Switching to HOD halfway through high school

[momto3girls]

My oldest daughter is going into 10th grade this year. I already have her curriculum purchased and planned so changing this year is NOT an option. (And I do like what we've picked so it won't be torture. ) However, for her 11th and 12th grade year I AM switching to HOD. I'm done with picking and planning all of the individual pieces. After homeschooling 'forever' I look at HOD and think "this totally fits my philosophy and style." And all the planning is done! I already switched my younger daughters for this year.

As I look at my options, I go in circles. Do I choose based on which requirements she needs to complete? It seems switching in high school is different than the younger grades. She will have done World and American History. But I think that anything I choose she will end up with another American or World History credit. Initially, I was considering having her do MMtM in 11th and Geography in 12th. But then I would need to figure out how to fit in Government, Constitutional Literacy, Economics, and Health. So, then I thought I should do Geography and then one of the American History programs. And then I'm going in a circle again.

Any ideas? I'd like to have a plan so I can plug everything in and make sure I covered all of her credits. If I need to add one of the 'missing credits' this year, then so be it.

Oh, and science and grammar are not part of the consideration. We are currently using something in those areas and won't be switching.

Another question...is there anything that I can do this year to make the transition easier next year? She is very independent in her work so that isn't an issue.

Thanks so much! Oh, and feel free to send me to other threads if this has been asked and answered. I looked but couldn't find anything.

[StephanieU]

Can you list the credits (outside of math) that she will need?
Looking at the placement chart, do you think she places into the high school guides easily now?

[momto3girls]

Thank you, StephanieU! Good question.

In addition to math and science (which I have planned) she would need:

2 credits English
Bible*
Economics*
Geography
Government
Health
Personal Finance*
Apologetics*

*My requirements/desires, not the state.

She would place in the high school guides easily except for experience in essay writing. The amount of reading would be a stretch but I'm pretty sure she would rise to the challenge. The level/content of the reading would be very doable for her.

[Mumkins]

What about World Geography for 11th and then doing a combination of th guides? Use the modern US history to get your English, science (unless you need chemistry), economics/finance and aplologetics. Then use Early American for Government and constitutional literacy. And to make things more complicated, you can use WH for health. That'd be 7 grade 12 credits if you skipped the US history as you already have that.

[Mumkins]

What about World Geography for 11th and then doing a combination of th guides? Use the modern US history to get your English, science (unless you need chemistry), economics/finance and aplologetics. Then use Early American for Government and constitutional literacy. And to make things more complicated, you can use WH for health. That'd be 7 grade 12 credits if you skipped the US history as you already have that.

[momto3girls]

Thank you, Mumkins!

I hadn't thought of combining guides. Actually, your comment caused me to search "combining guides high school" and I found some very helpful threads. After a bit of reading I determined that I had probably overrated my daughter's ability in the writing and English portions of the placement chart. So, today I'm going to sit down and really study them to determine where she should be. After that I can ask for advice on how to fit the requirements into whatever guide I feel she fits into. That seems to be the advice of Carrie in the past. For you veterans of the board, am I correct that this is generally Carrie's advice?

PS Here were a couple of the helpful threads for others in my position:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8208
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15973
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7240

[Carrie]

If you get a chance to pop back and share a bit more about where your daughter fits on the first page mainly of the placement chart (in the 3 R's especially) that would really help us all advise you even better.

For example, any of the following information that you would be willing to share would be of help as we work on placement: It helps to know what the highest level of grammar instruction she has had and what she used for that, what she has used for formal literature study at the highest level, whether she has had any formal writing instruction and what programs she has used for that instruction over the past few years, whether she reads her own history and science books independently and what she's used for those, what level of math she is at, how many hours of school she is used to schooling each day, whether she is good at reading and following written directions, whether she is comfortable with quite a bit of written work across all subjects each day or whether this is a challenge, if she is able to read quite a volume each day, etc.

Once we have a better view of placement, we can work from there to get her needed credits in her remaining two years of high school.


Blessings,
Carrie

[momto3girls]

Thank you, Carrie. These are great questions. Right now I'm leaning towards have her do MMtM and WG for 10th and 11th. It is really important to me that she does WG because of the World Religion aspect. We live in a diverse area and it is important that she not only has an understanding of what others believe, but a compassion that drives her to reach them with the gospel.

