Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

The English IV online course Sarabelle signed on for is pretty lame. The entire first module was an investigation in choosing college, a vocation, or the military. I think by twelfth grade a student might (should? would?) have already taken this step. Or at least thought about it just a teensy little bit? There were numerous websites to visit and minimal writing assignments that were all about feelings toward the various options. Bleah. So to complete Sarabelle's English requirements for high school, I pulled out the Teaching Company's Great Authors of the Western Literary Tradition. We're watching the lectures, discussing them, and she is writing answers to the comprehension questions from the course guidebook.

She'll continue online for now with the Algebra II and should have a good part of it completed before she heads Down Under. Depending on the length of her stay, which depends on the length of time her father can devote to the trip, she may be able to work on it while she's there. Her plan is to sit in on classes at her former high school during the visit. They have been fairly accommodating with guest students in the past. An alternate, should the online teacher get picky about the work-at-your-own-pace-but-we-want-to-see-steady-progress statement, since she doesn't need the fourth math credit to meet Florida standards and has already completed Algebra I which satisfies requirements for Florida's Bright Futures Scholarship (though we probably won't be attending an in-state school, but just in case), and because most colleges look for four maths, will be to view another Teaching Company series I have on hand, Joy of Mathematics.

We're still waiting to see what the American History looks like. It's a new course that's played online. Yeah, like a video game. If it's too ridiculous, we've decided that a read-through of A History of US and a study of the foundational documents will suffice for that credit.

The 4-H Legislature will take care of that measly half credit in American government and the other missing half credit will be completed with yet another Teaching Company course from the shelves, Economics.

But wait! There's more!

Even with all her credits complete and in the right places, we're still not going to call her graduated. She is now considering art school and will need a substantial and varied portfolio for some of her top choice schools, so we're planning to reserve one more year for nothing but drawing, sculpting, and painting classes, all offered by local area artists.