading -- but not assigned reading... I know my own strong-willed student who hated school always did better when he had some control and input over what we were doing and when it happened. So perhaps try putting your DD in the driver's seat to some extent in 2 ways:
1. include some books of her choice and of high interest that will be read/discussed/analyzed
2. the non-negociable books are handed to her in a stack, and she gets to choose the order in which they are covered

LLATL:
I would NOT add this if you are already planning on doing the full Lit. program of Notgrass -- too much formal Literature if trying to do *both* Notgrass and LLATL. And no detailed/incremental grammar or writing instruction in the LLATL. I really wanted to like this program (LLATL), but it just never was a good fit for us. Too light for the Gold levels we tried, and with the one elementary level we tried years earlier, my students were not at the right level for any of the LA elements -- they were above some aspects and below level of other aspects of the program.

Instead, since DD loves to read, why not have a stack of books for DD to choose from (or not) that will be "just for fun" reads (no analysis, no assignments), that would be of high interest to DD. A bunch of them could be historical fiction (if she enjoys that genre), to help flesh out your American History studies.

    Good to know! I was under the impression that LLATL would cover all things language arts - grammar, writing, spelling, literature - all in one place. I was going to drop some of the Notgrass literature so it wouldn't be too lit heavy. Also, DD thought that one book with everything in it would feel less overwhelming than separate books for each subject. I'll rethink this. I have WWS that a friend gave me but I don't remember what grades it's for. I also have IEW which has worked well the past few years but I was thinking of trying a different approach this year. She needs work on spelling still but I have Spelling Power we can use. I may have some other things too but we're moving next week so everything is in boxes and I can't look right now.  

Notgrass Literature:
Personally, not a fan. We used and enjoyed the History part of Notgrass' Exploring America, but made our own "DIY" American Literature.

Notgrass has little guidance for analysis or info about literary elements and literature topics. And almost half of the works are either non-fiction (autobiography) or inspirational novels. The latter is great for Bible study support, and the former works great in support of the History, but neither inspirational works or non-fiction is not analyzed in the same way that that novels, short stories, plays, and poetry are analyzed and discussed. If you go with the Notgrass Lit., you might want to add a few individual lit. guides to help flesh out your study of a few of the works.

Again, similarly to my thoughts about LLATL, because your DD loves reading, and because a number of the Notgrass choices are non-fiction, you might want to have a stack of historical fiction for "just for fun" reading to go along with Notgrass.

   I wondered how much actual literature instruction Notgrass had. I'll check the list of books and maybe substitute and add some lit guides to round it out. 

Writing:
Notgrass has quite a few writing assignments, but not a lot of writing instruction or rubrics. What you might try is dropping the Writing out of Notgrass, and using something like The Power in Your Hands (Watson), which covers a wide variety of types of writing (essays, research paper, business writing, etc.), and is written to the student and can be done largely independently. Then from time to time, you could set aside The Power in Your Hands, and spend a week or two doing a writing assignment out of Notgrass. My struggling writer/school hater did well with the middle school version of this program (Jump In), with a minimum of argument of resistance.

Just my random thoughts. You've got a great start on your high school planning! Hope both you and your DD have a wonderful 9th grade year. : ) Warmest regards, Lori D.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read through my plan and offer suggestions. I was hoping you'd chime in! Your posts are so helpful! I replied to some things in the quoted post. I'm more or less figuring out this home schooling high school thing on my own. I have other friends home schooling their teems but they really aren't as concerned as I am with having their kids do high school level work. Many of them are content to use middle school texts, simply read with no output or discussion, or skip subjects altogether. I was homeschooled through high school and did very little (besides math) that I'd consider "real" high school work. I didn't attend college either. I'm pretty much trying to build off of what I've read as I have no personal experience to look back on. I want a more traditional approach for my kids (while still maintaining much of the freedom homeschooling allows - is that too much to ask? LOL) and it's a lot to figure out! There will be more questions coming regarding transcripts, grading, and general expectations but one thing at a time. 

[Mom22ns]

Welcome to high school!

I think Lori covered everything (as she always does) but I'll highlight what I see as the key points.

1. Choose a high school science, not health which is an elective. There are many high school science options out there if you don't want to struggle through Biology, but make sure you choose one that will be accepted by colleges later just in case.

2. Don't double up on English if she already hates reading for school. I haven't used either of the programs you are considering, but I wouldn't plan to do two full programs - it will be torture. Pick one, or just pick parts of two, or pull together two or more programs that aren't meant to be complete in order to make one whole program (such as grammar, lit and writing programs). 

