nancy in nj Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 I’ve been studying the wealth of information on this forum for about a year in preparation for taking the plunge and keeping my dd home for high school. We’ve been homeschooling her since 3rd grade and loved every minute of it, but somehow the prospect of high school next year is absolutely terrifying! I think I finally have a tentative plan for 9th grade. I would love some feedback. My goal is to have a reasonably rigorous plan that still allows her time to pursue her interests (swim team 5-6 days per week, hiking, photography) plus some volunteer work. World Literature (Scholars Online) Writing (IEW Elegant Essay), Grammar (AG year 3) and Vocab (Vocab Cartoons) World History (Scholars Online) Chemistry (Spectrum Chemistry, TTC High School Chemistry) Geometry (TT) German I (OSU) This will be her first experience with outside classes (except for an extremely easy year with Write@Home). I’m expecting the Scholars online courses to be very demanding, so my intent is to schedule “lighter†science and math. For 8th grade this year, we were math & science heavy (Chalk Dust Algebra 2 and PH Physical Science). Does anyone have any feedback on the SO World History course/teacher? I’ve searched the forum and found many recommendations for the literature series, but not as much on the history. Also, I considered having her take the SO writing course (instead of Elegant Essay), but was worried that this would be too much. Does this make sense? All feedback is appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 This will be her first experience with outside classes (except for an extremely easy year with Write@Home). I’m expecting the Scholars online courses to be very demanding, so my intent is to schedule “lighter†science and math. For 8th grade this year, we were math & science heavy (Chalk Dust Algebra 2 and PH Physical Science). Does anyone have any feedback on the SO World History course/teacher? I’ve searched the forum and found many recommendations for the literature series, but not as much on the history. Also, I considered having her take the SO writing course (instead of Elegant Essay), but was worried that this would be too much. Does this make sense? Looks good to me.;) I don't know anything about SO, so I can't help you there. However, if this is her first year with outside classes, I wouldn't do any more than 2. HTH- Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 Looks good and balanced, to me. I like the writing curriculum you have chosen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jellogirl Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Looks good, though I haven't first-hand experience with most of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindee Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Is Spectrum Chemistry considered "lighter"? I'm looking at that for my ds who will be in 10th grade, so am curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harrison_B Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Hi Nancy, This is off-topic, but I saw that you live in New Jersey. If you happen to live near Central New Jersey, there is a wonderful homeschool highschool group that meets in Plainsboro on Thursdays. They are known as E-Cubed. Each month, they have the teens participate in geography, nature study, theatrical arts, engineering, choice, book discussion, and other activities. It is a wonderful group! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex-mex Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Hi Nancy, This is off-topic, but I saw that you live in New Jersey. If you happen to live near Central New Jersey, there is a wonderful homeschool highschool group that meets in Plainsboro on Thursdays. They are known as E-Cubed. Each month, they have the teens participate in geography, nature study, theatrical arts, engineering, choice, book discussion, and other activities. It is a wonderful group! How neat! I wish we had a group like that near us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindee Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 How neat! I wish we had a group like that near us!:iagree:We don't have much available around here for highschoolers. :sad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancy in nj Posted April 15, 2009 Author Share Posted April 15, 2009 Thanks for your comments everyone. Can anyone chime in who has experience with Scholars Online??? Please... Brindee, I guess I do have the perception that Spectrum Chemistry is on the "lighter" side of BJU or Prentice Hall Chemistry and certainly the Zundahl text that is used for AP. We used Prentice Hall Physical Science this year and it was very mathy and just tedious to get through...read text book, do study sheet and section questions, do extra math practice for certain sections. The chapter tests were very challenging, but then again, I used the teachers software and only chose the higher level questions. I think the content of Spectrum is probably similar to the others, but I don't think we will feel as bogged down with science as we did this year. I'm a bit concerned that Spectrum might give too little detail so I am adding the TTC lectures and possibly either the Dive Lectures or Thinkwell, just to have extra resources if we need it. Terri, thanks for letting me know about e-cubed. I am in Westfield (exit 140 on Parway), so I am probably about 1 hour from Plainsboro. My daughter definitely needs to interact with more homeschoolers---we just need to find more hours in the day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harrison_B Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 Hi Nancy, Too bad you're too far away. I know there is a co-op that meets on Wednesdays in Edison called Bright or Brite (?). A friend of mine and her sons participates in that group. They sponsor elementary through high school classes. Each year they change their curriculum to meet the needs of the students. This group might be a bit closer for you. Also, your curriculum looks great! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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