The update has been released!

I'd run these particular questions by someone at RS.

I'd recommend W&R Fable after WWE. But I warn you... once you go W&R, you may never go back. :)

Apparently, the new release will work on any Mac or Windows computer, as well as most iOS and Android phones and tablets.

We followed the suggested schedule. A Typical Teaching Week: https://classicalacademicpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/WRFable-Suggested-Schedule.pdf

OLLY Homeschool Planning Software...is finally getting an update! :thumbup: Here's a blog post about the updates and an intro from the new owner: OLLY updates are coming

You may find it interesting to know that my little man actually prefers the outlining instruction in W&R versus all the other outlining instruction he's received from WWE, R&S, and WWS 1. Perhaps it was a readiness thing, but W&R is what actually wrapped his head around outlining. Now, he has never liked outlining in general and still strongly dislikes it, but W&R has made all the difference in his understanding and ability to do it.

Well, just to give you an idea, this is how it went for my little man... He worked through WWE, W&R, and WWS 1 as follows: K: WWE 1 (1st half) 1st: WWE 1 (2nd half), WWE 2 (1st half) 2nd: WWE 2 (2nd half), WWE 3 (1st half) 3rd: WWE 3 (2nd half), WWE 4 (1st half) 4th: WWE 4 (2nd half), W&R Books 1 & 2 5th: W&R Books 3 & most of 4 6th: WWS 1 7th: Reviewed and Finished W&R Book 4, W&R Books 5 & 6 8th (next year): W&R Books 7 & 8 In hindsight, I never should have left W&R to go back to our original plan of WWS. W&R was just supposed to be a filler until he was ready for WWS. However, WWS was mostly a waste of time. And he *hated* it. He didn't like WWE either, but we both agree that it was beneficial and necessary, especially before W&R. W&R he loves! I should have postponed the rest of W&R Book 4 until the following year (beginning of 6th grade)—picking up where he'd left off—and then continued the W&R series. All that said, I'd recommend giving Chreia a try for the 2nd half of 5th. What you don't complete, just pick it back up in 6th.

I figured that BJU Life would be good for my little man academically, but I didn't know that he'd enjoy it as much as he does. He just told me that he'd expected it to be as dry as Memoria Press, but BJU actually makes science fun as well as informative and interesting. So, it's been great! And we were just using the texts along with the Investigations DVD.

VideoText Online

We're curious about Youth Digital.

I'd recommend RightStart B.

I absolutely would NOT recommmend switching to Saxon, especially for the sake of a co-op. I'd stay the course with MM and her recommendations for higher math beyond it. MM is conceptual, Saxon is not. It does not surprise me that your kiddos test a level ahead in Saxon.

I read a review on the Exodus Books site, and it suggests that Expedition Earth: My Passport to the World would make an excellent supplement to Brenda Runkle's World Physical Geography course. Just food for thought. Never was drawn to any of those you listed. However, A Child's Geography is a series also published by Knowledge Quest that my little man really enjoyed us doing together. My little man has also enjoyed Memoria Press Geography. This year, Geography III has been his favorite of that series.

I'd probably recommend Books 5, 6, 7, & 8.

Another option could be to use the 3rd Edition along with only the Investigations DVD set. That is what we did this year. Worked great!

Pam, Perhaps this has already been mentioned, but have you contacted RightStart directly? Your desire to want to back up and solidify the foundation is admirable and well founded. Perhaps they can offer a streamlined solution using their materials without having to piecemeal them yourself. I understand that it may feel like time is of the essence at this point, and you probably don't want to waste it experimenting with... maybe this or maybe that will work and get us where I'd like us to be. Honestly, I don't know if Math Mammoth is where you'd want to go at this point. It is similarly conceptual to RS, but it has a Saxon flavor to it, in my opinion, which can eat time if your not tweaking and streamlining. Even then, I believe if you streamline too much, you'd miss some conceptual understanding. Maybe I'm trying to say that MM tends to be conceptually a more drawn-out incremental approach like Saxon, whereas RS is definitely more conceptual mastery. I hope that makes sense. The dabbling we did with MM, my little man didn't gain a single thing from it that he didn't already know or better understand through RS. Just saying. But... RS isn't for every student. I get that. I hope you find a suitable route for you and yours that will lead to progress and success.

