High School credits and transferring into MTMM mid-year

[Tidbits of Learning]

I am planning to put my dd13 into MTMM in January. We are coming from a charter school. My dd13 was taking all 9th grade courses except state history. She is the one that I have credits questions about with regards to MTMM and the credits she had received this year. She was taking state history, earth science (high school level), Literary Analysis and Composition 1, Algebra 1, German 1, and Finding Your Path (college readiness class), and PE. Right now, she has a 1/2 credit each for Earth Science, Literary Analysis and Composition 1, Algebra 1, German 1, Finding your Path, and PE. I debated about placing her in WG, but would really like her to master note-taking and outlining and a few other skills from MTMM as well as felt I could level the .5 credits better with MTMM. I don't want to start 9th grade over.
I kept feeling I was going to have to get her through 5 more guides to finish high school, but spent yesterday making a 4 year plan looking at HOD's high school tentative scope and sequence and the Board of Regents HIgh School Core Curriculum to see how we could take MTMM and finish out her freshman year and still cover everything by her senior year.
My MIL works in admissions at the local community college so I have had a bit of help figuring out what we need to take and how our transcript needs to look for state scholarship eligibility. I also have to declare a grade with home study and have a tentative Individualized Graduation Plan to turn in before we start school on January 27. So I can have wiggle room but need to have 9th grade narrowed down before applying for home study online with her.

9th grade-MTMM plus credits from charter school
Literary Analysis and Comp. 1 (from charter and MTMM)
Algebra 1 (from charter and will finish the text used)
Earth Science (from charter and will purchase something to finish the year)
American History (she had previously taken the Am. History covered in Rev to Rev with the charter school and received a 93 A so feel combined with MTMM she will have this credit)
Free Enterprise (have to figure this one out---can I take the resources used in MTMM and beef up for free enterprise....any ideas??? It only needs to be a 1/2 credit-may move this to 12th grade with the guide that does Am. History/Govt.)
German 1 (from charter and will purchase something to finish the year)
Theater Arts (from co-op)
Finding your path (from charter)
PE (from charter)
Health (may move to 12th if can work out Free Enterprise will purchase something)
Biblical Worldview (MTMM)

10th grade-WG
Literary Analysis and Comp. 2 (WG)
Geometry
Integrated Science (WG)
World Geography (WG)
Foreign Language (maybe switch to spanish now but need 2 years of same foreign language on transcript???...)
Art (Co-op)
World Religion and Cultures (WG)
Logic (WG)

11th Grade (guide after WG)
World Literature (HOD-will this include some British Literature?? I would like to call it World and British Literature as that is what is standard around here...or suggestions to add some British Literature)
Algebra 2
Biology (HOD)
World History (HOD)
Foreign Language (again not sure if we will have switched to Spanish-need 2 full credits from same language for transcript)
Elective
Elective
Church History (HOD)

12th Grade (next HOD guide/maybe combine last 2 guides for credits needed)
American Literature (HOD)
British Literature (HOD if merging last 2 guides into 1 year)
Pre-Calc or Financial Math (not sure yet)
Chemistry (HOD)
Government (HOD)/Free Enterprise (again depending on whether I can figure out a way to get Free Enterprise from MTMM)
Foreign Language (At this point, will be taking Spanish, just not sure if we will finish 2 years of German before Spanish)
Elective
Elective
Biblical Worldview and Apologetics (HOD)

My biggest issue looking at using MTMM for 9th grade and our American History is getting the 1/2 credit Civics/Govt. and 1/2 credit Free Enterprise to work out along the way. If I could figure out a way to add to the economics portion of MTMM I would just add the 1/2 credit there and move Health to 12th grade. We need 1/2 credit PE and 1/2 credit Health somewhere in high school as well. It doesn't matter what year. My other dilemma is we won't make it to British Literature and most schools here combine World and British Literature into 1 class. Our electives will come from co-op as well as the guides so we will actually have plenty of credits there.
I am toying with the idea of somehow combining the last 2 guides into 1 year and only doing the credits she would need from each guide. She would need the Government/Civics and Economics/Free Enterprise, but not the American History credit since she will have her American History Credit, but needs the Chemistry credit for science and then she could cover both American Literature and British Literature. She excels in language arts so this would not be hard for her to do both. We would skip the New Testament Survey and do the Biblical Worldview & Apologetics. I need some help figuring out how to make Free Enterprise work in MTMM.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[my3sons]

I think it sounds like you have a very good plan for your dd for high school! I will try to help with this portion...