ETA: We were posting at the same time and I think you already addressed all of these things. I don't think it is too much to ask that you can do a more traditional school experience than you had and still maintain some of the freedom that homeschooling provides! You can do it!

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

I’m looking back through my planning and research notes (I’ve been working on this for months ?) and noticed that my state only requires 3 Science credits for high school. It also requires half a Health credit. (Homeschooling in my state is not regulated and so we aren’t obligated to follow the public school’s graduation requirements. It seems like a good idea to be in the ballpark though.) I remember now that I had planned to take this year off from Science. It’s her least favorite subject and I thought I’d take this year to get the rest of high school going and let her adjust to the higher level, then do science for the last three years. We can use the extra time to get some electives, like Health, out of the way. Is that a bad plan? It occurs to me that it might be better to do science this year and then 12th grade can be free for an extra science credit if she suddenly develops an interest for it or for another class more in-line with her artistic interests. Thoughts?

[BusyMom5]

I really like Oak Meadows health course.  We are finishing up our first year of high school, and it was hard to fit this second elective in.  Weve done half of it so far, and i hope to finish this summer.  I would want to go ahead and do a science, even if it were light and not a lab.  Health is a great course, but it isn' counted as a science.  I'd rather have the option of taking longer to finish other science courses, like 1.5 for biology, down the road.  Have you looked at Crash Course videos?  Maybe letting her pick some non textbook science would be okay?  

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

9 minutes ago, BusyMom5 said:

I really like Oak Meadows health course.  We are finishing up our first year of high school, and it was hard to fit this second elective in.  Weve done half of it so far, and i hope to finish this summer.  I would want to go ahead and do a science, even if it were light and not a lab.  Health is a great course, but it isn' counted as a science.  I'd rather have the option of taking longer to finish other science courses, like 1.5 for biology, down the road.  Have you looked at Crash Course videos?  Maybe letting her pick some non textbook science would be okay?  

That’s a good point. Stretching 3 Science credits over 4 years would help keep the intensity level down. We could do fewer days per week maybe or a smaller amount each day. I have a lot to think about. 

[hollyhock2]

As a mom of average kids who are likely headed to the trades, I think your plan looks great. I will say, though, that neither Notgrass or LLATL have very much literary analysis, if that is important to you, and if you are using LLATL Gray instead of the Gold levels. So finding a couple lit guides to go with some books might be a good idea, if that's something you need to do. Also, Notgrass doesn't have any writing instruction and LLATL has some in the Gray level, but it's not super detailed. So if she needs something more explicitly taught, you might think about getting an actual writing curriculum, like WWS (lots of people use WWS for high school so no worries there). If you go that direction, you might want to skip LLATL and just focus on literature and composition, but the grammar in LLATL Gray is not at all long or overwhelming so you could probably still fit it in if you feel it's important for her.

[RootAnn]

21 hours ago, 2ndGenHomeschooler said:

I was considering Analytical Grammar for this year but it looked like it assumed a certain level of previous grammar instruction that she doesn't have yet. And I wasn't sure I knew enough Grammar to teach it.

This comment kept nagging at me. I remember listening to the current owner (daughter of the writer) of AG at a convention a few years ago say that NO prior grammar was necessary for AG. I am almost positive about that. Now, I can understand being uncomfortable teaching it if you don't have much grammar background yourself, but I think it starts at the beginning. (I haven't ever used it, so take my words with a grain of salt. I know people who tried it and dropped it for various reasons.) I have learned a bunch while teaching my kids so far - *whispers* even some Latin!

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

28 minutes ago, RootAnn said:

This comment kept nagging at me. I remember listening to the current owner (daughter of the writer) of AG at a convention a few years ago say that NO prior grammar was necessary for AG. I am almost positive about that. Now, I can understand being uncomfortable teaching it if you don't have much grammar background yourself, but I think it starts at the beginning. (I haven't ever used it, so take my words with a grain of salt. I know people who tried it and dropped it for various reasons.) I have learned a bunch while teaching my kids so far - *whispers* even some Latin!

Thank you. This is helpful. I'll look at it again. So, for English I could do Analytical Grammar, WWS, and add lit guides for some of the Notgrass lit or other lit I choose. AG has options for doing it only part of the year so I could do that some of the year and then literature the rest of the year so it's not too much. Does that sound reasonable?

I've definitely learned a lot while teaching my kids! And for almost anything I'm eager to jump in and learn it right along side them. I'm not sure why grammar intimidates me.  

