Goals vs. Hopes. RESTING on those humanities oars. Why is that so hard?????

[Janice in NJ]

Hi folks!

I haven't been around much lately. All's well. Just busy (like everyone else. :001_smile:)

OK. It's time to get serious about planning for next year. No more "just-looking" shopping. No more casual browsing. Time to start marking real lists with real commitments. Can you tell that I'm gun-shy on this one. Things are going well. Really. I just don't have the best track record with this process. I ALWAYS over-plan. I always over do it as far as what I "think" my kids can handle. It's served us well in some areas - we've accomplished WAY more than I thought possible. But I'm growing weary of living within the realm of the maybe. I'd like to spend more time within the realm of the "healthy-n-likely" - Hard work? Yes! But without so much of the "if everything works out absolutely perfectly, THEN we can meet these goals." THAT world is starting to lose its luster for this momma. KWIM? *grin*

Anyway. Oldest ds. It's time to let this boy rest on his oars a bit in history, literature, philosophy, etc. I can hardly believe that I'm saying that. :blink: Really. Wham. Slam the book shut, momma! Really. Gosh I almost feel like an addict or something. I. Just. Can't. Seem. To. Do. It. Somebody help me!!!!!!!:001_smile: Really. We've run such a humanities intensive program for so long that I feel lost everytime I try to cut back with next year's schedule. EVERYTIME. Some SAT II test or AP course or CLEP test or SOMETHING keeps sneaking back onto the list. WHY IS THAT?????? Somebody STOP me!

An engineer should be allowed to FOCUS on his talents and REST on his oars. Right?

TWTM does a great job of pointing out that a student who doesn't want to pursue math/science should be allowed to "rest" on their oars in order to free up time to focus on their interests. So the reverse is true, right?

Of course it is. Sure.
Why don't I FEEL like it's true?
Why can't I DO IT????!!!!!!?????????

Someone please find me and hand me an 11th grade ENGLISH course that takes 1 HOUR per day!!! or GASP: 45 minutes per day? WHERE is it?

While you're at it, I'll take the 3/4 hr per day history program too! :001_smile:

Why can't I pull myself away from the humanities. Maybe it's because I LOVE it and I keep hanging out with you folks who love it too. ;)

Really. Take a look at the sample schedules in the revised WTM (pg 652)

The 11th grade sample suggests:
656 hours of humanities (grammar, great books, foreign language-low end estimate, art and music appreciation)
100 hours of junior thesis (I separated this out... in case you want to argue that an engineer would/should WRITE about an area that he's interested in. *grin*)
228 hours of math and science
(Listed as a substitute for language study: 150 hours computer programming)

OF course I'm not taking issue with WTM or the schedules. Really. (I can just hear Jessie and Susan thinking, "Write your own darn book, you cranky know-it-all." :D I guess I'm just trying to work through the "resting on your oars" question for a math/science kid for the junior year.)

If I flip this on it's head, then it's totally do-able. Well - not really. Look:
656 hours of math and science (pre-calculus with all the technology software, chemistry w/lab at the CC, electronics, projects in thermodynamics and electromagnetism, etc)
100 hours of junior thesis (an engineering project from start to finish complete with an engineering notebook to document the experience)
120 hours of English (gasp. choke. I need a BAG to breath into here, folks.......) (What would that look like: 30 hrs of grammar/10 hrs vocab/40 hours of writing/40 hours of literature - what's that? Maybe 2 books!!? Darn. Darn. Darn.)
108 hours of History... OK... anyone starting to see my problem here? :001_smile: We couldn't even get through a lite history textbook in that amount of time.
150 hours computer programming

BTDT advice from those of you who have successfully flipped this model on its head... ESPECIALLY if you became a humanities junkie and were able to pull yourself away and run back to your beloved math and science. Especially if you were able to maintain this stance for longer than about ten minutes. I keep looking back. Sighing. And then I slide back into a humanities intensive plan. Darn it! So if you successfully maintained the math/science push-posture after playing in the humanities-intensive puddle for 10+ years..... Was math/science the same after playing over on the humanities side of the fence? Did it light your fire as much as it used to or are you still looking back?