...My biggest issue looking at using MTMM for 9th grade and our American History is getting the 1/2 credit Civics/Govt. and 1/2 credit Free Enterprise to work out along the way. If I could figure out a way to add to the economics portion of MTMM I would just add the 1/2 credit there and move Health to 12th grade...

Here is a portion of a post Carrie wrote that should help with this...
We are going to be including the book Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? and Common Sense Business for Kids in MTMM. Students will read one chapter each week from these economics-related resources and write a one-sentence or one line economic principle that they gained from the reading in their Student Notebook each week. These books do a great job of getting kiddos to begin thinking about economics, and this type of thinking pairs so well with the study of history from 1880 (or so) forward to present day.

While this is only the beginning of an economics study, it would be a good time for high school students planning to use MTMM to add more to the study for high school credit in economics. This could be done by adding the Bluestocking Guide to Economics and the books that go with it. Hazelett's Economics in One Lesson is another good, short book to consider. Another excellent economics course to consider adding would be R.C. Sproul Jr's Biblical Economics. Another painless way to add to the Economics would be to do Notgrass Economics. Our own oldest son is doing that his junior year. One last economics option would be materials from Financial Peace University,however this falls more under the "Finance" heading for credit (so it would only work if your state allows a choice of doing Economics OR Finance). So, there are several ways you could go about adding enough for .5 of an economics credit for high school students doing MTMM (as the base will already be scheduled in the guide as a springboard).

Blessings,
Carrie

As far as the government credit, goes - I am not sure how closely your dd's studies paralleled RevtoRev, but I am hoping this portion of a past thread Carrie wrote may help with this...
...In also considering that your state requires a full year of government, there will be much more government related topic coverage in Rev2Rev, so by adding coursework to the government already covered within Rev2Rev (signers of the Declaration of Independence, study of the formation of our nation's government, and the 50 state study) your daughter could count her full credit in U.S. government there (with the addition of more government with another course). I'd lean toward adding A Noble Experiment for the additional needed government coursework to get it to a full credit. By completing both Rev2Rev and MTMM, you can also award a full credit in U.S. history. Plus, the President study in MTMM would also have to do with U.S. government and help in awarding credit there...

I am not sure about the Brit Lit part. I do believe that this will be a focus in the last guide Carrie writes, but of course that is farther down the road. Your dd would be able to use this though, hypothetically as we are talking about an unwritten guide. So, she could do the American History Guide with the Brit Lit from the last HOD guide. Otherwise, she could use books by British authors from the 7/8 DITHOR package this year with MTMM (there are enough, I believe) and count that at Brit Lit possibly. What do you think? I'm so hesitant to give advice here, as I haven't taught all the way through high school yet. I hope something here helps, and I know Carrie will try to pop in here too when she gets the chance.

In Christ,
Julie

[Tidbits of Learning]

Thanks for getting back to me. I like the idea of adding the Bluestocking Guide. I did purchase some things from Christian Liberty Press for Free Enterprise, but now that I have them in hand...I am so not sure that they fit the bill. They are Free Enterprise Economics in America by Tom Rose and How We Live-Economic Wisdom Simplified by Fred Clark and Richard Rimanoczy. They are very small pamphlet style books though. I really like the idea of the Bluestocking Guide to go with Penny Candy. Going to look into getting it in hand as well.
We did k12 for American History A and it was intense. It used the History of the US books. A History of US - Concise Edition - Volume A: Prehistory to 1800 A History of US - Concise Edition - Volume B: 1790-1877. She had a 93 A in the course with both semesters requiring a final exam.
I am lucky on Government in that it is only a 1/2 credit needed in our state and I think the 3rd high school guide will give her that credit.
If need be, I can use MTMM as 1/2 credit Am. History and 1/2 credit Free Enterprise and then the 3rd high school guide as 1/2 credit Am. History and 1/2 credit Govt. They will be backwards order but I don't think it will matter if I label them Am. History A and Am. History B on her transcript. Since Am. History is covering the last 2 guides is that how it will be broken up 1/2 credit Am. History for each guide? Do you think it would look odd to take Am. History B and Free Enterprise in 9th and Am. History A and Govt. in 12th?
I appreciate any advice. This is all new to me as she is my first high school student.