[RootAnn]

12 minutes ago, 2ndGenHomeschooler said:

Thank you. This is helpful. I'll look at it again. So, for English I could do Analytical Grammar, WWS, and add lit guides for some of the Notgrass lit or other lit I choose. AG has options for doing it only part of the year so I could do that some of the year and then literature the rest of the year so it's not too much. Does that sound reasonable?

Yes. It sounds reasonable.

And, FWIW, the biggest grammar hound (better than the other term I was going to use) I know found quite a few mistakes in LLATL. She emailed the company with a list because she was so upset about it. They sent her a free level of LLATL. She found more mistakes in that level. She threw it in the trash rather than give it away. I wouldn't know enough to find the mistakes.  I'm more a math person than a grammar type, so I get it.

[Lori D.]

16 hours ago, 2ndGenHomeschooler said:

...Stretching 3 Science credits over 4 years would help keep the intensity level down...

That's what we did with our non-STEM students, and it worked great.

Also consider going with Science topics of interest to your student, rather than feeling you must do the frequent progression of Biology, Chemistry, Physics. Many, many colleges are flexible about the Natural Science credits, as long as you include labs. Other science topics are also high school level, and may be of more interest to your student: Astronomy, Earth Science/Geology, Environmental Science, Horticulture, Botany, Equine (Horse) Science, Meteorology (Weather), etc.

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

10 minutes ago, RootAnn said:

Yes. It sounds reasonable.

And, FWIW, the biggest grammar hound (better than the other term I was going to use) I know found quite a few mistakes in LLATL. She emailed the company with a list because she was so upset about it. They sent her a free level of LLATL. She found more mistakes in that level. She threw it in the trash rather than give it away. I wouldn't know enough to find the mistakes.  I'm more a math person than a grammar type, so I get it.

I was planning to use LLATL with my younger three this year also. I guess I'd better look at other options. I'm not sure I could catch mistakes easily. It seemed like an easy option but easy doesn't always mean good. 

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

7 minutes ago, Lori D. said:

That's what we did with our non-STEM students, and it worked great.

Also consider going with Science topics of interest to your student, rather than feeling you must do the frequent progression of Biology, Chemistry, Physics. Many, many colleges are flexible about the Natural Science credits, as long as you include labs. Other science topics are also high school level, and may be of more interest to your student: Astronomy, Earth Science/Geology, Environmental Science, Horticulture, Botany, Equine (Horse) Science, Meteorology (Weather), etc.

I'm leaning toward doing the Hakim History of Science series this year and then follow interests the last three - maybe Botany and Chemistry in the Kitchen to start. The only specific requirements are 1 credit of a life science and 1 credit of a physical science (with labs). The third credit is open. And, as I said upthread, homeschoolers in my state don't necessarily have to follow those requirements at all. I just want to be close. 

[hollyhock2]

2 hours ago, 2ndGenHomeschooler said:

I was planning to use LLATL with my younger three this year also. I guess I'd better look at other options. I'm not sure I could catch mistakes easily. It seemed like an easy option but easy doesn't always mean good. 

Well, for the record, I've used levels Orange through Gray and not found any mistakes. It would really bother me if I did. Also, they just came out with new editions of all the levels, so maybe this isn't a problem anymore? I'm not sure I would let this scare you off.

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

4 hours ago, Danae said:

 

I just started Analytical Grammar with my boys (we're using the three year plan with the intensive parts over the summer and the review/practice during the rest of the year). It starts right at the beginning with the definition of a noun. You don't need to have had any prior grammar instruction.

In fact, it might go smoother if you haven't done much prior grammar.  You'll be spared the "Duh, Mom, we know what a noun is" commentary.

About how long does it take each day? Is it 5 days a week? I want to make sure I don’t over schedule. 

[swimmermom3]

On 6/13/2018 at 8:31 PM, 2ndGenHomeschooler said:

I’m really not sure about posting this. After reading what others are doing for 9th grade my plan feels very light. I do want some honest feedback though. 

My DD14 is an average student who hates school. I’ve tried different styles, making things easier, making them harder, helping more, helping less...nothing changes her opinion of school. No learning disabilities, she’s just a creative kid who would much rather be creating than doing schoolwork- unless I try to build creativity into school, then she’d rather not create. She loves to read, unless it’s an assigned book for school. She has no intention of continuing her education past high school but I’d like her to have the minimum for college in case she turns 18 and changes her mind. I’m trying to keep things simple and not over complicate anything. Here’s what I’m thinking:

Math - Algebra 1 with Singapore Dimensions Math. I think this covers some Geometry too. 

