We are considering homeschooling my dd for 9th grade this year. I am getting comfortable with the lower grades, but high school is new territory. I have a few things in mind, but would love to hear your ideas. I'm thinking Science- apologia biology 1 History- ?? Math- would love TT but don't have the $ so I am leaning towards saxon alg 1(buying it used w/o dive cds, I am pretty good at math so it should work out) Literature/LA- LLATL Also if anyone has a good transcript keeping program, website etc. Thanks
For forms, you can't beat this site: http://donnayoung.org/index.htm For language arts, LLATL is a good start, but you will want to include some REAL literature (I think the books give you about 4-5 options, but I haven't seen the 9th grade one) and perhaps a slightly more formal writing program - I didn't think LLATL's was super awesome. I would also recommend a vocabulary program -- there are lots of vocab lists available on the internet that you can use. For history, you can focus on geography or government this year, or fill in the blanks your student may have with US or world history. You can also elect to do some in depth country studies. For 9th this year we are doing Modern US history for the first semester, and geography for the 2nd semester. You will also want to find some electives to supplement - music, language, arts, drama, sports - and that would help round everything out. Good luck!
History I'm going to reccoment Joy Hakim's A History of US. Math.. I would find a way to get my hands on TT, if you watch you can find it used for a decent price.. but you have to be a vulture and watch places like the WTM board and homeschoolclassifieds EVERY DAY.. maybe even several times a day.. because when someone lists it for a resonable price it goes really fast. (sorry taking 20 bucks off of the new price for something you have used for a whole year is insane.. yes I priced mine high.. but I really didn't want it to sell, and hubby was standing there telling me to sell it, but if it doesnt' sell I can still buy the one I need this year with payday coming...lol).
I would definitely agree with crazymama about getting your hands on TT, if at all possible. Try searching curriculum consignment shops or even craigslist in your area. If you belong to a local support group, see if another member has a copy that you could borrow for the year.
I am going to try really hard for the TT. I look on ebay probley 10 times a day, but all the auctions go so high. What is WTM ? I have looked on homeschoolclassifieds and vegsource but don't feel 100% comfortable with them. I am so used to ebay's feedback pages. Have any of you had a bad experience with them ??
WTM = Well Trained Mind (classical) Look at Mystery of History, too. Do one volume a year to finish creation through modern by graduation (assuming the 4th book comes out in time).
www.welltrainedmind.com/forums is where I was refering to, they have an amazing for sale board. I was watching ebay, but yeah they get way too high! I think a lot of it has to do with people having it in their heads that if they get it on ebay they are getting a deal.. and I also think people get too caught up in the excitement of the auction. Ditch looking there and start looking at homeschoolclassifieds.com
Hi, Jen! I'm Jackie. My girls are going into 11 and 9, my son going into 5. Yes, try to get TT!!! It is AWESOME!!! I've bought on both vegsource and homeschoolclassifieds for years without any problems. The only problem I had was one time when I bought something on EBay, but it was an unintentional problem that the seller quickly dealt with when it was pointed out to him. I switched my 5th grader from Saxon (which he HATED!) to TT this year; my oldest has used it for Geometry, Algebra II, and Pre-Cal, and I CANNOT say enough about it!!! I also like Mystery of History. It's a good curriculum. My oldest used Notgrass World History last year, and will be using Notgrass American History this year. This is a program that includes history, literature, and Bible all in one. I used LLATL with my oldest when she was youngest, but felt it was rather hit and miss. Easy Grammar is a great grammar program. My younger two have been doing Rod and Staff for the past two years, and that is one heck of a grammar program! I'll be putting my oldest in it at about a 6th grade level this year, just to review with her. (My 10yo thinks it's great that he can diagram a sentence, and his oldest sister can't, lol!) You can't beat Apologia for science! My oldest is taking Logic this year. We'll be using "The Fallacy Detective", also put out by Apologia (I think?).
Is there anyone you can borrow TT from? You may be able to do that if you can't buy it. Is there a co-op or homeschool lending person in your area (we have a free swap in our area) and try asking around your homeschool group. If you can't find one in your area, try looking on yahoo groups - I found several homeschool groups in our areas via the yahoo groups, and someone there may be able to help you out.
Have not read the reponses yet. I need to make dinner but wanted to write something first regarding TT. Last year, 8th grade, for TT we bought the dvd's and math book. My son only used the math book. I looked at the dvd's once. For 7th grade we used the dvd's daily. This year, 9th grade, I plan on only buying the student book and tests. If he needs the dvd's I will buy them later. The book explains things very well, as well as any high school math that I have seen.
