Thanks!

I'm trying to find an affordable way to get my upcoming 9th grader a Russian I course on line (that foreign language choice is his). Yesterday I met a lady who suggested I check out the facebook page where people sell their "generics" for Landry Academy. I've been to the Landry website and I'm just a little confused. Can anyone explain? If I buy one generic semester from someone online will that cover the cost of the Russian course...or would I need two...how can I tell if generics are accepted for that course? Any help would be great! Thanks.

Just an observation, I've seen The Lantern Bearers recommended for High School grades, in fact most of the Sutcliffe books are a bit advanced. Probably more than my upcoming 5th grader would manage well on their own. Is this from a curricula or your own plan?

They are two completely different programs with different methods. W&R is a progymnasta type of program designed for elementary students at the lower levels, whereas WWS is designed for the middle grades and has a completely different style and focus. WWS pays a lot of attention to learning technical writing, outlining, how to do citations, and specific methods and steps for different kinds of writing - for instance history, science, chronological retelling. I used W&R Book I with my 4th grader this year (I think he could have done it in 3rd) and did WWS2 with my 8th grader. previously I used WWS1 and 2 with my eldest son in the middle school years. You should find samples and compare the two to see what direction to go with your child.

We use Singapore and BA on alternating days, they are very different styles of math and cover different topics. It works well for my DS.

Hi KTGrok! Interestingly enough I've gone more CM this year as I got back to homeschooling after my last two years of teaching in a private school. After the classroom environment I was so glad to get back to read alouds, poetry and a wide selection of living books instead of textbooks. So on base with you on this! Almost makes me wish for a new little one! :D I'm going to visit a CM co op tomorrow for next year. Wish me well!

Six weeks (ish) left! Youngest will have completed LfCA, Singapore 3 A &B and Beast Academy 3A-D. mcHenry Botany in 8 and Cells, Quark Botany and zoology even if we have to read through the summer. Logic Liftoff and SotW ancients, several great read alouds and I really got him to read finally... Several Little House books and other children's classics. My 8th grader will have finished Foersters Algebra, History Odyssey Ancients level 2, Kraken Latin 1, several Uncle Eric books, plus McHenry Botany and Cells, most of WWS 2, some LToW, (we struggled with consistency in writing), Art of Argument,...he is studying the catechism for confirmation. Both did Long Story Short for Bible and we did Squilt 1 and 2, plus reading Tennysons poems and Singing the Great Hymns with Charlotte Mason. He's read a lot this year, mostly classics and Sutcliff versions of the Odyssey. We moved in fall and I feel like we haven't done enough but the list (this was all of the top of my head) does make me feel better. :)

We finished Quark: Botany last month and started Quark:Zoology this week. We use it as scheduled in Wayfarers (read one chapter a week). Our spine has been the Ellen McHenry books - so previously it was Botany in 8 and now we are using her Cells: an Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology of Animal Cells. We are a Christian family but I have a science background and want my children to have a solid understanding of science as the "world" knows it. In the areas that some groups vary we tend to have discussions about what is absolutely known and what is being interpreted. I very much desire my children to seek knowledge and wisdom on their own from a variety of resources. So...the Quark books are what I would call Science Fantasy. Alot of the stuff like space travel is pretty much glossed over, their "ship" is actually a giant space "fish" they call Auntie and along the way in the first novel they take on board a telepathic moss named Mab who is thousands of years old. The story is a light weight adventure chapter book and the science material is presented in a way to interest the kids from a variety of ages in the general concepts of the selected topic. We get our "science" from the other things we use like Usborne/DK books on specific topics and the McHenry spines that we use 2/3 days per week. The main characters are written in a fairly realistic way (the squabble but are mostly nice to eachother and they care about eachother). They never mention church, god, evolution or the beginnings of life. They do encounter a good many aliens and ruins of all different types. Alot of them are a bit cartoonish but it keeps the reading light and appropriate for younger kids. My kids both enjoy Quark and I plan to continue using the book as part of our family read alouds as long as we can. I really can't imagine anything in these books causing a religion/anti-religion problem for someone who is homeschooling unless they are very conservative and don't even want to imagine that there might be other life in the universe...? HTH!

There are many different curricula that help you organize classes so that you can homeschool your children together with age/grade appropriate options for the different subjects. It schedules bible, history, geography, science, logic and reminds you to move along in your math curricula. :) You pick a "classical" history period (ancients, medieval, revolution, or modern). One example would be Wayfarer's from www.Barefootmeandering.com. You can download a three week sample of any of her books. There are other providers of similar types of curricula but I find this one to be less expensive and alot less complicated than many that I've tried. You can combine read alouds with younger kids (I did 4th and 8th grade this year). But they also have independent reading and subjects.

They schedule SotW for grammar stage and you can use the SotW activity guide for hands on history. Wayfarers also schedules geography, science, bible, logic and more depending on the age of your students.