History - Notgrass Exploring America

Science - Apologia Health and Nutrition. She REALLY dislikes science but I thought this might be more practical and interesting for her. I’m going to have her listen in with my younger three to their Apologia elementary Anatomy also. 

LA - Notgrass Literature and LLATL. We haven’t done much serious grammar yet and her writing needs help so I’ll probably go lower than Gold level. 

Language - ASL. She’s taking a class taught by a retired teacher and will have practice time at home. This goes year-round

Electives/Extra Curricular - 

Music - piano, choir, violin

Art - weekly class with homework 

Karate

Home Ec - we’ll be doing a lot of cooking to coordinate with what we learn in science. I have CLE Home Ec also. 

Bible - Apologia What We Believe (family subject) and the Bible lessons from Notgrass 

 

I have a lot more questions about this whole homeschooling high school thing (especially with a resistant teen) but I’ll start here. How does this look? What is missing, needs to be changed, is too light for high school?

 

In the beginning of high school, there is a tendency to overload the schedule. We want to build the perfect high school program and not miss anything.

I would think about how to fill the "extras" into the basics.

If you want to have your child "college-ready" in case she changed her mind about school (which I think is an excellent plan), then think in basic terms:

4 credits of English -  (literature, writing, grammar and vocabulary primarily reinforced through literature & writing at this point)

4 credits of science - (try to get physics, chemistry, and biology in - but you can be creative in application)

4 credits of math

4 credits of social sciences - can be history of your chosen flavor (one US to be safe), US Government (0.5 credits), Intro to Economics (0.5 credits), geography

4 credits of modern language - if your dd intends to use her ASL, by all means, continue. My SIL is an interpreter and absolutely loves her job.

1 credit health - basics, nutrition, suicide prevention, relationships (healthy, domestic violence), bullying, online usage, STDs, etc.

1 credit  - fine arts (basic literacy)

That's 22 credits. Add 2 more for a total of 24 credits and that's more than enough to graduate.

Six credits a term is more than enough for you, the instructor, and your student. Get creative in building in the "extras" like technology, the arts, home ec. into your regular classes.

A few extra thoughts:

As others have already noted: karate is an after-school activity, unless your state requires a PE  credit

Bible study is something you do as a family for personal enrichment.

 

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

4 hours ago, swimmermom3 said:

 

In the beginning of high school, there is a tendency to overload the schedule. We want to build the perfect high school program and not miss anything.

I would think about how to fill the "extras" into the basics.

If you want to have your child "college-ready" in case she changed her mind about school (which I think is an excellent plan), then think in basic terms:

4 credits of English -  (literature, writing, grammar and vocabulary primarily reinforced through literature & writing at this point)

4 credits of science - (try to get physics, chemistry, and biology in - but you can be creative in application)

4 credits of math

4 credits of social sciences - can be history of your chosen flavor (one US to be safe), US Government (0.5 credits), Intro to Economics (0.5 credits), geography

4 credits of modern language - if your dd intends to use her ASL, by all means, continue. My SIL is an interpreter and absolutely loves her job.

1 credit health - basics, nutrition, suicide prevention, relationships (healthy, domestic violence), bullying, online usage, STDs, etc.

1 credit  - fine arts (basic literacy)

That's 22 credits. Add 2 more for a total of 24 credits and that's more than enough to graduate.

Six credits a term is more than enough for you, the instructor, and your student. Get creative in building in the "extras" like technology, the arts, home ec. into your regular classes.

A few extra thoughts:

As others have already noted: karate is an after-school activity, unless your state requires a PE  credit

Bible study is something you do as a family for personal enrichment.

 

Thank you! Our state changed the requirements for 9th graders last year and they’ll need 25 credits to graduate. A friend spoke to a friend who’s a teacher in a public high school and she hadn’t heard of the new requirements so it must not be strictly enforced. I’m making a chart to sort all this out and put together a rough plan for when we’d get each credit in. I might use summers for some of the easier ones. 

