How To Decide Which Subjects?

[CookIslandsMommy]

Help! I have an upcoming 8th Grader - in August. She has just turned 13 years old and really has no idea what she wants to do with her life - college wise. One minute she is loving the idea of early childhood education - the next she is considering wanting to become an optometrist.

The question I have is how do we KNOW whether our daughter would be able to be smart enough to do premed or not We are in the South Pacific and we start our school year next week. I had planned to do BJU DVDs for science for high school. This year she will be starting with Earth Science. But, if she is considering premed then I would probably prefer she do an online course like a TPS science course - where there is more teacher contact and better labs than what we do on our own.

We have missed out on the General Science year - she did Life Science with BJU DVD last year - which was really, really difficult and technical for an 11/12 year old. Do I get the Apologia book on General Science and look at signing her up for TPS Physical Science in August - IN THE CASE - she may want to do something medical in the future? 

How do we know whether she would be able to handle the science / pre med? I was thinking that an online science class would give us some idea of whether or not she is good at science. We have done science by DVD since she was in Grade 3, so I honestly just don't know. 

Should I know? As a homeschooling parent how do we work out which pathway to take? I would not want to limit her options. 

Thanks in advance. 

Sherid

 

[RootAnn]

I like to plan ahead, but there is just not a whole lot of ways to know how great a toddler is going to be at bike-riding or how your 7 yr old is going to score on the SAT in 11th grade, or how your 13 yr old is going to be at college science 6 yrs down the road (unless you have a gifted kid who has already ridden a bike at 18 months, aged the SAT at 7, and taken college-level science classes at 12).

Starting an online class in 8th grade is a good idea because the grade doesn't "count" yet. But I wouldn't freak out if you don't because you aren't going to ruin her future if you pick the "wrobg" science. What does she want to do for next year's science?

[....]

I don't know anything about those outsourced classes, we do almost all of ours at home (dd17 and dd13 do take a class at an enrichment center).  But, I wanted to say "good to 'see' you again!"   (I haven't seen you on the forums in a while and we have dds the same age.)

I think if she was able to get through a BJU science course, she's probably pretty good at science?  I've looked at those books at the homeschool store.  They're huge.

[MerryAtHope]

The only way to know is to try out a course and see! Don't be afraid to experiment a bit--you and she have some freedom here to explore, try things, decide what's a fit, and so on. My dd wanted to be a coroner at age 16, LOL! Then she thought nursing at 18, and now she's Early Childhood Education at 20! (One thing that she discovered is that she loves teaching science concepts to young children and making them accessible, and enjoying the wonder together etc....) But along the way it's been a wonderful journey, she has pursued both academic courses and courses of interest, and has learned a lot about herself.

I always went the "well-rounded" route. I used the pinned threads at the top of the high school board to help us decide on a 4-year-plan for high school, which gave us a general outline--and then I filled in the details year by year (you can change things along the way, talk with your student, see where her interests are now etc...) Look at what your state requires and what colleges require (look at several schools that you think you might consider, see the "common denominators" and work from there.) Work to give your dd a good college-prep education and also time to pursue interests, and let the details work themselves out along the way. Have fun! I loved getting to know my kids as teens!

[2_girls_mommy]

BTW, I don't think your kid necessarily needs to do the General Science textbook if she has been doing science texts and has been exposed to science throughout school. She should be able to jump right into any Biology class. 

[Penelope]

Apologia General Science isn’t necessary at all. Physical Science is what many eighth graders take at home or at schools, but Earth Science is fine, too. A bright student should be able to take high school physics without having had Physical Science, which is simply an introduction to physics and chemistry concepts for students who aren’t yet ready for the math and depth of the high school level chem and physics courses. 

Trying out an online course in eighth grade is an excellent idea if you plan to do more of them for high school. There is a learning curve there. However, if you use a good curriculum with labs included, I wouldn’t assume that the online class will be any better for labs. The fact is that with labs there are just some things more difficult to do at home, whether it is with a class or not, but there are still options that give student a good experience.