Maybe if I could sell my library THEN I wouldn't feel like I'm losing something....

I feel like I'm mourning something here... even though I LOVE the way this boy is turning out. Love it! He's probably going to be fine. Right? Right? I seriously need psychiatric help here, folks! *GRIN*

Can someone please send me some chocolate? :001_smile:

Peace,
Janice

Enjoy your little people
Enjoy your journey

[Blue Hen]

I'm with ya Janice. DS is going to be a senior and can you believe I'm debating about AP Lit for him. WHY???? The kid put in TONS of hours this year in English. Why can't I let him have a free year of doing just a min for English? Why can't I let him take Physics and a MicroBio-Chem course next year? And a couple programming courses?

We're still thinking about next year's choices.

Carole

[Janice in NJ]

Does that help?

Seriously though. I have no idea what's right...maybe that's why I haven't emailed you back yet....
I got NOTHING, baby! :001_smile::001_huh:
And I'm growing REALLY tired of thinking about this.

I think I need counseling. :001_smile:
Or maybe a garage sale. Maybe if I sold all of my humanities curriculum, I would feel better. I doubt it. But it's worth thinking about.

Anyone in north Jersey want to homeschool about 25 kids in the humanities? Cause I think my basement has got ya covered! :001_smile:

Peace,
Janice

P.S. Dd took the NLE Latin II exam this week. She does NOT like Latin any more. She wants to quit. I'm probably going to let her stop when she finishes her on-line Latin II class in May. I really wanted her to work through at least Latin IV and take the AP test, but she hates it (the current loathing has been a gradual process over the last 4-5 months. sigh. And I'm obviously not SO in love with it that I can talk her out of her attitude) .... and the notion of selling that huge, huge shelf of Latin curriculum... really a TON of great programs there.... and NEVER looking back has me almost giddy! The thought of never having to bo, bis, bit again feels so awesome, so incredibly freeing. Oh. My. Gosh. And this coming from a momma who has always thought that this was important, so very important. But I'm almost done. We're almost done. And I'm so glad of it! I just can't tell you HOW good the thought of selling that PILE of STUFF felt as soon as I DARED to think it! :001_smile: Gone forever!

I'm telling ya.... I'm thinking ALL kinds of heretical thoughts lately! My gut is getting a bit out-spoken lately. I'm longing for balance, but finding that I'm dramatically shifting in the direction of "MAN, this FEELS SO GOOD. So PERFECT!!!!" .... the giddiness of it all makes me nervous. I'm bound to go overboard. I know it. :001_smile:

[Laura Corin]

Let's leave aside any political discussion of the IB (not relevant - we are just looking at structure). There are six areas plus a thesis and some other things. The areas are native language; another language; individuals and societies (history, geography or economics usually); experimental science; maths; the arts (or you can use this slot for another language, science or social studies subject).

For each area, you choose whether to do it at standard or higher level. Four areas should be at higher, two at standard level.

So, for your son, you could do English and a foreign language at standard level; then maths, science, economics and another science at higher level. Add in the essay on an engineering topic and you still have a broad based curriculum, but with a good slant towards his interests.

Now, I'm not suggesting you actually do the IB (it can only be done within an IB school) but I thought the comparison would be useful, as I'm looking into the IB at present.

Best wishes

Laura

[Gwen in VA]

Fascinating question! "Backing off" anything is hard -- it sound like failure!

I hear you loud and clear on this one -- and you have my sympathy, commiseration, and frustration. (I am half-math/science and half humanities, but dh is all M/S and all of my kids are stronger in M/s than in the humanities.....)

I think backing off the WTM emphasis on the humanities is hard because --

1) We want our kids to pursue excellence in ALL things! Backing off means that they are not pursuing the highest possible in that area -- and that is hard for us mothers who want to give our kids a "great" education.

2) For the past millenium or two, being "educated" has involved an emphasis on the humanities -- on languages, on literacy, on literature, on writing. Science is a relative newcomer to the education field, and I think we have not fully adjusted our thinking to include excellence in math and science as part of being "educated."

For example, when you think of a class at Oxford, do you imagine a lab or do you imagine an oval mahogany table surrounded by eager students in a wood-panelled room discussing books? Yet Oxford does have excellent science offerings!