“Commencing with classes graduating in [2020] 2021, and for each graduating class thereafter, no local or regional board of education shall permit any student to graduate from high school or grant a diploma to any student who has not satisfactorily completed (1) a minimum of twenty-five credits, including not fewer than: (A) Nine credits in the humanities, including not fewer than (i) four credits in English, including composition; (ii) three credits in social studies, including at least one credit in American history and at least one-half credit in civics and American government; (iii) one credit in fine arts; and (iv) one credit in a humanities elective; (B) eight credits in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, including not fewer than (i) four credits in mathematics, including algebra I, geometry and algebra II or probability and statistics; (ii) three credits in science, including at least one credit in life science and at least one credit in physical science; and (iii) one credit in a science, technology, engineering and mathematics elective; (C) three and one-half credits in career and life skills, including not fewer than (i) one credit in physical education; (ii) one-half credit in health and safety education, as described in section 10-16b; and (iii) two credits in career and life skills electives, such as career and technical education, English as a second language, community service, personal finance, public speaking and nutrition and physical activity; (D) two credits in world languages, subject to the provisions of subsection (g) of this section; and (E) a one credit senior demonstration project or its equivalent, as approved by the State Board of Education.”

It all looks a bit over complicated to me. 

[swimmermom3]

1 hour ago, 2ndGenHomeschooler said:

Thank you! Our state changed the requirements for 9th graders last year and they’ll need 25 credits to graduate. A friend spoke to a friend who’s a teacher in a public high school and she hadn’t heard of the new requirements so it must not be strictly enforced. I’m making a chart to sort all this out and put together a rough plan for when we’d get each credit in. I might use summers for some of the easier ones. 

“Commencing with classes graduating in [2020] 2021, and for each graduating class thereafter, no local or regional board of education shall permit any student to graduate from high school or grant a diploma to any student who has not satisfactorily completed (1) a minimum of twenty-five credits, including not fewer than: (A) Nine credits in the humanities, including not fewer than (i) four credits in English, including composition; (ii) three credits in social studies, including at least one credit in American history and at least one-half credit in civics and American government; (iii) one credit in fine arts; and (iv) one credit in a humanities elective; (B) eight credits in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, including not fewer than (i) four credits in mathematics, including algebra I, geometry and algebra II or probability and statistics; (ii) three credits in science, including at least one credit in life science and at least one credit in physical science; and (iii) one credit in a science, technology, engineering and mathematics elective; (C) three and one-half credits in career and life skills, including not fewer than (i) one credit in physical education; (ii) one-half credit in health and safety education, as described in section 10-16b; and (iii) two credits in career and life skills electives, such as career and technical education, English as a second language, community service, personal finance, public speaking and nutrition and physical activity; (D) two credits in world languages, subject to the provisions of subsection (g) of this section; and (E) a one credit senior demonstration project or its equivalent, as approved by the State Board of Education.”

It all looks a bit over complicated to me. ?

 

What are your state requirements for homeschooling?

I did try to follow our state's requirements, as well as the local high school's, but if I were to go back, I would simplify it more.

Career and life skills credits: The way our local high school deals with this is building the skills into the various disciplines and participating in a career fair. The credit is broken up through the four years. You teach her to write a resume one year in English class. Her senior year, she works on her personal essay for college (if she changes her mind).  Perhaps she job shadows in fields that she is interested in. Think of the skills you need to perform in many jobs. Have her create and give presentations in science or social studies. Build meaningful and real-world-related skills. Honestly, a lot of career stuff at the local high school is shoe-horning kids into particular fields because fo the results of a standardized test. Kids change and grow.

Be sure to look at some of the amazing skills threads we've had in the past. Lori D will know where they are. (?)

Fine arts is another area that can be built into the basic disciplines in order to keep your dd engaged. I want to go back and read what she is interested in again and respond accordingly.

[Lori D.]

1 hour ago, 2ndGenHomeschooler said:

Thank you! Our state changed the requirements for 9th graders last year and they’ll need 25 credits to graduate. A friend spoke to a friend who’s a teacher in a public high school and she hadn’t heard of the new requirements so it must not be strictly enforced. I’m making a chart to sort all this out and put together a rough plan for when we’d get each credit in. I might use summers for some of the easier ones. 

“Commencing with classes graduating in [2020] 2021, and for each graduating class thereafter, no local or regional board of education shall permit any student to graduate from high school or grant a diploma to any student who has not satisfactorily completed (1) a minimum of twenty-five credits, including not fewer than: (A) Nine credits in the humanities, including not fewer than (i) four credits in English, including composition; (ii) three credits in social studies, including at least one credit in American history and at least one-half credit in civics and American government; (iii) one credit in fine arts; and (iv) one credit in a humanities elective; (B) eight credits in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, including not fewer than (i) four credits in mathematics, including algebra I, geometry and algebra II or probability and statistics; (ii) three credits in science, including at least one credit in life science and at least one credit in physical science; and (iii) one credit in a science, technology, engineering and mathematics elective; (C) three and one-half credits in career and life skills, including not fewer than (i) one credit in physical education; (ii) one-half credit in health and safety education, as described in section 10-16b; and (iii) two credits in career and life skills electives, such as career and technical education, English as a second language, community service, personal finance, public speaking and nutrition and physical activity; (D) two credits in world languages, subject to the provisions of subsection (g) of this section; and (E) a one credit senior demonstration project or its equivalent, as approved by the State Board of Education.”

