If I continue with this plan, will my dd be ready for college?

[...................]

I don't know why, but I just feel so scared that my daughter will not be ready for college. ...

Will this prepare her for college?

9th- She took extensive co-op classes including Quine's Starting points. She learned to close read, analyze literature, use study tools to write in books of fiction and non fiction to think about themes, plots characters. History, Lit and Philosophy were all included... She took Apologia Physical Science online, and did very well with that particular teacher and class, ASL with co-op and Algebra 1 at Mathnasium.  She met all of her deadlines and was highly praised by her WV teacher as being the brightest student she had in 15 years of teaching the class.  

10th- Geometry using Teaching Textbooks- she's doing great, showing all of her work and very self motivated

American Literature- At the co-op.  Not much writing in this class, but what she does turn in, is quality work and gets an A every time.  They're using a beautiful textbook called My Perspectives, plus discussions and also watching plays, and reading three full length novels (The Crucible, Johnny Tremain, and two more for next semester.)  

History- using AOP Monarch Online.  She does the reading, the homework check-ups, quizzes and tests. She just started taking notes, and has been making flash cards all along.  Her notes go back and forth.  She will often take good notes and get better grades, and then very sparse notes and her grades will drop. She has 5 800 word reports due, which I will require MLA format, and citations. She will also have 6 "DBQ Projects" due using the book Document Based Assessments for World History.  This book walks her through carefully reading a few primary source documents and synthesizing an essay on it.  

Biology- She took her labs first semester at a local private school, and then is using Monarch AOP to do her work.  She struggles a lot with this course.  She takes a lot of notes, and flashcards and is barely maintaining a B average.  However, it should be said that with her dyslexia, Science will always be very difficult.

ASL- at the co-op

SAT Study- she took the practice Khan SAT and got 1180 and is practicing every day using the Khan suggested practice, which requires 15 minutes per day.

Art- first semester she took a very lame clay class and second semester, she is doing a much better studio art one at our local art school.

Other- she achieved her United States Pony Club D3 rating in three areas, which is VERY difficult, includes a lot of studying and extensive attention to detail (try making a horse that loves to lie in its own poop, saddles, shoes, clothes, every inch of fur, nose, nostrils, etc. 100% spotless in the CA mud rainy season! (too bad she's not riding any more so this won't factor into future years, she has moved on to archery!) 

Volunteer Job- she is a highly prized volunteer at our local library and has been chosen to do fun extra special tasks and is being considered for an actual job this summer...they just love her there.  

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

My dd would like to do pretty much the same thing next year....take History and Science online, take her labs at the private school, and stick with her Co-Op English teacher that she loves, as well as her ASL teacher, and take art classes at the art school. ...

I will do my best to assign worthy primary source material alongside the history, and of course Science we are just glad if she can get a B....

But I don't know...I am just worried anyway that she will get to college and just not be prepared for some reason.

 

 

[freesia]

It sounds wonderful. She will be ready. Really. 

[Lori D.]

Looks like what you've got for the transcript for 9th & 10th grades (below) is right on track for having the number and types of credits required for college admission, since she's not shooting for competitive/selective or top tier schools. She has some very solid extracurriculars, one of which is in her area of interest for a future career, and she's starting to practice/prep for standardized testing. That all looks fine.

The only thing I'd suggest is that if planning on a career as a librarian or English teacher, is to include more reading of full-length classics and young adult fiction. (From what I can see of the table of contents for the My Perspectives text being used by the English class, it looks like they are covering a good amount of nonfiction, essays, poetry, and short stories.) I am a little concerned that I don't see a number of the traditional American lit. novels being covered in this class -- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Scarlet Letter, The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird... Just an observation, and I may be off base since I don't know the full syllabus. 😉

Anyways, back to the idea of preparing for future career -- Perhaps consider doing that additional literature, and count it as a 0.5 credit Elective... ? (Perhaps outsource to some Brave Writer Boomerang books, or 1 semester with Center for Lit, or...?) 

Just my 2 cents worth, since you asked. 😉 Warmest regards, Lori D.

