I've seen the book and it is pretty advanced. It would be way over my 7th grader. I think it might be better for high school, although I'm not sure what the target is. I can't remember any of the activities though, other than fill in the blank and fill in the blank. lol We also have the CDrom game Word Roots. We use both the Vocabulary from Classical Roots and Word Roots.

We are using Lightning Literature 7 and so far really like it. Also, we are using Sonlight Core 6, modified for secular use. We did Core 5 last year and I think most of those readers would be great for middle school too. My favorite thing about Core 5 was that it is organized by geographical location so all the readers & history novels were about one general area. Core 6 is organized by time period and we are looking forward to it for this year.

I put all kinds of things in. Other than assignments... we've done card games, board games, field trips, chores (lol)... Today he had a note card in one of the boxes instructing him to try a software demo. Everything that I want him to get done for the day goes in the boxes. It is amazing that it all gets done. A df and I joke around saying we really should set up boxes for ourselves... you know, to get things done that we need to everyday. We would put stuff in our boxes like; box 1: sewing, box 2: bake cookies for charity, box 3: spa treatment... lol

Sounds awesome. What a terrific find! We actually have 12 boxes, however we don't use all 12 everyday. Today we only did 10 boxes, yesterday we used 8 of them.

Actually, it is quite impactful to be able see the drawers, boxes or whatever disappearing. Seeing the work go away is something that just can't be explained until you experience watching it happen. For us adults with abstract thinking, checking off an assignment is good enough, which would be the same thing as moving a number off the chart. However checking off assignments is what I used to have my ds do and it was a constant struggle to get the work done before. Now when he actually takes the entire box and puts it in a pile with the other completed boxes... All I can say is that I am even impressed with the visual disappearing of the boxes and his personal "mountain of accomplishment" (made from completed stacked boxes) lol Sue Patrick does say that the workbox system actually tends to be MORE beneficial for the middle-high school levels than for the younger grades. So perhaps this will help your 11yo be more motivated and get more completed too.

Our boxes have numbers and different things go in them depending on the the day. So yes, you can do whatever curriculum you want and still use workboxes. Every night I put one assignment in each box that needs to be completed. I include everything needed for that assignment, including the pen or experiment supplies. Some of the boxes have "work with mom cards" or an "ask for help" card if it is something we have to do together. If the assignment is physically larger than the box, there is a note card in the box stating where he can find his assignment... for example, on the kitchen counter or in the garage. Although Sue Patrick is against it, I do write up a general lesson plan for all the subjects/assignments that I want to get to before the week starts. It gives me a general guideline to follow for the week and helps me organize because we only do science, art & music 2x week. He has an assignment strip with velcro numbers that correlates with the box numbers. For example he has a strip and it will tell him to do box 1, 2, 3, 10-min recess, 4,5, 10-min recess...I do that to help him with assignments I know he doesn't want to do, but he will do them because he is guaranteed a break after it is over. When he completes the assignment, he takes the number off the strip and puts it into a box that I revelcro for the next day. I absolutely love the workbox system and am so glad to have found it. My 12yo ds loves schooling now, whereas before it was always a struggle for both of us. HTH!

We are using Vocabulary from Classical Roots. Sample Pages: http://www.epsbooks.com/dynamic/pop-ups/rtu_pop-up.asp?series=2252M&seriesdescription=Vocabulary%20from%20Classical%20Roots

My 12yo ds doesn't like Rosetta Stone because he doesn't enjoy guessing. He loves games so I'm looking for something fun and interactive. I have heard a little about both Tell Me More & VL and would love to hear other experiences with both or either. The TMM demo had me glazed over and the VL demo had me pulling my hair out with the repetition of 'quiero'. So did you like either of these? Other suggestions?

:iagree: It is a great program and very reasonably priced. He also wrote a book about education that is fantastic, although I can't remember the name of it though...

Thank you for the comments. I really appreciate them. I was leaning toward not needing the Student book & TM, but wasn't sure. Glad to hear that it is geared toward classroom vs. homeschool. Orthodox6, Thank you so much! I was looking for samples and couldn't find any. That is extremely helpful. I had the Apologia General Science and just sold it this weekend. I've heard a lot of comments and how great it is, however it is just not going to work for us. Thank you for suggesting it though. We have Rainbow and ds likes it a lot.... I just don't like the TM at all. Maybe I should get over it and use it anyway since he likes the text so much.

I saw that she has a science series, but then found out that there are also student guides and a TM to go along with the books. Has any one used the Aristotle Leads the Way book, Student Guide, and TM? If so, what are your thoughts for a science curriculum for 7th grade?