It all looks a bit over complicated to me. 

 

Pretty much breaks down to what I usually list as a standard college prep list of credits for applying to NON-top tier/competitive/selective colleges:

4 credits = English
   (1/2 Lit. & 1/2 Composition)
   (this school system lumps these as part of Humanities)
4 credits = Math
   (Alg. 1, Geometry, Alg. 2 + 4th math above Alg. 2)
   (this school system specifies Probability or Statistics for the 4th math)
3-4 credits Science, with labs
   (a few colleges want Biology (Life Science) & Chemistry as 2 of the credits)
   (this school system requires 3 credits, 1 credit each in Life Sci. & Physical Sci.)
3-4 credits = Social Studies
   (most colleges want 1 credit = Amer. Hist., and some want 1 credit = World Geog/Hist and/or 05. credit each Econ. & Gov't,
     and most accept things like: History, Geography, Anthropology, Archeology, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, etc.)
   (this school system lumps these as part of Humanities, and requires 3 credits, with 1 credit = Amer. Hist. and 0.5 credit Civics & Gov't)
2-4 credits = Foreign Language, same language
   (this school system requires 2 credits)
1 credit = Fine Arts
   (this school system requires 1 credit, and lumps it as part of Humanities)
4-8+ credits = Electives
   (examples: Logic, Computer, Engineering, Health, PE, Religious Studies, Personal Finance, Home Ec, 
     Driver's Ed, Career Exploration, Vocational-Tech, personal interest courses, add'l credits in Fine Arts,
     "Academic Electives" (add'l electives in first 5 subjects above, beyond the required amount), etc.)
   (this school requires 8 credits that would fall under this category)
22-28+ credits total
   (this school requires a total of 25 credits)

[Lori D.]

22 minutes ago, swimmermom3 said:

Career and life skills credits: The way our local high school deals with this is building the skills into the various disciplines and participating in a career fair. The credit is broken up through the four years. You teach her to write a resume one year in English class. Her senior year, she works on her personal essay for college (if she changes her mind).  Perhaps she job shadows in fields that she is interested in. Think of the skills you need to perform in many jobs. Have her create and give presentations in science or social studies. Build meaningful and real-world-related skills. Honestly, a lot of career stuff at the local high school is shoe-horning kids into particular fields because fo the results of a standardized test. Kids change and grow.

Fine arts is another area that can be built into the basic disciplines in order to keep your dd engaged. I want to go back and read what she is interested in again and respond accordingly.

Insert the "head-nodding-holding-the-I-agree-sign" emoti here (LOL).

A lot of school systems include 0.25 to 0.5 credit of Public Speaking as part of 1 of the 4 English credits. Personal Finance is often a unit of Economics. Career Exploration can be done casually throughout the 4 years of high school and check off hours to accumulate the credits.

Fine Arts can be a lot of things:
- performance-based (dance, music, theater and theater support -- creation of props, sets, costumes)
- visual arts (painting, drawing, photography, filmmaking)
- digital arts (animation, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Lightroom, etc.)
- studio arts (textiles, sculpture, woodworking, metal-working, jewelry-making, etc.)
- creation of original work (composing music, choreographing dance, script writing, making theater props/costumes, etc.)
- appreciation (history & analysis of film, theater, music, art, architecture, photography, etc.)
- fundamentals course (intro to art design or color, music theory, etc.)
- "introduction to Fine Arts", with four 9-week units of exploring 4 different areas

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

Thank you Lori D and Swimmermom3! I’m glad to know Life Skills can be built in to other things. We already have a list of skills we want our DC to have before they turn 18 (car maintenance, first aid and CPR, personal finance, resume writing and interview skills, cooking, laundry, volunteer work, etc.) it seemed almost silly to require it for school. Glad the things we were planning to do anyway are what we need. 

In our state homeschooling is unregulated. We don’t have any requirements at all. I’m just using the public school requirements as a guide to make sure that DD’s transcript is roughly on par with other kids. 