grammar instruction - She completed R&S 5 in 6th grade. I wouldn't recommend that. I don't think she retained much. We are currently doing season 2 of Analytical Grammar.
formal literature study at the highest level - She took an online British Literature class through Currclick. She has done one Progeny Press guide. I tend to eschew formal literature study, whether right or wrong. She is a reader, though. She loves Dickens and Austen and reads Shakespeare on her own. I thought formal study would kill the desire. But, I think I was wrong. I was going to do BJU Fundamentals of Literature this year, but then I realized it was scheduled in WG. So, I'm not sure where to go with that now.
formal writing instruction and what programs she has used for that instruction - This is one of our weak area. And I take more blame as the teacher because I wasn't consistent. We used IEW one year - maybe 4th grade. I've had her write reports and narrations in a scattered fashion but not with a program. This year she is doing the One Year Novel Adventure. She writes for her own enjoyment - stories and poems. Last year she took Intro. to Speech and wrote a couple of speeches. For no formal instruction, they were quite good. So, I think with proper instruction this will be an area that she excels.
whether she reads her own history and science books independently and what she's used for those - She reads her own history. We've used living books curriculums in the past (Tapesty of Grace, Biblioplan, Heart of Dakota one year) but for her first year of high school (last year) we used a textbook, Notgrass. I'm growing tired of pulling everything together. She is very independent. I never have to cajole her to do her work.
what level of math she is at - Math is not her strength. She is doing Algebra 1 this year. I kept her in Pre-Algebra for two years because she wasn't getting it. She is getting it now.
how many hours of school she is used to schooling each day - probably 5-6 hours of schoolwork and 1 hour of piano
whether she is good at reading and following written directions - Yes, she is good. Very diligent. Very thorough.
whether she is comfortable with quite a bit of written work across all subjects each day or whether this is a challenge The written work will be a challenge because I haven't required it.
whether she is able to read quite a volume each day - Yes, she would read all day if I let her. Even challenging books.

I should add that she is not planning to go to college.

I can add one more class to her schedule this year to prepare her for next. I'm thinking maybe some more formal writing or even requiring narrations. I do wish I was able to switch to HOD this year but it is not in the budget.

I also haven't picked a Bible study or curriculum for this year yet. Any recommendations? She is very Biblically literate and committed to her faith. She spends a good amount of time every day (30-60 min) on her own studying and memorizing the Bible. But I'd like to get her something more systematic.

Thank you for your help!!

[Mumkins]

Could you sell whatever you bought and buy HOD? It's worth it!

[momto3girls]

No. Several of the things I chose for her this year she is excited about. But, I will sell it after this year.

[momto3girls]

So, I've been thinking and praying about this situation. I wanted to add the following in case it would be helpful in suggesting a placement:

While it is important to me that she does WG, it is more important that she is properly placed. So if that means doing RevtoRev and MMTM for her 11th and 12th grade years than I am fine with that. It's not my ideal scenario but I trust the Carrie's judgement in this more than mine. As long as I can fit in the other needed credits. My 2nd daughter who will be in 9th grade will be doing RevtoRev next year. It is not my preference that they do the guide together but if necessary I will. The other option is to buy the RevtoRev guide before next year and use the parts of it that will be helpful in preparing my daughter for MMTM. I'm not sure if it is possible to use parts of the guide or not.

Thanks for helping me work through this!

[Carrie]

Thanks so much for sharing more about your daughter! The extra information in regards to the specific areas of the placment chart is hugely helpful to all of us as we talk thorugh your options.

Just to clarify as we ponder, did your daughter do Notgrass World History or American History her freshman year? Also, for this coming year what are you doing for history and what time periods are covered? These are a couple of areas on which I wasn't sure of what your daughter had, and I want to duplicate as little as possible.

Blessings,
Carrie

[momto3girls]

She did Notgrass World history. She doesn't feel like she retained a lot with the textbook approach. This year she is using Dave Raymound's American History. I think is from explorers to Teddy Roosevelt. (I'm not 100% sure on this. I'm typing this in the van on the way to church. ) I chose it so she would gain practice in taking notes from a lecture. The reader contains primary source documents. However, no living books again this year which is a departure from all of years of homeschooling.

[momto3girls]

A little more information that might help.

She has earned the following credits:

World History-1
English 9 - 1 - included Brit. Lit and grammar, weak on writing
Intro to Speech - 1/2 (outside class)
Bible Survey-1
Pre-Algebra - 1 (2nd time through. I might call this Fundamentals of Math on her transcript because that is what we were working on.)
Biology - 1
Child Development class and practicum -1
Piano 1/2 or 1 (she exceeded 150 hours for the year so I could probably give her 1)
Logic - 1 (did this in 8th grade)

This year she will be earning the following;
English 10 - 1
Bible - 1
Algebra - 1
Physical Science - 1
American History - 1
Health- 1/2
Advanced Speech - 1/2 (outside class)
American Sign Language - 1/2 or 1 (outside class)
Piano -1/2 or 1

I did add health this year so you can take that off of my initial list of the credits she will have left to fulfill for 10th and 11th. I plan to only do three years of science with no labs (Biology, Physical Science and Chemistry) so she won't be doing that her Senior year. For math she will do 4 years: Fundamentals, Algebra 1, Geometry and Consumer Math (taking Personal Finance the same year).

Thanks so much!!!

[momto3girls]

Bump for Carrie's response. I know you are busy with the new guide so no rush. Just don't want this to get too buried.