:lurk5:

Thanks for that thorough review. If you have seen or used Primary Language Lessons (by Serl), how does EFTTC compare?

It seems to be a little bit overboard on the the LA. Copywork can function as both spelling and handwriting practice. You could also use your phonics program for spelling as well. Of course, you know what is best for your own child, but . . . Like others have mentioned, I would use Sonlight's book list as a source of reading material. I find that my children's retention is much better with higher quality (but on an appropriate reading level) books than with some other material. Have you used narration before to help with retention? Simply having the child tell back what happened in the story. Start with one paragraph at time, then increase to a page or two, until child can tell back significant portions of what was just read. In my family, this age (9) seems more challenging than other years. My dd is 9.75 (plus I have older and youngers, and she definitely requires the most attention). Good luck.

What we did when by dd (now in grade 4) was in Grade 2, was a combination of phonics, real books with narration and discussion, and reading her written summaries. Also she was required to read aloud for 10-15 minutes a day. Phonics Pathways - 1 or 2 pages 2x week, mostly to make sure we covered everything, and we skipped lots of pages if I determined the words on those pages were sufficiently known. Read real stories to her - next day, summarize story together, Mom write on board, dd read and copy. Daily oral narration and discussion of assigned reading. Lots and lots and lots of books and time to read them in also helps.

We have the first two books and I think they are terrific. There is some controversy over her worldview, as well as the fact that some consider her pages cluttered. That being said, we love both the science and US history series.

My method is to just spell as much of the word as I think they need. Sometimes that might be the entire word, sometimes it is just the "tricky" part, and sometimes, after "sounding it out", I don't need to spell any of it. This is especially true if the focus of the assignment is composition, journalling, narration, etc.

Yes, it is excellent.

Penny Gardner's website has a fantastic selection of living science and math books. http://www.pennygardner.com/sciencebks.html http://www.pennygardner.com/mathclassics.html http://www.living-science.net/2010/01/living-science-booklists-updated-dec-1.html

It is important that we remember that we are teaching so that the child truly understands, not whether or not we get through a particular book or program by a pre-determined date. And young children do learn best with concrete objects and meaningful objectives.

Well that really throws a monkey wrench into my decision-making [tutorials not classes]. Our experience with 6th grade science was as you mentioned, log on, do work, take quiz, call teacher, take test, move on. No real teaching, just a textbook online. The content was ok, but I was not impressed with the delivery. I am willing to do that for selected subjects, but not one in which I expect him to actually learn something. We may have to just bite the bullet and buy MP First Forms Latin. Thanks again for everyone's insight.

:iagree:

MIT has a number of high school level courses that have been extremely engaging. They also have over 2000 college level classes in their open courseware division. http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm Also there is http://www.academicearth.org, as well as try googling opencourseware, many universities are putting courses online, available to the public. See also high school distance learning at hoagies.com -- http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/online_hs.htm HTH

Thanks, Lisa, It is encouraging to hear about such a positive experience.

Just wondering if anyone has had experience with FLVS in general, and Latin in particular. We had taken a class a few years ago, not too impressed (6th grade science), but currently need to incorporate some inexpensive hands-off material into our days. Any thoughts positive or negative would be appreciated. Thanks.

I would just encourage you in your homeschooling journey/adventure. Homeschooling absolutely can be done on a low budget, even a very low one. The cost is obviously in your time. And, as everyone else has mentioned, your library will become your new best friend. Please also search for posts on this board regarding free homeschooling, there are lots. One thread here has over 100 listings of free sites. A site that I use for ideas is http://www.freelyeducate.com, they compile and describe various free, high quality, educational resources. It is worth taking a look. Also, I would spend money on art supplies, games, science stuff, hands-on material, and used books (library sales and yard sales are excellent sources). IMO those provide much more bang for the buck than a shelf full of workbooks and unused TM. But do check these boards, ebay and other yahoo groups, for whatever you are looking for, as people are regularly selling all types of resources. I just purchased all 6 Miquon math books (3 years of math) for $20. I might also suggest a whiteboard or chalkboard, we do a lot of work on these, eliminating the need to print out some material. If, as you mentioned, are looking at Sonlight, then perhaps something like AmblesideOnline or MaterAmabilis would appeal to you as well. These are Charlotte Mason based sites that map out schedules using material and resources that can be inexpensive or free to obtain. But again, as others mentioned, SL can be done inexpensively. I would just plan out a year or two of what your GOALS are, not what curriculum is everyone using for xyz. Then, determine whether it is feasible and efficient and effective to do this without a curriculum. Many times the answer will be yes. Please repost as there are many here willing to help.