[swimmermom3]

On 6/14/2018 at 2:42 PM, 2ndGenHomeschooler said:

Thank you so much for taking the time to read through my plan and offer suggestions. I was hoping you'd chime in! Your posts are so helpful! I replied to some things in the quoted post. I'm more or less figuring out this home schooling high school thing on my own. I have other friends home schooling their teems but they really aren't as concerned as I am with having their kids do high school level work. Many of them are content to use middle school texts, simply read with no output or discussion, or skip subjects altogether. I was homeschooled through high school and did very little (besides math) that I'd consider "real" high school work. I didn't attend college either. I'm pretty much trying to build off of what I've read as I have no personal experience to look back on. I want a more traditional approach for my kids (while still maintaining much of the freedom homeschooling allows - is that too much to ask? LOL) and it's a lot to figure out! There will be more questions coming regarding transcripts, grading, and general expectations but one thing at a time. 

 

Welcome to the high school years! They can be very rewarding and fun.

Kudos to you for wanting more for your students than your own personal experience. I thought I had a decent education to bring to the table when my youngest started high school, but quickly realized that I was as much the student as he was. In high school, your role is not so much the "sage on the stage," but the facilitator and the co-learner. Embrace that role and have fun.

Many of us here, didn't know any high school homeschoolers IRL or if we did, the standards were lower, like you have experienced.

There is a wealth of information and help to be obtained on this board. Just ask and we will do our best to help you.

Honestly, there is no way my son and myself could have grown to the extent we did, without this board.

[swimmermom3]

On 6/14/2018 at 8:53 PM, 2ndGenHomeschooler said:

That’s a good point. Stretching 3 Science credits over 4 years would help keep the intensity level down. We could do fewer days per week maybe or a smaller amount each day. I have a lot to think about. 

 

On 6/15/2018 at 1:12 PM, 2ndGenHomeschooler said:

I'm leaning toward doing the Hakim History of Science series this year and then follow interests the last three - maybe Botany and Chemistry in the Kitchen to start. The only specific requirements are 1 credit of a life science and 1 credit of a physical science (with labs). The third credit is open. And, as I said upthread, homeschoolers in my state don't necessarily have to follow those requirements at all. I just want to be close. 

 

On 6/15/2018 at 1:01 PM, Lori D. said:

That's what we did with our non-STEM students, and it worked great.

Also consider going with Science topics of interest to your student, rather than feeling you must do the frequent progression of Biology, Chemistry, Physics. Many, many colleges are flexible about the Natural Science credits, as long as you include labs. Other science topics are also high school level, and may be of more interest to your student: Astronomy, Earth Science/Geology, Environmental Science, Horticulture, Botany, Equine (Horse) Science, Meteorology (Weather), etc.

 

Hey Lori D.!

Question for you.

Do you think there is a way to keep the OP's daughter on a somewhat traditional college-ready science path, but still keep her engaged?

For example: lots of high schools have gone to doing physics first, but only Algebra-based. As I understand it, physics is the foundation for chemistry and biology. Paul Hewitt's Conceptual Physics text is really good and there are a lot of opportunities for hands-on activities (lab).

9th Grade: Conceptual Physics with lab

10th Grade: Chemistry with Art in Chemistry: Chemistry in Art  From Amazon:

Quote

Integrate chemistry and art with hands-on activities and fascinating demonstrations that enable students to see and understand how the science of chemistry is involved in the creation of art. Investigate such topics as color integrated with electromagnetic radiation, atoms, and ions; paints integrated with classes of matter, specifically solutions; three-dimensional works of art integrated with organic chemistry; photography integrated with chemical equilibrium; art forgeries integrated with qualitative analysis; and more. This is a complete and sequential introduction to General Chemistry and Introductory Art topics. In this newly revised edition, the author, a retired Chemistry teacher, gives extensive and in-depth new explanations for the experiments and demonstrations, as well as expanded safety instructions to insure student safety. Grades 7-12.

Art & Chemistry -

You could make a really cool class with this and it would be worth at least .5 of a Fine Arts credit. With a reluctant learner or homeschooler, fewer class transitions means less lost time. This allows OP's dd to see how art is tied to science. The chem is a little light, but it should be fine in filling out a requirement.

11th Grade: Biology - let me work on some possible alternative resources

12th Grade: Leave it open, if there is an interest.  We did a college-level text for Earth Science. It served as a science case study because it built on everything dd studied in his previous science classes. It brought the knowledge into real-life scenarios as we made it a field studies class where he was out doing and recording.

