Has anyone used "The Crossroads of Science and Faith: Astronomy Through a Christian Worldview?" My daughter and I saw it at a homeschool conference a few years ago when we had other plans for science. It's her senior year and she thinks she wants to use this text for an astronomy course. I thought it looked good back then, but I'd love to read comments or feedback from anyone who has actually used it. http://www.glimpseofhissplendor.com

Thanks for bringing these things up. I am glad to hear others mention the difficulty level. That is exactly part of my concern. I don't want her grade to be low just because we are using a more challenging curriculum than many. That is why not grading everything is a happy thought. We did the first 2 chapters (and part of the 3rd) at the end of last school year, so I know that she's not going to get a good grade if I give a grade for everything and use a traditional grading scale. And I really feel like her work deserves a higher grade than that.

Thanks, regentrude and Goldilocks... I actually hadn't thought about not grading everything...that's strangely helpful! I do think I'd like to have several grades to work with, but I am realizing now that I don't need to give a grade for the teaching problems at the beginning of the chapter (for example). I'm still interested in more input if anyone else has some for me. Thanks! :)

How do you compute a grade for AOPS Pre-Algebra? I've not done much grading before, but I need to give my student grades for this class. I'm just wondering how to factor in the different sections of each chapter. If you have a grading rubric that you use, I'd love to hear about it!

I'll give another enthusiastic recommendation for the Faber's Piano Adventure series. You could definitely use the books for older beginners with an 8 and a 10yo. My older two each started in them when they were 8 or 9. My youngest started in the Primer level as a young 6yo.

Science A and up have worksheets that cover things from the scheduled reading. They also each have experiments scheduled once a week. Level A has changed completely since the edition I have so I can't comment a lot on that one in particular. But Level B has good notes to the parent about the day's reading - and there are 1 or 2 optional additional activities in there too. I understand that the current Science A IG is similar. You can look at samples of the Science IGs for the notes and activity sheets to see if it looks like something your husband would like to work with. For a 5 year old you could use either A or B. I think that B is definitely more full than A, and I would certainly expect A to be a step up from P4/5. I've used all of the SL Science levels up to and including E, and B is still one of my favorites. I'm looking forward to using it again in the fall with my youngest. Two of the spine books are internet-linked Usborne titles, so I also like that as a simple way to go a little further as interest leads.

Take a look at Sonlight Science. I think it meets all of your criteria. 1) It is evolution friendly. All of the books in levels A and B are from secular publishers. (Higher levels have a book here or there that is not, but could easily be omitted or replaced with a different title.) 2) It is very easy to implement by following the schedule and opening the book that's listed. They even have a supply kit in the package. This is a truly open-and-go curriculum for me. 3) There are activity sheets and a schedule to follow, but it lends itself to being able to easily follow a tangent if you want to. 4) SL Science is spiral and covers a variety of topics each year. I personally think this is a plus for the early years.

Ha, ha...somehow this very obvious solution had not occurred to me! However, I'm not sure it would fly with my dd. She really likes to be able to see the book. Hmm...

We used the Classical Edition of CE 1 this past school year and loved it. I want to continue on with CE 2. I see that some people only use the TM and not the student book. I don't want to spend the extra cash on the student book if I don't need to, but in looking at the samples of the TM I'm wondering how people use it with their students when the answers are already there. If you use CE without the student book, can you tell me how you use the TM with your student - particularly how you deal with the answers right there in bold?

FIAR when they were little. Sonlight and Brave Writer for the last few years.

Excellent idea! This is actually a good possibility for us! Thanks! I know some homeschoolers don't want to be involved in the system at all, but he seemed to be referring to people who had first approached him about participating and then declined when partial enrollment was stipulated. It just made me wonder why people who feel that way about public schools would ask in the first place, or if there was something else I was missing. Hmm...I wondered if it would change any reporting requirements. I should confirm that it would not. Thanks. Thankfully this school is even within walking distance, so the commute doesn't need to be a big disruption. I also wondered if this would end up increasing our likelihood of finding out what other things were going on for kids in the community. Since we live in such a small town, outside youth organizations tend to send all their flyers through the schools thinking that everyone will get them that way...But it can be very hard to find out about those things if your child isn't enrolled in school. However, I suspect it might not help much at all since they probably don't get passed out during band!

Thank you so much for sharing this. This is exactly the kind of thing I was wondering about! I've never heard of a "pupil identifier" number. I wonder if this is pretty standard in other states also.

Good to hear! This info about funding was interesting to hear. I've never heard of homeschoolers taking band (or other classes) in our school district before so I don't think we'll get pushed to enroll for more, but I could be wrong. We want to start her at the ps, if possible, simply because of finances. At some point I would love to get her private lessons, but it will have to wait. I know that accomplished musicians from the community can play in our local college band so that is a good reminder to keep in mind for the future. I'm hoping that ps band will get her started on the instrument; and I think some independence in this form will be good for her too. It is nice to hear another positive experience!

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm glad to hear that the arrangement worked well for both of you.