Yes, my ds was an only child when we created the rule. We lived in sketchy part of town where there weren't any children. And I also knew that coupons, tokens or whatever just wouldn't work for us because I would fail with the implementation. After 4 works great for us. He does stop playing for dinner, after dinner chores, and such. :)

LOL! My ds said reading the guide is the next best thing to actually playing the game.

Oh momof7, ((hugs)) I feel your distress. It must be very hard. We are just now embarking on middle school and I'm already dreading high school. Thankfully I have at least one LO. By the time this one graduates, my LO will be just starting and I can pull out FIAR again.

My ds is 12 and loves electronic entertainment. We have an "After 4 + Saturdays" rule. He can play whatever he wants and as much as he wants as long as it is after 4pm or Saturday. It has gone well for us for many years and he doesn't complain. We do make occasional exceptions, such as friends over or sick days. During the day he does school work because we school year round with lots of breaks. If there is no school scheduled, he keeps himself entertained with legos, army men, running around the house in his pretend world or he'll read books, read the D&D guide, or read his video game guides (lol) Good luck!

lol. You're probably not then. DS= http://www.diaperswappers.com There is a mamasheep over on that board too. :)

Oh Kareni! Thank you so much for that link. I've been searching and have become frustrated with the lack of resources, however remembered that blog but couldn't find it.

We love the workbox system and my ds is 12, soon to be 13. My friend has a 14yo (almost 15!) and two other kids. She got me hooked because I thought it was a silly idea at first. In addition to assignments, she schedules PE and chores in her boxes. My 12yo ds has been an independent learner for awhile, however struggled with motivation to actually do his work. With the workbox system, he is eager to run downstairs to see what he gets to do for the day. Strange, since it is the EXACT same assignments as before, but with fun stuff & extras tossed in because we have the time to do them now. lol We have breaks set in place, for example, after box 1, 2, and 3, he gets a 10 minute "recess" and each day the order is different, for variety. One day I put in the watering can in one of his assignment boxes to remind him to water the plants. He laughed and loved that assignment. Sue Patrick's book is very good, so if you have the money to buy it, I would suggest picking it up just because there are other nuggets of information other than just the box system... such as "learning stations." oooo. As far as where to buy clear magazine holders, Office Depot sells them in packs of 3 or 4. They also have cardboard ones. My friend just cut used USPS priority boxes in half for her three kids. We use one of his old toy bin holders I bought from Target years ago. It might not work for everyone, but it works for us. :D

We were going to skip Latin this year until I saw the samples of Latin Prep. lol If anyone does have a written schedule, I'd love to see it too. Thanks!

Thanks for all the recommendations. The CPO mediaplayer didn't work for me. I got a five minute stream of nothing but a title page. So I think I'm going to pick up Noeo and look at it. Now to decide which one to use. BTW, Mamasheep, are you on DS too?

I'm not really sure what to say. Black Ships is pretty advanced. I think my 12yo ds is reading it this year. At your dd's age, we read aloud books like Winnie-the-pooh, Beatrix Potter, and some other childhood classics. In the early grades, relaxing and going with the flow seems to work best and prevent later burnout. We used Five in a Row for Kindergarten and are proponents for delayed math, so I don't have any real good advice other than go with whatever works for you.

Whatever works for you. My friend cut used USPS priority shipping boxes in half and covered them with wrapping paper.

Don't worry about it. You'll have plenty of opportunity to do stuff later. We did a lot of activities in the elementary grades and my son doesn't remember any of it. In later years he saw pictures of some of the projects that he did. He remarked, "Wow, that looks fun. We should've done stuff like that." *sigh* Have fun in the middle ages!

No, he doesn't want to do it because the first chapter was terribly dull and the 2nd chapter has way too many Christian references. I'm too busy to edit all the religious content this year. I have heard that the content is good, but he is becoming more and more sensitive to any Christian slant, probably because we are Jewish. I'm pretty sure it is his age and he is starting to see the world a bit differently. Dorothy Sayers (Lost Tools of Learning) defines this logic stage very well.

My ds has informed me that he doesn't want to do Apologia this upcoming year. We have tried Rainbow and Real Science 4 Kids. I didn't like the TM in Rainbow. For some reason it bothered me. I don't like Science Explorer either. Also, we need something where the experiments aren't necessarily required. That was one of the reasons why I liked Apologia, because the experiments were already completed on the CD. I know there are a ton of science curricula out there. I've looked at Noeo and like the looks, however Level 2 is geared toward 4th-6th. Would it be easy to meat it up for middle school? Any other suggestions for secular middle school science?