Just some thoughts.

[swimmermom3]

English class and art

If I could build my ideal class for 9th graders, I would incorporate The Bible and Its Influence, classical mythology, and a few works of Shakespeare (for us, Shakespeare got covered every year). The Bible, classical mythology, and Shakespeare are the three-legged stool of literature.

The Bible and Its in Influence has been used successfully in public high schools and I really like it as a resource.

For the OP, her dd may really enjoy all the tie-in's with art and music.

For example: Chapter 4 covers "From the Garden to the Tower" - Genesis 3:1-24; 4:1-26; 6:1-9:29; 11:1-9

• Review, analysis, and critical thinking questions
• Art: Adam and Eve (Lucas Cranach the Elder); Expulsion from Eden (Masaccio); Cain Slaying Abel (Peter Paul Ruebens); The Animals Entering the Ark (Jacopo Bassano
• Literature and Language: poetry of Emily Dickinson, "The Single Hound," The Divine Comedy (9th circle of lower hell); motifs, archetypal character, common plots, antidiluvian, parallelism; read "Young Goodman Brown" and be prepared to discuss how what you read expressed or challenged the biblical account.

There are music references, cultural references. It's a resource you can do a lot from.

Just another thought.

 

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

19 hours ago, swimmermom3 said:

 

 

 

Hey Lori D.!

Question for you.

Do you think there is a way to keep the OP's daughter on a somewhat traditional college-ready science path, but still keep her engaged?

For example: lots of high schools have gone to doing physics first, but only Algebra-based. As I understand it, physics is the foundation for chemistry and biology. Paul Hewitt's Conceptual Physics text is really good and there are a lot of opportunities for hands-on activities (lab).

9th Grade: Conceptual Physics with lab

10th Grade: Chemistry with Art in Chemistry: Chemistry in Art  From Amazon:

Art & Chemistry -

You could make a really cool class with this and it would be worth at least .5 of a Fine Arts credit. With a reluctant learner or homeschooler, fewer class transitions means less lost time. This allows OP's dd to see how art is tied to science. The chem is a little light, but it should be fine in filling out a requirement.

11th Grade: Biology - let me work on some possible alternative resources

12th Grade: Leave it open, if there is an interest.  We did a college-level text for Earth Science. It served as a science case study because it built on everything dd studied in his previous science classes. It brought the knowledge into real-life scenarios as we made it a field studies class where he was out doing and recording.

Just some thoughts.

Thank you! The Chemistry with Art looks very interesting. I’m realizing that there are quite a few ways to cover DD’s least favorite subjects in more appealing ways. We’re moving on Thursday so I’m super busy and everything is in boxes but I can’t wait to get settled and start planning again. I want to sit down with DD too and go over what the high school credit requirements are and the options for meeting them and see what she thinks. I’m feeling much more hopeful that I can come up with a plan that will make high school both challenging and enjoyable for her. 

[Lori D.]

23 hours ago, swimmermom3 said:

Hey Lori D.! Question for you.
Do you think there is a way to keep the OP's daughter on a somewhat traditional college-ready science path, but still keep her engaged?
For example: lots of high schools have gone to doing physics first, but only Algebra-based. As I understand it, physics is the foundation for chemistry and biology. Paul Hewitt's Conceptual Physics text is really good and there are a lot of opportunities for hands-on activities (lab)...

Absolutely! I suggested and linked a few way up in my first post in this thread, and your ideas of Conceptual Physics and Chemistry with Art are two more good ones. : )

We used Conceptual Physics. It's not necessarily a "fun" or alternative take on a traditional science, but it not mathy and you can do as few or as many of the physics problems at the end of each chapter as desired. We added in some TOPS kits and a Physics kit from Home Science Tools for the labs.

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

On 6/15/2018 at 3:04 PM, RootAnn said:

This comment kept nagging at me. I remember listening to the current owner (daughter of the writer) of AG at a convention a few years ago say that NO prior grammar was necessary for AG. I am almost positive about that. Now, I can understand being uncomfortable teaching it if you don't have much grammar background yourself, but I think it starts at the beginning. (I haven't ever used it, so take my words with a grain of salt. I know people who tried it and dropped it for various reasons.) I have learned a bunch while teaching my kids so far - *whispers* even some Latin!

You are correct. No prior grammar is necessary for AG. It's written with the premise of being the only grammar your students will ever need, so you don't need to have repetition each and every year like so many other grammar programs do.