We do Quark as scheduled (once per week) and did the Botany in 8 books along with the Storybook of Science and a few additional books. This is with a 4th grader and 8th grader. Quark, Botany and Storybook are all done as read alouds, we sometimes use the Librivox free recordings for Storybook but sometimes can't take the voices (they crack up my 13 year old). :D For younger children Botany in 8 would probably be on the heavy side, it would be fine to supplement with other readers IMO.

My Teacher's Edition shows these answers: a. (0,6), (-3, 4.8) b. 0.4 c. y=0.4x+6 d. 15 weeks ago and a graph showing a line in quadrant II going from x= -15 up to y=6 HTH!

Hi, I can relate to your struggles. I have three boys who have issues with the manual act of writing and it has repercussions all through "schooling". I am just curious if you have investigated whether or not there are any physical issues...for instance, fine motor struggles or vision issues. My oldest son has very high funtioning Aspergers and one of his issues is poor fine motor control. He is 17 1/2 and the other day I had to struggle suggest and then stand over him to make him take physical notes on paper for his online geometry class so he could pass his Discussion Based Assessment. He kept having to stop and shake out his hand. My middle son (13) who is neuro typical also has some sensory issues and poor fine motor issues and I can't read his handwriting hardly at all, he even struggles to read his own writing. It pays to be aware of any special struggles before we assume that it's all attitude or emotional based. Some things are just harder for some people than others. Visual processing issues could explain the mixed upper/lower case situation, or maybe that it's something else. Merry had some great suggestions for working with a child whether they are dealing with visual/fine motor or emotional/psychological issues, but it helps as the parent to narrow down and try to figure out which might be the culprit. HTH!

We alternate days doing Beast Academy one day and Singapore the next. I like the combination of different kinds of problems and it keeps math from being drudgery. :D

My fourth grader sounds very similar to yours, only towards the end of this year am I seeing any movement regarding enjoying reading. He was a late reader and this is the first year (he spent the last two years in private school) that I have assigned his reading. We are using Wayfarers Ancients from BarefootMeandering so it makes it pretty easy. Here is what he has been doing for the past few weeks with our current lessons, it's very representative of the year: Daily he reads a devotion (one page), and is assigned to read either a few pages from an animal encyclopedia (science) or from D'Aulaire's Greeks (we alternate history and science daily), in addition he reads a chapter or two from his assigned "literature", right now he is finishing up Farmer Boy. I read aloud selections from poetry, Story of the World or our science text (we takes turns reading the science aloud for fluency), as well as Quark science, and our school time read aloud (history/geography based literature). Then most evenings he and I are reading together before bed a chapter book. I take advantage of a little snuggle time and being one on one. We finished Charlotte's Web recently and have just started A Secret Garden. I know that the older "classics" are above his head as far as some of the vocabulary/word choice but I want him to be exposed and be able to ask me questions. His reading is usually broken up into two or three sessions during the day, while I'm working with his brother or just to get a break from table time. Solo reading is probably around 45-60 mins, our together reading is at least an hour or more daily. PS How long your child "should" be reading is totally subjective and up to you...in that you know him best. I have pushed a lot this year in having my son read more than ever, I carefully observe his frustration/boredom levels and back off before he gets too frustrated, lower the requirements a tad for a week then ramp up again. He is building his reading skills slowly and recently started reading books just for enjoyment on his own in the evenings. They are "twaddle" (diary of a wimpy kid type things) but he is seeking them out from our bookshelf and totally reading them on his own. That is a big win for a kid who never voluntarily read before this year.

If I had to do it all over again I would *worry less* and *play/read more* and snuggle more while they still want to. :D

We are doing Grammar and Dialectic Wayfarers Ancients this year. Each boy has their own reading assigned (4th grade and 8th grade) and I use one main read aloud for our history/geography, we read our Science together, do our Bible together. Each child has additional history work and their own math and reading. My youngest takes 3-4 hours most days, my 8th grader is usually closer to 6 hours though mostly because he drags his feet so much with his Algebra and Writing. ;)

Wayfarers is very similar to MFW but you can get the guide as an ebook then print or read on your device as needed, many of the books she assigns can be had as an ebook or ordered through Amazon. Just a thought!

The free sample includes a list of all her booklists for each subject and level (Grammar, Dialectic, and Rhetoric), followed by Three weeks of her plans. Each week is separated into five days, history and science are scheduled for alternating days, in the first week you do three days of history and two days of science, the second week you do three days of science and two days of history. Each page lists the subjects down the left side (i.e. Bible, Language Arts, math, history...) and across the top it separates by your students' levels (grammar, dialectice, rhetoric). Each day is two facing pages, the titles and page numbers of primary classes on the first page, the second page lists extra and optional assignments (narration, additional literature, preschool activities). This curricula is WTM with a CM bent. It is literature rich but makes it clear which are considered the regular assignments and which are optional. This has been the best fit for my family out of the many I've tried (Sonlight, ToG, "pure" WTM, AO, etc). I subbed in my own math programs (we used Singapore and Beast Academy for my younger and Foerster's Algebra for my 8th grader) and added SQUILT for classical music, I wanted more structure - open and go for that, plus added some Ambleside/CM poetry and hymns. Otherwise I use Wayfarer's as designed, which is pretty amazing for me. I'm pretty sure that I will be using Medieval stage next year for my upcoming fifth grader even though my 8th grader will be in a part time homeschool group that will make his assignments. Wayfarers just really works and is easy, open and go while still being classical.

