pre-AP english lit for 9th grader?

[mountains27]

Looking for a LA course for my 9th grader to start soon. I am thinking of getting her on an AP track in her HS years but am not very familiar with the process. She is bright and can be a hard worker, she has skipped a grade but her birthday is in Oct so by some state standards she is technically in her correct grade anyway.

I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions for an english/lit curriculum that might help prepare her for taking an AP course next? oh and if it has an emphasis on spelling that would be even better! she is a good writer but can NOT spell at all, it's kind of baffling actually why she can't seem to sound out words and spell them correctly 😕  I don't think it is dyslexia because it is just spelling

Thank you for any suggestions or guidance 🙂

[Momto6inIN]

Most AP programs are going to have an aggressive reading schedule of classics and contemporary works as well as expect them to be able to whip out a literary analysis paper quickly. If she's not up to speed on lit analysis, I'd start there. We've done Windows to the World and it's been great. It starts them off with analyzing short stories, walks them step by step through the annotating and analysis and writing process, and by the end they have the tools they need to analyze full length works.

[Lori D.]

What are your goals for considering "doing the AP track"? 

- rigor?
AP is not the only route; there's also a lot of advanced curricula out there; also, advanced online classes; and dual enrollment.

- earn college credit through testing?
There's also CLEP tests, which are much more flexible about dates and how many you can do in a year.

- earn college credits in advance of college to save money?
Again, other options include dual enrollment (which in some states is low-cost or even free), and CLEP tests can knock out up to 2 YEARS of college before high school graduation -- at most, I see students knock out 1-2 SEMESTERS of college credits-by-exam in advance of starting college.

- competitive for college admission?
There are many ways to make your student stand out without AP test scores -- a number of courses in their passion area; high quality year-long senior project; travel and/or international exchange or study; certain kinds of volunteering and extracurricular experiences...

- "everyone else is doing AP"?
Well, that sort of defeats the big advance of homeschooling -- giving our children an individual education and high school experience that lets them shine and pursue their passions and future career goal interests, without having to waste time of "following the crowd"... 😉 


I would first get very specific about *why* you want to do AP during high school, and then look very carefully at your student and consider if she really is/isn't a good match being on the "AP track". And -- see if there is another option that might better help you reach your goals. Also, I'd consider if the *content* that you will have to concentrate on for specific AP tests is the content you *want* to focus on -- for example, will you and your student want to spend the high school years on the literature that might show up on the AP list -- or will that cut out the ability to include or focus on other works of literature that might be of more interest or more importance to you and/or your student?


Things to consider about AP:
- If your student is not a strong tester, or is stressed out by testing, AP is probably not a good track for that student.
- If just want to "test the waters" of AP, consider one of the easier AP tests (Environmental Science), before trying the hard ones (either of the AP English or Physics tests).
- AP tests are only offered once at the end of the year with no re-takes, so if your student isn't feeling well or just has an off-day for testing... ug.
- AP is NOT required for being admitted to top universities or being competitive for admission to selective colleges -- there are a number of homeschoolers on these boards who got into top schools with NO APs at all. 😉 


All that said about AP, in addition to getting very comfortable with writing essays, you might start including works of literature from the different lists in this Prep Scholar article. BEST of luck, whatever you decide. Warmest regards, Lori D.


PS -- for a poor speller, you might check out my post towards the start, and lewelma's posts towards the end of the recent thread "Teaching Spelling" -- we both had struggling spellers up through high school, and different things helped for each.

Edited August 6, 2020 by Lori D.

[fourisenough]

My DD did CLRC Great Books 1 in 9th grade before doing AP Lang as a 10th grader. It was great preparation. Mrs. Turscak is an excellent teacher who has very high expectations of her students. They read a ton and wrote papers weekly. Her feedback is extensive and helpful, but it is expected that a student is already comfortable writing with a thesis before beginning the course.

[MamaSprout]

We did this spelling for high school in 8th grade. It helped. I ended up making up some of my own dictation sentences. We liked the program, and it did help Dd, who already knew phonic rules.