3) I think that the word "intellectual" comes with humanities connotations. There is no equivalent term for brilliant math/science types that I am aware of. Many engineers (until computers totally took over) worked with their hands and have not been considered part of the "intellectual" crowd. In fact, people who work with their hands have traditionally been part of the blue-collar/artisan crowd and not the white-collar "educated" crowd. (Newton and Galileo and the Curies were obviously incredibly brilliant, but they are not normally considered part of the intellectual crowd -- they were more part of the hands-on "let's explore" crowd!)

4) I love WTM and many other homeschooling books, but I have always felt that in most of those books the study of math and science got short shrift -- in part because the authors themselves are humanities people! (That is actually a gripe of mine that my dh has heard about for over a decade now! Market opportunity, anyone?)

[mamato4]

I'll drive up from Central Jersey! :auto: And it'll be a treat to see you again :cheers2:

God Bless,
Annabelle

[JennW in SoCal]

I had to back off, far away from my hopes and dreams and standards of the perfect education with my oldest ds who is simply not cut out for most any kind of traditional academics. And yet, he has gotten a pretty darn good education by my following his interests and adopting my own version of "WTM lite". Obviously this isn't what you are wrestling with, but I understand how torn you are -- the high standards in your mind and the wonderful plans you have and the realities of the student in front of you.

What I came to realize is that the ultimate point of the WTM is have a student who can read, think, and develop an opinion that can be persuasively articulated with logical arguments. Obviously you want to give your student a broad understanding of the foundations of our civilization, but he has a life time to get to all the great works. You are instilling a love of learning and the skills to think deeply and argue persuasively.

So it isn't a failure to have a lighter humanities year as long as you keep that ultimate goal in front of you. Go into fewer works more deeply. Sprinkle his year with the original works of great scientists and mathematicians. Have him do a study of the history of science, or of engineering principles (think of that series "Building Big" -- it was a history of engineering.) Or, make history simply a part of whatever literature you decide to do by having him read briefly about the period when the work was written, have him write a context page as is described in the WTM. That would make history a task that happens only once a week or twice a month. (He probably has a good overview of it already, so you aren't shirking on the history front!)

It is also that time of year, isn't it? We're burned out from the current year, and the promise of the next year is a nice diversion but we're seasoned enough to know too well what reality is like. So we get stuck going in circles!

[Janice in NJ]

It is also that time of year, isn't it? We're burned out from the current year, and the promise of the next year is a nice diversion but we're seasoned enough to know too well what reality is like. So we get stuck going in circles!

I hear ya, Jennifer,

Part of me hopes that the enthusiastic folks who are planning the "perfect" K-12 education (but who are just getting started) over on the other board don't see messages like this. ;) But I SO agree with you. I used to read comments like this and think that the folks who said this weren't like me. They just didn't understand me, my family, and our goals.

Oh. My.

I've BECOME that woman! I've never been one to embrace "reality." I've always tried to push the envelope. But fighting it is starting to border on the insane! And that's starting to tick me off in all sorts of odd but strangely-productive ways. :001_smile:

Thanks for the smiles!
Janice

[Veronica in VA]

My problem is I want to plan - lots - it's fun to think about what could be next year. But my dd is graduating in December. She will be taking English at the community college next fall - so no planning for literature. The lit they read is not anything I would even consider remotely classic and I want more for her than that. So we will probably read some good books at home, but not for credit. Just have to plan for government and human anatomy classes here.

Veronica

[MamaSheep]

I'm not where you are yet, as my oldest is only almost 12. BUT he's definitely more of a math/science kid than a humanities one, so I'm definitely headed down the same road. One thing I've been pondering for high school (which is looming down the road a bit) is how much I can mix science/math in with humanities courses. For example, I'm eyeing Joy Hakim's new "Story of Science" books for a history course that will hold ds's interest because if it's science focus. And I haven't started looking for curriculum materials yet (it is still a bit down the road here) but I had thought about finding some materials for writing that focus on writing scientific and/or techincal papers rather than literature/creative writing (which he already loathes...sigh...). In other words, not so much "rest on the oars" as change the focus to one more relevant to his interests. Of course, as I say, I'm not there yet and the landscape may look very different when I arrive, but I thought I'd toss that out there because it's all I have to offer and you seemed desperate. :)

[Kathy in Richmond]

Oh, my, Janice…btdt!! Your posts really resonate with me; what you write about yourself and your son sounds so very familiar. My oldest is a boy who was meant to be a math/science/computer kind of guy from the time he was a toddler.

