Another year... 10th Grade

Near the end of another year...  What were the take away's for each of us?  Here's the summary of my almost-16 yo's year...

Biggest change
Independence and self-confidence in public
"Finding" music among peers

Learning tools/curriculum

• Spanish II (1 credit)
• After a great start with a friend teaching Spanish I, Spanish II was his first year-long outside class using traditional classroom activities such as quizzes, midterms, finals, textbook, weekly homework, class presentations, etc. A bit of a rocky start but he ended up with an A and got into the flow.  A GREAT chance to do that!
• English II (1 credit)
• An eclectic mix of items, including 2 online forum classes from Bravewriter -- Literary analysis of Sir Gawain and the Knights of the Round Table and an Expository Essay writing class
• Engineering II (1 credit)
• Furthering engineering skills through a FIRST Robotics Competition team including:
• Computer aided design (Solidworks)
• Programming (LabView)
• Prototyping
• Electronics 
• System troubleshooting
• Materials
• Soldering
• Arduino
• Tool certification
• Designing/modding nerf guns
• Public speaking -- where does that go?
• Geometry (1 credit)
• Aleks Geometry
• Math U See Geometry
• Music theory, skills and improv (1 credit)
• Music lessons for theory
• Piano recitals
• Improv with other teens
• Game Design (1/2 credit)
• 2-D game design, 3-D game design, modding backgrounds
• 2 weeklong, full day camps at Wake Tech
• Self-learning modding:  adding modules, creating with PhotoShop CS4
• Computer Technology (1/2 credit)
• Creating servers for Minecraft 
• Introduction to PC Troubleshooting from Ed2Go
• Research and set up of high powered gaming computer
• Personal Finance (1/2 credit)
• http://personalfinance2011.wikispaces.com/
• Units on personal finance topics, each one including a field trip or outside speaker
• Career choices ( http://www.driveofyourlife.org/, life coach, salary choices
• Getting a job (job applications, salaries)
• Bank choices (credit union vs bank, types of services and accounts, balancing accounts)
• Credit card choices (marketing, impact of interest rate and fees)
• Buying a car (types of cars, safety, resale, depreciation, value, costs of ownership -- first year and additional costs, gas, how to tell if a car's been in an accident, CarMax)
• Insurance (auto insurance, premiums, what impacts costs)
• Auto loans (interest rates, paying back)
• Housing (apartments, dorms, on-campus housing)
• Cash flow (The Cash Flow game)
• Income tax -- how it works, main forms, filling out a 1099-EZ
• Financial planning (speaking with financial planner, savings, long term impact of saving now vs later)
• PE (Tae Kwon Do -- black belt) (1/2 credit)

What's missing?  A science with lab!!!!!