I feel I should interject - what I love about TT is the dvds - I need them to show my ds how to do the problems when i don't know how to do it. Every problem has a solution in the dvds, plus the lecture material is, I think, well done. I am not a math person, so the more options my ds has, the better. good luck!
Phillip just started Math 5 today with TT. I understand that the upper level maths are done differently from the lower ones, so I really don't know. But I DO know, that like Gwenny, the dvd's are ESSENTIAL at the upper level. Rachael did Geometry, Algebra II, and Pre-Cal. I CANNOT explain to her what's wrong when she misses a problem. Yes, she can read the book and not watch the lecture (which is what she did most of the time). But when she misses number 7 in lesson 14, I sure as heck can't explain to her what she did wrong. The highest math I had was Geometry! So she can pop the DVD in, and it explains the problem step by step. Also, if she read through a chapter and was having trouble with it, she would do it a second time, this time listening to the lectures.
I will suggest Diana Waring's products for history. I just ordered mine, so this is a unused suggestion. I may post my "real" review after we use it for a while. TT is a great math source. I also have heard good things about math u see. Apologia is a very good science curriculum. It is interesting and VERY well organized and resells very well. Also, they answer questions if you have them personally. So, I agree that is a good decision.
We used Saxon for high school. Sd really liked it and said she learned alot. As for History if you want a textbook approach I would go with BJU, not Abeka (very dull and the tests are way too nit picky and not enough thinking). If you do not want a textbook approach I would look at Beautiful Feet. Check out Homeschool Tracker Plus for your record keeping. I used that and it was so easy to print out transcripts for sd this year.
Jackie - that is exactly why we got it. ds started Pre-Algebra last year, so I felt I needed something that can give him the "how do you figure this one out?" solution to everything. I didn't want to count on my math skills. This year we are using Keys to Algebra and TT is our lecture and supplement. If he gets one wrong on Keys, we can find a similar problem in TT and look it up. He used Keys to Fractions and decimals, and the books worked REALLY well. I prefer TT, and my ds did OK with it, but not great. Unfortunately Keys to Algebra is missing a few elements that prevent it from being a "complete" algebra program, so we will use TT to fill in the blanks. Fingers crossed it all works. We really struggle with math - it is the one subject that can bring my ds to tears, even when he is doing well with it!
yes, yes, look for a use TT its the best. Well for History that can be hard or easy go to library and get books and do reports or what Jackie said is what we use and its great. I have a 12th and 10th grader this year.
Thank you for all the great info on other websites to try. I have been checking them constantly. I found a great deal on apologia on vegsource (if I have not been beat to it by someone else) and I bought a set of 2nd ed Story of Us books by Joy Hakim off ebay for $25 Now for Literature :? I am now second guessing LLATL. In my state we have to do Literature/Composition. Do you all have any ideas ?? I am going to buy Easy Grammar Plus to take care of LA, but beyond that I am stumped. Also, another question I have is do I have to get 9th grade material to be able to qualify that for a unit earned ? I am concerned since Story of Us and Easy Grammar aren't grade/age specific they wouldn't count as a english or history credit. Thanks again for all your help :love:
What about doing some Progeny Press Lit Guide ( Novel Units are also good but secular). There is alot of writing involved in those but if you want a writing program IEW is really great but expensive. An alternative to IEW is Jensen's Format writing which is really good too.
You can still do LLTL - we just use it more of a supplement than our primary source. You may find it works great for you as a primary source, and since it tends to be relatively inexpensive, start with that! You can modify it later. IEW is good, but only for 1-2 years - after that it is too formulaic and does not encourage creative student thought. Everything is too "canned" - at least it was for me, but I am a lit and writing professor, so I am going to have my biases! :9 You can go to all these companies' websites and try some samples to see what works best for you and your family. That is an inexpensive way to try things out.
We are doing 9th grade this year with dd. Here's our line-up: SOS english 900 Math algebra 1 (textbook from school, only because it was free from my bff who works for local district! If I had the choice it would be TT). Geography: The world and its people (textbook, again because it was given to me free). Apologia's Biology (1st edition) Sewing (a friend who is a seamstress will teach her weekly) Art (splurging here with lessons from professional artist at local gallery) Cooking (foods from around the world, ethnic dishes) PE (putting forth more effort to get exercise daily). My dd is also planning on volunteering at the library. She's a little nervous about it so wants to wait until first of the year. She's worried she won't know anything and they will "fire" her! She needs a little confidence building before she goes for it This year we are really short on funds hence the reason why we had to use school textbooks. Not my first choice since there are so many wonderful homeschool curriculums available. I am hoping to spice them up a bit so they aren't so dry!