I live in PA. State law says that homeschoolers must be allowed to participate in ps extracurricular activities - but each school district can decide for themselves whether or not to allow homeschoolers in co-curricular classes. I decided to ask our local elementary school if my 10yo could come for band. I met with the principal today and found him to be very friendly and welcoming. He said they had had homeschoolers in the band in the past and seemed very open to it. Actually, there didn't even seem to be any doubt on his end that the school would allow it (despite the district's written policy against it, but that's another topic). He said the only thing they would need from us is to enroll her as student - but it would be listed as a partial enrollment with a percentage of time equivalent to band only. He said that nothing else would be needed from us. He wanted to let me know about the enrollment requirement right off the bat, because that has been a deal-breaker for some homeschoolers. So I'm wondering if there is a drawback to this partial enrollment that I'm not thinking about? I'm not one who has an issue with being in the system...and frankly they already have all of this info on her anyway because of everything the state requires us to submit to the district for homeschooling. So what do you think? Is there something about enrollment I'm not considering?

I guess it would depend on your own knowledge of Latin. I used it with my oldest and the DVD and answer guide were definately a "must" for me - but I've never had Latin myself. The activity book was nice to have because it reinforced the workbook in some creative ways. There isn't a whole lot of practice in the workbook itself. Do look at their website for free supplementary worksheets, though! The history reader is also optional, but again I was glad we had it because the translation exercises were great practice. My dd needed more practice with translations and parsing than the workbook (or activity book) provided. Those translations are what helped the grammar make more sense to her.

I agree with the others to call him the grade level based solely on his age, and wait until the year that public schools would allow him to enter K to call him a Kindergartener. If you don't want to call him a preschooler this year, you could use the label of PreKindergarten or K-4 or Jr. K -- with the understanding that he will be K next year. Regardless of what his grade label is, teach him whatever he is ready for. Yes! It can also be taught without workbooks or curriculum at all. My favorite way to teach math at this age is with games. There are plenty of fun ways to get them thinking about and understanding what numbers mean and how to play with them. I would personally avoid workbooks if he doesn't like them. My youngest has some speech articulation problems and I definately see it interfere at times with reading and math. I really don't know if there is particular program that would be better than another. I would think that what you list would be fine. If he is seeing a Speech Therapist, it might be interesting to see what he/she would recommend in a learning-to-read program for him. (I won't expect them to recommend a particular program, but they might have some insight on what kinds of things to look for or avoid.) If he is enjoying the ETC books, I'd go with his momentum. If you would like to try something with more teacher instruction I recommend All About Reading. When I've seen the articulation problems create an issue while I'm teaching my son, I've just adapted on the spot. For example, his biggest problem right now is that he is unable to make either sound for /th/. When he was counting to 20, the numbers 13 and 14 sounded the same when he said them and he was prone to skipping one of the numbers. When I realized that he was pronouncing them so similarly, and was unable to make even the vowel distinction between ir and or, I let him 'nickname' number 13 to be three-teen. We also talked about the need to remember both numbers even though they sounded so much alike. It make a huge difference for him. We did the same thing with 30 and 40, calling them 3 tens and 4 tens for clarity, even though he knows their actual names. In reading, when he began reading words that use a /th/ I would sometimes have him identify the word when I said it - to make sure that he was hearing the difference between /th/ and /f/ even though he couldn't make it himself. So I'd show him 'that' and 'fat' written out and he would have to pick the one that I said. Be encouraged! You can figure this out!

AACK! I just realized that your question was about Intensive Practice versus Challenging Word Problems and I was thinking and writing about Extra Practice versus CWP. I'm so sorry!!! Anywhere that I wrote IP (as above) I actually meant EP....:tongue_smilie: I don't have any experience with IP so I will try to sneak away quietly now...

:bigear: I'm glad you asked; I've been wondering the same thing! The sample for the new edition shows so much more than the older edition sample, and looks more fun/interesting. I can't tell if the things I like in the new sample are really in the older one or not.

I've read that some people use the CWP at a level lower than the other books and I think that could be a good idea for you. We started CWP 3 last year and dd worked through it okay at the end of the txtbk and wkbk (which is when I bought it), but even then there were several that she needed a fair amount of help with. This year I started the year with CWP 4 alongside each unit in the main text, but ended up setting it aside to use later because so many of the "challenging" problems were frustrating her even though she did fine with the other books. IP 4 has been at a good level for her to further her understanding and practice of what she's done in the textbook and workbook. We'll go back to CWP4 at the end of the other level 4 books.

I let them read the nonfiction history books, but I put the fiction titles out of sight. I figure that rereading the nonfiction will only increase retention, but I prefer to share the excitement of a first reading of the fiction books. My oldest always reads the Read Alouds by herself sometime after we've read them together, but I don't allow her to read them before we read them as a family. I have also been known to hide SL books when they arrive...until it is time to read them...

Sonlight History and Science Handwriting Without Tears All About Spelling

I think it depends on the reason for supplementing. The IP would be better if your student simply needs more of the same kind of practice than the workbook provides. The IP also has a variety of problems types, whereas the CWP just has the word problems. The CWP can be much more difficult than the workbook, so it would be good if you want to supplement for a student who needs more challenge. From the first time I bought it and starting using it I have often thought that Challenging Word Problems is very aptly named!

This was really helpful info - thanks! So does the TM guide the discussion in some way, or is it mostly an answer key?

I've been watching this thread with interest because I'm also looking to add a vocab book for my rising 5th grader. :bigear: I've been tempted by MCTs LA for a long time, but never used any of it. I hesitate because the samples don't give me enough to feel confident, and there isn't any way to see the books in person. I'm curious about the comments that CE is parent intensive. I've looked at the samples, but don't see how the parent is expected to be involved. Would someone please expound on how they use CE?