I would recommend Institutes for Excellence In Writing. We began using IEW last year, and it has improved my dds writing immensely. Plus, it isn't boring, and you can choose whichever edition of the materials that you would like to use. Over the summer, we used Fairy Tales, Myths and Fables so that my son could get used to the format. It's for 3rd grade. This year, we're using IEW History-Based Writing Lessons Ancients. All of the writing assignments are based on Ancient events: The Epic of Gilgamesh, Ziggurats, the Exodus, etc. There are three Levels in the History-Based writing lessons...A, B, and C, so you can choose to scale projects either easier or more difficult if you see that your child is mastering the concepts explained. If you have access to borrow the IEW: Teaching Structure and Style DVD set, it will help you as teacher to completely understand the concepts in each of the IEW Parent Manuals & Student Notebooks. I wouldn't buy them because they are expensive, but if you can borrow them I would highly recommend them. The DVDs contain a 3-day seminar for teachers that explains in more detail how to use the IEW materials. There are nine basic units to IEW books. They cover nine types of writing, and although these are not all of the types of writing a student will do in the course of his lifetime, they are the big basic types that will be used many times in years to come. If you look at their website, you will be able to see which History-Based book accompanies your child's grade/writing level. Their web address is: http://www.excellenceinwriting.com Additionally, once you learn the skills you can apply them to any text/subject. So should you begin with Ancients and desire to move to American History, you can repeat the basic nine units and just use your own source texts for the assignments.

Now I see that you are looking for HJ Elementary GEOGRAPHY! Sorry! No worries, VP has the ST, TM, TM CD's, Test Book, Test Bank CD, and Geomentry DVDs too. But again, I don't know if these are the edition you are looking for or not.

sells Jacobs' Elementary Algebra Student Text, Teacher's Manual, DVDs, Tests and Solutions Manual. I cannot tell what edition is being sold but, if you call VP, their customer service department can help you. I always ask for Gloria because she is very thorough and helpful. Their phone number is 1.800.922.5082 or you can send an online inquiry to info@VeritasPress.com.

Thank you for your responses. I will look into this further with our Challenge A director. At this point, we don't have any higher Challenge programs at our campus. But, maybe by the time that my dc get there we will. Maybe CC will change their Latin program by that time too.

We are currently a part of a CC Community that recently added the Challenge A program. I was looking at the materials that will be covered during Challenge A and saw that the students will be using Latin's Not So Tough, which has gotten bad reviews. Additionally, my dc will be ready to begin Henle when CC is beginning LSNT and I am planning to have them begin Wheelock when CC would have them begin Henle. I have read somewhere that students are allowed to opt-out of some of the Challenge classes and I was wondering how many classes are permitted to be opted out. When my dc is ready to begin Challenge A, she will also be on either a different level of Saxon or we may be using a different math curriculum altogether. I understand that the goal is to have all of the students studying and discussing the same thing in order to obtain a cohesiveness with the group but, I definitely do not want to use the Latin program. Also, does anyone know if the cost of tuition is decreased when you opt-out of some of the courses? I am also considering enrolling my dc in the Veritas Press Scholars Academy for the upper grades and would like to cut costs as much as possible. Thank you in advance for answering my inquiry.

Veritas Press sells Vocab Cards for Wheelock Latin. Here's the link: http://www.veritaspress.com/prodinfo.asp?number=095900 They are $34.00 but, there is also a grammatical forms summary with the cards. Hope this helps!

I was a little surprised when I read the article, too. We are using Shurley Grammar, Writing With Ease, and Latina Christiana I. I have found that our Shurley helps my dc understand Latin grammar, not the other way around. Shurley Level 3 is also farther ahead as far as teaching English grammar concepts than Latina Christiana is in teaching Latin grammar. In Shurley, we've already covered all of the parts of speech and in LCI, we're just now getting to the lesson on adjectives. I will say that when doing both LCI and SG simultaeously, they work well together, in that, when my dc have already learned what a noun, verb, adjective, etc., is/does in a sentence, it is easier for them to understand the Latin grammar concept when we approach it because, they've already learned the terms/usage in their English grammar lessons. If we only relied on our LCI for English grammar, I feel that we would be well behind the 8 ball, so to speak. I do not think that my dd would be ready to begin the IEW or EEL writing/grammar class that I am planning to enroll her in next year without her good 'ole Shurley and WWE. There is no way that she would be able to understand sentence structure at this point in her Latin studies. I am planning to continue Latin until graduation, but I don't think that I can replace English grammar, at least not at this point in their educational journey. But, that's just my 2 cents. :001_smile:

We use Shurley English and we love it. I started using it because the private Classical Christian school that my dd attended for K and 1st grade used Shurley. It is very comprehensive. There are jingles that the kids recite to help them to learn the parts of speech. Some people have complained that it is redundant but, as one parent of our former school said, "Our children will REALLY know their grammar!". But, that is exactly what I want for my dc. We are using Shurley English 3 this year. There are some new jingles added from Shurley 2 so, that has helped to keep things more interesting. At this point, both of my dc are able to parse sentences very well and they know the parts of speech that have been introduced to this point. Shurley also includes vocabulary and instruction in different styles of writing, e.g. letters, journaling, creative, etc. I use a different vocabulary & writing program but, if you wanted to use it, Shurley is very complete. Next fall, I'm enrolling my dc in an "Institutes for Excellence in Writing" course, which also covers some grammar but, I'm still considering using Shurley to supplement her coursework during the summers. I've really been pleased with the past two years that I have used it and the year that my dd used Shurley in school.