I definitely recommend the Writing & Rhetoric series by Classical Academic Press! :thumbup: While my little man didn't exactly love WWE, it was worth the the time and effort. In hindsight, WWS was just short of a train wreck for us. If I had to do it all over again, we'd still begin with WWE and still use W&R afterwards, but I would not leave W&R to go back to WWS; I'd stay the course with W&R. It looks as though W&R Books 7 & 8 cover the same material as WWS 1, but more efficiently and enjoyably. That's what we'll be working through next year—Books 7 & 8—after completing Books 5 & 6 this year.

VideoText Algebra http://videotext.com

This is a tough one, and yet not... at the same time. :) My little man has completed WWE 1-4, W&R Books 1-4, WWS 1, and then back to W&R Books 5 and (presently) 6. We will continue with W&R. I definitely saw the benefits of WWE, and I would do those over again in a heart beat (before W&R of course), though they were somewhat disliked by my guy, especially WWE 4. W&R was supposed to be just a filler, until he was able to do WWS. However, my little man enjoyed the series right out of the gate. That being said, we switched back to our original plan of WWS 1, after completing W&R Books 3 and most of 4. This wasn't entirely a mistake, as we both believe there was some useful information taught in WWS, though not necessarily "skillful writing", the title being a bit misleading, but I do regret spending the whole year on it, especially with his strong dislike of it. He stopped writing altogether outside of his study work. Okay, maybe it was a complete disaster. Lol! This year we switched back to W&R, and he's happily writing again. He has four books in the works. In our opinion, W&R is far more helpful than WWS at teaching outlining. Other than citing works/sources, WWS was pointless for us. Nothing was memorable from WWS, whereas W&R teaches [the progynasmata] in such a way that sticks and gets used.

Those of you doing Rhetoric 1 via WTMA or CAP, are you considering it an English or an Elective (Rhetoric) course on your transcripts?

You've hit the nail on the head there. It's required for public, but not homeschool. I like to have all of my bases covered. Perhaps I just needed you to remind and give me peace of mind that it's okay to have our own path other than that of the public government school. 😊 Thank you!

Our state requires one full year of American Government. All of the home school courses I've seen out there (e.g., BJU, Notgrass, etc.) are one semester courses. What would you recommend for a full year? ETA: Just to clarify, our state requires... US History – 2 credits (two semesters) American Government – 2 credits (two semesters) Economics – 1 credit (one semester)

I sent you a pm. Just fyi... I also received the following notification from VT this morning via email. Attention VideoText Users, Due to steadily increasing material and shipping costs for the Classic DVD version of our course, we are announcing a slight price increase for our physical product, effective March 1st, 2017. VideoText strives to provide our customers with the best service and pricing possible, which is why this decision was made only after years of careful consideration. Starting March 1st, new and current customers will notice individual Classic modules will have increased $10 each. Classic package pricing will increase from $5 to $30 per package. This increase will only affect the Classic DVD version of VideoText Algebra and Geometry courses. VideoText Online pricing WILL NOT be affected and will remain the same. While individual book and DVD pricing will also remain the same, books orders will now incur a shipping charge. In an effort to provide our customers with the best experience possible before this increase, current pricing will remain until the March 1st effective date. All prospective Classic DVD version buyers are encouraged to purchase before the March 1st increase. Orders may be placed at the "Shop" section of www.videotext.com. Thank you for your understanding in this matter and for your interest in VideoText Math. Please feel free to contact us at 1-800-ALGEBRA with any questions you may have.

I received a response from VT, but I'd still like to know the path of others who have used it. Please tell me there are others. :crying: Apparently it should take 18-14 months to complete the entire Geometry program. Also, It's my understanding that after completing all VideoText Algebra and Geometry Programs, the student will be entitled to one Algebra I credit, one Algebra II credit, one Geometry credit, and one credit for Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus (as these courses combined equal a single credit). But I still have questions. Did anyone supplement the Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus aspect of the program? Was an AP Calculus course taken afterwards? What do you recommend?