My daughter is loving all of these suggestions! :001_smile: We both appreciate all the advice and suggestions. Does the book "Classics in the Classroom" need someone who has a lot of literary background to teach or is it something she can go through herself? I was wondering what MOOC is? I'm not up to date on a lot of the abbreviations. 8FillTheHeart, sounds like our girls both love Shakespeare! It is wonderful you will be graduating your 5th! You're an encouragement to all of the rest of us. :001_smile: What do you mean by writing focused on literary analysis? What would the assignments look like? She has gotten past most of my "public school schooling", so I feel a bit inadequate coming up with advanced writing assignments on my own. I am looking into getting Bressler's Literary Criticism to help guide her in the literary analysis concepts. *Please excuse my lack of knowledge. This is my first one going through high school.

You will need the teacher's manuals once they get into diagramming and some of the more difficult concepts, about 3rd or 4th grade or so.

We enjoyed Memoria Press' lit. guides. If your child is not reading well above grade level, any classical curriculum will be very challenging. You may need to go back a grade level or two. I used The MP 2nd gr. lit. books with my then 5th gr. son who is dyslexic. He enjoyed them. One nice thing about the lit. guides is they aren't labeled with a grade level.

So sorry to hear your daughter is sick. Ear infections are can be miserable. :sad: Hope she is feeling better soon! That comic book style sounds like it will be fun! I love when they get excited over a book. :001_smile:

Messiah is a "Christian college", but it has changed a lot over the years. I would not consider it a conservative Christian college. We were disappointed to find out about the lack of solid Biblical teaching in their Bible classes and chapel services. Some of the things they teach is questionable. If you go in knowing that you may be ok. It is a pretty good school academically and I have heard good things about their nursing program. It is also very expensive. Be sure to stay away from EMU in Virginia. They are a very liberal (everybody's ok) college. We were looking at it, thinking it was a conservative Mennonite school. We found out otherwise, and we were horrified that they are completely ok with some alternative life choices our family teaches as Biblically wrong. It has been very hard trying to find a good solid Christian college. I will be interested in the posts on this thread, since we are looking too. :001_smile:

Use Khan Academy. Take lots of practice tests. Make sure she can do math up to at least a pre-calc. level.

Thanks for the help with some good ideas for reading lists! :) I'm still looking for good writing ideas. She knows the basics, but wants to go further. She hopes to test out of the 1st level college courses. What types of writing assignments are usually required of college students? She has written reports, answers to essay questions, response papers to books, poetry, and a research paper each year. She needs some fresh writing ideas. I typed up a book profile paper for her to fill out for the books she reads. It includes: Genre, type of narrator, point of view, tone, setting, character info., motifs, themes, plot, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, different types of figurative language, allusion, foreshadow, symbolism, and quotes. I'm not sure if that is over kill or if having her fill in those things will improve her skills. She wants to be challenged. I would love to enroll her in the local Christian college for an English class, but that is not an option due to the cost.

I agree 100% with silvermoon. Keep using what works & wear a sling. You can always work over the summer too, and take your "summer break" after your baby is born. That worked well for our family. Then just ease back into school. Don't try to be super mom, that is a sure way to burn out. If you feel that you need a program that is more self directed, Teaching Textbooks is a safer route than Khan. I use both in our house. I just don't like my little ones on the internet while I am busy some place else. Khan is not all kids, there are a lot of adults and college age kids on there. Khan is good for a supplement, with supervision. If it applies to your family, Khan is very non Christian. They have some very anti-Christian advisors. My high school DD says she would not recommend putting a little one on Khan alone. If you use it please monitor your child. Too many little ones on Khan tell way too much personal info. :sad: Teaching Textbooks are a good quality math program. You will want to use a placement test at sonlight.com to see which level you should start. They move a little slower than Saxon, not sure how they compare to Right Start. Hope you can find something that will work! :001_smile:

6 out of 8 of mine were language delayed. My oldest hardly had any word at 2. The ped. thought she had a hearing problem. None was found. When she hit 3 she talked in complete sentences! She has always been a perfectionist. :) Now she has an huge vocabulary and loves languages! For my others, I didn't worry once the hearing test came back ok. All of my late talkers were early walkers. My brother's kids were the opposite, early talkers- late walkers. If she will cooperate try some baby signs. Signing Time videos are great fun! We taught #8 signs and that has helped a lot! Just be prepared to repeat the signs many times everyday. Have her listen to children's books on CDs while she is playing, coloring, eating, or sitting in the tub! Just keep talking to her too. :)

That's a great idea. I will see if that is something she would like to start. Thanks!

I agree, 3rd and 4th grades have huge amounts of new math concepts thrown at them. You may want to think about spreading the material over through the summer and possibly into next year, to make sure she really gets those concepts down. Khan Academy is another free choice for supplementing. (careful with this site) I also agree about having her read the directions and possibly the problems out loud. My sons both have a terrible time with math simply because they don't read all the directions or only half the problem.