I've looked at several Latin programs and none of them go all the way through to 12th grade. We've used Memoria Press' Prima Latina last year and Latina Christiana I with Ludere Latine I and just the Lingua Angelica songs (not the LA student workbook) for this year. Memoria Press has also added (in addition to Latina Christiana I & II) First Form Latin and Second Form Latin. If you request a catalog, it outlines how they recommend teaching Latin from K - 12th. But, at some point they transition from Second Form Latin to the Henle series. (Their catalog shows all of this in detail.) Memoria Press' books are for individuals who have no Latin background and they are fairly easy to follow. I like the Latina Christiana I teacher's manual much better than the Prima Latina tm. It gives better explanations as to how to lay out your teaching schedule. The only requirement you have that MP doesn't fit is the pronunciation as it is Ecclesiastical. There is a course CD but, I've chosen not to use it.

Our family is using this book series: Learning About Sex for the Christian Family by Concordia Publishing House. There are 5 books in the series. They are graded by age and they have one set just for girls and one set just for boys. The third book is for ages 10-12 and it's called "How You Are Changing". The fourth books is for ages 13-15 and it's called "Sex and the New You". The fifth/last book is for ages 15 and up. It's titled " Love, Sex and God". I like the series because unlike others that I've read it doesn't explain the particulars of sex until the ages 10-12 book. My children aren't going to have much exposure to those types of things until they are older so I am more comfortable waiting until those ages to teach them about sex. If they were going to a school, I would feel the need to educate them sooner because I'd rather they hear it from me than from someone elsewhere.

I bought All The Right Type for my children. There is a tutorial and then the practice sessions have different types of space games. I think it was $30 and it downloads directly on to your computer. Both of my children are excited to learn typing on the computer using these games.

We're using Spelling Workout. I like it because it goes through all of the spelling rules. My dc enjoy the lessons. They like the different writing activities that go with each lesson. The lessons are short and sweet. I have one natural speller and one not-so-natural speller but, I'd like both to learn WHY they are spelling the way they are spelling so that's why we're using this program. TWTM suggested starting with level A even if your dc aren't in 1st grade so that's what we did. I think we finished level A in one month because we did two lessons at a time. We're in level B now and still doing 2 lessons at a time. We should finish this level in about one month, too. When we get to level C, we may need to slow down a bit since that will be on grade level with my not-so-natural speller but, if we do that's o.k. and if we don't....well, that's o.k. too! Last year, we tried Spelling Plus but either I wasn't using it properly or it just didn't work for us. I didn't feel that it was helping me to teach the rules of spelling and it was just list after list. My dc dreaded spelling and I wasn't too excited about it either. But, I know of several friends who have used SP and liked it fine. Maybe it's more about what a person wants in a spelling curriculum. Spelling Workout has helped spelling go a lot more smoothly in our family this year.

We used Memoria Press' Prima Latina last year and it was o.k. We're using a combination of Latina Christiana I, Ludere Latine I and Lingua Angelica this year and it's going fabulously. My dc love the LL I puzzle book and the LA songs. We're going slowly because of the ages of my dc and doing one lesson in about 1 1/4 weeks. This is our schedule: Day 1: Lesson, recitation, grammar & vocab drill, LA song Day 2: Recitation, Grammar & vocab drill, LA song & LL puzzle Day 3: Recitation, Grammar & vocab drill, LA song & LL puzzle Day 1: Recitation, Lesson quiz, LA song & LL puzzle We're also incorporating Roots of English for vocabulary with our Latin studies. It coordinates with Latina Christiana I lessons. Since my dc are so young, I'm planning to finish Latina Christiana I & II slowly and then go on to the First Form program.

We were a part of a CC group last year and we're going back this year. It was a great help to both me and my dc because it freed me from developing memory work and allowed my dc the opportunity to be in a classroom setting with other children. They loved it! There are many CC'ers on the boards and if you do a search I know that you'll come up with lots of threads about CC. Some felt that it was beneficial for their families and others didn't feel that CC met their needs. If you want to know if CC is for you, most directors have an informational meeting that parents are required to attend before joining CC. If you go to www.classicalconversations.com and click on your state, the groups in your area will come up and the contact information for the director of your group. I think that the directors also post their meetings on the web-site but, if not you can contact the director and request a meeting/find out if there is already an informational meeting scheduled. The meeting basically goes over what classical education is and how CC can help you to achieve that goal. Then, it's up to you to decide if it is right for your family. :D Hope this helps!

My dc have different sized lined paper for several of their curriculum workbooks and it doesn't seem to bother them at all. In fact, they haven't even mentioned it and they are both pretty observant/picky about things like that. My ds is still using last year's not-quite-finished kindergarten paper, which has giant lines for his spelling tests and my dd is using last year's not-quite-finished 2nd grade writing paper. I figure when they use it up, I'll just buy the paper that is meant for their grade. I do find that my dd's writing does get messier with the larger lined paper because she doesn't want to take the time to write using the entire space between the dotted line and the bottom line but, I have encouraged her that she needs to write slower to accomodate the size of lines on the paper to make her writing look neat. As we go along, I'm assuming that she'll do fine once we switch to smaller lined paper. We also introduced cursive last year but, not consistently. I bought a D'Nealian cursive writing workbook to hopefully do a better job of giving her lots of practice but, guess what !?! the line size in that book is different than all our other workbooks, too. :D Ah, maybe it just teaches our dc to be flexible?