So far...

[AnitaMcC]

So far the curriculum I bought are:

Algebra 2: Larsons text, practice workbook, student tutor CD

Geometry: Larsons text, practice workbook, student tutor CD

Language Arts: Glencoe Grade 10 Writer's Choice Grammar & Composition text and handbook, Grammar Practice Workbook, Vocabulary Power Workbook.

Latin: Wheelocks text and workbook

Consumer Education: Glencoe Consumer Education & Economics text and student activity manual.

Health: Holt Lifetime Health text and study guide


The only other courses I need to purchase is World History, World Geography, Italian program for Dd, and German program for Ds.

I am still waiting to see how we will do the sciences... at home or through local college. Same for computer class for Ds and music classes for Dd. They will be taking the college placement test in a few weeks.

I think that is it for getting ready for the first year of homeschooling twins for high school. Is there anything I am missing that I may need for any of these courses? Should I buy test/quizes/answer guides for any of them? Where do I get them? The publisher websites say that only schools can purchase these items.

Thank you everyone for your help!!

[Harrison_B]

Hi Anita,

Sometimes if you hunt around Amazon.com, you might be able to find the test bank for these books. They are hard to find unless the company caters to homeschoolers. Some moms use the practice review questions at the end of the chapter as their chapter test. Your question if you need tests really depends on how you will issue the credit. Some moms will issue a credit on the completion of the textbook, some on hours completed, or if the child passed AP's,CLEP's.Subject Test, etc. It really depends on your standards, or if you are using an outside agency, what are their requirements.

I saw that you're using Glencoe's Grammar and Composition. You might want to incorporate a Literature component to your schedule. I don't know if Glencoe's textbook does literary analysis. Anyway, I hope this helps you some.

[AnitaMcC]

Hi Anita,

Sometimes if you hunt around Amazon.com, you might be able to find the test bank for these books. They are hard to find unless the company caters to homeschoolers. Some moms use the practice review questions at the end of the chapter as their chapter test. Your question if you need tests really depends on how you will issue the credit. Some moms will issue a credit on the completion of the textbook, some on hours completed, or if the child passed AP's,CLEP's.Subject Test, etc. It really depends on your standards, or if you are using an outside agency, what are their requirements.

I saw that you're using Glencoe's Grammar and Composition. You might want to incorporate a Literature component to your schedule. I don't know if Glencoe's textbook does literary analysis. Anyway, I hope this helps you some.


I was more thinking about the answers for the problems/questions in the text books... where would I get the answers for these? The odd problems there are answered in most texts I think, but not the even. And if there is a problem/question that we need to have explained... where would we get them?

The Glencoe text has some literature lessons in it. The text is in three parts: Composition, Grammar/usage/mechanics, and Resources/skills. Each of the three parts are broken down into units and those units are broken down into lessons. From the looks of it the Composition part is the main part. Each unit of composition part links to a grammar lesson. Also in each Composition unit there is "Writing About Literature" and a "Literature Model" (short story) then a "Linking Writing and Literature". I figure this is where I will add something more in literature once I figure out how to do it-LOL. How many novels are usually read in a year for an English class? I am just not sure yet how we will do this. Any tips??

Also we will be incorporating literature in with our world history. We are breaking that down to different time periods and we will read some books written in or for that time period. I am thinking they will read 3-4 books per time period (fiction, nonfiction, biography/autobiography, fine arts or poetry. I also expect that it will take them 1 1/2 to 2 years to cover all of this.

Anita

[Harrison_B]

I was more thinking about the answers for the problems/questions in the text books... where would I get the answers for these? The odd problems there are answered in most texts I think, but not the even. And if there is a problem/question that we need to have explained... where would we get them?

The Glencoe text has some literature lessons in it. The text is in three parts: Composition, Grammar/usage/mechanics, and Resources/skills. Each of the three parts are broken down into units and those units are broken down into lessons. From the looks of it the Composition part is the main part. Each unit of composition part links to a grammar lesson. Also in each Composition unit there is "Writing About Literature" and a "Literature Model" (short story) then a "Linking Writing and Literature". I figure this is where I will add something more in literature once I figure out how to do it-LOL. How many novels are usually read in a year for an English class? I am just not sure yet how we will do this. Any tips??

Also we will be incorporating literature in with our world history. We are breaking that down to different time periods and we will read some books written in or for that time period. I am thinking they will read 3-4 books per time period (fiction, nonfiction, biography/autobiography, fine arts or poetry. I also expect that it will take them 1 1/2 to 2 years to cover all of this.

Anita

The answers to the books are usually found in the teacher's editions. They are usually hard to find, but I did find a couple of my TE's on Amazon. You just have to search. EBay has a policy of not selling TE's, but some dealer's disregard this policy. Also, you can call the publisher to see if they will sell the teacher's edition to you if you explain that you are homeschooling. If you can prove this (i.e., HSLDA card or a CO-OP card) they might sell the TE's to you. It depends on the publisher.

I don't know how many books would qualify for a HS credit. I'm working with NARHS and one of their requirements for their "Classic & Composition" course is twelve classic books with a two-page literary analysis piece on each book for 1 high school credit. Since you're using a textbook, I believe the completion of the textbook would qualify for a credit.

For yourself, the best course to learn literary analysis was "Teaching the Classics" from IEW. Out of all the curriculum I have ever used, this one was worth the money. Another great curriculum that just came on the market was "Excellence in Literature" by Janice Campbell. She dives more into the literary analysis of books instead of the usual comprehension questions. I'm planning 12 classic books for my ds using both EIL and Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings. Also, a great resource for yourself is the Sparks: Literature books. You can purchase this book at B&N. I find myself to referring to this when I haven't had a chance to read the book.

Hopefully, others will post to aid you in what they have used.