This is why my son takes only three or four classes at a time, over the summer usually two that are only one semester. The fulltime load would be too much for him I'm pretty sure but he is very intelligent and does very well with the part time load. In the end he is still completing six(ish) classes per year, just not all at once and he isn't overloaded. At the point I put him into FLVS I was teaching part time at a private school, then this year we moved and I'm homeschooling and 8th grader and 4th grader. Trying to be up on all three curriculums (including math and science and their literature) was just too much but an 11th grader can't do "Read alouds" with a 10 year old and it really count for anything academic. Since FLVS is working for him we are going to stay with it until I determine he has all the classes he needs to get ready for community college. I have fibromyalgia (pain and fatigue) so I'm really glad to be able to have my upcoming 9th grader have other teachers primarily responsible for his instruction while still having homeschool benefits and I can oversee my older childrens education while directly educating my youngest for a few more years. :D

I have not used MFW just looked at it a lot but used Wayfarers this year for my 4th and 8th graders. It is very open and go, very little planning... Just keep up with where you are in any extra curriculum. You pick and choose what you want to use from her book lists. It's been our easiest year of homeschool planning ever and I love the book suggestions. I feel like we learned a lot together this year.

My oldest son is finishing his second year of high school through FLVS I will try to answer your questions. You choose upfront if your student is fulltime (6?) classes or part-time which is however many you want. If you go fulltime and finish with that you will receive a diploma at the end but you are required to do the state testing and EOC (end of course ) tests for some classes. I don't think you have any placement tests for either option. My son started 9th grade at a private school where I was teaching but due to social anxiety/Asperger's he needed to go back to homeschooling. We started part time classes in the middle of the school year so I just picked the second semester of his basic classes. To handle the workload he takes 3-4 classes year round. When he finishes one I set it up so he starts another one within a week or two. I am doing his transcript myself so p,anning his courses around his interests and college application requirements. We haven't done any EOC tests yet and only have done Standord tests instead of FCAT or whatever they are doing this year. We have had really good experiences with our teachers. They are very caring and helpful, we are in contact by phoe, text or email every week. All classes have a "collaboration" component for each semester. Usually that can be done via a live lesson on whiteboard with other students, which I find simpler than trying to coordinate a project with one or two other students. Every module of each class requires a DBA (Discussion Based Assessment) where the student does a oral quiz/discussion with their teacher on a phone call. The teachers really work with you to make this low stress and reasonably simple. They are open note/computer. We just moved back to Jacksonville last fall so... Hi neighbor! Tonight I attended an open house at PEP which is a homeschool "tutoring" service... 7-12graders attend classes two days a week in a rigorous Christian college prep environment then complete assignments at home the other days of the week. You can take 1 class or all of your classes there. I'm very excited for this for my upcoming 9th grader who is dying for more social life. They do have placement tests. Registration opens next week. Please feel free to ask me any questions and I'll try to answer them.

FYI, We did Wayfarers Ancients this year and the geography isn't linked to the history at all. Our first geography reader was set in Australia and about Irish prison ships, the next book was set in the Amazon in the 1800's, then medieval Japan, 1400's Korea and now 20th century Vietnam. :) The mapping is scheduled to go with the geography lit but I've been actually doing my mapping along with my history from a different resource.

Those are made by the same company, very similar just moving up the ladder for age.

My oldest (aspie) will be a senior this year in virtual school, hoping to get him a part time job and continue working on his life skills. My middle son (upcoming 9th grader) is going to a two day a week prep school for home-schooled students. He is my social butterfly and hates being home with his brothers all week. Though he will be home the rest of the time most of his curricula will be through the "school", I'll be making sure he does his assignments but won't be teaching as much... that leaves just my 10 year old upcoming fifth grader for me to plan. I'm excited but it's a big change! - Beast Academy 4 and Singapore 4 (alternating days) - LfC Primer B w/ activity book - CAP Writing and Rhetoric Books II & III - Logic Liftoff 2x per week - Trying to decide between History Odyssey Medieval Level 2 -or- staying with Wayfarers and doing Medieval but this child is the only one I'm "teaching" so not sure if I want to spring for Wayfarers - Science...will depend on the Wayfarers because I liked how their science was done through living books but need more focus to do those labs (considering Elemental Science, RSO and RS4K) - Music - continue with SQUILT for classical studies and probably learn to read music and play the recorder, Hymn study CM style - Bible - Long Story Short con't from this year - Literature - History/Geography selections through History Odyssey or Wayfarers with add'l library books Hoping to find a CM style co-op for activities with other kids. Not sure what I am forgetting!