It sounds like a pretty good variety. I've looked at Ambleside a little but don't know much about it. Charlotte Mason based? You can always start a 2nd language with #4. The younger they are the faster they learn the language. :001_smile: Keep it fun! Just a note about TT math, for your #4, it is a little slow compared to some other programs. You may want to encourage #4 to work over the summer and bump up a grade level next year. I use it for some of mine, but my oldest (11th gr) recently said it didn't cover enough material before she took her PSAT this past fall. She said if we would have started Pre-Alg. in 6th or 7th gr. she would have been better prepared. She needed Geometry, Algebra 2, & Pre-Calc. skills. Just a heads up for down the line. We do like TT a lot. It saves me tons of time! We are just going to adjust their schedule a bit for the next ones coming up through. I think it's great that you found a good match for your 6th grader! Happy teaching!

So glad you have a working plan! :thumbup: Homeschoolers need to stick together! Sharing advice is how we all learn and grow as moms. :001_smile: Trust me all of us older homeschool moms have been down the "I feel like I'm going crazy road" many times. We all can use a hug and some encouragement when things get tough. Happy Teaching!

We have used R&S English for our grammar mostly (2nd-9th). Recently switched over to 1st Language Lessons for the younger ones. But I have heard a lot of really good things about Easy Grammar. I agree that Latin helps. My oldest (11th gr) always hated grammar lessons, but now she's so glad she was made to do them. She wants to major in English and Spanish in college. Give them the skills, you never know what they will do by the time they graduate. Hope you can find something that will work.

We have borrowed some of the Life of Fred books as supplements and enjoyed them. But I do agree that they should be used only as a supplement. If you are looking for math like Khan, I would try Teaching Textbooks. Teaching Textbooks work your child through concepts with teaching "videos", automatically correct lessons, and the program keeps track of your child's grades. They are not as advanced as Saxon, but the program has made math much more bearable for my non-math kids. We use Khan as a supplement to prep for PSAT & SAT tests and for computer programing skills. Teaching Textbooks start at 3rd grade and go up to Pre-Calculus. We have used Pre Algebra up through Algebra 2. Haven't ordered the Pre-Calc. yet. You can find placement tests at: sonlight.com -look under curriculum/ math and click on placement tests for Teaching Textbooks.

I'm new to this site. It is nice to meet you too. Thanks Catwoman for the bump back up. :001_smile: Would my daughter be allowed start a teen chat room somewhere on this site? It would be a place to talk about books, homeschooling, college, and other intelligent conversations. There are a lot of really great homeschoolers on this site!

DO NOT BUY THE NEW APOLOGIA CHEMISTRY 3RD ED. We bought the new 3rd edition of Apologia Chemistry. It was a terrible book! DD honestly only used it for 5 weeks and begged for a different book. The book did not properly explain or provide equations to solve the math problems, not to mention the typos still found in the text. The material was organized it a very haphazard manner, and almost all of the labs were repeats from Physical Science. We were very disappointed and have been telling others not to waste their money on this book. We found a used 2nd edition. My daughter started the year over and has made wonderful progress! She went from hating chemistry to enjoying it.

Teaching textbooks is very user friendly. Not the most rigorous, but it helped when my one daughter got stuck in Saxon Algebra 1. Also it has automated grading, a plus if you have lots of other things to grade.

Hi, I'm a homeschool mom looking for a Christian homeschool chat room for my high school daughter. She would like to get to know other homeschoolers since we don't have access to a co-op. So far, we haven't been successful in finding a site. I'm picky about what sites my daughter accesses, so it would need to be a site that is monitored and secured. She also doesn't want to join a group that turns out to be a 'help me with my homework' group. (Her words, not mine). She's looking for a group of homeschoolers who enjoy academics, and want to talk about what they're learning. A lot of criteria, I know, but does anyone have a high schooler who is on a chat room like this? Thanks!

I agree with what 8fillstheheart posted. I do think it is great when a mom wants to learn along with their child. Many times that child will end up doing better for the sheer fact that mom is working along side them. If you are able to outsource or have other means I think that's great! But sometimes we have to teach subjects we don't know, or our child won't go any farther than we were taught. For me that is not a pleasant thought. Grammar has been one of my learn along subjects. It is still in the works! I encourage my kids to explore new subjects, ask questions, and look up information. I am willing to admit my mistakes and lack of knowledge, and learn along with my kids! Edited because I was too blunt.

