Journal of a Busy Mom

living one day at a time

Weekly School Schedule for 8th grader

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This year, I am working on helping my 8th grader become more independent in planning his school schedule, however, he has two things working against him-his ADD and dyslexia.
The ADD part needs the organization, reminders, list, schedules, etc.  I am reading this book:

In the chapter “What Can I Do About it?” The Treatment of ADD, the author discusses structure as being key to the treatment. In fact he says “Structure is central in the treatment of ADD. ..Without structure, no matter how much talent there may be, there is only chaos”. S o what is structure?  Structure refers to essential tools like lists, reminders, notepads, appointment books etc. A set of EXTERNAL controls that one sets up to compensate for unreliable internal controls”
So we have a board that tells him what to do during each Work Period each day.img_0099

and I use a weekly planner with his specific weekly assignments.

schedule-template

I also added in the bottom a section for weekly goals. I wrote out semester goals for him and I needed a place to remind him but also myself on those goals.

This planner works pretty well with him. He still will say “what do I have to do?” and I will say “look at your planner”.  Lately, he has just been working along getting his work done without asking what’s next. So maybe, its finally helping.

I do have to say that right now I am the one inputting his assignments. I would like to transition into he deciding what he will do each day.

But baby steps.

Ligia

Dual Enrollment: Is it Worth it?

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My daughter is now a junior this year and will be pretty much done with her high school requirements at the end of this school year, however, we are not planning to graduate her yet because this would have implications for her future. I always dreamed of “graduating my kids early” only because It would show my family that homeschooling was the right choice-I know lame. The reality is, that I don’t want my 16 year old graduating yet we still have a lot of work to do and she would miss out on “high school” stuff if she graduates early.

So my attention has been turned to Dual Enrollment. Many people have never heard of Dual Enrollment. Some colleges are calling it “Early College”. Our local junior college calls it “Concurrent Enrollment”.

What is Dual Enrollment?

Basically it is an opportunity for high school students in high school to enroll concurrently in college-level courses. Different colleges have different requirements. Some just ask for a parent approval and transcripts. Some require SAT or ACT scores. Some others ask for placement tests. Our local community college is very relaxed and only require a parent or administrator approval. To find out what your requirements are, go to your local community college website and search for those terms mentioned above.

What is the Benefit?
– Earn your college degree in less time
– Eliminate duplication of coursework between high school and college
– Save Money! Concurrently enrolled students pay only minimal fees (in some cases)
– Experience the college environment
– Explore career fields before starting college

What are the downsides?
– A college course will take more time and precedence over all other course work. You don’t want a
bad grade on a college transcript.
– College courses will be with older adults
– College courses may have adult material, discussions, and topics
– Colleges can be very liberal, and the environment not “conservative friendly”

How will it work for  my children?
We’ve been doing online classes since she was an 8th grader, so I believe that the online college courses will work well for us. Unfortunately, our local community college usually has wait lists for their online classes so we will need to look at other community colleges that are less impacted.
I am also looking into several Christian Colleges for opportunities. They are popping up ever where. Here is just a few:
Regents.edu
Bluefield.edu
Liberty.edu
Grand Canyon University

Is it worth it?
As long as my child is committed and invested in the process I think it is worth it. Since she will be doing the work. She wants to travel so I know that getting a head start on college will help her achieve that. We will save time and money by starting now. This might not be the course we take with my son. He has dyslexia and dysgraphia and we might have to wait longer.

Ligia

Planning My Homeschool Year: 2016-17 11th Grade Curriculum Choices

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Last week I shared what curriculum I will be using with my 8th grader. Today, I will share what my 11th grader high school student is up against.

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This year its all about getting her college ready. She will be doing dual enrollment and continuing to CLEP. Our goal is that she will be either ready for an AA by the time she is 19 or finishing her BA by 20. This is technically her last year in high school she has enough credits to graduate this year, but we have decided not to do that since there is really no point. She can earn college credit as a high schooler and still enjoy the benefits of being in high school.

So here it is:

Geometry- She is using Math U See. She has started over the summer so I am hoping she can finish before Christmas break.

World History-She will be doing Notgrass World History in a co-op setting. This will be a year long class culminating with her taking the West Civ I CLEP.

English- ½ semester of Shakespeare really more of a fun class but she will be reading four of his plays including Romeo and Juliet, A Mid Summer’s Night Dream, and Julius Caesar.

Foreign Language-This is her second year taking Japanese on Landry Academy. She really loves learning Japanese. I am impressed by how much she has learned. We were watching a TV show and the characters said something in Japanese and she laughed! None of us knew what was said except her!

Economics- This will be a full year class at our co-op using BJU curriculum. I think it’s a great follow up to Financial Peace which she did last year. She will attempt the Microeconomics CLEP test.

Drama- after her ½ semester of Shakespeare, the drama troupe will be performing A Mid Summer’s Night Dream

Bible-CBS Bible Study this year we study “Return to Jerusalem” covering the journey of the Israelites from Capivity to Jerusalem.

World Religions-This is a study guide I bought through Credits Before College. This is a semester long class that I will spread over the year. We will study it together with her brother. At the end I will have both of them study for the DSST.

Analytical Grammar-we have tried 3 different curriculums (maybe 4) and haven’t had success so I am taking a different approach with her. Usually I have handed her the curriculum and said “do it”. This year, we are doing this together with her brother. I will teach the lesson and they will work on the exercises. Most of the curriculums have been self taught, but I don’t find that she gets it.

Study Skills-She is doing the Victus Study System using the “on your own” approach.

Screenwriting-this is an elective although I can probably count for English. She is taking this on Landry Academy.

Adobe Photoshop-Also an elective and also on Landry Academy.

On top of that she will be finishing her Home Ec, Driver’s Training, and start reading several books for “Building relationships” course. Not sure if I will count that for Bible or Elective, but I am excited about what she will learn.

She is also continuing with piano. She will attempt to jump from Level 4 Certificate of Merit to Level 7! That is a big jump, but her teacher believes in her so I believe in her too!

Finally, dual enrollment. This is a big “maybe” for the fall, but definitely for the spring she will be taking 2 classes at the local community college or online. I will be writing a post later on how all this works.