[Tidbits of Learning]

Sometimes a day or 2 thinking on things and looking at it with fresh eyes helps. I have been reading through the threads from others who skipped multiple guides and jumped back into HOD after using other things and really started looking at the old threads on beefing up for high school. The last guide my girls completed was CTC together for 5th and 6th grade respectively. They then did k12's 6th-7th and 7th-8th grade respectively. My oldest has several credits from 9th grade courses this year before we withdrew. I have stared at the catalog and read a lot on the board and the threads for high school. I think after all of this I am going to combine the girls in Rev to Rev this year (which is where they would have been if we would have continued HOD the past year and a half) and beef it up for high school credits. I do not want to worry and not be able to help them and them drown in HOD in too high of a guide.
My youngest spent most of last year in the hospital and spent a week on life support in March. He is on daily meds and just battled pneumonia again at Thanksgiving. He has asthma and battled mycopneumonia several times last year (hospitalized separately 5 times in 5 months since last February) and has been on steroids and breathing treatments and other meds daily since the end of last February. We need open and go. I just didn't want my oldest to feel like I was holding her back several grade levels by withdrawing from K12 and going back to HOD. She has high school credits and she wants to keep continuing high school at this point.
So the tentative 8th/9th grade plans for dd13 and dd12 will be-
Rev to Rev-
Am. History 1/2 credit
Govt. 1/2 credit (adding in extensions and The Federalist Papers)
Physical Science-1 credit
Religion-1 credit
Literary Analysis and Composition 1-1 credit
Algebra 1-1 credit
German 1-1 credit
Music -.5 credit (both girls completed Music Ace 1 and take Piano Lessons each Friday so I feel comfortable giving a 1/2 credit Music alongside the Music Appreciation from Rev to Rev)
Theater Arts-.5 credit (from co-op drama class by hours in class and practice hours)
Finding your path-.5 credit (college prep class she completed with k12-9th grader only)
PE-.5 credit (from k12 9th grader only)

So with this plan we would do-dd12/dd13
Rev to Rev- 8th/9th
MTMM-9th/10th
WG-10th/11th
World History Guide-11th/12th
Am. History Guide-12th

I will document my 8th graders in case we want to count the credits later or she can complete the 3rd high school HOD guide for American History.

Does this sound insane or like a good plan that will ensure her getting her high school credits and staying on the track she started with k12 this year for graduation? She will do Physical Science, Biology, Chemistry, and Biology 2 (human anatomy) since she wants to pursue veterinary science in the future. We will just do our own science and math to stay on track for medical science path.
8th grader has no clue her career path now and we just plan a basic college prep path for now. How does this sound?

[Carrie]

I think this looks like a good plan! You would be getting the history (government, economics) literature/comp, science, math, and foreign language needed with this plan. This is the precious 4 x 4 plus foreign language that is so important for colleges to see on the transcript. Plus, you are also allowing for life's circumstances and making sure not to overshoot with your expectations.

As I am getting older (and my children are too), I am just beginning to realize how very important it is to look for realistic goals in my life (and in the lives of my children). The past year has been challenging finding balance in our household too, as my dad's medical journey through pancreatic cancer has played a huge role in our lives. As I'm graduating my oldest son this year (and now have a freshman, 5th grader, and 2nd grader), I can see that in order to complete the homeschool journey with my kids, I am going to have to strive to be realistic in my goals and be sure my kiddos can do what is being asked of them (meaning they are well placed in their HOD guides).

Another thing I have begun to realize is that while it is great for kiddos to be challenged, it is also good and important for them to enjoy their schooling. I have been guilty of over-challenging my poor oldest son in many areas through the years. While he has had a good school experience overall, I regret pushing him too hard at times. My second son is placed in the middle age range of our guides, and while he could easily be in the youngest age range of each guide, he thrives right where he is. He is fully able to do what is asked and often goes off on other tangents, simply because he can (and isn't so overloaded with a super rigorous placement). My next two little guys are on the oldest age ranges of their guides. For them, and keeping in mind the time I have to spend schooling them, this is best place for them to be. They could be bumped up and pushed harder, but honestly I am just enjoying the journey with them where they are. So, perspective is everything to me.

I pray that you will have the Lord's peace as you seek the best placement for your daughters. If you have other thoughts feel free to share them. The ladies on the board are terrific at talking through possible placements. The "best" placement actually looks different for different families, so talking through options is very helpful. I think you are on the right track.

Blessings,
Carrie