My oldest read at a 3rd grade level at 5yrs.. I agree also with letting her read real books. There are LOTS of choices at the library. Sonlight has suggestions for Grades 2, 3, & 4/5 readers. Look at their A, B, C & D cores for good ideas for History, science, and biography readers too. Another choice, if it is agreeable to your family, is to have her start reading Bible stories out of a child's easy reader Bible or select parts of the Old & New Testaments. The NIVR version is written about at a 3rd/4th gr. level, but it will challenge her. R&S Bible readers really pushed my daughter's vocab.. Their only downside was lack of pictures and a few stories she may not be emotionally ready for in the higher readers. I just skipped over them. I also agree about not skipping that 10 minute phonics lesson everyday. If you skip the more advanced phonics lessons, she will get stuck once she doesn't have the decoding skills. Keep it fun and simple- someone suggested games. Don't push the writing or spelling until she seems ready. Those skills lag behind the reading a little. The Well Trained Mind suggests not starting spelling until the child has finish about half of their recommended phonics course. Let her love her books! Happy Reading! :hurray:

Main thing you need to do is: DON'T DRIVE YOURSELF CRAZY! Put aside what doesn't work and keep what is working. Supplement may be your key. If you decide to try out R&S, I would put her in the 2nd gr. book mainly because 1st gr. only goes up to the 10's facts as families not triplets. 2nd gr. goes through18's and uses triplets.(She may not need that much intensive drill though) If you JUST want help with fact drill, other options are Math-It or Triangle flash cards (they can be used to teach and drill triplets.) You don't need a whole curriculum to teach them. Triplets have a WHOLE # and 2 Parts. The whole # is the SUM of the parts. So you get 4 math problems per triplet- 2 addition & 2 subtraction facts. You MUST teach each Whole number sets together. (5)1 4, (5)2 3, (5)3 2, (5)4 1. She should be able to recognize that some of these are Flip-Flop problems. 1+4=5 is the same answer as 4+1=5. Math-It is a fact drill game. We borrowed it and my children really enjoyed using it. If you get on Rainbow Resource's web page they also have some games that drill triplets in a fun way without using workbooks. Just two quick examples: Tri-FACTa Game and Minute Math Electronic Flash Card. Each child learns differently. What works for one may not always work for another. I personally wouldn't go out and buy a whole new curriculum quite yet, not until you try getting those facts down pat. She just may need to slow it down, work on those facts and maybe work on another concept like calendars or geometry. Something to keep advancing but not need those facts yet. You may need to get creative. Give her a couple of weeks and try the concept again. If she is still struggling then you may want to think about something else for next school year, and just spend the last few weeks of school really working on those facts. Hope you can find something that will work.

I've never used MUS. I have used Saxon math 2, R&S, and a few other math books. (I'm on my 5th time through teaching 2nd gr.- 3 more to go!) I do agree about R&S having a great way to drill in the facts using triplets. It does work. They have to get those basic simple facts down pat before the other math can make sense. R&S does fall short in some other areas, but not facts. I have been combining some R&S worksheets with oral lessons from Saxon 2. That seems to get the best of both without over loading my son. Love the game advice! What kid wouldn't want to play a game for math class! :laugh: For the regrouping you could try using dimes and pennies. For addition count the numbers out using dimes and pennies. 18+23= top row 1 dime 8 pennies, Bottom row under has 2 dimes and 3 pennies. Now you tell her that there are too many pennies in that spot. She needs to change 10 of the pennies into a dime. Then since it is a dime, it no longer can go in the penny spot. So she is told to put it with the dimes. Then have her count the pennies and put that answer in the ones column on her paper. Then have her count the dimes by tens and put that answer in the tens column. Break out the dollar bills if she catches on and needs to move those dimes over! Money works for subtraction too. Take one dime away from the tens and change it into 10 pennies. Saxon does a lot with money to teach harder addition and subtraction. One nice thing about using real coins (not plastic) for math is that kids know real coins aren't "baby counters". Real coins are something that connects the math lesson to real life. They think, "Hey, I'm gonna need this some day!" That really helped my kids transition from just knowing facts to being able to use them everyday. Any time you can pull in real life skills into their math lessons, even for little ones, something clicks in their brains and it sticks. Last bit is she may just not be quite old enough to handle the material. You know your child best. Hope you can find something that works for your family! Enjoy these early homeschooling years they are precious and go by too fast! :001_smile:

I like the idea of an in-depth author study. That would open up a lot of possibilities for her. She has read some Old English and Middle English works. She has a running " want to read this" list that she keeps adding to, and I know there are some from that time period on her list. Would the Bressler's Lit. book be something she could work through herself? One thing with homeschooling is that your child often surpasses your own schooling! That is the situation here. I know she would agree with the never reading too much Shakespeare! :001_smile:

I am looking for some options for my 11th grade daughter who has out read all of my planned high school curriculum. She finished all the R&S English books (2nd through 9th) by 8th grade. This year she has almost finished the Life of Fred high school English series. She completed Jensen's writing and vocab books. She has read almost every book recommended by Sonlight. The ones she hasn't read yet, she is planning to read over the summer! She edits all of the writing done in our home and enjoys it! She wants to major in English with writing. She enjoys reading Dickens, Shakespeare, Victor Hugo, & Jules Verne. I am not sure if I should allow her to read whatever she wants for her 12th grade year, or if I should find a curriculum for her. Does anyone have any ideas for advanced literature or writing? Does anyone have a child in college majoring in English/ writing/ literature who could suggest ideas to prepare her for that major? Thanks for any suggestions! :001_smile: