:lurk5:

We just started LfC B this year after working slowly through Minimus (we did LfC A last year). I have the DVD/CD set and didn't realize that it it was dated 2005, two years older than the LfC A Dvd set that I used last year. There are a lot of differences between the two presentations - is there a newer DVD for LfC B than the 2005 version? Looking around online I don't see the year or edition listed anywhere - this is frustrating because I can see that my son will get less out of this format than the one from last year. TIA!

This describes my middle child as well. I pulled him out of public school after several years of special ed prek, K and 1st. He had learned some bad habits in school, including being lazy and pretending he wasn't smart enough to complete tasks on his own - this is the major reason I brought him home to school. He was a reluctant reader and when I tried to have him read on his own he would just turn the pages without even trying to comprehend the story. When I asked him for a narration I just got a blank stare. I have a degree in English but *he* needed more structure. Flash forward about six months and he has completed the Core 2 Intermediate Readers from Sonlight, having read 22 books with ascending levels of difficulty. He learned to read and pay attention to detail and knew that he would be accountable and that he couldn't fake his answers. Towards the end of the books he would choose to read a book scheduled for two weeks in just one afternoon of quiet time and was able to answer the questions with pretty high accuracy, showing me that he was reading and making an effort. He has now earned alot more trust from me and I feel that I can relax my book "policing". I never used this kind of program with my older son who is an advanced reader, he just didn't need it. Different strokes for different folks. :D

Depending on her reading level the Sonlight readers might be a good way to go. We just finished up the Core 2 Intermediate Readers and are starting the Core 2 Advanced Readers for my 8 year old. At the end of the last school year he was a reluctant reader and now he is flying through chapter books. Having the comprehension questions and added aids has helped me to be sure he was comprehending (and actually reading lol). The IG price for the readers is great and the books can be bought used for a good savings. These books are also great character building books, some with a more christian slant than others.

For my younger son I turned to Sonlight reader sets with schedule and comprehension questions just so I can check that he is actually reading and getting it. For my middle schooler I wanted something like this but there doesn't seem to be anything that really fits the bill. I have a group of books that I pulled from various resources. I chose some Memoria Press selections this year so that we could use their student guides with them, other selections from SL and History Odyssey I'm trying to pre-read. Like others I will sometimes read selections aloud to help him get the feel of the book, other times I just have him read the book and we discuss it like a lit class - main characters, plot summary, themes, conflict, etc...Having him describe a book to me that I haven't read can be a very good process for him, but I don't want him to feel alone in reading all of his books - that can be so lonely. You just need to find a balance that works for you and your particular student.

I love the classical method of education; however, the reality of special needs kids/LD's means that in reality we pull from a grabbag a tools and curricula to get our best fit. Mostly we use classical with accomodations.

Look for Themes to Remember. It has a very reasonable price, is short and sweet and covers a good selection of the great composers from the baroque, classical, romantic and modern periods. For elementary aged, to possibly lower middle grades this is a great intro and could be done a composer a day for a month. My kids have been getting alot out of this study this year, to the extent that my 12 year old son asked for classical music for his birthday and argues that he liked Bach until he heard Beethoven. :D

Since bringing my kids home from ps they've never been happier. I feel like they can really be kids now. Between being able to sleep in (especially for the middle schooler), less hours spent sitting at a table/desk, more freedom of choice about what we study, freedom to choose our own fieldtrips and more time for their hobbies they have never been happier! My husband and I notice this all the time, kids who used to be mopey now really seem more like kids - happy and energetic. I love that the boys have more time to play as siblings and we are all closer. Homeschooling has been good for our relationship. Find yourself a homeschool group for play/fieldtrips and start enjoying! :)

We have used both History Odyssey to learn outlining (they use Kingfisher and give examples in their lessons before assigning it independently) and IEW for learning key word outlines. You can download the first 6-8 weeks of History Odyssey to see how they approach it, I believe that the Ancients level 2 is where we picked it up. For IEW we haven't bought the full program but just used a theme-based writing lessons. My middle son started Fables, Myths and Fairy Tales this week to learn key word outlining. I have my older son learning several different kinds of outlines and summaries. It has been a bit confusing for him but now in our second year of it I think he's starting to see the light. With standard "oldfashioned" outlining of KF I have had to sit with him and lead him through it several times due to inability to pick out the most important ideas. I would blame this on his Aspergers; however, my experience interning in middle school's leads me to think it's pretty normal for the age range.

My hyperactive, kinesthetic learner (8 yr old) needs to be doing something while I read so he is allowed to build with legos, squish playdoh, sometimes draw (this is questionable because he starts getting involved in stories he creates with his drawings) - I see this as an opportunity to strengthen his fine motor skills. To make sure he is paying attention I pause frequently to ask comprehension questions. My 12 year old needs to just snuggle (yeah I said it) and listen, he can't do two things at a time at all. Every kid is different - maybe try out some quiet activities while you read and see how it goes. There can be a difference between free style play vs directed activities as well. He may be able to build a lego house that resembles something from the story versus allowed to make lego robots/pirates. Good luck!

We have been using Noeo Chemistry II this year and so far we are getting more science done than in previous years.

I'm using Noeo Chemistry II for my sixth grader this year and have Noeo Physics lined up for next year. It seems very much a classical format using all kinds of different books, notebooking, experiments, etc. I love having a schedule to follow and lists of materials so it's all planned out for me. The prices are reasonable too.

My 12 year old is doing Latin for Children B, he started with Latin for Children A last year. I like how it is broken into chapters (enough to do one a week for a whole year), has dvd instruction, covers grammar, vocab, you choose classical or ecclesiastical pronunciation, has an activity book for reinforcement and a history reader for additional practice. The level A is definitely good for a beginner with no experience in foreign language but I didn't find it to be too childish for us.

Same here, oldest will be starting Latin for Children B after Thanksgiving, I'm excited and can't wait since I'm learning along with him!

This is us. One reason I find that I don't use audio books much is that it's hard to stop the recording (if I'm not right next to the device) to explain a word or concept. Especially with my 2E kids some things they get far above their level and other basic concepts have to be explained in depth. Plus having to stop to tell the 4 year to stop bothering/poking/touching one of his brothers. :D I tend to stop to explain or make side comments frequently during our reading for everything except probably SotW because they seem to understand most of how that is written.

Thanks so much for the review! I have been waiting for Greek for Children since I'm a fan and user of Latin for Children. I just couldn't see laying out the cash for Elementary Greek after looking at their samples. This is on my list for the second half of this year.

Thanks for sharing the Sheppard Software link - that looks like a great site!

I am using the Geography Songs from Sonlight with my 3rd grader and I'm amazed at how he is learning the songs. I've never thought of him as musical but he is really doing great with memorizing things from music. I coordinate the area of the globe with the parts of history we are studying for the week. So far, so good.

I wanted to mention the same thing. I tried a unit of ToG last year and wished I hadn't bothered, there is alot of planning involved in figuring out what to use and reading all the notes and materials. I felt like it complicated things more than made it easier. There was some great in depth teachings but for me the whole things focused way too much on the ancient church and not enough on other topics of interest from that same time period. I am a christian and we learn bible daily but it was all too much. This year I'm back to what works and is simple: SotW with maps and narration from the AG for my 3rd grader, History Odyssey with maps and outlining for my 6th grader. I added in Famous Men of the Middle Ages with student workbook just one day a week for the 6th grader only and he listens in on the SotW so he gets the information presented several different ways (he has Asperger's and is highly intelligent so I'm offering lots of input for him to help him get it). Compared to ToG doing both programs (or all three I guess you could say) is much cheaper and I feel like we are covering alot of topics and history. For writing we use WWE levels 2 and 4, and I've bought used copies of Imitation in Writing - Fables, Fairy Tales and Myths for my 3rd grader and Medieval Legends for the 6th grader. It's going great. Also easy and inexpensive. :)

Too funny! I like the way Jessie Wise has us learn it in FLL 1/2 "I my my mine you your yours he she him her its his hers its we us our ours" We sing it to the tune of "Are you sleeping/Frere Jacques".

Just wanted to pop in and share that my son with Asperger's is also very empathetic, especially with small children and animals. He's also very cuddly with me (and he's 12 now) and wants to be held and touched alot. The first time someeone told me they suspected autism it was his kindergarten teacher who he didn't like very much (she was kind of a cold person), she commented that he wouldn't make eye contact with her and wouldn't hug her and had meltdowns. I was surprised because he hugged his bus driver every day! We recently got our diagnosis on paper - my son is very high functioning, gifted verbally but still has the mindblindness that others mention. He's funny and will talk to anyone but he hardly ever picks up on any body or facial cues - he doesn't ask or wonder how you feel about something he is discussing or even usually give you a chance to get in a word. The physical clumsiness others mentioned is a major issue here as well as his need for intense physical stimulation. He also had meltdowns up until the last year or so. Now I see him regulating himself when he starts to cry. He's learning and it gives me great hope for him to be able to function in the world as an independent adult one day.

WWE is broken into 36 "weeks" containing four days, typically we do WWE Monday - Thursday. FLL is broken into 85-89 individual lessons (level 4 and level 3), I typically have my kids do FLL twice a week, sometimes once or three times depending on the "extras" for the week and how busy we are.

Thanks for the post, my almost 5 year old has significant areas of problem in his speech - even dh and I can't understand him much of the time. I've been trying to figure out how to afford speech therapy and this thread was timely. I've just bought the Super Star Speech download and will start working with him right away!

If you haven't read the books how does the narration work for you? My middle son has done really well with the SL readers - having the short summary of the book and the questions for each chapter help me to check his understanding without having to actually read the books for myself.

I, too, have been intrigued by the VP curricula along with many of the other whole language arts/curricula sets but after trying a few things out (thank goodness I bought used) I find myself coming back to SotW w/ AG for my youngest (3rd grade) and History Odyssey level 2 for my 6th grader. I line the content up myself so we are covering similar topics and have them listen in to each other, my younger does narrations and my older does outlining and notebooking. The AG gives fun activities and suggests books to get from the library or order, HO also suggests books (and can be had in various levels for different ages). Just a thought, History Odyssey offers a free six week download of their program if you just want to check it out in depth. I have looked through other booklists and chosen additional books for my older son to read that fit into the time of history we are studying and he does that for his literature study, I'm reading most of them before he does so we can talk about them. Finding the right fit for history/bible/literature seems to be the most difficult thing for homeschoolers becuase there are so many different options - good luck with finding your fit!