Our story: We pulled our kids from the public school gifted program when ds was entering sixth grade in 1999. The original WTM book came out that summer. I heard SWB speak at my local Barnes & Noble here in Richmond, and I bought the book that very night.

My copy soon became dog-eared and sticky-noted and annotated and well-loved.

I’m a mathematician and engineer by trade. I knew I could give my kids an excellent education in math and science. Now, guess who got excited about studying chronological history, literature, and Latin? This was all the nifty stuff I never had!

My excitement meant they spent hours doing history along with me. Our studies were wonderful: hours of read-alouds, family literature studies, history books and study guides sprawled out across the living room floor, black composition notebooks along with new boxes of colored pencils, a timeline longer than the house, and a new set of encyclopedias so mom could look up yet one more reference to share….well, you get the idea!

Needless to say, history took up a huge chunk of our daily time. Ds worked hard; he liked it, but never loved it. He’s a great reader, but writing was much slower and took him a great deal of time.

He was born to be a math/science kid – no question ever. He is a good kid, too, who does what’s expected (typical oldest kid). He never complained.

After ninth grade he was exhausted- we even spent all of the summer between 9th and 10th on history! Mom was determined to finish what she’d planned!

The spark was only really there for his beloved math, science and Latin (hey, that one stuckJ) subjects, though.

The week before 10th grade started, I decided to change things up a bit and signed him up for a PA Homeschoolers Computer Science class, hoping to get back some of that spark – you know, the reason for homeschooling in the first place. He was thrilled.

The cards were now dealt for me– that class took soooo much of his time in 10th grade that the decision was sort of made for me that year. It cut into our history/lit time quite a bit. But the real good news was that he was happier. I was learning to let go/ back off my dreams a bit. He had time to pursue computer science studies and projects “after school,” too. We added in an AoPS math course or two as they appealed to him. He happily studied for lots of APs and SAT IIs, but in his choice of subjects.

What happened to English and history in those last few years?

He totally skipped the AP-level English and history I had originally planned for him. I made sure his SAT verbal and writing scores were fine, though, & in line for the colleges he desired.

English was reading (WTM lists mixed with other good books, free reading books, & read alouds, still, for fun) and discussion-heavy (discussing needn’t take tons of time to be effective, and I loved reading along) and gasp! not a whole lot of writing in English per se, but interdisciplinary instead. We pared English down to about an hour a day. I was happy as long as he was doing some kind of writing.

He wrote in math: proof-writing is great for logical organization and expository writing skill-building.

He wrote lots in BSA (badge work, Eagle Scout proposal, and even completed the commjunications and public speaking merit badges).

He did work through Wordsmith Craftsman and a Write@Home research paper course – but of course, the topic he chose was cryptography.

He worked through HTRB and about half of Memoria Press Rhetoric.

He studied and wrote about poetry through Latin studies.

History was Spielvogel, TOG-light (ie, pick & choose!) in 11th and one semester each of economics and US government in 12th (his choice – he finally loved a social science). Again, we pared down to about an hour a day.

The pay-off was amazing. Now he had time to pursue his loves: math and computer science Olympiads, a computer programming project, extra classes in math and science, and summer camps to pursue those budding interests at a higher level.

The result – he’s a junior at university and living out his dream. He’s majoring in electrical engineering/computer science (big surpriseJ) and doing quite well. He’s got a summer internship lined up in the Silicon Valley and has been accepted in the Masters Degree program (tuition paid!) at his university.

He will never excel at history, lit, personal writing, but that’s ok. A couple of his math/engineering profs have said that he’s one of the best technical writers that they’ve ever seen.

Do I have any regrets about letting go of my English and history dreams in those last three years? Not one single bit!

Face it – I’m a perfectionist. But you can’t be perfect at everything or you’ll go crazy. Know when to hold ‘em, and know when to fold ‘em. Sometimes you just gotta let go.

Now it’s a different story with his younger (grade 11) sister. She’s more well-rounded; she loves AP English and all kinds of math and Latin and history…..her problem is that she wants to go in too many directions. Her ideal college would be a term at MIT, then a term at St. Johns, then a term at U Chicago, ... Any advice there, anyone?!

Kathy

[Nan in Mass]

I'm trying to plan high school for my engineering-oriented one, too. And just when I thought I had a nice rigorous plan set (this one isn't terribly interested in academics but he is fairly capable), he decided to go peacewalking like his older brother. So - now I begin all over and have to crank month-long absences into the formula. I did tell him he had to pick some way to improve the world, but I was assuming it was going to be less time consuming.

In desperation, I've settled on doing this: I'm going to list everything I want him to read and do for high school. Then I'm going to put it in order of importance (more or less) and classify it into areas. Then we're going to go through the areas in order for high school. He'll have summer reading, math, literature/writing/speech, science, history/geography/peace, foreign language, and music. Then I'm looking for ways to double some of them up. For example, I'm going to try to have him do his history/geography in French. It will be at a lower level than it would be otherwise, and it will go slower, but since he's not majoring in history and he has been through Kingfisher and some of TWTM logic stage history list, I think it will be fine. We've always done peace intensively instead of great books for a little while in the spring around the time of the peace walking, so that will be fine. His English will consist of great books reading (but with sci fi instead of moderns) and writing from a mix of writing curriculums that I have. At some point, we'll read the US foundational documents as part of great books and he can read that Idiot's government book in the summer. He'll do math and science with me for a little longer, and then do it at CC. The most complicated part is going to be mixing CC and peacewalking, but as my son pointed out, there isn't really any hurry to finish. So, that leaves us with slots for great books, history, science, math, music, and a short one for Latin every day. That hopefully will leave time for the other technical things which he'll need. In those slots, we'll just tackle the reading/doing list for the slot. I will reassess the order and the priorities after each book/project.

Does he really need grammar? Or vocab? Can you just do writing and literature for language arts? You could do a writing curriculum for the first year, and then do literature (writing about it) the other years. Schedule a slot in which to read, assign some extra reading for home work over the weekend, and then begin reading. You can do it together using TWEM questions, or he can do it on his own. Either way, I think you'll find that you get through much more than two books each year.

Does he really need four years of history? Can you have him do one year of world history, one of US history, and a semester of government? This is more than our public school requires.

Does he need four years of a foreign language? Maybe he could just do two? Foreign languages are time consuming. So is anything to do with the computer, especially programming it. Maybe he could one year of foreign language at CC and count it as two high school years? Some people do this.

If you did that, it would crunch the humanities into about 2 1/2 hours a day, leaving lots of room for his science and math.

Just some suggestions... As I said, I'm struggling with the same sorts of problems.

-Nan

[Lori D.]

:001_smile: No thoughts, just enjoy your posts, Janice. Love the way you express yourself -- I feel I really know you. :001_smile:

[ladydusk]

I'm one of those "enthusiastic" ones from the K8 board (and don't really belong there yet, we're calling it K4 but tisn't).

Thanks for letting me see the realities! I have a boy who I expect to love math and engineering (assuming his 3 yo loves continue through ... And my 4 yo is fascinated by combining numbers - Mommy, what do you add together to get 6?) That's good, my husband is a math/science guy ... but I love the humanities with history being my first love.

I have grandiose ideas and plans (not merely focusing on the humanities), and keep telling myself to hold them lightly ... aptitude and interest will direct. Reinforcement from you ladies is a wonderful reminder.

[Janice in NJ]

Some ideas for you - just in case you don't know about these resources :001_smile::

Have you seen the guides that are put together by the folks over at Johns Hopkins University. I have the middle one. It is excellent! Very well done! Lots of great ideas - including writing/research assignments. Teacher's book and a student book to flesh out Hakim's text. Samples are here:
http://www.joyhakim.com/aristotle.html

You might also check out the Thames & Kosmos Kit on scientists and their discoveries. Also a nice addition to a study like this with a lot of pick-up-and-go ideas:
http://www.thamesandkosmos.com/products/ms/ms.html

Add in a couple of resources from Home Training Tools and you would have an excellent science year with a historical/philosophical focus!

Lots of great stuff out there!
(Can you tell that I still haven't nailed down my younger son's year either? :001_smile:)

Peace,
Janice

Enjoy your little people
Enjoy your journey

[Janice in NJ]

Oh Kathy,
I am praying SO hard that I will be writing posts like this in 5 years!
I hope, I hope, I hope!

THANK YOU so much for this. I am printing!!!!
Thank you!
Janice

[Janice in NJ]

Annabelle,
Fill those mugs with some red wine and I'm ALL there! We can sip until I get sloppy; then I'm likely to just give you all of my books - just cuz. :001_smile:

Peace,
Janice

[Jane in NC]

Well this thread spoke to me even though my son is not really a math/science kid--or so he claims. This is the kid who is taking Microbiology at the CC as an 11th grader--the future historian, you know? (He has a love affair with all things medieval and bacterial. I tease him that he is going to become an expert on the plague or medieval brewing techniques!)

Let's face it. There are not enough hours in the day. I think that part of the challenge that we are facing is that we want to allow our kids to explore passions, dive even deeper into areas in which they are talented, and see that they are well rounded intellectuals who can hold their own in all circles.

Gwen may have pegged it when she wrote "For the past millenium or two, being "educated" has involved an emphasis on the humanities -- on languages, on literacy, on literature, on writing. Science is a relative newcomer to the education field, and I think we have not fully adjusted our thinking to include excellence in math and science as part of being "educated". Although I might disagree with her time frame. I think that the division that we see today between science and the humanities did not exist in the 1700's and possibly later. Leibniz, for example, who invented calculus in the same time frame as Newton, was a lawyer and a mathematician who wrote treatises in philosophy. Look at politician and scientist Benjamin Franklin!

Somewhere within the last couple hundred years it seems that people decided they were drawn to science or humanities--but could not do both. I think this explains why so many journalists do not understand science and write so poorly about it. It is peculiar to me that one must read Shakespeare to be educated but studying Calculus is optional in some circles. (Future Historian does not think he should have to take it. Hah! It is on his program for next year.)

Really, when you look at the those sets of Great Books that have been published, they include classics from science, works by Lavoisier, Newton, Copernicus, Darwin. But are those books considered optional for humanities types?

My future historian was all ears today when Science Friday reported on quark production at the Fermi Lab. He'll read anything but please don't ask him to write about poetry! The Boy has Limits.

But we too suffer from lack of time to do all things well. I know that I did not do the superior job with writing that some of you do. He has had to compensate for that this year.

And I will admit that tests do not necessarily fit into our timeline or our goals. Ugh. The thought of bubble sheets can raise my blood pressure sometimes! This week it was the National Latin Exam; early April it will be ACT; etc. Spending hours preparing for these is a waste of time, in my opinion, time that we could be spending reading good books or doing good deeds. But not preparing could also be detrimental if it means we haven't justified those Mommy Grades with a test on scope and sequence that may not be our own. (Banging head.) Ugh and double ugh.

My son has one more year at home. One terrific thing: I think he could leave for college this coming September and I would be confident that he would succeed academically and assimilate socially. With one more year at home, I'll have a bit more time to check off a few more boxes. But if he finds a dig somewhere, I would have a hard time keeping him at home for the sake of the boxes.

It is too late at night for me to be writing logically. I hope this makes a bit of sense.
Jane

[Kareni]

It is peculiar to me that one must read Shakespeare to be educated but studying Calculus is optional in some circles. (Future Historian does not think he should have to take it. Hah! It is on his program for next year.)

...
My future historian was all ears today when Science Friday reported on quark production at the Fermi Lab. He'll read anything but please don't ask him to write about poetry! The Boy has Limits.



And if the Boy didn't already have Limits, he'd have them next year when he takes Calculus!