__________________

9th grade
1.0 credit = English: Lit. & Comp. . . . . . . . . . co-op class / Quine's Starting Points
1.0 credit = Math: Algebra 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . outsourced / Mathnasium
1.0 credit = Science: Physical Science . . . . . online class / Apologia
1.0 credit = Social Studies: World History . . . co-op class / Quine's Starting Points
1.0 credit = For. Lang.: ASL 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . .co-op class
1.0 credit = Elective: Philosophy . . . . . . . . . .  co-op class / Quine's Starting Points
6.0 credits = total for 9th
     extracurriculars = Pony Club, library volunteer job

10th grade
1.0 credit = English: Amer. Literature . . . . . . co-op class
1.0 credit = Math: Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . at home / Teaching Textbooks
1.0 credit = Science: Biology . . . . . . . . . . . . .outsourced at private school + AOP Monarch
1.0 credit = Social Studies: World History . . . at home / AOP Monarch 
1.0 credit = For. Lang.: ASL 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . co-op class
? 0.5 credit = Fine Arts: Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . outsourced classes
? 5.5 credits = total for 10th
     extracurriculars = Pony Club, archery, library volunteer job; SAT test prep/practice

 

[katilac]

Like Lori, I'd probably try to add in some additional reading. This could easily be done over summers and holidays and you could pick and choose which ones to have output for - many books I simply wanted my kids to read and discuss, we did not close read, analyze, and have output for all of them (or anywhere near it). 

Other than that, I think it looks pretty solid and she has a good practice SAT score already. So relax and keep going!

[Farrar]

1 hour ago, Lori D. said:

The only thing I'd suggest is that if planning on a career as a librarian or English teacher, is to include more reading of full-length classics and young adult fiction. (From what I can see of the table of contents for the My Perspectives text being used by the English class, it looks like they are covering a good amount of nonfiction, essays, poetry, and short stories.) I am a little concerned that I don't see a number of the traditional American lit. novels being covered in this class -- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Scarlet Letter, The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird... Just an observation, and I may be off base since I don't know the full syllabus. 😉

 

I agree with this. It's the first thing that struck me. Johnny Tremain is a children's book. Which doesn't mean it doesn't have a place in a high school course... but you want to be sure to get some meaty options in there too. The Crucible is good... but short. I think going forward, I'd want to push her. Add in some reading or an online high school book club or something to round out that credit if you're going to continue this at your co-op. It sounds like it's on the light side.

Overall, she seems fine. It doesn't look like an honors, pushing schedule. But sometimes I feel such pity for the kids who have those. And they're not right for all kids. And it doesn't take a punishing schedule to be ready for college. We can't see the works she's doing, but it seems like she's on track.

[...................]

OK thanks everyone!

1.  The book was the Red Badge of Courage not Johnny Tremain, sorry about that.  I think that's slightly older but also short.

2.  Is it ok if she reads many of these books on her own time?  She has read a few that you've mentioned on her own, all of Homer, the Aeneid, all the usual classic British Lit (except she doesn't like Dickens, the horrors)....

Should I assign more of the usual American Lit?

 

[katilac]

16 minutes ago, Calming Tea said:

  Is it ok if she reads many of these books on her own time?  She has read a few that you've mentioned on her own, all of Homer, the Aeneid, all the usual classic British Lit (except she doesn't like Dickens, the horrors)....

Should I assign more of the usual American Lit?

 

 

Absolutely okay. Keep a list! 

Assign what you think she will enjoy and learn from.  My kids skipped a lot of modern classics. Sometimes I wanted them to be familiar with certain iconic works and we would review context and important quotes if we didn't read them (1984 comes to mind). 

If something is a complete dud after 50 or so pages, move on. Yes, she will have to complete works she doesn't like in college, but it's not really something you need to practice.

There are so many great books. If I had strictly enforced a specific reading list, my youngest would likely never have read all of Tolstoy's novels, because I never would have assigned them, lol. 

[Jen W]

This might not help, but have you looked at HSLDA's guidelines for high school? I love how they show options for if you are preparing for college, whether a normal entry plan or for a more rigorous plan (ie someone planning to go in to Engineering or medicine) as well as entering the workforce upon graduating or going into the military.

[regentrude]

On 2/2/2019 at 9:33 PM, Calming Tea said:

2.  Is it ok if she reads many of these books on her own time?  She has read a few that you've mentioned on her own, all of Homer, the Aeneid, all the usual classic British Lit (except she doesn't like Dickens, the horrors)....

Should I assign more of the usual American Lit?

Of course. I find reading with joy by oneself much more valuable than grudgingly dissecting a book in class. My DD spent the entire 11th grade just unschooling English and read and discussed literature with friends. 

For college readiness it is more important to be able to read complex texts and write about them, than having covered a certain canon of books. You can be college ready never having read any American literature; it's for cultural literacy that I would make sure to cover some pivotal works.