Regards,
Kareni

[Janice in NJ]

Jane,

As always, I'm so grateful for your perspective. Thanks so much for your thoughts!
Janice

[Janice in NJ]

Nan,

I know. I know. Just do what we can do, right?

...but I like to make elaborate plans which I can't use. ;)

Thanks for taking the time to share. As always, I learn so much from spending time with you gals. Thanks for the balance.

Peace,
Janice

[Jane in NC]

And if the Boy didn't already have Limits, he'd have them next year when he takes Calculus!

Regards,
Kareni

Ouch, my punster friend. Actually, The Boy has been seeing limits in Dolciani's Analysis--maybe that is part of what has pushed him to The Limit in math.

Jane (who is sending your daughter mega-scholarship/merit aid vibes)

[elegantlion]

I another one of those k-8 mommies. I'm loving this thread. My son is 11 and yet he SEEMS bent toward math/science, however his true interests are still emerging. I'm a planner and have spent hours thinking about how to plan curriculum depending on where his interests go.

I feel like I'm in a episode of Star Trek Voyager and all the possibilities in the space/time continuum are outlined before me. It's fun and frustrating all at the same time.

My summer project is to outline how to fit the great books of science into our schedule over the next few/many years.

Thanks for sharing everyone, great thread.

[Colleen in NS]

I another one of those k-8 mommies. I'm loving this thread.

Thanks for sharing everyone, great thread.

:iagree:

MUCH thanks to you wonderful ladies. I hope you're all around this board still in 5-10 more years (no pressure, though:D).

[Spock]

If I flip this on it's head, then it's totally do-able. Well - not really. Look:
656 hours of math and science (pre-calculus with all the technology software, chemistry w/lab at the CC, electronics, projects in thermodynamics and electromagnetism, etc)
100 hours of junior thesis (an engineering project from start to finish complete with an engineering notebook to document the experience)
120 hours of English (gasp. choke. I need a BAG to breath into here, folks.......) (What would that look like: 30 hrs of grammar/10 hrs vocab/40 hours of writing/40 hours of literature - what's that? Maybe 2 books!!? Darn. Darn. Darn.)
108 hours of History... OK... anyone starting to see my problem here? :001_smile: We couldn't even get through a lite history textbook in that amount of time.
150 hours computer programming



A possible schedule for history and English in 40 minutes a day:

English
Literature: Read 20 minutes per day of literature (aim for 15-20 pages, often a chapter). At this rate, you should be able to finish at least 6 books in a year. (Analysis and discussion of the literature is included in writing/grammar.)

Writing/Grammar: 20 minutes per day. Mondays--Grammar review, focusing on his weak areas. Tuesdays--Write 1-2 pages about literature readings. Wednesdays-- Oral discussion of literature, Revise writing. Thursdays--Write 1-2 pages about literature readings. Fridays--vocabulary program, SAT prep, more grammar review, or more writing, whichever is more needed.

History
Daily: Read 15 minutes from a book giving an overview of the time period you are studying. Aim for 7-9 pages. (Johnson's History of the American People works well this way, if you don't plan to read the entire book in one year.) Write or tell a short summary of the reading. (5 minutes)

Other: Mondays and Wednesdays--read 20 minutes from a book about a major event in that time period. Tuesday and Thursdays--read 20 minutes from a biography related to that time period. (Aim for 15-25 pages per day). Fridays--Write 1-2 pages about one of the two history "supplement" books, alternating which book.

[Joan in Geneva]

Now, I'm not suggesting you actually do the IB (it can only be done within an IB school) but I thought the comparison would be useful, as I'm looking into the IB at present.

A couple of years ago I heard from a woman who was teaching for the IB that they were thinking of developing an IB for home educators, but I haven't heard anything since...Have you heard anything about that?

Best,
Joan

[Laura Corin]

A couple of years ago I heard from a woman who was teaching for the IB that they were thinking of developing an IB for home educators, but I haven't heard anything since...Have you heard anything about that?

Best,
Joan

Last I heard, it was still tightly controlled within IB-approved schools. I'm looking at schools for high school - that's why I have it on my mind.

Laura

[Gwen in VA]

...but I like to make elaborate plans which I can't use.

I think it's a popular homeschool mom pastime! :tongue_smilie: